Planning Approved!!

After a wait we have at last had planning permission approved. It is a huge weight off our shoulders. Although it didn't ever look in too much doubt, it now allows us to forge ahead with confidence.

Design : Ground Floor Level

This is an overview of some of the main ideas and thinking behind the design of the house at this level. There was much more detailed thinking involved in the arrangement, but would be too much to put in a blog post. I would like to talk further about some of the features in posts at a later date.

The layout revolves around the main living area as it is the most important and used space in the house. Although this is one large space it is split up into 5 different zones: - kitchen, dining, play area, lounge & stairwell. The kitchen & dining area are next to the large opening of bi-folding doors which lead out onto the balcony. The dining and kitchen areas benefit most from the connection and views outside, as well as having the most need for the extensive light provided. The play space is bordered by a mid height curved wall. This does not totally wrap around the space and is designed so that it does suggest an elliptical invisible boundary. The lounge space is quieter and disconnected slightly from the kitchen & dining areas by the walls of the play area and stairwell, giving it a much snugger feel. The stairwell is central in the living area to improve the circulation in the house. It is also positioned at the back side of the house to allow the living spaces to make the most of the light and views available.

 The utility is set off the kitchen to allow easy storage and access of consumables and kitchen equipment. The area has a glazed door out on to the balcony for light and to provide a back of house entrance. This is great for goings to and from the house with laundry or for gardening without having to trek through the main living space. There is also a disabled access toilet / shower room off of the utility which provides upstairs conveniences without having to have it open straight out on to the main living area, also useful when coming in from a bit of hard work in the vegetable garden.

We have an office off the main living space which provides nearby seclusion. This space could also be used as a disabled bedroom as it has level and wide access from the entrance to the house. There is also the potential to create a disabled access to the adjacent disabled shower room via a hoist, with relatively little major work (a necessity for a level 6 Code for Sustainable Homes as part of the ‘Lifetime Homes’ initiative). The lobby, and main house access, face the entrance to the site allowing short ‘desire lines’ from site entrance and car parking. Off the lobby is a plant / storage room for all the M&E equipment and back of house storage requirements, something which is often overlooked.

I have previously talked of the strength of the south facing connection with the outside underpinning the essence of the design. However I have tried to keep a connection with the entrance to the site and house from within the main living area through carefully located windows. With the number and size of windows on the north side of the house being limited due to the thermal considerations necessary, it is very important to get light into this side of the house. Hence the windows are located to the lounge, lobby and most importantly the stairwell. With the house being set into the slope of the site there is very little scope for direct light to the downstairs corridor. By creating this type of stairwell, light is focussed relatively effectively downstairs. Use has also been made of rooflights to the storage and office rooms as they are very effective without having to create large openings and cause further thermal loss.   

  

Design...

… is the key to creating the home that we want. The benefits that this site has to offer are obvious – south facing looking over Willow Vale and the River Frome. The existing retaining wall, built from the previous scheme is a financial bonus and sets out a base for the design. There are limiting factors that are self imposed. We have a very limited financial budget so the design needs to be very cost effective. The Code for Sustainable Homes has turned out to be quite a limiting factor due to the fact we are going for the top level 6. Although it is a good design guide, to get the required credits we have been limited to the materials we can use, amounts of glazing, layout rules to achieve and having to use a lot of PV panels.


The obvious thing for the design is to create a wonderful living space that makes the most of the southerly aspect and its views. To do this we plan to create an open plan living arrangement that is highly glazed. To help create the feeling of size and space we will make a large opening of bi-folding doors out onto a spacious balcony, which overlooks the lower lawn, the vale and river. By having an open roof design we hope the space will feel bigger and more spectacular. With the retaining wall already in place creating a lower ground floor level, this suits the bedrooms due to its quieter nature. This leaves the upstairs at entrance level to allow the living space to utilise the sunlight and views.


The location and the size of the house leave us a lower garden and a courtyard / upper garden level for car parking, workshop, working garden and relaxation area.


The base design is relatively straightforward, the main challenge is the layout of the house to make sure we have the spaces we want as well as making it function in the way we want to live. 

Fresh !!

Was a bit cold last night but thanks to our makeshift insulation it is not too bad. This is nothing compared to the other problems! When the water temperature nears freezing, it expands and puts more pressure on the small boiler making it leak slightly. To avoid the water torture of the constant dripping sound it means getting up at 4:00am to turn the water off outside...

After a freezing night we wake up to a few problems. When the gas gets cold in the bottle it liquifys and doesn't work properly so no boiler or gas heater this morning, although we are able to use the hob so a hot drink is an absolute must. Luckily we have the electric heater to take the edge off the cold in the living room and the electric radiator in the bathroom. Also need to put the water back on.

It is supposed to be warmer tonight thankfully. Makes us so glad it has been so mild thus far.

Code for Sustainable Homes

The Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) assesses the environmental, ecological & social impacts of the house. It is based on a points system and a level grading is given in accordance with the points scored  - level 1 (lowest) to level 6 (highest). Certain aspects of the assessment are compulsory to achieve a particular level eg to achieve the highest level it must be a zero carbon property. 


The CfSH encompasses all aspects of the house through design, build & use, therefore is a way too large to explain properly in a blog post. I will try and explain each in more depth on their own and how we are tackling them individually at appropriate times.


To give a brief outline of what is involved there are 9 main categories and these are then split up into further total of 34 sub-categories. 

• Energy - efficiency, generation and saving
• Water - internal and external use
• Materials - environmental impact
• Surface Water - reduction of contribution to flooding
• Waste - recycling & waste management
• Pollution - material & operational pollution
• Health & Wellbeing - Quality of living environment
• Management - Security & management of the property during build & occupation
• Ecology - protection of existing & positive ecological changes

This is a very brief outline and it will hopefully become clearer in time when I go into each in a bit more detail.

Ecohouse Flavour

Although we want to build an ecohouse, we want to offer it as an educational and marketing tool for our architectural practice PAAD. To do this we aim to use some quantitative and qualitative approaches in our design.

There are different sets of guidelines and standards that can be used, so which one to go for? The main ones are Passivhaus, AECB & Code for Sustainable Homes. All have their merits and flaws.
The Passivhaus standard is becoming quite well known in the UK as it has been brought over from the continent. It is very much orientated towards the dwelling energy efficiency & comfort.
The Code for Sustainable Homes is a scheme that was created by the government along with the BRE in England & Wales, to try and make sure the future building stock become more sustainable. The 'Code' takes a very different approach with a much wider remit on sustainability, not just energy efficiency alone. It looks at all conceivable areas of a dwelling's environmental and ecological impacts throughout its life cycle.

The debate between the standards is something that rages on, and everyone with an interest has a strong view. There is no right or wrong answer, other than choosing the one that best suits your take on the term 'ecohouse'.

Happy ...

.. New Year. Looking forward to an eventful and exciting year ahead. This time next year we are looking forward to living in our new house and sharing it with those close to us.


In the blog this year we are going to discuss the Code for Sustainable Homes, why we are doing it, the pro's and con's of it and taking a look at the ways we are hoping to achieve the goals set out in the document. 


We will also, of course, keep updating on progress of the project and look at each part of the build as it progresses.