About Us
Based in rural Northumberland, the DJR team working under David’s personal leadership and ‘hands-on’ Project Direction is tight-knit, trusted, flexible and reliable. Every member of our highly skilled workforce is passionately committed to delivering the highest quality service, across a diverse range of projects encompassing all aspects of construction.
Projects DJR has undertaken ranges from domestic extensions adding valuable living space to clients’ homes, through to complex Passivhaus work at the cutting edge of energy-efficient building technology.
Whether your project is full new build home, a home renovation or extension, a bathroom or kitchen upgrade, or a specialist building such as an artist’s studio, DJR will work collaboratively and transparently with you to price it, and then plan and deliver it to the highest standards.
We apply the same principle of collaboration when we’re working as part of team alongside other industry professionals who typically support clients on larger or more complex assignments. For you as client, your professional advisers such as architects, structural engineers, or experts in fields such as energy efficiency, all play vital roles in translating your vision into a buildable reality.
DJR then actually builds it. And we build it with the attention to detail which, informed by iterative engagement your specialists when required, enables the value your expert team has designed into your project to be fully realised in the finished building.
Warksburn Old Church
At DJR, we have a strong and enduring interest in Eco Homes and the powerful benefits they offer, slashing both energy costs and carbon emissions. An Eco Home is a property which incorporates renewable technologies, together, where possible, with a ‘fabric first’ approach to embody thermal efficiency into the structure of the building itself. This approach reduces the home’s energy consumption – in the North of England most notably for heating! – and thus its carbon footprint.
Eco Homes built using these principles are proven to consume significantly less energy than similarly-sized conventional houses. Anne and Alan James, who are one of DJR clients, publish an informative website on this subject, which you may wish to visit for further information.
Given our commitment to sustainable and energy efficient building, DJR was thrilled to be appointed in 2023 by Anne and Alan to undertake their Warksburn Old Church Passivhaus project, which is located close to our base in the North Tyne valley.
This highly technical and demanding contract is believed to be the first time in the world the exceptionally demanding EnerPHit standards for insulation, airtightness, and energy efficiency for Passivhaus-compliant retrofit have been applied to the conversion of a church into residential accommodation. In this case, a church originally funded by a Victorian visionary who first expressed the concept of renewable energy, is being reborn as a Net Zero luxury holiday rental. The finished building is intended to enable guests to experience for themselves the comfort and efficiency 21st Century techniques can deliver, within a sensitively preserved 19th Century heritage building, whilst enjoying a relaxing holiday in stunning rural Northumberland.
A TV documentary in the ‘Derelict Rescue’ series is being filmed as the Warksburn Old Church project progresses: we will provide a link here when the programme becomes available for streaming. In May 2024, this DJR project is the subject of a presentation by our clients on the Main Stage at Grand Designs Live.
Contact us with your Enquiry
If you are trying to find a trustworthy builder near you, give us a call on 07867 891 808 or 01434 230 886 for a free, no-obligation quote.
We’d love to hear from you.
For enquiries feel free to call, or e-mail by completing the contact form below.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
