Environmental Consultant’s London Eco-Conversion
A Victorian family house in London’s trendy Camberwell, SE5, has been renovated and extended to become a sustainable eco home.
Environmental Consultant Marieke Heijnen (31) lives as environmentally friendly a life as possible. Her career is dedicated to improving sanitation facilities in developing countries*, she travels by bicycle, and buys locally sourced goods. She loves the nearby organic cafes and many independent shops which East Dulwich has to offer and has put her money where her mouth is in transforming a period home into something quite cutting edge in eco-conversions, using only ‘sensibly sourced’ and sustainable materials.
Marieke and her lawyer husband Nick Roberts (36) have spent the last eighteen months transforming their home. Marieke explains: “We would love to have built a completely zero carbon eco-home from scratch, but that’s generally not feasible in London for cost and space reasons. This project has been fascinating though, learning how we can convert a very un-environmentally friendly period house into something we are really proud of.”
The couple have extended the house, using FSC-certified sustainably sourced European oak; they have recycled/upcycled kitchen units where possible, used slate flooring in the kitchen and terrace sourced from Mandarin Stone (which carefully manages and monitors it’s environmental impact in the sourcing of its products). The garden has been planted with bee-friendly flora and ‘composting worms’ in their garden ‘wormery’ take care of any food waste.
The renovation has included installation of a super-efficient wet thermostatic controlled underfloor heating system. Heat retention has been maximised with large argon-filled double-glazed windows and folding sliding doors in the extension and all the original sash windows have been reconditioned and double glazed. In addition, the works included ‘super-insulating’ the property using highly effective and environmentally-friendly insulation. Further, low energy LED lighting has been installed, including in the garden.
*Marieke Heijnen is an expert in global water, sanitation and hygiene. Having worked in Malawi, DRC and Sierra Leone, she is now PhD candidate and research assistant within at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is currently working on developing and improving sustainable shared sanitation systems in India, with a view to rolling such systems out across the developing world.
Marieke and Nick’s home is a generously proportioned, five bedroom Victorian terraced house, over three floors, in Bromar Road, on the border of Camberwell
Grove and East Dulwich. Regular trains run from Denmark Hill station to Victoria (journey time from 9 minutes according to www.thetrainline.com) and Blackfriars (journey time from 11 minutes). Marieke and Nick are selling their home as they are moving to the Middle East. The house is for sale with GJM Property for £1,350,000.
For further information telephone Gareth James Property on: 020 7732 4330 or go on www.gjmproperty.co.uk
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For further information please see: www.GJMproperty.co.uk
Press contact: Julia Arnold, Sky Communications International, 01403 711 639
email: julia.arnold@skycommunications.co.uk
Press Contact:
Julia Arnold
Sky Communications International
44 (0)1403 711 639
julia.arnold@skycommunications.co.uk
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