The project
There are lots of things to consider when tackling your self-build – especially when your property is located in the flood zone for the River Thames! Nick and Roxy Creak and their project team managed to overcome the challenges posed by the nearby waterway on their build, with Point 1 Building Systems designing and erecting the TEK Building System on stilts – safely clear of potential flood waters.
The design
The couple purchased the plot in Shepperton back in 2022. The existing single storey home that stood on the property was fairly dated and poorly insulated. They decided to demolish and start fresh, appointing SCd Architects to design the home and project managed the build themselves. The architects developed a stunning contemporary design with a double pitched roof, utilising metal cladding and timber soffit linings to invoke a marine aesthetic.
With its location just 8 metres from the river, the property needed to be raised on piled foundations to keep it above the potential flood heights. A steel frame with a beam and block floor was erected on the foundations to form a solid base. The couple considered a number of different options for the structural walls and roof of the house as homeowner Roxy explained:
“We knew we wanted something highly insulated that would be fast to go up and affordable. It also needed to be a proven system that we could get a mortgage on. The TEK Building System ticked all the boxes. Our build was BBA compliant 142 mm TEK SIPs for the walls and 172 mm panels for the pitched roofs. The panels also came with a huge range of calculated details with low psi-values – helping the design team to limit thermal bridges. The delivery partners, Point 1 Building Systems, also gave us confidence with their proven track record having worked on over 200 projects in the past decade.”
The TEK panels feature a proprietary jointing system which allows for excellent insulation continuity across the building envelope and, in combination with the OSB/3 facing, also allows the construction of highly airtight properties. To ensure good air quality within the property, a mechanical ventilation heat recovery system was also specified. This uses the warmth from outgoing stale air to heat, incoming fresh air, further limiting heating demand. This remaining demand could then be met with an air source heat pump connected to an underfloor heating system within the house.
Reviewed April 2026
