{"id":398913,"date":"2026-04-15T01:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/398913\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:35:20","slug":"from-tyre-strewn-yard-to-eco-friendly-treehouse-in-five-nightmare-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/398913\/","title":{"rendered":"From tyre-strewn yard to eco-friendly \u2018treehouse\u2019 in five nightmare years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The architect James Davies admits, with a wry smile, that his taste in renovation projects is \u201cproblematic\u201d. After a string of challenging builds that would send fainter-hearted renovators running, problem-solving has become a kind of raison d\u2019\u00eatre behind his designs.<\/p>\n

Since 2010 he has been living in Hackney, east London, keeping an ear to the ground for a plot with the right kind of potential. \u201cI was hyper-focused on Stoke Newington,\u201d explains Davies, 42, who set up his architectural practice, Paper House Project, in 2012. \u201cThere was a point a few years ago when I knew every available plot [locally] and who owned it. I\u2019d be going around knocking on doors, posting letters.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late 2019 the hunt paid off when someone approached him with the possibility of buying a plot off-market. The unkempt 40 sq m (430 sq ft) site was exactly what Davies was looking for: a ramshackle commercial mechanics\u2019 unit and a tyre-strewn yard beside Butterfield Green, a tree-fringed park in east London that replaced a row of Victorian terraces that were bombed during the Second World War.<\/p>\n

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\"ADavies purchased the site for \u00a3280,000 in March 2020<\/p>\n

\"GreenviewBefore the work began<\/p>\n

Since childhood Davies has harboured an \u201cobsession\u201d with treehouses. His plan with this site, purchased for \u00a3280,000 in March 2020, shortly before the UK was plunged into the first Covid-19 lockdown, would be an extension of that. \u201cThe idea was living in an elevated treehouse, in the canopy overlooking the trees,\u201d he says in a gently lilting northwest accent. \u201c[This] situation, with the park in front, is really uncommon, especially in London\u201d.<\/p>\n

At that point he had met his partner, Sophie Ellis-Hayle, 34, the lead print designer at a fashion label, via Hinge, and together the couple embarked on the project, which they named Greenview House. Their aim was to create a bright, environmentally conscious self-build with a cross-laminated timber (CLT) framed structure (\u201ca good option for an airtight, efficient envelope\u201d). Davies estimated its planning and build would take two years.<\/p>\n

This would be his third personal project. He bought his first home in east London with his dad in 2011, \u201ca relatively straightforward derelict terrace in Homerton\u201d and embarked on its nine-month conversion. The second, a dilapidated warehouse off Stoke Newington Church Street, was bought off-market in 2017 through development finance with Lloyds Bank. \u201cThe only access was through a doctor\u2019s surgery,\u201d Davies says, explaining how he had to negotiate access \u201cacross a car park off the back of it\u201d and dig a 90m-long service trench across third-party land. He won several architectural awards for the effort.<\/p>\n

\"ManGroundworks started in January 2022<\/p>\n

\"ConstructionIt took 19 months for the planning application to be approved<\/p>\n

The proceeds from those two developments went towards the Greenview House plot, his most ambitious project yet. \u201cI thought that there couldn\u2019t be anything more complicated, but I was completely wrong,\u201d Davies says. With the backdrop of the pandemic, material price hikes due to war in Ukraine, and a data breach in October 2020 at Hackney council \u2014 resulting in their planning application taking 19 months to be approved \u2014 the build ended up taking four years, becoming \u201can ever-present part of our relationship\u201d.<\/p>\n

The initial \u201cRubik\u2019s Cube\u201d was working out the \u201cvertical circulation\u201d, ie a compliant escape route from the basement. \u201cOnce we figured out the layout, a lot fell into place,\u201d says Davies, who adds that his partner \u201calmost took on a client role\u201d. \u201cIf Sophie said, I need to see that in 3D, I\u2019d model it for her and show lots of options.\u201d<\/p>\n

The addition of light wells and wall build-ups left just 33 sq m (355 sq ft) of usable area at ground-floor level. \u201cIn small spaces, every aspect of the design has to work hard and either do one thing really well or multiple things at the same time to justify its inclusion,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Groundworks kicked off in January 2022. Another layer of complication were the neighbours. The adjoining Butterfield House was then an empty site, bought by an architect at auction three years before. \u201cWe suggested building together [as] there were cost and carbon footprint savings that we could share,\u201d Davies says. Once planning was granted, the basements of Greenview and Butterfield Houses were built over the next two months. A one-bedroom house on the other side of Greenview was constructed well over a decade ago. \u201cIn order to build the houses, we had to relocate all the services that were laid below ground without permission. There were lots of nasty surprises; it\u2019s traumatic thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A small access route connecting Greenview House and the two other properties to Milton Grove was purchased separately from a third party \u2014 \u201cthe best \u00a320,000 I ever spent\u201d \u2014 and now houses the shared energy meter, a green roof-topped bike and bin storage, and an air source heat pump.<\/p>\n

It took just five days for the CLT superstructure for both houses to go up (\u201cwe had to close the road off \u2014 it ended up being a bit of an event\u201d) and pooling resources with the neighbour meant other benefits such as reduced party wall thickness and using less concrete below ground.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went with separate contractors for the fit-out, on very different timescales. We\u2019d probably have run out of money a lot sooner if we hadn\u2019t shared the costs. It was great until we got above ground; they\u2019re very different buildings and trying to waterproof them when you\u2019re not moving at the same pace became a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next on the agenda was cladding and the interior fit-out. \u201cWe were here for about a year with a temporary kitchen and no flooring. It was still a bit of a building site, but it was [building control] compliant, so we were able to move in [in February 2024]. All the carpentry, including the floors and the stairs, was the last thing that happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked being here every day with the contractors, but it was Sophie\u2019s first experience of something like this,\u201d Davies says. \u201cIt was really exciting at the start, but she ended up getting dragged into this very stressful, disruptive way of living. I felt completely responsible for her experience. There was a lot of guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arranged over three floors, Greenview House has an upside-down layout with the main womb-like bedroom and flexible library\/office\/guest bedroom on the concrete-floored lower-ground level. Davies is a \u201cterrible sleeper\u201d so \u201chaving the bedrooms in the quietest, darkest place in the house made a lot of sense\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AThe main bedroom and flexible library\/office\/guest bedroom is on the concrete-floored lower-ground levelNick Dearden<\/p>\n

\"ATriple-glazed windows, solar panels and MVHR system means the house has an excellent EPC rating of 97 (A)Nick Dearden<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a \u201csuper efficient\u201d compact shower room on this floor, with pop-out storage below the stairs. On the ground level is the kitchen\/diner, featuring a pared-back palette and bespoke oak cabinetry, with a backdrop of a 3m-high green wall. The first floor houses a spa-like bathroom with a roof light and a double-aspect living room; a picture window frames the verdant views of the park beyond. The vantage point of this gallery-like light-filled living room is beloved by the couple\u2019s whippet, Dylan: \u201cHe\u2019s a bit of a sun worshipper \u2014 and he\u2019s nosy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, the works ended up costing \u00a3550,000; a relatively high \u00a3650 per sq ft. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot,\u201d Davies acknowledges. \u201cA smaller house with green technologies always means a higher cost per square foot.\u201d Triple-glazed windows, solar panels and a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery [MVHR] system result in a top energy performance rating of A.<\/p>\n

\"James\u201cThe build became an ever-present part of our relationship\u201dNick Dearden<\/p>\n

\"A\u201cDylan is a bit of a sun worshipper \u2014 and he\u2019s nosy\u201dNick Dearden<\/p>\n

Greenview House is a triumph, albeit one that has cost the couple more than they\u2019d hoped. With loans to repay, they are gearing up to swap London for southwest England. \u201cWe\u2019re very sad to leave, but we want to start a family. We have a connection to Dorset through Sophie\u2019s family. That was always the end goal,\u201d Davies says.<\/p>\n

The self-build bug has the couple gripped, however. \u201cThe agreement was that while we\u2019re trying to move and start a family that we would move into somewhere, but even just yesterday, Soph was talking about finding a plot.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ManThe kitchen\/diner is located on the ground floorNick Dearden<\/p>\n

\"AIt features a pared-back palette and bespoke oak cabinetryNick Dearden<\/p>\n

\"AThe first floor houses a double-aspect living roomNick Dearden<\/p>\n

\"GreenviewIn total, the works ended up costing \u00a3550,000; a relatively high \u00a3650 per sq ftNick Dearden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The architect James Davies admits, with a wry smile, that his taste in renovation projects is \u201cproblematic\u201d. After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-398913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}