Hindover is a two-story brick and rendered house set on a part-elevated corner plot, originally known as 'Downsview House'. The site includes on-site parking, two garages, with a wrap around garden. The house has four bedrooms and a large open-plan living area. It is located within Seaford’s Planning Boundary but outside the Conservation Area and South Downs National Park.

Carol Smyth and Giles Ings RIBA, are undertaking a comprehensive retrofit of their 1930s home, Hindover, located in Seaford. The project emphasizes a "fabric first" approach, focusing on improving the environmental efficiency of the home within the constraints of the existing construction and a tight budget. This major renovation to improve thermal elements, including replacement windows and doors aims to meet current Part L and Part G Building Regulations standards, improving fabric efficiency, construction air-tightness, and thermal performance. A whole-house MVHR system is crucial to the retroFIT's success. Future work will focus on achieving high water efficiency standards and further reducing heat loss and air leakage.

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Key RetroFIT Activities

Initial work

A whole house scaffolding is in place.
Carol, Giles, and their 17-year-old son have begun the project by stripping off the render, removing two redundant chimneys, adjusting ground levels to suit external wall insulation details and removing gutters, downpipes and soffits.
The builders have recently joined the project, making modifications to the main roof. Non-essential windows have been infilled and the exterior brickwork has been repaired. A scratch coat render has been applied to all brickwork.
Single storey pitched roofs have been stripped down to ceiling levels. New joists provide a structurally upgrade. Rigid insulation, laid to a fall, with OSB over boarding now forms the base to the grp ‘warm’ flat roofs.
uPVC windows and bi-fold doors are being replaced NorDan Timber/Alu Composite triple-glazed units.
Huge efforts are being made to achieve airtight construction and minimise cold bridging.

Future plans

The retroFIT will ensure continuous insulation between the roof ridge to eaves, down the external walls, across warm flat roofs and continuing down to dpc level. The external walls are prepped for thermal upgrading and a new light weight render system.
A Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) system is in the design phase.
Details like flush threshold door cills and insulation continuity are under
discussion.
The project also includes plans for a sedum living roof and the use of grp roofs makes these viable.