Our clients wanted to create their own ecosystem, capture and reuse as much of the groundwater, rainwater & waste water as humanly possible, and create their own Eco Retreat, for others to come and enjoy the beautiful, peaceful, tranquil environment we created.
The property is set in acres of countryside, but it is situated on a hill. We used the latest drone technology to scan the site aerially, using lidar, to give us a 3D topography of the area.
We were then able to establish where to place the first, sediment catching pond, at the top of the property, out of which runs a stream that meanders through the woodland, to arrive in the main holding lake.
With several smaller holding ponds spread out around the site, at the highest points, we designed a computer program, to control automatic gate valves, and the property’s intelligent pumping system, thus enabling us to fill the other holding ponds from the main lake. The system would also allow you to control the flow rate / speed of the stream, and we even incorporated a fountain just outside the front door which is supposed to bring prosperity in Feng Shui.
We then connected a drip irrigation system to each of the smaller ponds, that use gravity to drip irrigate acres of land used to grow fruit, vegetables, and a colourful array of plants. By designing the infrastructure this way, we only had to pump water up hill once each week, rather than everyday.
There was a hand dug well built many years ago, with perfectly clear, clean water, to a depth of around 18 metres. The old pump was broken and the pipes had eroded over time, as they had not been placed in a protective conduit, something we do with all of our pipes to ensure longevity.
The idea was to ‘future proof’ the property and so we set about renewing every single cable, pipe & waste pipe over the acres of land. Whilst we were at it, we also added the new irrigation / pumping system described above, a rainwater harvesting system, and enough solar panels to provide electricity for the whole site!
The well water was pumped into a 5,000 litre holding deposit, after it was passed through the first part of the filtration process, which removes any heavy metals from the water. Using a smaller pump, it was then passed through a water softener, a filter designed specifically to filter well water, and turn it into perfectly pure drinking water, and lastly, an ultraviolet light to kill any harmful bacteria!
The drinking water was then held in a second 5,000 litre holding deposit and directed to every tap on the property to provide drinking water to not only all of the human inhabitants, but the animals as well! We even installed an agitator to the holding deposit, so as if the water wasn’t being used for a while, it would not stagnate over time.
The property is fortunate enough to have a second bore hole, to a depth of around 100 metres, where water is also plentiful, so as a back up / fail safe to the hand dug wells water, we connected the bore hole to the water management facility as well. We automated the program, so as if the hand dug well ran out of water, the system would automatically switch to the bore hole and draw water from there instead.
From the very top of the property, all the way down to the main holding lake, and behind every building, we installed a land drainage / rain water harvesting system, to ensure flooding or damp problems, were never going to be an issue again!
This also enabled us to connect every roofs guttering into our system, and direct as much rainwater from the roofs as humanly possible, into the ponds. The land drains were strategically placed at points throughout the landscape, where we knew water build up to have been an issue in the past, and again, all directed into the ponds.
The concrete impression driveway, had a huge aco drain installed, that was connected directly to the top of the stream. The stream had a recirculatory pumping system, whereby a main pump in the water management facility, drew water from the main holding lake, and pumped it to the top of the stream, to ensure the water was moving / recirculating all of the time.
The Sewage Treatment Plant is suitable for a community of up to 18 people, and has an effluent water certificate, that certifies the discharge water from the plant, is clean enough to run into a running water course.
This is exactly why we imported this treatment plant from the United Kingdom, as it allowed us to take all of the property’s sewage and grey water, process it through the plant, and then allow the water discharged to run straight into the stream.
Just below the discharged water inlet into the stream, we installed several rows of reed beds, like in the picture, to further clean and purify the water running around the entire property. Baring in mind wildlife would be using the property’s water, we wanted to make sure it was as clean and safe for them as possible!
Our clients chose to use imprinted concrete for their driveway and a path to the house, and a different type of imprint for a large seating area, to eventually be equipped with a beautiful, wooden, round table with a huge lazy susan in the middle and chairs to match the wood of the table.
The driveway and path was finished in a rustic, brick effect, and in a sandy, earthy colour to blend into the surrounding landscape, and draw you down to the car park, which was all finished with crushed limestone, and is a similar colour to the concrete, but just different enough to distinctly transition from one to the other.
The seating area is lovely shades of lighter and darker grey and finished with the effect of a wooden floor. All of the wooden floor effect is staggered boards, as you would find with a traditional wooden floor, and even if I do say so myself, is a great imitation and lovely finish when done in concrete.
A coating of protective varnish was applied to the entire area, to protect it forever more. Lighting was cleverly thought about in positions that would beautiful up light trees, the stream, seating area and driveway at night.
Appropriately titled, this takes chicken luxury to the next level and also acts as a giant composter.
At the top of the hill, there are two large hatches which allow wheelbarrows of compostable vegetation to be poured directly into the top of the chicken coupe. The chickens then scratch this down the hill, eat it, digest it and then, yes, you guessed it, poop it back out, which in turn makes great fertiliser that helps breakdown anything the chickens don’t eat.
There are two coupes with six laying boxes in each and the boxes double up as seats inside the sheltered, roof covered part of the coupe. It is equipped with electricity for a small chick enclosure in the centre of the coupe, which is heavily insulated, and has a warm red light to allow you to put the small chicks straight in from birth, whilst also ensuring they are kept separate and safe from the rest of the chickens. There is even internal and external lighting, plug sockets, mains drinking water from the filtered well water, and also a water connection to the properties 100% recycled water system that is explained on our Project Three page.
Perches are set at the highest point possible in the coupe, cleverly designed so as they poo straight down onto the compost below, whilst also maintaining equilibrium in the coupe – aka the pecking order. The laying boxes have slide out, self cleaning trays in the bottoms of them, so as you can draw the tray out and all of the excrement falls into the compost heap below. There are also two sliding doors – one that enables you to section off half of the coupe for cleaning and compost removal, the second is the door to freedom for the chickens and into there fenced off run that spans roughly half an acre, whilst also keeping them safe from foxes and birds of prey.
The coupe has a single pitch roof that uses gutters to harvest rain water into an old reclaimed red wine barrel (don’t worry, it has been properly cleaned, lined, and is connected to mains water in case there is no rain!) that is connected to the automatic drinking systems in the coupe. We also built two automatic feeders which you can pour 25 kilograms of feed into each!
Then…..as if that wasn’t enough, our client also wanted the ability for his family to literally be able to ‘Chillout with the Chickens’ so we bought a made to measure net capable of supporting the whole family….and friends!
We called it ‘Long Acres Log Store’, as it is by far the longest log store we have ever built!
It can hold over 50 tonnes of wood comfortably, and with individual bays, you are easily able to stack all of your wood seasonally, so as you know which bay to use each year.
The store has a french drainage system built underneath it to ensure all of the wood stays dry 100% of the time. We used a wooden cladding to close off the back and left side of the store, but left the right hand open and created a chopping, splitting, and chainsawing area to safely cut the wood you want to store.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, we also installed lighting, sockets, and a gutter, that again, sent all of the roofs water into the rainwater harvesting system / stream of the property.
This a 4.5 metre x 6 metre victorian style greenhouse, finished in the colour forest green.
We chose to build a pad of steps outside of the greenhouse, so as we could increase the height of the walls the greenhouse would sit on, thus increasing the internal floor to ceiling height, to allow the growing of tropical plants that need the extra space.
Whilst we were building the perimeter walls, we built smaller internal walls, along three sides to create wicking beds for all your propagations and a whole load more space for growing!
The greenhouse has a deep, double butler sink, to wash all of the produce, and connected to this is a drip fed irrigation system that waters all of the plants. The greenhouse has lighting, sockets, automatically opening ventilation, and a huge amount of shelving / racking throughout.
It was designed to be a passive building, using airflow through the floor, and roof, to help regulate the inside temperature / heating and cooling of the building.
With two, spacious, double bedrooms, both en-suite, and stunning views of the main holding lake, what better place to come and spend a weeks holiday, totally unwind and relax, with full use of the retreats facilities.
Next to the accommodation, you have a large, open plan, kitchen, with a beautiful island, table and chairs to seat 16 people, and again, with beautiful views of the lake, and one of the properties vegetable gardens.
There is also a large storage room next to this and a services room that houses all the electric, heating, and water distribution to the building, and also the surrounding area.
The walls internally were to be plastered with lime, so as the walls can breath internally. The outside, clad in cork, providing a great layer of thermal insulation and also a finished aesthetic that totally blends into the surrounding woodland, with its many cork trees.
A year and a half into this project, the crypto currency market crashed, and very unfortunately, our clients lost the money they had set aside to finish the project.
We are still in contact with the clients, and have every hope that, in the not too distant future, they will have recovered enough money to be able to continue with the project and finish it in all its glory.
The retreat was supposed to host cooking classes, as the female client is a very keen, and very good cook! Yoga classes. Permaculture classes. Tours of the retreat, explaining exactly how all of the systems worked, to encourage others to take our working project, and create a more sustainable future for themselves and their families forevermore.
Anyone staying at the retreat, would have the option to be taken around many different growing spaces on the site, and harvest whatever seasonal fruit and vegetables they wanted for their meals each day.
Eventually there would also be a Farmyard Homestead created at the retreat, with a specially designed, large freezer room, to rotate your own meats. There would also be an equally as large fridge room, completely racked out with shelving to preserve and store every harvest!