Description of Project: The existing late 1970’s detached gable fronted 4 bedroom private dwelling house with single storey flat roofed garage and flat roof side extension in-filling the gap between garage and house had belonged to our client’s grandfather until his death in recent years. Our clients very much wanted to keep the house as it was the legacy from their grandfather and they had many fond memories of time spent in the house with him. However the house was very tired and did not practically meet the needs and function of modern family living. Having explored and been awarded planning permission for replacement of the house in its entirety, for financial reasons our Client’s decided that this route was not the best use of either the house that had been bequeathed them nor their budget and it was at this point that Studio C Architects were approached to design the new home for their family. To summarise the project brief we were asked to create a home suited to modern family life through renovation and alteration of the existing house and the demolition and replacement of the former single storey side extension with a two storey extension. At first floor level the accommodation required was to be a minimum of 4 bedrooms; 2 with en-suite shower facilities, and a family bathroom. At ground floor level the accommodation required comprised large kitchen with open plan day/ dining space, utility room, cloakroom/ WC, family living room and separate study room, plus garage. Things which were highlighted during the initial consultation as being important included: - o creating a property which naturally flows internally from the principal entrance and hallway without necessitating accessing one room via another, o maximising the ingress of natural daylight and views both into the private garden space and out toward the street scene, whilst maintaining a good sense of privacy, o achieving a property where all rooms have an external window to provide natural light and ventilation, o improving the aesthetic appearance of the property but not at the expense of losing the identity of the original building Building Regulations: The design of this large two storey home extension; which included full internal and external refurbishment and reconfiguration of the existing building, was approached holistically with design, aesthetic, client brief, budget and desire given equal consideration and weight to achieving Building Regulation compliance. Following the successful planning application detailed and concise construction drawings for the project were developed which looked at all aspects of the building project in conjunction with ensuring that compliance with the Building Regulations could be met. Close liaison with the Structural Engineer during this stage of a projects development is advocated by the practice and the structural solution is always co-ordinated into the architectural drawings prepared for Building Regulation submission ensuring a fluidity of the design from paper and pen to brick and mortar. Each project undertaken by the practice draws on lessons learnt on previous projects such that former advice and discussion undertaken with our LABC Partner Authority is considered and fed into the next scheme. If in doubt we will always engage with our Building Control Partners to ensure that a detail is robust and will meet the requirements of Building Regulation compliance. In this way some of the potential obstacles and pit falls of working with an existing building are overcome at early design development and desk top study stage rather than becoming an issue to overcome reactively when the project is live on site. The practice advocates Full Plans submission and consider the Building Regulation submission as the full and detailed construction set; perhaps providing additional information not necessarily required by the Building Control Surveyor to assess the scheme. We also advocate having the initial Building Surveyor review comments received before even considering commencement of the scheme on site to ensure a seamless transition from design to construction. By adopting this method and approach we believe that a robust design and construction project is achieved that not only meets with Building Regulation but which can exceed both Building Regulation compliance levels and more importantly Client expectation. 2. Performance & Sustainability: The building project was to refurbish and extend the existing detached home to create a new family home for our client. The existing buildings external walls were cavity construction utilising a multi yellow facing brick whilst the shallow pitched roof covering was a large module grey concrete tile. The windows were early white upvc. It was very important to the clients that the extension blended with the existing as seamlessly as possible and unfortunately the facing bricks used un the original build were no longer manufactured. A series of bricks were evaluated but because of the unusual hue of browns, yellows and pinks getting a suitable match was difficult. After comparing a variety of samples on site a multi yellow brick was finally chosen, however as the brickwork was raised very quickly we could see that en-masse the match was not close enough. This could have been a show stopper as the bricks for the extension had been purchased and delivered, but for aesthetic reasons the decision was made to purchase another brick and blend this with the bricks already purchased. Obviously, this resulted in an over buy of bricks at extra capital expense to the project and could have resulted in costly waste material and negative carbon footprint if the decision to utilise the bricks in the separate follow-on external works contract had not been taken. So instead of a costly solution a sustainable solution that achieve the desired performance whilst saving time, money and waste was implemented. Any new extension has to be designed to meet the thermal performance criteria stipulated in the building Regulations, however wherever practical, without increasing the cost of the contract, the provision of the thermal elements has been specified to exceed current standards in conjunction with good detailing to prevent cold bridging and air leakage; this intent continued beyond the drawing stage and was carried through to the onsite works with good liaison and cooperation with the contractor, utilising his experience and skill in order to deliver the best performing building possible. In regard lifecycle costs the decision was taken very early on in the design development process to enhance the thermal performance of the existing building, and as a result new insulation was laid across the entire roof space (new and existing) and all the existing single glazed windows and doors were replaced with triple glazed units plus thermabate cavity closers installed around all openings. This in addition to the changes to the internal layout and other internal infrastructure and external fabric enhancements has created a home that feels and reads aesthetically as a single new dwelling and not a dwelling that has simply been extended. 3. Working Relationships: A successful construction project is more than just a ‘great’ design. Equally important is the quality of the working relationships at all stages of a project’s development. In our experience a Client will choose their architect; in part, based on a judgement of the rapport that they experience at the initial consultation/ interview stage and we work hard to strengthen this relationship during the design process such that; as in this case, our Clients can confidently trust in us, their Architect, to act as their representative when the project moves forward to the design development and construction stages. As a practice Studio C Architects advocate a collaborative approach, that values the input of each member of the design and construction team. Clear lines of communication are established from the onset and a design solution explored in the first place with the clients to ensure that their brief is clearly defined, addressed and met, and then with the design team members as the scheme is developed. This same collaborative approach was then carried over into the on-site construction such that when an alternative to the designed approach was suggested by the Main Contractor we were able to discuss and evaluate the merits and reasons for varying the design in terms of time, budget and sequence of work, an example of this is when it was decided to demolish and rebuild two internal first floor walls rather than continue with a more complex sequence of construction involving larger steels and propping of existing construction. By adopting this collaborative and open approach request for changes to a scheme’s layout and an awareness of potential problems that may be encountered when a scheme is under construction are anticipated and often overcome at desk top study stage, or if not highlighted as areas for further investigation and co-ordination once the work is live and the area of concern can be physical inspected and explored. An example of this would be the highlighted requirement by the structural engineer that the existing building may require underpinning, however this could not be fully ascertained until after the demolition of the redundant parts of the building had been implemented. Because of this early collaboration we were able to co-ordinate timely site visits and review by the Building Control Officer in parallel with the Contractor exposing footings such that no delays to the contract program occurred. The Partner relationship that we have with our Local Building Control team has been established over the last 8 years and has become a strong working relationship which allows us to have preliminary discussions about a design intent very early on in the design development process and often prior to the formal submission of the Building Regulation Application. This close relationship with the Building Surveyor team who carry out the Plan checks crosses over with the Inspection Building Surveyors and when we did have a concern on site in connection with the new foundations we were able to ascertain a solution with Building Control very quickly with out incurring delays. 4. Site & Project Management: As principal designer, Studio C Architects produced a ‘Designer’s Project Analysis and Hazard Identification Assessment’ for the project which was included among the tender documentation sent to each of the Tendering Building Contractors for develop as part of their project Health and Safety Construction Plan. This document highlighted key areas of the project; external influences, site setting and location as well as construction processes, complexity and sequencing of the works, that needed to be considered, addressed and managed by the Main Contractor prior to and during operations on site. Following Contractor appointment, a pre-commencement meeting was co-ordinated at the property with the Architect Contract Administrator, Main Contractor and Client present. Items on the agenda for discussion included site management, and practical site safety management such as erection of site hoarding, location and storage of materials, site facilities and waste management strategies such as location of skips. It was agreed that site name boards be erected on the external hoarding to provide clear contact information for both the Main Contractor and Architect should contact out of hours be required for any reason by the public. Due to the location of the site at the mouth of a private residential cul-de-sac it was decided appropriate for the entire frontage of the property to be behind protective hoarding running parallel with the back of the public footpath and returned to meet the building achieving a completely enclosed site that prevented public access when the site was not operational. Protective boards where laid to protect the driveway and front landscaped area behind the hoarding denoting clear areas for delivery and storage of materials as well as location for the site skip for waste materials. The skip and waste material were regularly changed and removed from site to ensure that the site remained a safe working environment throughout the construction period. The Main Contractor managed site operations and was actively present on site each day. At the end of each day the main Contractor ensured that operatives left a tidy and orderly site both internally within the buildings immediate working areas as well as externally. Studio C Architects; acting as Contract Administrators, visited the site on a regular basis to review works, progress and address any issues that were raised as well as to discuss future work items. When not on site Studio C Architects communicated regularly with the main Contractor via telephone and email. Photographs were regularly taken and exchanged to record progress and discuss site issues as encountered. The Clients were kept fully informed of site works and progress throughout the construction process with all communications going via Studio C Architects. Local Parking restrictions exist and permits for the Contractors vehicles were requested from the Council. Deliveries were co-ordinated and banksman used when the size of delivery vehicles required. The Main Contractor ensured that all deliveries were received and signed for, thus ensuring that the site areas remained safe, tidy and controlled. Scaffolding was erected when required and fixed protected access routes up and along the scaffolding established. Part of the project involved the replacement of the existing staircase into a new location. When the existing stair was removed; early in the construction period, the Contractor formed and fixed temporary timber stair to provide circulation within the building that alleviated the requirement for site operatives to access the work areas via the scaffolding. Early in the demolition sequence concern was raised by the Contractor that part of the existing kitchen ceiling was asbestos material. Works in this area ceased completely and an asbestos consultant was brought in to carry out investigation to establish the presence of asbestos. This was confirmed and the internals suspended whilst a controlled asbestos removal programme was co-ordinated and carried out by specialist. 5. Innovation & Problem-Solving: The project commenced on site March 2018 following the Tender period. The Building Regulation Passing of Plans was awarded September 2017, having been submitted for review that Summer. The insulation that had been specified for all the primary elements; walls, floors and roofs had been part of the Celotex rigid insulation product range. However, in response to the Grenfell Tower fire Celotex withdrew and suspended many of their rigid insulation products pending investigation and review. Therefore once the Contract was awarded and the project live, it was necessary for us to quickly review the insulation specification for each of the elements. As a consequence all the thermal products for each external element had to be re-specified and new products chosen that could not only meet the Building Regulations but continue to meet the designed U-value and performance levels that had been promised. Early into the project construction period we discovered that the existing yellow multi facing bricks of the retained part of the property were no longer manufactured and that matching the various hues and colours with a single multi brick was extremely difficult. After sourcing many samples a brick was chosen which everyone felt would be a good match. However, after the first few courses of the new build brick work had been raised we very quickly realised that the new build would be much darker than the existing and therefore be visually prominent. This was disappointing and collectively the decision was taken to source an additional brick which picked up the predominant brick hue that was missing and mix this in with the bricks already purchased to create a seamless brick façade whereby the extension would visually read as a continuation of the existing. Cost and potential waste was an obvious factor that needed to be addressed but this was overcome quickly as the over buy could be utilised for the retaining walls in the separate garden landscape project to be implemented following the main build. During the design the existing pitch of the front facing gable roof proved challenging. The front facing gable was a strong visual element which we wanted the new build to complement, however the use of the existing large module concrete tile a pitch to match was no longer recommended. In addition the Client did not like the visual appearance of the existing roof and was keen to replace the covering with something more attractive and traditional. For this reason the use of alternative roof tiles were investigated and it was decided that the existing roof covering be renewed as part of the extension project. The Weinerberg Sandtoft Clay tiles was chosen which can be laid at a pitch as shallow as 15 degrees and which achieves a very attractive visual appearance. A minor amendment to the Planning Approval was quickly sought for replacement of the existing roof covering. Whilst predominantly brick work the existing dwelling did host some horizontal timber cladding panels above and below the windows and doors. The original 90mm wide timber cladding was painted softwood butt jointed together and fixed back to timber battens fixed to the face of the inner masonry skin. Retention of timber cladding above and below windows was a key part of the design solution, however the high maintenance of the painted softwood was discarded in favour of the more stable, durable and sustainable Western Red Cedar timber cladding supplied by Russwood, which was secured vertical battens with secret fixings and will require no ongoing maintenance as it weathers beautifully naturally. Overall Outcomes: The project was awarded Practical completion mid October 2018 and our Clients moved into the property in November once the wardrobes that they had chosen had been fitted and the carpets to the 1st floor bedrooms had been laid. Our Clients have expressed their delight with the Build and the new home that has been created, thanking Studio C Architects for working closely with them throughout the design and construction process to create not only a new family home but a home that brings new life to the former house that had once belonged to the wife’s grandfather, thus allowing his legacy to live on. Our clients have commented on how well the project developed from the initial consultation and feasibility design stage, through to the development of the Planning and Building regulation and Construction drawings, and finally the Contract Award and on-site operations where close collaboration between architect and Main Contractor was essential to ensure a smooth transition from pen and paper to bricks and mortar. The Building Contract was administered using the RIBA Domestic Building Contract 2018 with Architect performing the Contract Administrator role in the traditional way. From the outset the role of each participant was clearly defined and accordingly all actions and instructions went via the architect allowing the Contractor to concentrate on the build. Any concerns that our clients had throughout the course of the construction phase were directed to the architects who liaised with all the relevant parties to address and resolve these before they became an issue that impacted upon the critical path of work. The agreed Contract period was extended by agreement to accommodate the occurrence of events which could not have been foreseen or controlled; such as the discovery of asbestos and its removal, and the manufacture and delivery of the bespoke main entrance doorset, garage door and bespoke oak stair with glass balustrade. The build itself was very much delivered in good time and kept closely to the budget. It was only client requested variations; such as changing all the sockets and switches throughout the building from white plastic units to stainless steel units and the supply and fitting of the kitchen through the Contract that increased the final contract sum.