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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| An underground extension beneath the garden lawn | An underground extension beneath the garden lawn |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| By Neil Bowdler BBC News, Ilford, Greater London | By Neil Bowdler BBC News, Ilford, Greater London |
| The Ilford home of school teacher Marian Myers and her family appears little different to the other chalet-style homes on this tree-lined road. | The Ilford home of school teacher Marian Myers and her family appears little different to the other chalet-style homes on this tree-lined road. |
| There are signs of renovation - extensions in the roof line and one to the rear - but nothing unusual. | |
| Even the back garden looks like any other, until you notice the square glass windows in the ground - one in the decking, the other beneath a children's slide. | Even the back garden looks like any other, until you notice the square glass windows in the ground - one in the decking, the other beneath a children's slide. |
| In fact, underneath almost the entire garden is a large underground extension, measuring some four by 10 metres. | In fact, underneath almost the entire garden is a large underground extension, measuring some four by 10 metres. |
| The route to the below-garden extension is through a door in the kitchen which leads down to a play room populated by prams and glitter balls. It is very light - and large. | The route to the below-garden extension is through a door in the kitchen which leads down to a play room populated by prams and glitter balls. It is very light - and large. |
| "It's a bit of subterranean living in urban Ilford," Ms Myers says as we stare up to the garden and sky above us. | "It's a bit of subterranean living in urban Ilford," Ms Myers says as we stare up to the garden and sky above us. |
| "It's soundproof as well, which is great when you've got five or six children in here. We've lost no garden at all upstairs and gained so much space downstairs. It's brilliant." | "It's soundproof as well, which is great when you've got five or six children in here. We've lost no garden at all upstairs and gained so much space downstairs. It's brilliant." |
| So soundproof, indeed, that when the children want to communicate from the garden by knocking on the windows, she can't hear anything. | So soundproof, indeed, that when the children want to communicate from the garden by knocking on the windows, she can't hear anything. |
| "It's a perfect solution," she laughs. | "It's a perfect solution," she laughs. |
| The room is lit by two bullet-proof roof lights and features a ventilation system and a pump to remove waste from an adjoining shower room. | |
| Existing planning laws would have made such a large extension above ground impossible. | |
| The extension is the work of Stuart Moss of Underground Living, a builder and planning consultant. It's his first such project and came in at £120,000. | |
| Innovative thinking | Innovative thinking |
| He says the idea came to him when he looked at the need for space in his own house. | |
| "We were running out of space at home - children growing up, getting bigger and we were just thinking 'What's the next stage if they can't afford to move out?'" he told BBC News. | "We were running out of space at home - children growing up, getting bigger and we were just thinking 'What's the next stage if they can't afford to move out?'" he told BBC News. |
| "That's where the crazy idea came from - can we live underground and build underground?" | "That's where the crazy idea came from - can we live underground and build underground?" |
| Ms Myers' home is by no means the first house in the UK to go underground. Several subterranean "eco-houses" have been built, using earth to insulate the home - not least the former Manchester United footballer Gary Neville's "flower house". | |
| There has been a drive too within more salubrious postcodes of the country to excavate basements to create more space. This has included applications - some successful, others not - to go under the garden. | |
| The planning application for the Ilford extension was considered by the planning team at the local Redbridge council offices. | The planning application for the Ilford extension was considered by the planning team at the local Redbridge council offices. |
| "It's not the sort of run-of-the-mill mill application that you would normally expect to receive," planning officer Alan Romain told the BBC. | "It's not the sort of run-of-the-mill mill application that you would normally expect to receive," planning officer Alan Romain told the BBC. |
| "If we had that depth of extension which was on the garden itself, then it would be unlikely to get planning permission. | "If we had that depth of extension which was on the garden itself, then it would be unlikely to get planning permission. |
| "But the only part of the development which would be visible to a local resident were the roof lights, and members were quite happy if that was the only effect there was, then planning permission should be granted." | "But the only part of the development which would be visible to a local resident were the roof lights, and members were quite happy if that was the only effect there was, then planning permission should be granted." |
| "It's a very innovative way of retaining garden space yet also providing additional floor space" | "It's a very innovative way of retaining garden space yet also providing additional floor space" |
| A radio report on the underground extension will feature on Radio 4's PM programme Thursday at 5pm | A radio report on the underground extension will feature on Radio 4's PM programme Thursday at 5pm |