Design4D Blog

Nik Hilton  //  www.design4d.co.uk
Young Architect of the Year Nominee 2009, 2010, 2011
Finalist in the British Homes Awards 2009
Finalist in the Design awards 2009

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Mar 27 / 7:35pm

Tradition and Sustainability

It may not be a popular view in architectural circles but I have just finished reading Prince Charles' book 'Tradition and Sustainability' and would recommend it to all architect's, as a lot of what is said is excellent common sense in terms of sustainability.  Unfortunately, where it is likely to become unpopular is its narrow definition of 'Traditional' style.

It would be interesting to hear what Prince Charles would say about our Shell House scheme, which we are currently talking to a number of developers about building. Here is a house that ticks all of the sustainability boxes, including its consideration of the "fourth dimension", which the book defines as "...community, memory, sense of place and creativity...", but the way it looks is the result of its construction and response to site. Potentially a 'classic' piece of architecture, but would the Shell House satisfy Prince Charles' belief in 'Tradition'?                       

Image003

 

Filed under  //  Architecture   Prince Charles   Shell House   Sustainability   Tradition  
 
Dec 1 / 7:59pm

Achieving Zero Carbon Housing

I was invited today to assist in the UK government's efforts to define 'Zero-carbon' which will set the parameters for future housing design tools. Zero Carbon Housing looks as though it will be defined as a 70% carbon reduction on-site (carbon compliance) and 30% carbon reduction off-site (allowable solutions) in order to reduce the financial impact on the developer. I'm not necessarily against this approach assuming the 30% off-site generation comes from renewable sources. What does concern me is that we are still defining zero-carbon when the deadline of 2016 is rapidly approaching. If solar technology improves in the way computer technology has done then I think the 70-30% debate will be a bit arbitrary. Also the data used assumed that future housing would not all be orientated North-South as our Shell House scheme proposes which raises the question why not?

Zero-carbon housing is a huge challenge but also a great opportunity for architects to show that new construction methods and building typologies will provide cheaper solutions then just bolting on another layer of complexity to keep our existing housing models alive.

 

Image003

Design4D's Shell House scheme

Filed under  //  Architecture   Carbon neutral   Design4D   Shell House   Sustainability   design  
 
Nov 18 / 7:22pm

Climate change, flooding and SUDs

Whether you believe Al Gore or the skeptics both arguments point to a change in climate which, with only a few degrees increase in average temperature, will have a major butterfly effect on human well being. One of these impacts will be greater levels of flooding as shown in John Vidal's article below.

Having said that urban flash flooding has a lot to do with the fact we have covered too much of the ground with hard impermeable surfaces. This is not a sustainable concept and has resulted in drainage systems that can't cope with rainwater surges caused by the water having nowhere natural to drain. Green roofs as in our Shell House scheme and SUDs are going to have greater relevance in the design of future cities if we expect our existing infrastructure to cope with increasing levels of rainfall.


GLOBAL: JOHN VIDAL | GUARDIAN.CO.UK | 17 NOVEMBER 2010
http://pulsene.ws/lenJ


Filed under  //  SUDs   Shell House   Sustainability   climate change   flooding  
 
Sep 30 / 1:08pm

Densifying Suburbia

This is an interesting TED lecture on suburbia. One of the biggest impacts on reducing carbon consumption will be achieved by densifying suburbia. While some politicians seem determined to unlock the precious Green Belt land for property development we instead must be looking at ways of densifying existing low density developments. Higher densities reduce car use and make servicing the public realm more sustainable.

Our Shell house project is just one alternative solution for densifying suburbia.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ellen_dunham_jones_retrofitting_suburbia.html

Filed under  //  Architecture   Shell House   Sustainability   TED  
 
Sep 15 / 9:33am

Please vote for our Shell House scheme which we have submitted for Innovate10 funding!

Our Shell House project was a Finalist in The British Homes Awards but requires further design development and costing in order to prove its commercially viability.

Positive comments on our grant funding submission would be gratefully received. Please take a look at:

http://www.innovate10.co.uk/video/shell-house

Filed under  //  Architecture   Design4D   Shell House   design   property  
 
Sep 14 / 6:36pm

Fixing the flaws in photosynthesis @newscientist

I have always thought architects get too hung up on aesthetics and not enough on the problem solving aspects of the profession. Everything in nature to me is beautiful and yet it is just a simple evolutionary response to site, predators and sunlight. This article is interesting in raising the issue of food growth and how efficiencies need to be made to feed the expanding population. Perhaps the roofs of our Shell House scheme could be turned into allotments for growing food creating a secondary layer of landscape within the urban realm.

http://tinyurl.com/3am7srd

Filed under  //  Architecture   Design4D   Shell House   Sustainability