This rocky retreat follows another where water plays a central role. Herford and Lyons were called in to see a listed property near Reading which, located in a floodplain, had been badly damaged. The client, with five boys aged eight to 15, wanted to protect the main house but also connect three disparate, flood-prone outbuildings. Prefabricated, flexible structures (a guest house and playroom) were built off-site and placed on stilts, joined to the main house by glass links above a natural swimming lake – with plenty of room for rising water levels. There is also an overflow facility in case of excess water which will save the period property from being flooded again.
Clever planning that plays with water is not the preserve of luxury projects, however. Futuristic and experimental masterplanning is under way in Glasgow to enable thousands of families to live in formerly flood-risk areas. The £17 million “Sponge City” scheme will combine sensor and predictive weather technology with the 250-year-old Forth & Clyde canal network to unlock 110 hectares of urban land to deliver 3,000 new homes.
The technology will provide early warnings of wet weather lowering the water levels in smart canals by as much as 4in. Excess water in residential areas and business districts can be directed into these granite channels.
Other new villages being built on flood zones include Barker’s 215-home resilient neighbourhood. His plans were given the green light this year in the flooding hotspot of Shoeburyness, a coastal town which is just south of Southend-on-Sea.
The land will be raised 10ft above sea level, and a series of ponds and ditches will absorb water from flash floods. The neighbourhood, called Garrison Gardens, will also include a health centre and a community hub.
New holiday homes are being built on the Silverlake eco-estate in Dorset, which used to be a Second World War airfield. Owner-investors can rent them out when they’re not using them.
The latest phase, Sheppard’s View, has 38 homes, overlooks wetlands with views towards Puddletown Forest and has a jetty so that residents can use the estate’s canoes, kayaks and paddleboards on the lake. The community has been built above the water table, but should there be a very wet winter there is a flood attenuation system meaning the lakes balance themselves releasing water gently into the local River Frome catchment, along with a system of vegetated lakes, ponds and ditches to collect more water. Prices start from £560,000 (habitatfirstgroup.com).
When moving to an area which could, in the future, become flood-prone, Knight Frank’s building consultant Henry Longton advises on buying a plot where there is space to plant lots of trees to help suck up excess water but also absorb carbon emissions.
He has other, more surprising, tips too. Such as “Don’t rule out listed buildings – they have withstood the elements over time,” and “Consider thatched roofs, which are highly insulated and sustainable.”
For those who don’t want to move or build a house from scratch, there are plenty of simple ways to flood-proof a property, and most involve rethinking the garden.
Barker recommends adding ponds and sunken gardens and flood walls at the edge of the boundary rather than closer to the house. “Water finds a way down so build a step up to your home,” he says.
Living with other climate changes
Flooding is not the only elemental threat to humanity if climate change is not slowed. It is closely followed by extreme heat, with serious health consequences for the most vulnerable, the elderly, those with chronic or severe illness and the very young. The UK’s average annual temperature is expected to rise by between 0.5C and 1C by 2040, depending on the region, the BBC reports.
“This means ensuring the buildings we design and renovate today will still be comfortable as summer temperatures increase,” says Murray. Bringing it back to the capital, he says: “Ironically, given London’s wet climate, the capital also faces a risk of drought, with a significant water deficit predicted by 2040.”
The use of shutters is becoming more commonplace and is one way to retrofit the endless rows of glass skyscrapers that have been erected over the past three decades.
The construction group Tide is building a 550-apartment development at 101 George Street in Croydon. On completion it will comprise two of the world’s tallest modular towers, part-built in a factory and put together on site, at 44 and 38 floors. The buildings will be clad in green perforated terracotta panels that let in light but keep the heat out, therefore creating thermal stability.
Property valuer Annabel King, with her husband Chris and their three children, built her own fashionable glass home in Guildford 19 years ago. But as the children flew the nest she realised it was too big for them and not resilient to a rise in temperature. The couple have now bought a 1960s bungalow in the city centre, separated from the River Wey by parkland.
Working to an initial budget of £500,000, they have retained the foundations and concrete slab on a tight plot. “In terms of building a carbon neutral or negative house, we wanted to reuse as much of the existing materials as possible,” she explains.
On top of the slab they will put a SIPs (structural insulated panels) system, which should go up this month. These are prefabricated insulated panels that slot into one another and fit so snugly that it is hard to find a better insulated house.
On the ground floor, King, who works for Knight Frank, has opted for bricks rather than the cheaper brick slips. A lightweight timber system can heat up and cool down quickly, unlike full bricks, she explains, so it will better protect the house against overheating. She has also opted for triple glazing over double, which she says was not much more expensive.
King seems very knowledgeable but her starting point was to go to an environmental agency in Brighton called Earthwise.
“They ran the design through PHPP (passive house planning package) heating requirements which helped us work out whether we needed to reduce the size of the roof lights to stop overheating. In fact, we did have to alter the ratio of glass to wall and we also added shutters on the outside of the south-facing windows.”
Like the Barkers, the Kings are using a large irrigation tank to store excess rainwater, reusing it on their garden which has plenty of planting and places for the water to run to. They hope to be in their new 2,750-sq-ft, four-bedroom, water-resilient and carbon-neutral home by next summer.
After all, it is not just about living with the impacts of climate change, such as flooding and overheating, but designing homes that help pause or slow the climbing water levels and rising temperatures, too.
Living close to blue space has huge wellbeing benefits – both physically and psychologically – but only when water is in the right place, otherwise it can be devastating.
“I don’t believe we must suddenly shy away from living by water, but we need to better understand natural processes and how we have impacted them,” says Barker.
“We need to learn how better to live with water, to give space to water, and to be resilient, if we are to cope with its more frequent presence in our lives.”
Buying in a floodplain
Buying in a floodplain is, more often than not, a lifestyle choice. People are prepared to take the risk to launch a paddleboard from their back garden and feed the ducks from their windows. But you will need to have your eyes open and deep pockets:
- All surveys include a flood-risk assessment but it’s easy to do it yourself too. Use the UK flood map (flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk)
- Assess the risk based on how frequently the area has flooded
- The insurance sector is bringing in a government-backed Flood Performance Certificate (to work like an Energy Performance Certificate – EPC). Watch this space
- Be prepared for extra costs. The property may actually cost more as living by the water is so desirable, plus the risk of flooding will increase your insurance premium
- Mitigate the chance of flooding by building a bund wall at the edge of the plot
- Create a step up to the house, not down
- Plant trees and sunken ponds – give the water somewhere else to go
- All electricity points should be at least 30in above the ground
- Fitting non-return valves in drains can be a useful defence against flash floods
- Keep your valuables upstairs, not in the cellar
How to flood-proof your home
For those who already live in an area prone to flooding, or think it could be possible in the future, there are ways to prepare that are more sophisticated than sandbags, says Richard Coutts, architect of Baca. “But you should assume your home will flood and work from there.”
- Use horizontal not vertical plasterboarding. That way, you can take the bottom damaged strips off to repair damage, not the whole wall
- An air source heat pump is not only more energy efficient, it also blows warm air into the room, which is better for drying out a property
- Create sunken ponds and natural places for the water to go with planting that absorbs excess rainwater
- Install a large attenuation tank that releases water slowly into the community system
- Plant more trees, which suck up water
Tips to prepare your home for overheating
From architect Robert Barker
- Install a solar chimney. This stores natural heat energy but the suction at its bottom can cool and ventilate a house
- Plant deciduous trees to block the sun in the summer but let light in during the winter
- Have planting and vegetation inside the home to naturally cool and filter the air
- Install an indoor water feature to enhance evaporative cooling
- Use external shutters
- Install reflective heat blinds
- Reduce hard, dark surfaces
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