Category: Architecture (Page 11 of 29)

The Secret Guide to Deal with Architects – Take 7

November 13, 2014 / barros / 2 Comments

Our 7th secret tip about how to deal with an Architect focus on the importance of the design process.

If you have just landed here do not miss our previous tips:

7. Enjoy the process

When you appoint an Architect you give her/him a problem to solve, a challenge to do. It may be a new house on a new site, it may be an extension to an awkward existing house, or improving a house layout that is not working, or a shop that is not attracting clients, etc, etc. In order to solve your problem the Architect will go through a design process that will consider a number of factors. Make sure you participate in this process by providing your Architect with a solid brief and by letting her/him know what are your likes/dislikes, aspirations and goals.

Hot tip: The first steps of the design process are hugely important, they are the foundations of your project. You should engage with your Architect as early as possible. If in doubt about what you want or need, ask your Architect for an opinion. Architects deal with a wide range of people and age groups, they may know better than you what you will need in 10 years time, for example. Listen, reflect and think. You may even realize you need to change the initial brief, but this is the moment to do it before the process develops to more complex drawings/documents. Remember to enjoy this process, it is often a life changing experience!

Go to Take 8 – Be Aware of Time

Start from Take 1 – Stages.

New Farm House in Oylegate, Wexford

October 16, 2014 / barros / 4 Comments

Located in the heart of County Wexford in Ireland, the site enjoys beautiful landscape views. The client’s brief sought a simple residence with lots of natural light and a good connection with the landscape. The farm complex is quite dominant and sits interestingly on a different direction than the original farm house.

Our proposal was carefully designed to respect the site history while introducing a more contemporary volume.

The two main directions on site are the starting point for our proposal. The memory of the old house being replaced remains present. This volume is intersected by a lower, more contemporary, volume.

The new house respects the immediate surroundings either by the materials selected or the shapes and scale used.

The fenestration to North is reduced to the minimum to improve energy efficiency. The living spaces of the house are located to South enjoying most of the solar gains while creating a strong connection to outside.

Being aware of its rural location, the house is conceived as two simple volumes that mark each other by carving out a new relationship. The openings are treated as clean incisions that provide optimum views of the surrounding landscape.

See more animations here.

Do you have a similar project? Talk to us today!

Extension to House Over 100 years Old in New Ross, Wexford

June 30, 2014 / barros / 2 Comments

Note: This post was previously titled ‘Extension to 1950’s House in New Ross, Wexford – SketchUp Animation’. During works we discovered the walls were not what we expected and some investigation confirmed the original house was built between 1888-1913! (The owners were not aware of this.)

We feel that our proposal is like the missing piece to complete this house puzzle.

The original house used to be a Council house and it was built in the 1950s. The owners had already built different extensions to the house but they left a big problem unsolved: the entrance and the circulation and flow of space within the house.

They approached us to get a bigger kitchen more suitable to their lifestyle. We listened and we were sensitive to all energies we could capture. We proposed a holistic approach that embraced the existing house, respecting it and making the all space a much better place to live in.

We like to think the new entrance works like the “spinal column” of the house, supporting it, organizing it and allowing the spaces to flow naturally from there.

From the entrance a new wall – the “shoulders” – is built to hold the two new extensions – the “arms” – that will hug and embrace the existing house respecting it in a complacent manner.

We felt the existing black and white palette needed a different material/texture to make it more interesting and with a warmer feeling. We propose to cover the two “arms” with timber cladding. This is a type of cladding found elsewhere on this site and it has the beauty of being a natural and environmentally friendly material that easily blends with the landscape.

Working with an existing house with a number of (more recent) extensions is always a challenge. We are often restricted by a number of factors and it requires years of experience to turn them around in our favour. We are delighted with the result and we cannot wait to see it built.

See what our clients had to say: