lapd Architects worked with the team at Build It, to create a design that would be both informative and stunning. The functioning idea behind the project was to create a space that showcased the design possibilities and practical choices available to any given self-builder on their own self-build project.

The community that has been created around the Graven Hill project will directly benefit from the Education House. This community, who are all building their own home on the site, are in the process of transforming the local area through this first of its kind development project, headed up by Cherwell Council. Self-builders are a key component of the Graven Hill masterplan to regenerate this site. The Self Build Education House is designed to be a central meeting place for local tradespeople and self-builders to come into contact, creating a space where mutually beneficial connections between the supply chain and the end-users can be nurtured.

The Education House is all about transparency through showcasing the process of self-building and the products used to do so. Businesses and professionals that can satisfy the needs of the Graven Hill self-build community were invited to contribute to the project and now use the facility in its completed form. The Education House is a free to use and free to visit building for all members of the public. Beyond this, it houses members of the Build It team, the Graven Hill development team and bookable office space for tradespeople to use and meet with self-builders in. In creating a welcoming space that itself demonstrates so many of the techniques and processes of the self-build journey the Education House aims to inspire those who are at different stages of the process.

There will also be an impact beyond the local area as others come to explore the possibilities of self-build and benefit from encountering the close-knit community of like-minded self-builders that are gathering at Graven Hill. The Education House will facilitate these meetings and celebrate self-build’s contrast against non-bespoke developer housing. The building will eventually, once it has run its span as an educational facility, be sold as a residential home to cover the resource cost of the build. The project has been shortlisted for a RICS Social Impact Award 2020.

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