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Tom Foster - Architecture Column

TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (January/February 2020)

Wed 1 Jan 2020

By Tom Foster - Architecture Column

TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN

01647 24436   www.TomFosterArchitecture.co.uk   info@space-and-light.co.uk

Here’s a scenario.

The children have grown and finally left the nest. The house feels a bit empty, and a bit ragged, after 20-odd years of youthful whirlwind. The ‘parent’ concept transforms gently into ‘grandparent’, with an awareness, more than ever, of roots and network right here, and a home still, for happy visits of friends and family.

Living costs ease, while maturing assets may appear, and tempting ways to spend some money at last. A well equipped mobile home? (but the depreciation!). Or how about this? …

My clients were rightly fond of their 70s estate house and garden with stunning Dartmoor view, though it badly needed to up its game for the 21st Century, to support their new lifestyle, hopefully for several healthy decades to come. This is how they chose to invest their available funds, for accumulating benefit:

Internally, easy spaciousness and light were created by opening up cramped old-fashioned notions of ‘proper’ layout, with no loss of privacy or facility. The poky entrance hall became a welcoming ‘room’ with the existing stair now rising elegantly from it, with plenty of practical space for coats and boots.

Externally, a modest front extension created a new wheelchair-accessible shower/WC opening off the hallway (relaxed preparedness for a maybe-future) and roof overhanging generously as porch. Above, a trio of rather naff dormers were infilled together, with handsome new roof overall, creating much ‘new’ useful bedroom space, with little disruption. The former garage, already crudely adapted, was re-modelled as a splendid, lofty multi-purpose utility room with very large front porch for logs, bikes etc.

And, for the real double-benefit, the whole house was uprated to a high eco-standard of insulation, airtightness and controlled 24/7 ventilation. The effect is that the boiler rarely fires for heating (only for hot water); complete freedom from either draughts or stuffy over-heating; and an effortless warm welcome on return from a day’s windy walking on the Moor, heating having been switched off. The previous heavy heating bills are slashed to a fraction, for ever more. The air in the house feels healthy and mountain-fresh.

I have to emphasise three things!

First, this ‘high eco-standard’, and its benefits, was far in advance of current Building Regulations and of normal building industry ideas of adequacy;

Second, its re-thought construction was in many ways easier, robust and cheaper to do, using standard building techniques and materials, than normal building industry practice, which seems to just add layers of expensive fail-prone proprietary products on top of the age-old standard approach;

Third, this ‘high eco-standard’ was not at all about expensive ‘active’ machinery like solar panels, heat pumps etc, but centred on systematically-detailed ‘passive’ insulation, airtightness and controlled 24/7 ventilation, including economic Scandinavian-quality triple glazed windows and doors replacing the tired plastic windows. By reducing the house’s heat loss to almost nothing for most of the year, everything else could relax!

Compared to its somewhat flaky neighbours, my clients’ estate house now looks really ‘together’, confidently solid and well-conceived – handsome you would say. All thanks to expert design, both visual and eco-technical, choice of a careful and willing eco-builder, and supervised construction so everything came out ‘just right’. This was not a radical re-hash – just ‘smart’ modifications that are really only skin-deep – but such a rejuvenated skin!

This full-21st-century house uprate cost the same as a top-spec camper van but the year-round life-enhanciing benefits, running-cost savings and resale value will accrue and accrue, long after the camper van is consigned to a decaying grave.

I specialise in new, old and historic buildings, for work or home.

Expert in EcoBuilding, ‘Passive House', Planning Permission, DNPA, Building Regs, build-contract admin;

or perhaps you’d just like some can-do advice.

Talk to Tom to bring your vision closer.



Other columns by Tom Foster - Architecture Column

TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (May/June 2022) - Fri 1 Jul 2022
TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (November/December 2021) - Tue 9 Nov 2021
TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (July/August 2021) - Mon 2 Aug 2021
TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (March/April 2021) - Mon 1 Mar 2021
TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (November/December 2020) - Sun 1 Nov 2020
TOM FOSTER’S ARCHITECTURE COLUMN (July/August 2020) - Wed 1 Jul 2020


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