Being an individual practitioner I provide a very personal service and can help with designing your proposed new home, extension or conversion.
Or if you have a commercial requirement to increase or convert your present premises or need a new office/industrial unit designed, my services and many years’ experience are at your disposal.
The first time you get involved with planning and/or building regulation requirements it can appear that you are having a nightmare, in a minefield.
It can also be a very daunting proposition to conceive and plan your ideal house design or extension design, or even the most simple renovation project, my expertise and experience can help get you through to your goal.
Experience and expertise that can also save you time and money, these can become two very expensive commodities these days. My aim is to provide you with an individual service which will painlessly ‘walk you through’ the whole process from beginning to end, eliminating possible pitfalls along the way.
I am experienced in both building and designing buildings and can provide a fast efficient service over a whole range of projects.
Previous projects I have been involved in include a guest house ‘Villa’ on St Lucia in the Caribbean, a French country house, now the European Union is including more countries many people are buying holiday homes abroad and some people find it easier and cheaper to have the plans drawn here.
I’ve even drawn up plans for a new build dwelling for an Irishman returning to Ireland who wanted to take the design with him. These days distance is no barrier if you want a particular person to design and deal with your requirement.
Just to try and avoid any type of project being missed I will list those I can think of that I have been involved with for both builders and private individuals.
Architectural Design Services and Plan Drawings.
- House plans, from simple house plans, traditional house plans, luxury house plans, three storey house plans, cottage style house plans, chalet house/bungalow plans, draft blueprints for clients to design their own dwellings, designed with custom floor plans, Eco friendly house plans, timber frame, garage plans.
- Small residential or commercial developments and access roads.
- Extensions to houses, bungalows, bungalow extensions with rooms in the roof, garages, factories, residential nursing home extensions, shops and not to mention change of use that can be required for some properties.
- Conversions of barns, outbuildings, garage conversions to habitable rooms including that urgently need for another bedroom, loft conversions (where do we put the stair?), industrial properties
- House renovations, commercial property renovations and refurbishment.
- An often asked for service not provided is cost of building. Albeit building a house cost, cost of an extension or conversion. House building and other estimates are only of any use if the contractor who will be carrying out the work provides them. Similarly I would not expect a builder to provide the client with my estimate for the service I provide and expect me to honour it. Rule of thumb guidance or advice is another thing.
- Target Emission Rate (TER) and Dwelling Emission Rate (DER).
- Home Information Packs (HIPs) and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs).
Under Part L of the current Building Regulations “energy assessments and reports” also known as Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) reports are required for new build dwellings.
Similarly “energy assessments and “ are also required for certain extensions when the glazed area required by the client is more that the current 25% of floor area rule.
For example when a proposed conservatory is to be erected without a separating door between it and the dwelling. It is then considered as to be an extension and therefore comes under the building regulations, which with the large amount of glazing usually involved, requires an energy assessment of the ‘U’ value of the entire dwelling, before building regulation approval can be obtained.
A similar situation can also arise if an extensively glazed Garden/sun room is proposed. In all cases full building regulation approval is not usually given without the “energy report” being provided to building control.
In the case of new build dwellings the report is in two parts Target Emission Rate (TER) and Dwelling Emission Rate (DER). The TER is calculated from the plan drawing specification at which point advice can be given in order to attain the required approval under Part L.
The ‘As Built’ DER and Energy Performance Certificate can only be provide after the new building is completed and has had a satisfactory ‘Air Permeability and Pressure Test’ report issued, both of which are required before the new dwelling can have a ‘Completion ‘ issued by building control.
Returning to conservatories. As previously stated these do not usually require building regulation approval but as more and more householders find them desirable, there is always the possibility of them being brought under the wing of local authority building control departments. Plus of course the growing concern about global warming and the emission of greenhouse gasses (CO2).
Sound insulation although a concern for building control in the case of conventionally built extensions. It is not a consideration taken into account with the building of a conservatory, although rain and hail falling on the roof can produce a drumming effect of varying degrees of decibel loudness. A double glazed Argon gas filled glass roof is probably the best for both reducing noise and heat loss, helping to improve the ‘U’ Value of the construction.
Good ‘House Insulation’ can be achieved by using any of a great variety of products currently on the market today, these are also always being updated, driven by both government legislation and the desires of the consumer. These include ‘blown insulation’ such as mineral wool or ‘foam insulation’ injected into the cavities of the dwelling as well as the more widely use ‘fibre glass’ insulation bats installed during the normal building process.
Roof insulation varies depending on where the insulation is placed, rafter level, ceiling joist level or external to the roof void in the case of a ‘warm roof’ construction method being used. Again there are various products available from fibreglass rolls, rigid insulation sheets and multi-foils, etc. The required ‘U’ Value for floor insulation is also gradually being increased under government building regulations, as is the improvement in thermal insulation for window and door frames and glazing.
Home Information Packs (HIPs) and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)
1st June 2007 will bring the arrival of the governments proposed Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) which must be included by estate agents with the particulars of the property details. These EPCs are intended to supply consumers with better access to information and help them make ‘new green choices’ by being able for the first time to compare energy costs including CO2 emissions between various homes on the market. My aim is to offer a reliable service to provide energy assessments inside a time frame previously agreed with you, my prospective client, and at a reasonable cost.
The energy assessments are provided using government approved software for architects and for builders as an approved authorised energy assessor by Elmhurst Energy Systems Limited, a member of FAERO.
An on site survey for private domestic properties are also offered to supply a quality assured Elmhurst Energy Systems Limited. SAP Certificate and its associated report.
This site is not, as I understand it and as mentioned in the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Wilkipedia site, a ‘free encyclopaedia’ that anyone can edit but any comments, corrections or observations are very welcome.
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(A full list of my services can be found here)
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