Category Archives: General
Showing all news posted in the General category.
Posted on July 2, 2013 in the category(s) General
Sunday 16th June saw the return of the Shaw Trophy Classic Rally and Targa Rally to the beautiful countryside of Northumberland, with the start and finish venue at the High House Brewery at Matfen. The event was running in a new summer slot and attracted a steady entry of 20, many of whom had travelled from north of the border. With the event made up of 2 regularity sections and 14 tests on private tracks and farms, it provided a good challenge for both members in the crews. Read more…
Posted on June 21, 2013 in the category(s) General
Someone asked me recently what ‘sustainability’ meant, in practical terms, when designing a building, and it’s an interesting question. Sustainability may be defined as meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and most people would agree that it’s pretty essential to preserve or enhance the earth’s resources for that reason alone. It’s just that not everyone agrees on the best ways to achieve that. It’s a bit like ‘recycling’, another term that can mean different things to different people.
So, we have arguments for ‘Green’ buildings, which are designed to use energy and water, etc, as efficiently as possible, as well as reduce waste and pollution and protect the health of the building’s users. Then there are the people who think that ‘natural’ buildings are best. These buildings are usually on a smaller scale and use natural, local materials. And, of course, another aspect of sustainability is preserving what we already have, in existing buildings. But transforming, say, a Victorian terrace house into a home that’s energy-efficient and ‘green’ isn’t straightforward – or cheap, and often fails to give optimum results. So an Energy Performance Certificate for a Victorian house that’s been renovated with every green, energy-saving process available will still probably not compare favourably with a ‘sustainable’ new-build house / a sustainably built new house. Read more…
Posted on February 18, 2013 in the category(s) General
After celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Practice in December, February 2013 marks another auspicious event for me: I hit 60 this month. I’m looking forward to some good old, healthy reminiscing with friends and family as I celebrate my birthday; with my years and sagacity I’ll have the world put to rights in no time!
I’m always taken aback by the fact that I am now in the ‘demographic’ for ‘Sheltered Care’ – everyone over 55 is, a fact that most of the 55 year olds I know will find laughable, even horrifying. But that reaction would illustrate quite graphically the dilemma faced by Care Providers – and their Designers. After all, my generation likes to think that they’re sophisticated and discerning and Care Providers must think the same because they’re recognising the need to consider and cater to their Clients’ taste and lifestyle, rather than expecting the Client to simply accept what they’re offered. As part of the group they’re thinking about and trying to provide for, I find that encouraging.
As a Practice, we recently submitted our entry to a McCarthy and Stone competition to design sheltered housing for the over 55 year olds. I found it very hard to imagine what sort of space I would be willing to consider as my downsized, ‘sheltered’ home. The more things I thought of, the more prohibitive the costs would have been – always assuming that a big enough site would be available to build on! With divorce and remarriage a fact of life today, the extended family can be pretty impressive, so how much space do you need to entertain? Families are often spread over the country and can’t just pop in for a short visit, so how much room to allow family or friends to stay over? All difficult questions to answer, and tricky to find a living and, of course, cost-effective solution for. Read more…
Posted on December 31, 2012 in the category(s) General
On 1 December 2012 Alston Murphy was officially twenty years old and I’ve been having a few of those, ‘where did all the years go?’ moments recently, as I look back to when I started up on my own. It was during a recession, as I recall, the second one I’d experienced in my working life.
Of course, there have been a lot of changes in all those years, not least the emergence of more rules and regulations in the industry, many of which have raised standards and expectations, as a whole, and many which seem to have no intrinsic value, whatsoever! (In my opinion!) Certainly, the Architect’s role is changing and evolving and Architects, themselves, need to take more control of where their responsibilities are heading. It’s probably the same with every profession, but the paperwork seems to be never ending: forms, copies of forms, applications, copies of applications, warranties, copies of… (Where’s the ‘paperless society’?)
With so much correspondence now sent by email, technology has certainly impacted on formal, posted letter writing, with the result that Architects have more basic admin to do every day, rather than being able to get on with their actual job. And, of course, the convenience and immediacy of the email creates the problem of ‘immediacy’ and ‘convenience’! A Client or a Contractor might ask us to forward existing information to a third party, the implication being that because this will be by email it will simply require a quick click of ‘send’ and it’s done. A mere minute of time. No consideration is given to the fact that information might have to be gathered from different sources, extracted from other filed emails, edited for relevance and then compiled into the ‘quick email’ requested. Needless to say, you’ll probably have had a couple of emails chasing your response in the time it’s taking you to compose your reply! Everything is urgent; everything needs an answer – now. I could spend my day just replying to emails and forwarding information without once having time to look at a drawing or discuss it with a colleague or come up with a solution or an idea. Crazy. Read more…
Posted on November 11, 2012 in the category(s) General
As an Architect, I’ve been designing Care Homes for a long time, now, and I’m still learning!
It seems obvious, but it’s really important to remember that the end product is going to be someone’s actual ‘home’. Most of our Care Homes have to be adaptable to cope with all kinds of care needs but, increasingly, the needs of dementia sufferers have to be considered. From a design point of view, this means that careful attention must be paid to the materials and finishes used in Care Homes.
Since 2003, when Stirling University launched their Dementia Studies for Professionals working in the field of old age and dementia, the University has been one of the leading authorities on dementia and how to care for people suffering from it. They give guidance on how to provide a suitable environment for people with dementia, rating the suitability level as bronze, silver or gold.
I attended one of their open courses in 2005, and another one more recently with Katherine and, while some theories remain just that, many more are being put into practice by more and more Care Providers, and certainly by those that we work with.
With more than 800,000 people in the UK already suffering from dementia, and the figure predicted to double in the next generation, The Alzheimer’s research Trust and Oxford Dementia 2010 consider that dementia is the greatest medical challenge of our age, beyond even that of cancer and heart disease. Read more…
