I'm an architect. So this should be easy for me, right? Well, I can design 10,000 homes (the last project I worked on before I retired was a new settlement called Otterpool in Kent) - but I really don't know where to start with just one!
I knew I couldn't design the retrofit of my new home without specialist input. So my starting point was the PassivHaus Trust, contacting architects and designers in my local area. This is the link:
I put together a few pages outlining what I wanted to achieve. This included a floor plan of my bungalow as existing, a sketch of my initial thoughts of how I might want to change the layout and - most importantly - some thoughts about what I wanted to achieve in terms of energy efficiency. That is, my main aim is to REDUCE energy requirements through improved insulation. I'm much less interested in GENERATING energy. To use the jargon, this is a 'fabric first' approach - improve the insulation of the building itself to minimise requirements for heating, and only then start to think about producing energy (e.g. through the use of photovoltaic panels).
This is my initial plan. Fun to include it in this blog because you can see how an architect who REALLY knows how to design an individual home has an impact as the design develops in future posts.
I e-mailed these few pages to five architects, and ended up meeting three of them at my house. The key questions I had for each of them were:
is this a project that interests you?
have you done a project like this before?
are my ambitions achievable?
how realistic is my budget?
what would your fees be for this project?
what would your fee include?
what do you think the biggest challenges will be?
how long is this likely to take?
It came down to two architects, both of whom were great. It was a really tough choice to make, and in the end I went with Hesketh Hayden, based not too far away in Stockport.
https://www.heskethhayden.co.uk/
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