Grand Designs: the Northern Ireland family upsizing to 'a big empty shed to live in' just outside Belfast

The old ramshackle shed at the bottom of the garden is becoming thing of the past, with home owners cleverly re-inventing the cobweb filled home of the lawn-mower into an office, summer house or even self-contained flat.

But no shed project is quite as ambitious as the one taken on by husband and father of two boys, Micah Jones — architect and shed fanatic.

When Micah and wife Elaine looked to upsize in Belfast they couldn't afford what they wanted on their budget, so they decided to live in a caravan while building their own home outside of the city, in County Down.

With an extremely tight budget and an even tighter timeline, basing the design on

Micah’s favourite wooden structure was the obvious choice.

"We haven’t been too sophisticated about the design, it is essentially a big empty shed to live in,” he says at the beginning of the build.

The couple bought a dilapidated old agricultural building on 0.6 acres of land for £80,000. Then immediately knocked it down.

The design of their new home followed the long rectangular footprint of the original structure, and the stone was saved to clad the bottom half of the building. “A reminder of what was here before,” says Micah.

The resulting family home on Northern Island's County Downs, is a tale of two constructions — essentially a timber box on top of a concrete box: "uncomplicated... because life is complicated enough,” says Elaine.

The simplicity is testament to the attention to detail of the design, where even the roof is supported from the outside, to create a a clean feel inside.

In total, it took about a year to build this four-bedroom upside-down family home — an impressive feat.

The building's exterior quickly took shape within the first couple of months. The bedrooms and two bathrooms are contained in the bottom half of the house.

Using large bricks, simple construction techniques and a lot of manpower, the 2.5 metre structure was erected in just three weeks.

The top half is made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, delivered from Austria put together within hours. It houses the semi-open plan living space with a kitchen, dining area, small study and toilet.

The structure was clad in larch wood and corrugated panels on the roof complete the shed-like appearance of the upper floor.

Inside, the two floors are connected by stairs constructed from the CLT off cuts — as are the kitchen tiles, which were painstakingly painted by Elaine.

Skylights and large windows make the most of the sweeping views and highly-reflective concrete flooring helps to maximise the light.

Downstairs, floor-to-ceiling windows and doors open straight out on to the rolling agricultural land.

"Piecing together your family home is quite special,” says Micah.

A typical understatement from an architect who has created a building that is both imposing yet modest, one that blends perfectly into the landscape — and all for a total of £245,000.

It’s foremost a home for their family. But it’s also a showcase for the best of modern architecture blended with a sustainable outlook and a desire to re-use materials, rather than waste them. It’s a shed worth living in.