Building the perfect waterside getaway

Beautiful Backwater, nestling at the heart of the Norfolk Broads, is an award-winning holiday home designed by architect Patrick Michell, who told us about the highs and lows on the journey to building this very special place.

After overcoming a host of construction challenges in true Grand Designs style – including building on ‘reinforced water’ – Patrick has ended up with a stunning and life-enhancing holiday home in a natural setting that is balm to the soul of everyone who stays there.

Capital of the Broads

The clue to the location of Backwater is in the name. It sits on a secluded private lagoon on the outskirts of Wroxham, the village known as the ‘capital’ of the Norfolk Broads National Park.

Backwater back story

The story of the house began when Patrick set out to buy a plot to build on or a fixer-upper to renovate to create a holiday home his family could both rent out as an investment and enjoy themselves.

He recalls, “We were looking for a site with a beautiful natural setting that would draw you in. I looked all over the place not just in the Broads – which had always been a fabled place in my family – because opportunities don’t come up there very often.”

Inspiration

His inspiration was the Living Architecture project set up by Alain de Botton.

This is a scheme that has seen some of the country’s top architects design exceptional contemporary homes to use as holiday rentals, with the aim of promoting great modern design, and giving the general public the chance to experience living in these unique places.

Celebrated holiday lets in the company’s portfolio include the House for Essex by FAT Architecture and Grayson Perry, and Peter Zumthor’s striking Secular Retreat in Devon.

Mission to create an extraordinary place

As an architect, Patrick wanted to create his own extra special getaway, where both his family and guests could reconnect with loved ones in beautiful surroundings.

So in the end he settled on a dilapidated waterside bungalow near Wroxham, and set about creating his own exceptional holiday home where people could take time out of their ordinary lives in an extraordinary place.

Dilapidated pile

Patrick, who runs Platform 5 Architects, recalls, “We were looking for somewhere within a couple of hours or so of London.

“The bungalow that was on the site was falling down. It had failed to sell at auction a few times, I think.

“It was a bit of hotchpotch from different periods, and basically beyond repair.

“It sat on timber piles that had sunk into the ground. So, when you went in there, the ground floor was undulating like a wave.

“And, when the water level rose in winter, parts of the ground floor were underwater. So it had to go. But that gave us a chance to start from scratch and build our dream holiday home.

“Once we’d determined that the old house couldn’t be salvaged, I set out to design a stylish modern counterpoint to the more traditionally designed neighbouring houses.

“My aim was to create simple, contemporary living spaces that would give wonderful views of the surroundings and let anyone staying in the house connect with nature.

Planning permission

“We had looked at another site on the Broads, but the planners had come back and said they didn’t want that property to be demolished.

“But when we talked to them about demolishing this one, they felt it had little architectural merit, and said they were happy for it to be demolished and replaced with a high-quality new build.

“So the planning journey was pretty easy – in fact I’ve gone on to design other houses on the Broads and continued to have a good relationship with the Broads Authority. The construction, on the other hand, was a bit more challenging…

‘Reinforced water’

“The site is peat down to a depth of about five metres. My structural engineer described the ground as ‘reinforced water’.

“It’s got zero loadbearing capacity, and it tends to shrink as it dries out.

Piles

“So the house is built on about 50 piles down to the chalk layer, which is about 10 metres down.

“Then the body of the house sits on this galvanized steel grillage on the piles, which lifts it out the flood zone.

‘Building in a swamp’

“It was a little bit like building in a swamp at the beginning. Pretty much as soon as we started the water level came up.

“All the quay heading along the bank – which holds the site in – was pretty old and falling apart.

“Half the site disappeared under water, and all our reference points disappeared as well. So they had to set out using GPS.

Difficult access

Access was also tricky. Patrick explains, “The access road is a private road that could only really take a van.

“You can’t get concrete lorries or heavy plant down there. So I had to design a lightweight house with components that could be got in the back of a van or pickup.

“All the steel was sized so it could go in the back of a Transit.

Highly insulated and timber framed

“The house is timber-framed, so that made it easy to transport the components, and we minimised the use of concrete and wet trades.

“Any concrete we did use had to be hand-mixed. We needed a bit for the piles and pile caps, but the rest was all dry construction.

“This also aligned with our aim to make the house highly insulated with low emissions and embodied carbon.

“The timber frame and cladding sequester carbon, which is a much more sustainable way of building than using traditional masonry walls.

“The local builders were old school. They could read drawings really well, and loved building a timber-framed house. They were great.”

And the final result of the trades’ hard work – and Patrick’s perseverance through the tricky build – is a really wonderful place.

Pitched roof

The house is arranged as three low-rise bays with pitched roofs that echo the local Broads boat sheds.

“It’s covered in wooden shingles, the ones on the roof and walls are blackened to dramatic effect.

“Each bay has a different volume and is orientated to face different views across the wetland landscape that surrounds the house.

Double-height living space

The double-height vaulted living space faces onto woodland and a network of drainage dykes that teem with wildlife, whilst the central bay has panoramic views across the private lagoon.

The bedroom wing has smaller framed views of the reedbeds and jetty.

The central bay of the house contains a large kitchen and dining area, and flows into the living space that is sub-divided by a steel-clad fireplace and bookshelves.

Broken plan

A simple broken-plan arrangement allows for flexible living and accommodates family life by allowing different activities to take place simultaneously through the use of timber sliding doors.

Bedrooms

The house’s four bedrooms occupy the third bay, and are split over two floors, connected by an impressive spiral staircase that rises from the entrance hallway.

Each space has a carefully designed layout with built-in furniture to set the scene for family life.

Garden

In the garden, plants were chosen that would thrive in the semi-aquatic conditions – including ornamental versions of native Broads species – to create a garden that is in harmony with its watery environs.

The planting was selected by Tom Hoblyn, a regular Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner who is also a specialist in wetland planting.

He and Patrick have gone on to collaborate on several more garden projects.

Wonderful wildlife

Patrick enthuses, “The nature around the house is so special. We have otters nearby – you can see two or three otters playing literally a few meters away from you; kingfishers dart past; and we’ve seen clouds of dragonflies. It’s really very special.”

Veranda

Deep eaves emphasise the house’s bold silhouette and provide sheltered external living spaces that are useable across the seasons.

These reference the verandas of the neighbouring Edwardian riverside chalets along the main river.

This modern take on the veranda is one of the most successful aspects of the build. It’s a wonderful spot to sit and experience the outdoors no matter the weather.

One guest even slept out on the veranda so that he could wake up with the otters.

Patrick says, “The veranda is quite a common feature of Broads houses and cabins, because of the influence of colonial architecture on Broads bungalows in the early 20th century.

“Now, with the growing emphasis in building regulations on preventing overheating, a veranda is a wonderful way to create outdoor living spaces that can be used all year round – and stop internal spaces from overheating in the summer, because the roof shades the glazing.

“Our veranda is south-facing and the light bounces off the water.

“You can sit out there all year round – if the sun’s out, you can sit there in a t-shirt in December.”

A veranda is a feature well worth thinking about if you are contemplating your own grand design.

“Historically more common in hotter places because of the shade they offer, verandas will come into their own here too as the climate warms.

“Plus, they are also a wonderful place to sit in the rain – sheltered yet outdoors – and watch the world go by.

Swallows and Amazons

Patrick adds, “I just love the idea you could take a boat from outside your house out to the North Sea if you wanted to.”

His older two children – aged ten and 13, who have recently been joined by a young sister – love messing about in boats, Swallows and Amazon style.

And Patrick feels their adventures have taught them a great deal about being safe on the water.

Guests at the property who want to take to the water themselves have use of a Canadian canoe.

Therapeutic getaways

Patrick, partner Lauren and the children spend as much time as they can at Backwater.

He reflects, “Our experience of going there as a family, and the feedback we get from all the guests as well, has taught me the therapeutic value of having this kind of place to escape.

“It’s so relaxing, particularly if you’ve got some busy London lifestyle. All our guests come here and tell us that they reconnected as a family.”

He continues, “Having the house has changed our family life immeasurably for the better. Being immersed in nature has been so beneficial.

“It’s helped us relax and connect as a family. I firmly believe good modern architecture can help you live closer to nature.”

More beautiful homes

As well as a host of larger scale commercial, cultural and housing projects, Patrick’s firm Platform 5 has a portfolio full of other stunning private home builds, such as this Gallery House near St Albans, this very modern barn conversion, the brilliant Book Tower House, and the wonderful shoffice (shed-cum-office). (Well worth a look…)

Find out more

You can find out more about Backwater and make a booking here.

Project details

Gross internal floor area:165m² (house), 20m² (boathouse)

Architect: Platform 5

Structural engineer: Morph Structures

Planting designer: Thomas Hoblyn Landscape and Garden Design

Quantity surveyor: Richard Utting Associates

M&E: p3r

AV consultant: Buth Robinson

Flood risk assessment: Evans River and Coastal

Party-wall surveyor: David Bullen

Ecologist: Wild Frontier Ecology

Main contractor: Wroxham Builders

Spiral stair: EeStairs

Architectural and internal metalwork: K Rackham & Son Engineering

Steel frame: Newnham Structures

Sliding glass doors: Maxlight

Water borehole: Panks

Triple-glazed windows: Velfac

Barn and entrance doors: Acre Joinery

Joinery: Windboats

Ironmongery: Allgood

Shingles: John Brash

Lighting: Atrium, Deltalight, Davey Lighting, Tom Dixon, Collingwood, John Cullen Lighting

Sanitaryware: Duravit, Catalano, Hansgrohe, Dornbracht

Worktop: Silestone

Tiles: Solus

Limestone: Gareth Davies

Decking: Gripdeck

Fireplace: Westfire

Annual CO₂ emissions:14.26kg/m