Oxfordshire Limited Edition – July 2019

June 2019 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition| 73

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ougettheimpressionthat
nooneismoresurprised
atHollandGreen’ssuccess
thanBenHolland,oneof
theduobehindit.Heset
upthecompanyin 2010
withStephenGreenanditsgrowthhasbeen
exponential,leavingBen,well,abitbemused.
“Backthenitwasmeworkingoutofmy
sparebedroomandStephenworkingoutof
his,”hesaysoftheearlydays.“Wejustdid
smallprojectsandstartedverymuchfrom
grassroots.Backthenweweredoing£ 30 , 000
loftconversions–nowprojectsstartat
£ 300 , 000 andmoveintothemillions.”
Ifthecompany’srisehasbeenmeteoric,
italwayshadthekeyingredientsforsuccess.
BenandStephenmetwhileworkingata
largearchitecturalservicefirm,whereBen
managedtheOxfordregionandStephen,
SouthWestLondon,andfelttheycoulddo
thingsbetter.“Wemadeadecisiontofocus
onresidentialarchitecturalprojectsandjust
focusonbeingtheverybest,andwe’vestayed
truetothat,”reflectsBen.“Overtheyears,we
grewandgottothepointwhereweneededto
takeoffices,whichwedid,andnowwe’vegot
ateamof 23 ,sothat’sgreat.”
Spanningtheentirerangefromperiod
tocontemporary,HollandGreentakeson
everythingfromrenovationstocompletenew
builds.“Wedoone-off,residentialprojects,”
explainsBen.“We’vegottwoarmstothe
business–contemporarynewbuildsand
listedheritage,conservation-typeprojects.
“Weworkcloselywiththeconservation
teamsandHistoricEnglandbutwespecialise
indoingcontemporaryextensionstolisted
properties,soit’samismatch.Wehada
listedstonefarmhouseandputonaglazed
extensionwithaflatcopperroofandthat
workedreallywell.”
Attheotherendofthescalearethings
likethe“floatinghouse”that’scurrently
beingbuiltinSuttonCourtenay.It’supfor
anationalawardand,bythesoundsofit,

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