A FUTURISTIC family home taking styling tips from the Thunderbirds’ Tracy Island and hidden underground like a top secret bunker is being built on and in Helsby Hill.
The grand design – code named Project Ijsberg as most of the house is buried deep into the hillside – has left walkers and other homeowners puzzling over what the development is.
Formerly the site of Hill Cottage, the Hill Road North subterranean home is being built by Widnes Viking rugby club chairman and haulage company tycoon Steve O’Connor at a cost of millions of pounds.
Workers began digging the foundations for the project in early 2009 and the family hope to move in to the home in January 2010.
Mr O’Connor said: “We’re really looking forward to it, we couldn’t be more excited. In the past we have bought properties and fitted them out. We live in a Victorian property at the moment, which is very contemporary inside, but we thought at some point we would like to build something right from the beginning.
“It’s been on the drawing board for two years but we very nearly didn’t do it. We spent a long time looking around Frodsham at various properties and we were very lucky when that place came up. The views there are amazing, it’s magical, we’re delighted.”
Innovative features include windows that create no glare, inside or out, a light tower which provides natural light to every room and a specially designed chimney system to help keep the temperature constant throughout the building without using any energy.
“It’s a unique building and several elements have never been done before,” added Mr O’Connor.
“It won’t appeal to everybody but I think some people will be fascinated by it. I am pleased people have engaged with it and I hope by sharing the vision it will allay everybody’s fears that it was going to be a recycling complex, a water treatment centre or even a nuclear power plant.”
Simon Lewis, of bespoke architectural design services R J Lewis Projects Ltd, who have been instructed to build the home, said: “The name ‘ijsberg’ was chosen from the partial Dutch translation of iceberg meaning ice mountain. The comparisons with iceberg are immediately apparent, as the majority of the house cannot be seen from the surface.
“Lessening the impact on the environment has been a planning requirement and sensitive design has resulted in a more environmentally-friendly construction.
“A lawned roof and being set deep into the sandstone hillside provides incredible insulation and shelter from the elements.
“The house is served by its own deep borehole water supply, bio-fuelled electricity generation and a waste water treatment plant.
“Readily available, sustainable materials have been used extensively in its construction making it an ideal eco project.”
Neighbour Charles Wilmot said: “It’s a big house in a big hole. I don’t know if it would take away from the area but if I could have one I would.”
