The steeply sloping site in their own garden proved a challenge for Alan and Joyce Titchener, who embarked on their first self-build project with the aid of Scandia-Hus.

"Our previous home was situated at the top of a six hundred foot contour and we decided to try to build another property below this in the steeply sloping garden," explained Alan Titchener.

Alan and Joyce, had lived for a number of years in their 1860, five-bedroom home and had over the years acquired additional land to enlarge their lower garden. The idea of self-build had been germinating for quite some time, with the couple keen to create a house to their own tastes, but happy to stay in the same location.

We started off with the idea of down-sizing, but the design just seemed to grow", Joyce explained. "The result is that our new home is not very different in area from the old one!"

One acre of garden was taken for the new house and it seemed only right to build a dwelling appropriate for such a spacious and unusual site, commanding good views across the North Downs. The Titcheners remained in their previous home throughout the building project, finally selling it prior to moving down the garden!

Having lived in a traditional timber home in the States for a number of years, the couple concluded that this was the best design of all the properties they had owned, finding it extremely warm during the cold winter months. After exploring various timber-frame package companies, Joyce was particularly taken with Scandia-Hus.

The company was created when Swedish born Gunnel Westley first came to live in the UK over thirty years ago and, although enchanted by the charm and elegance of the traditionally styled British homes, realised that houses in this country tended to be chilly, poorly insulated and draughty, with high fuel bills and costly maintenance requirements. In the beginning Scandia-Hus imported its frames from Sweden, but these days, although the timber and most of the components are imported from Sweden, the actual manufacture is undertaken at Scandia's own factory in Sussex.

In Sweden some 95 per cent of dwellings are pre-fabricated timber frame buildings, with closed panels providing a highly insulated airtight envelope. Using pre-insulated and glazed panels does not only ensure the uniform quality of the structure, but also cuts construction time to a minimum as the building programme does not get held up through the vagaries of the weather.

Located within easy reach of the company's base in East Grinstead, the Titcheners first visited the company's Showcentre in 1997 and were impressed by the quality of their products and the attentiveness of service. Over the following months discussions took place and in July of that year, Scandia-Hus provided the first quotations and drawings for the proposed house.

This was based on the Bornholm show-house design, a single storey home with the potential to put rooms in the roof, which has been adapted almost beyond recognition. Flexibility is one of the appeals of a Scandia-Hus home. Alan and Joyce opted to retain the top two floors of the design, but also created a basement beneath their new home, and designed the top floor as the main entrance to the house. The result is a 4,000 square foot, reverse-level property, with two bedrooms upstairs, the living rooms and two further bedrooms below and a basement area including an additional bedroom, a garden room and a hobby room, as well as a double garage.

"Scandia-Hus were very flexible," said Alan, "and using their computer-based design capabilities they were able to adjust their design to our individual requirements. I think they swallowed rather hard when they first saw our site which is on a slope of about one in three!" With a similarly steep road access some distance from the house itself, the build presented both Scandia-Hus and the builder with a considerable challenge.

The first application for planning permission was made in September 1997 and was rejected outright on the basis that the Highway Authority would not approve access. "We were surprised, to say the least," stated Joyce. "The existing vehicular access to our old property dates from the 1960's and was well established." The Titcheners decided to invite the Highway Authority to inspect the site for a second time and discussed these issues with them. By marginally adjusting the access, the authority withdrew their objection and, in January 1998 the planning application was re-submitted. This time the local authority had no objection to the proposed Scandia-Hus design. A number of Scandia projects built in the area ensured that they were not unfamiliar with the company or its work.

Predictable concerns arouse about trees and wildlife due to the fact that the site is located on the boundary of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A structural engineer, brought in to examine the chalk-based soil, initially suggested a twenty-one foot reinforced concrete retaining wall. However, he subsequently revised this design, using reinforced footings which, although expensive, worked out considerably less so than the initial scheme.

Alan and Joyce, who are retired, decided to employ a local family building contractor recommended by Scandia-Hus who specialises in the construction of Scandia buildings.

The builder purchased all additional materials and sub-contracted out to certain trades, constructing the brick and block basement and block and beam floors ready to take the timber frame in the spring of 1999.

Under normal circumstances the wall panels would have been larger and completely pre-fabricated. However, due to the difficult access to the site, the size of the panels were reduced as these had to be man-handled into the garden - in the pouring rain! Scandia-Hus normally expect to erect a watertight shell within seven days - depending on the size of the building - but, with the additional site and access problems, the Titcheners' frame took a further three days to reach completion.

The fully insulated, closed panels were finished on the outside with local Sussex bricks, using seconds to create an interesting mixture of textures and colours, ranging from black through to bright red.

The hipped roof was designed to a conventional Surrey style, and the Titcheners chose Redland Hedgerow Brown concrete roof tiles, sculptured to look like clay tiles. "The roof turned out to be one of the great successes of the house," said Alan. "It has aged rapidly and acquired some moss, with the colour darkening slightly to give the impression of a more mature property."

All the internal fittings were supplied by Scandia-Hus, using the show houses as guides. Natural wood architraves, pine staircases, ceiling panelling and skirtings, with beech veneered doors, complement the interiors. "The quality of the Scandinavian pine is so good that it would be a crime to cover it up," explained Joyce.

Sound insulation was a serious consideration before the couple committed to timber frame. They were unimpressed by the internal partitions in some of the newer buildings they had viewed but, with the extensive insulation and rubber seals to internal doors supplied by Scandia-Hus, they have been pleasantly surprised, as noise does not significantly transfer between rooms.

A galleried landing overlooks the sitting room, which is about sixteen feet high, with a vaulted, timbered ceiling and a large feature window making a light and spacious feature within the house.

"We hadn't really allowed for the cost of carpets and curtains and such like, which always seems to take the self-builder over budget," said Alan, " the requirement for specially designed reinforced foundations also added to the total bill, but we are extremely pleased with the finished property and would certainly choose timber frame again. If anything, it is bigger than we had envisaged and we could probably have reduced it in size and saved ourselves some money that way!"