constraints

July 10, 2020July 10, 2020

Everybody loves good neighbours

“We know them really well, they’ll be fine with it”

That’s what I commonly hear when I ask how the neighbours will react to the plans for extending your home. It’s amazing how perception can sometimes be so far from reality and that’s why chumming up with your neighbours in advance of your building work is a strategic move.

Think about it, how would you feel if you saw your neighbours and their architect in the back garden waving their arms about, talking about building close to the boundary? You’d be twitching your metaphorical net curtains and perhaps rightly so. Generally people are resistant to change and predictably irrational if they don’t know what to expect.

Neighbours have the potential to make your journey from concept to completion a little bumpier that you might like, from Planning objections to Party Wall dissents they can throw more than a single spanner in the works. And whilst neighbourly Planning objections are sometimes discounted unless they’re made on policy grounds, it still doesn’t set you up for a very comfortable year ahead. Here are some tips on how to keep things on track:

5 Top Tips for Smooth Neighbourly Relations

Inform them: well ahead of getting yourself an architect – let them know you’re thinking about extending, perhaps ask if they’ve also considered doing the same.
Listen to them: are they concerned? If so, what in particular is an issue for them? When you come to appoint an architect, let them know about it so that they can consider how best to alleviate their concerns as well as meeting your brief.
Share with them: once you’ve developed your ideas and have your plans ready – share with them, ahead of making a Planning application. There’s nothing neighbours like less than being ambushed. The local authority will let them know you’ve made an application, so get in before they hear it from somebody else.
Involve them: dependent on the scale of proposals and whether it does impact them in anyway, you might consider tweaking your proposals a little in response to their concerns. I’ve had several meetings where getting client’s neighbours round for a cuppa has allowed us to mitigate any objections by simply taking their concerns on board in the first place.
Manage their expectations: let them know when you anticipate the building work to be, let them know ahead of time that you’ll be sending a Party Wall Notice and what the process is.

It’s not about designing your extension by committee, and it’s not about foregoing your own aspirations to please the neighbours, but as with most things in life, communication is key to success.

June 24, 2020June 25, 2020

5 Ways to be Smarter with Small

Let’s face it, bigger is not always better. In my experience design is often far more intentional when something is small. Firstly, with fewer things to consider each element naturally affords an greater level of attention. Secondly, because there is a need to squeeze functionality into every inch of space. Here’s 5 Ways to be Smarter with Small…

It’s definitely in here somewhere…

1. Under Stairs Alternatives

Tell me we’re not the only family constantly turning out the understairs cupboard to find shoes, shopping bags and a million other odd bits? Yes, it’s a big cupboard but functionally it doesn’t serve us well. You know it’s all in there somewhere, but unless you’re super organised it’s pretty hard to find what your looking for, especially as the space is cramped.

However, the space under the stairs – if thoughtfully designed – has potential to accommodate all sorts of things. There are lots of clever solutions for storage but if you can accommodate the clutter elsewhere there’s also the option to use this nook for something different. Perhaps a desk space for homeworking or a cosy reading den? Pinterest is a great place to search for under stairs ideas, checkout my Under Stairs Ideas board here.

2. Compact Utility

I’ll let you in on a secret, those people with the tidy house? It’s all hiding away in the Utility Room! There are lots of reasons to have a separate utility room and it doesn’t have to be massive. Firstly you can hide away all those things that don’t have a home, the kids craft projects that are drying, until such time that you can recycle them when they’re not looking! Secondly, you can use it for Utility stuff – you know, clothes washing and the like. Even a small area separate to the kitchen is worth considering – it will help to reduce noise for one, especially important if your kitchen is open plan to your living area. With stacked appliances (although do you even need a dryer? Save the planet and use a washing line) you don’t need a lot of space for your compact utility, just be sure to get the ventilation right. Find some inspiration for Compact Utility here.

3. Built in Storage

Ultimately you do reduce the size of a room with built in furniture, but the functionality you’ll gain and space you’ll save over loose furniture may well be worth it. Bespoke solutions are ideal for compromised spaces, such as loft conversions where you really need to max out the potential of the eaves. The creation of a walk-in-wardrobe frees up the bedroom to be much less cluttered – think of a walk-in-wardrobe as the utility room of the upstairs!

Window seats bring another opportunity to integrate storage. This dual functionality can come at a price, but being clever with storage can create a less cluttered environment to live in, and for me at least clutter = stress!

4. Precision Planning

When it comes to fitting things in, don’t forget the details like the thickness of your skirting board, or the space that the door will need to swing open. These details can really impact a small space where every inch is precious.

5. Illusions of Space

If you want to create a feeling of space in a physically confined room, you’re going to need to think outside of the box, literally. Having a view out of the space through a window or two is key, it makes a connection with the world beyond. Takes me back to my studies on the concept of Prospect and Refuge… although that’s probably one for another day. If you can create spaces which are double aspect, even better. That might be as simple as a view of the garden and a view of the sky. Mirrors are another interior design trick for illusions of space and help with reflecting light too.

Small doesn’t have to be standard, make small special and functional with good design.

June 11, 2020June 12, 2020

Design in response to context for the best outcome

Consider your home, why is it like it is? Probably the layout is largely just down to convention. Does it respond to context, orientation for example, any differently to the neighbouring houses? In this article I’m looking at how a large proportion of our homes simply follow convention, and how when extending or altering your home you have the opportunity to change this. Get the most out of your project by positively responding to context, as well as considering constraints.

A very potted history

Conventionally, home layouts, right from your Victorian terrace through to your fairly recent developer housing have little changed. With a front room, back room, kitchen, and bedrooms upstairs. Yes there are differences in scale but overall the functions are the same. The major changes to house design came with the introduction of indoor plumbing, first bringing your loo indoors and then eventually upstairs bathrooms becoming more common place. Our homes tend to have a clear distinction of public/private spaces – ground floor for all, upstairs for the occupants, unless your visitors need to use an upstairs bathroom, in which case you better hope you made the beds! Bungalows and even flats have a similar hierarchy but with less physical boundaries. Have you ever considered it another way?

Unconventional opportunities

I’m not talking about underground lairs or renovating shipping containers, balancing your house on a rock or some kind of mechanical Tracey Island. There are unconventional opportunities to be considered even with everyday homes. Maybe you’re fortunate enough to have great views from your home and you’d love an upstairs living space to take full advantage of it? Conventions are there to be challenged – sometimes there are reasons to do it differently and usually that’s about responding to context.

Context and constraints might appear to be one and the same, but I like look at context as something to respond to with positive interventions, to make a project unique and site specific. Whilst constraints usually fall more in the realm of being the most pragmatic way to approach things. Good design is a balancing act.

Context

Responding to context could be as simple as positioning a window to frame a view of a beautiful blossom tree. The window in itself isn’t a luxury, you’re going to need one but considering the wider context, the features of the garden as well as the internal layout, brings opportunity to do something a bit special; something more considered – designed. Orientation, working with sunlight is another contextual elements which can inform design but there are other less attractive aspects too which might included noise. In one of my current projects this has meant unconventionally positioning a bathroom on the front of the house in order to act as a buffer between a noisy road junction and the new bedroom beyond.

Boundaries are often a physical constraint and one which can’t really be changed. Whilst other things such as drainage or structures can be adjusted with enough careful planning and budget. In one project, the constraint on the width of a new side extension brought about the opportunity to create a fabulous and unconventionally large bathroom with vaulted ceiling and roof lights, rather than simply squeeze the bedroom in to a tight spot.

Constraints are often linked to cost too, so it may mean making sensible choices about where to locate things to work with existing drainage, or to retain some structural piers to keep minimise expense. Throw enough money at it and most things are possible so you might say budget is the biggest constraint, other than regulations.

Good design is about creating a solution that works for the specific context and constraints of your site, not simply taking a cookie cutter approach. And remember, you don’t have to follow convention if there’s a good reason not to, be open to all of the possibilities.