Skip to content
NorthlineProperty & Build

Case Study

Hillcrest Family House

A four-bedroom house built from foundation to handover, with interiors, lighting and garden completed as one programme.

Completed two-storey family house with a rendered façade and landscaped approach
Location
Islamabad
Project type
New build house
Status
Sample project
Services involved

Project Overview

A family house built on a sloping plot, where the level change that made the site difficult became the thing the finished house is organised around.

The challenge
The plot fell close to two metres from the road down to the rear boundary. Building level would have meant either a retaining wall across the whole garden or a house that sat awkwardly below its own approach — and the drainage runs had to cross the fall rather than follow it.
Our approach
Rather than flatten the site, the house was split across two levels half a storey apart, with the living spaces opening onto the lower terrace and the bedrooms above the higher entrance side. Drainage was rerouted along the contour before foundations were poured, and the retaining structure was absorbed into the terrace wall so it reads as landscaping rather than engineering.
The result
The finished house uses the fall instead of fighting it: the main living space sits level with the garden, and the entrance side keeps its relationship to the street.

Scope of work

01

Construction

Groundwork, foundations and drainage were set out to the revised levels before any structure went up. The split-level slab was poured in two stages, with the retaining element cast as part of the terrace wall. Structure, roof and envelope followed on a fixed stage programme.

02

Interior Work

Large-format porcelain runs continuously from the entrance hall through the living space to the terrace threshold, set out so the joint lines align with the glazing mullions. Fitted joinery lines the stairwell and both alcoves in the living room, scribed to walls that were deliberately left slightly imperfect.

03

Outdoor Work

The lower terrace was paved to a fall away from the house, with planting beds built into the retaining wall to soften it. Lawn and boundary planting were established in the same season the house completed.

04

Lighting

Interior lighting was planned in three layers before first fix, with separate circuits for general, task and accent use in the main living space. Outside, low-level fittings light the path and terrace steps, and two grazing fittings pick out the façade after dark.

Gallery

Through the build.

Foundations and ground floor blockwork during the early build stage
01Groundwork and foundations
Open-plan living space with large-format floor tiling and full-height glazing
02Ground floor living space
Fitted timber joinery lining a stairwell wall
03Fitted joinery
House exterior at dusk with warm lighting on the façade and garden path
04Exterior lighting at dusk

Sample case study. The narrative, location and dates above illustrate the format and are not a record of completed work — replace them in src/data/projects.js.

Related Projects

Other work worth a look.

All Projects

Services Used

The disciplines behind this project.

Each of these was carried out by our own team, sequenced against the others rather than subcontracted separately.

Next Step

Have a Similar Project?

Tell us what you're planning. We'll arrange a site visit, assess what the work involves, and come back with a written scope and quotation.

Start Your ProjectSee All Projects

hello@example.com · +92 XXX XXXXXXX