property
Design. The key to better houses By Mike Gazzard Hons FRIBA
Everything manufactured is first drawn. If the design is right the product succeeds. If it is not right the product fails. This is what architects do for buildings. Locked in their design is the success of a project; whether it will be economical and quick to construct, whether it will have low maintenance and a long life; whether it will be practical, efficient and easy to use; whether it will be easy to heat, insulate and service; and finally will it give pleasure to the owners and occupants and lift the hearts of those who pass by? A building should do all these things and thereby add to its intrinsic value as an investment. A classic instance of house-types that fulfil these criteria are those of the 18th Century Georgian houses-an ideal inspired by Palladio in the 17th Century and derived from the geometry known in ancient Greece and Rome. Palladio’s ideas were brought to England by Inigo Jones and demonstrated by him in his design of The Queen’s House at Greenwich in 1652. Georgian houses were design led and effectively the first industrialized housing, using classical principles of proportion for plans and elevation, standard doors, windows, staircases and paneling. It was infinitely variable, affordable and used to design
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simple cottages or mansions. These houses were laid out to high densities. In formal terraces, squares, often with mews at the rear to accommodate carriages. For their time they were even good in energy conservation, because terraced houses heat and insulate each other laterally and roofs are easy to insulate. They were mostly speculatively built. And the 18th Century didn’t even know about the biggest problem confronting us to today-global warming. The challenges confronting today’s homebuilders and developers are well documented. As well as constructing more homes in greater density with enhanced performance in terms of energy efficiency and reduced emissions they must also ensure quality standards aren’t compromised. Which is why the findings of the latest National New Home Construction Survey make encouraging reading. The survey, which covers the 12 months from October 2016 to September 2017, showed that 85% of respondents were happy with the quality of their home- a climb of 1% on the previous year. These findings further endorse the value of good design- If the design is right the product succeeds.
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