As recently featured on Somerset Live, a young couple in Somerset have shown how the future of energy-efficient homebuilding can be realised today – by constructing their own home themselves using the BecoWallform insulated concrete formwork (ICF) system, and saving themselves more than £100,000 in the process.
Hannah and Charlie – with limited prior building experience – decided to forgo buying an expensive, conventional 2 bed new-build in their area that would have set them back £375,000. Instead, they chose to build their own home with Wallform ICF for its strength, simplicity, and long-term savings.
Using the Wallform ICF system, they are constructing a two-bedroom detached home (plus office), with a garage and room for eight car parking spaces – all for under £270,000 in total, including the land.
The 140m² build is now roughly halfway complete, with the roof due to go on shortly.
Hannah and Charlie say the Wallform polystyrene blocks just “slot together” and are “idiot-proof!” and what might take a traditional bricklayer a week, they can do in an hour!
For them, however, choosing Wallform ICF was about more than just cost. The method offers them superior thermal performance, airtightness, and long-term energy savings – qualities that align with the principles of fabric first construction. The interlocking EPS blocks, once filled with concrete, create a highly insulated, durable shell that significantly reduces thermal bridging and delivers U-values better than typical masonry.
This Somerset project really illustrates how Wallform ICF gives self-builders – even those with minimal construction background – the tools to create a robust, energy-efficient, custom home.
As the build progresses towards completion in early 2026, it stands as a practical, inspiring example of what a modern construction system like BecoWallform can achieve.