EVER THICKER

EVER THICKER

A side effect of the increasing drive for energy efficiency in houses is that walls just keep getting thicker. As we seem unable to make our heating and fuel supplies more efficient than they already are (and they are pretty…

ALWAYS ANOTHER HOOP

ALWAYS ANOTHER HOOP

Recently a new requirement has been added to the planning application process. In place of “Design Statements”, that are effectively a written justification of the design of the project, we now have to provide “Design and Access Statements”. These have…

SEEING THE WORLD

Part of architectural training is very subtle. Its effect is that we relearn how to look. Instead of seeing buildings as background we learn to see them as environment. How many non-architects do you know who regularly look above the…

CLIMATE AND ARCHITECTURE

CLIMATE AND ARCHITECTURE

One of the things about the current hot weather is that you notice how much our buildings are designed for a particular climatic range. When designing details we concern ourselves with insulating from the cold and with water penetration to…