room-architects

Election

2010-04-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

You've got to watch how you type that title, took me a couple of swipes to correct my misplaced 'r'. But then again, looking at the coverage that the election gets in the press, there would appear to be more than a few people who get aroused by policy documents and manifestos.

I suppose I should read the manifesto promises of the main parties - after all I am a small (not physically) businessman and there are no doubt lots of carrots being dangled in my direction. Tax cuts, tax breaks, National insurance, Corporation tax.... It's not that I'm not concerned about the ins and out of the various pre-election sweeteners, it's just that I don't actually believe that any of them ever come to anything.

I honestly can't remember what mandate any of the main parties stood on during the last election, I can't remember the promises so I can't say whether they were broken... Therefore I am starting to think that it doesn't matter who I vote for. The world appears to keep turning regardless of what flag is flying over Downing Street.

What I would like to see is a political party promise something tangible; tax cuts are easily swallowed by households, rises are quickly absorbed - what I would like is a couple of good promises which would be measurable. Improved levels of childhood obesity perhaps, Increased literacy levels maybe, an improvement in public spaces.

I am probably being naive in believing that small changes can have large results but I can't help thinking that improving peoples immediate everyday experiences will have a far greater knock on effect than giving them a couple of quid in their pockets.

Roll on 6th May so we can all start to get on with our lives

Potholes

2010-03-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

The roads in Aberdeen are now so bad that I don't really want to go out in the car anywhere.

The junction at Mannofield is like a third world road, the type of thing you see on natural history programmed where the crew struggle through some swept away track to catch a glimpse of a butterfly.

Why are the council so slow at repairing the roads? Why are they considering spending money on filling in parks when they could be filling in roads?

Room Architects

VAT

2010-01-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

With the change back to 17.5% VAT now upon us, I will be interested to see just what impact it will have on the construction sector in Scotland.

Apart from ensuring some big tellys and blueray players were bought, it feels as though the reduction has had very little impact. The larger projects stalled by the downturn would have been zero rated or exempt for the most part and the actual saving for small domestic projects was nice but not exactly a dealbreaker.

What I find annoying was that the change was implemented so quickly which did not give clients or design teams the time needed to best take advantage. Had they announced the reduction and waited six months before implementing it might have kick started a few projects.

My main irritation with the governments VAT strategy is that it penalises refurbishment and extension while rewarding new construction. Surely this flies in the face of common sense and the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' mantra.

The government was quite happy to plow money into the car industry via the scrappage scheme, surely it would make sense to do the same sort of thing for the construction sector; providing economic benefits for the vast number of people employed in construction and supporting industries.

It will be interesting, in the run up the general election, to see if any of the main parties are far sighted enough to redress the VAT disparity.

Snow

2009-12-22T15:58:00.000-08:00

Snow has quite an effect on me, a good covering of snow reduces me to the mental age of a ten year old child. Sledging, snowballs, snowmen the works.

The other thing I love about snow is that it is just so photogenic. It strips colour out of any scene and gives a beautiful contrast to even simple views.

But on the downside, I do get irked by the lack of pavement gritting and I don't really understand why the council can't get one of their wee tractors out along the pavement. I'm not asking for every street but it doesn't seem unreasonable to clear the main ones; union street was like an ice rink today.

C'mon Aberdeen city council, clear the bloody pavements so the rest of us can get on with building snowmen without worrying about whether we ate going to make it to the shops alive.

More climate change

2009-12-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

Another great, thought provoking documentary on climate change tonight- the age of stupid-

www.ageofstupid.net

Well worth watching, I assume you can watch it on iplayer or perhaps on the website above

Carbon sucking artificial trees!!!

2009-12-09T16:01:00.001-08:00

More from the climate change programme.... Artificial carbon dioxide absorbing trees!

Bloody hell! There are some clever people out there

http://bit.ly/7iTfAR

Climate change

2009-12-09T15:54:00.001-08:00

I'm watching a very scary documentary on BBC 1 called hot planet and the prospect of climate change is truly frightening.

While I am watching it, I am very aware of all the lights on in the house, the central heating that is keeping me warm and the plethora of electrical items which are peppered around the house. We, as a family, own two cars. We take the odd short haul flight, we eat food that is shipped from far away and our clothes are far-east made (and are discarded rather than repaired)

As an architect, I am aware of pressures to design sustainable buildings. I try as far as possible to design efficient, well insulated buildings using materials which are as 'good' as possible.

It's my private life that lags behind and for that I am quite embarassed. I must do better.

Watch this space....

New Car

2009-08-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

I have been looking over the weekend at cars. Not really a favourite topic of mine, I don't salivate over the latest 'this' or the fastest 'that'. I don't buy car magazines and I only ever watch top gear so that I can shout at the television.

However, my lovely wife decided a couple of weeks ago that she would test the solidity of our (lovely) Skoda Octavia by wrapping it round a lamppost before flipping it upside down. It coped very well with this test and both wife and child were unharmed by the experience. I cannot recommend the Skoda enough. If anyone is looking for a big, solid family car with plenty of boot space then get a Skoda.

I digress, My question for today is this; what does a car say about you? more specifically, what does a car say about me if I go to visit a client? If I roll up in a beat up landrover it says one thing, if it's a flashy BMW it says another. I am having real difficulty placing myself on the car scale.

The socialist in me says 'avoid the ostentatious german cars', the designer in me says 'avoid bland company cars', the environmentalist in me says 'get an efficient car' and my wallet is telling me a whole different story. If anyone has any suggestions as to what the perfect car is for an Architect please let me know.

If money, practicality, weather, family and status didn't matter.... I'd have a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia!

iPhone

2009-07-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Apologies to anyone who receives a two second call from my mobile. I've just managed to get hold of the new Apple iPhone 3Gs and I'm still trying to get to grips with the voice control feature.

Unfortunately Apple haven't catered for someone with a thick Scottish Accent - "play songs by Nirvana" gets translated into "calling Neil" This is then followed by me scrambling to hit the end call button before it connects.

Ho hum, being from the best small country in the world does have it's downside.

Climate change

2009-06-25T01:33:00.001-07:00

I was glad (and so was Arnie) to hear the news yesterday that the Scottish Government have committed to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decade. Scotland is often seen as the 'sick man of Europe' and I am happy that our Government is taking big steps to improve our lot.

One small nagging doubt... If we are all to use less energy, heat our houses less and still keep warm, why does the government not take a proactive stance on the refurbishment of old buildings? As it stands (and I generalise) VAT is chargeable on refurbishment work but not on new buildings. There is no incentive to keep and tart up old buildings, while there is a clear incentive to provide ugly, non-conformist, tract housing This to me seems crazy, topsy-turvy and just plain daft!

Our existing building stock has been sitting for years repaying the initial carbon investment, surely it is better to encourage the re-use of existing buildings rather than pump more greenhouse gases out to demolish them. Not to mention the additional 'footprint' involved in building tat to replace them?

On a plus note, and perhaps this is more of a hope, the proposed reductions in greenhouse gases does present a massive opportunity for innovation in Scotland. Where better to develop future technologies? We may as well innovate our way out of this problem and us Scots are no strangers to invention.

room

A Bad building (not one of mine)

2009-05-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Bad as in 'bad smell' not BAD as in 'Michael Jackson'

This is a follow on from yesterdays rant about the state of buildings in Aberdeen. I thought long and hard about whether I should actually publish this photo (horses head on the pillow, ostracised by the local RIAS chapter, "you'll never work in this town") But I concluded that this building was just too awful to keep to myself. (and nobody reads my blog anyway so I'm pretty safe)

I did ask some acquaintances in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow whether they knew of a worse building in their respective cities and nobody has thus far come up with a less delightful specimen. If by some miracle someone actually reads this and knows of a bigger monstrosity, please feel free to send it my way.

Terrible Architecture in Aberdeen

2009-05-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Aberdeen has some truly terrible buildings!

I know Architects from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and London and they snigger whenever they visit Aberdeen. Is that what we have been reduced to? A laughing stock?

Oil company headquarters are amongst the worst buildings, fake mock schlock victoriana haciendas swimming in acres of tarmac in the once glorious west end. Mega pavilions of cheap, glitzy anonymity slotted into faceless, lifeless out of town business parks.

I spend a great deal of time annoying my wife by talking about 'how I could do this building or that building a whole lot better than the joker who was chosen to screw it up'. Why do clients choose Architects? what are the criteria? Is it just about money? One example is the new fox lane garden centre at Westhill - Not a truly terrible building by any standards but a real missed opportunity; why is there so much opposing geometry? why didn't the designer pick up on the archetype of the polytunnel or glasshouse and run with it? That building could have been so much more. Don't even get me started on the exhibition centre!

The worst part of the story is that for the most part, the monstrous creations are the work of local practices who should know better. My plea to any potential clients thinking of hiring one of the many substandard designers peddling their generic crap is please, please, please, for the good of the city, give one of the many design based practices a call.

Birds nest

2009-05-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

I discovered today that we have a sparrows nest in our dormer window. I had heard some wee scratching noises in the roof space and thought the worst - Rats! but while doing a spot of gardening this morning I saw a sparrow squeeze through a space under the dormer soffit.

Why am I relieved to discover that the noises were in fact small birds? is it that they are much cuter than rats? is it that sparrows don't suffer from the old 'black death' tag (hard to shake). whatever the reason, I am secretly pleased and slightly chuffed that this little family has chosen to share my house. Stupid I know.

What do Architects do?

2009-04-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

A friend once said to me, when I told him I was an Architect, "what do you do?"

This is a constant problem for our profession, people so often think that we 'draw up plans' (whatever that means!) He could not see that a building is quite a complicated thing and that to get it right requires a lot of thought and consideration, followed by a heck of a lot of drawings.

On a typical new build house, the client imagines that they will have a couple of plans showing all the nice rooms, some lovely pictures showing the outside and that is that. Not so. The list below might give some idea of the amount of information we need to produce in order for a project to be elevated beyond bog-standard.

Location plan, site plan, landscape plan, foundation plan, drainage plan, floor plans, electrical plans, ceiling plans, roof plan, elevations, cross sections, plan details (maybe 10), section details (again 10), internal joinery details, furniture layouts, kitchen layouts, internal elevations, tiling arrangements, finishes schedule, door schedule, window schedule, ironmongery schedule, taps and sanitary ware schedule.... I could go on and on and on.

My point is, that sure, you could get a builder in to do your house but how much control would you have? especially since the guy you are paying to do the work might make decisions which suit him rather than you.

Architects (okay MOST Architects) care deeply about the quality of space they design. We think long and hard about subtle details that you might not even notice, but I'm damn sure you would notice them if we didn't.

It's been a while

2009-04-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted, There just aren't enough hours in the day to keep everything up to date.

Time management is talked about as a skill which every Architect needs to learn, I'm not so sure! Architecture is an absorbing pursuit and I can find myself spending hours on items which less caring designers might fire out in minutes, just to get it right!

I used to think that I was good at managing my time, but the truth is I'm not - If I were I would know that I should stop designing when the profit starts running out, regardless of whether the design is good or not.

In a recent fee bid, I submitted what I thought was a reasonable quote based on what I saw as the work required. I later found out that another 'Architect' had undercut everyone by a significant margin and was working for a paltry sum. I thought long and hard about this and came to the conclusion that I could not have done the job for the tiny fee that the developer expected, I would have had to cut corners, produce poor drawings, not test my designs and the product wouldn't have been as good. If I was a time management Nazi, I might have worked out how many hours, minutes and seconds the job would have taken and stuck to it. but this is not how I work! I consider that the job of an Architect is to solve a problem, not to 'maybe' solve a problem within a given number of minutes.

I don't wear a watch, I don't have a clock in my office and I don't fill in a time sheet unless I really have to.

Too Expensive?

2009-02-26T02:48:00.000-08:00

I recently received an email from a prospective client saying that the quote I had provided "was more than they had budgeted for" and that they had "found another Architect who could do the plans for less" While this didn't surprise me (and to be honest I don't think I was the right Architect for the Job) it did start me thinking...

You get what you pay for is a common adage. People instinctively know that a car priced at £20,000 is likely to offer more than one priced at £10,000, both in terms of features and in status. Clothes are another good example, cheap clothes invariably look cheap and expensive clothes are more likely to be well made and be of quality materials. It's not rocket science - a cheap product or service will still have to provide the company with some profit so corners will have to be cut.

It surprises me that people would want to save a few quid (even a few thousand pounds) when dealing with their biggest asset - their house! A good Architect, who is well paid, will easily make up the deficit by providing clever and imaginative design solutions. I will leave you with a quote from John Ruskin which I think illustrates my point very well.

"There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man's lawful prey."

It's freezing!

2009-02-02T04:28:00.000-08:00

I am a typical Scotsman (if the media is to be believed) I would rather be a bit cold than put on the heating and pay. As I type this I am jiggling about, trying to keep my hands and feet warm, constant cups of coffee help somewhat but I am still cold.

The problem, other than my thrifty sensibility, is that I live in a 1930's house with mass stone walls and no insulation. When these houses were built, coal would have been the primary fuel and a fire would have burned all day, every day keeping the base temperature of the house at a constant level. As the house would have been occupied for the majority of the day, there would have been very little need for a 'quick fix' as far as heating is concerned.

Freetime and lack of it would also have played a part in the comfort of the householder. Women, as the daytime occupants (pre-enlightenment) would have had very little 'me-time' and would have been constantly active. Without amazing domestic appliances, it would have been movement that kept them warm.

We can't and shouldn't go back to the old days, times have changed, the make-up of the family has changed and the way we use our homes has changed. Instead, we should look for a solution:

Insulation is the best single thing you can do to improve your house, double glazing has a very long return time and extra heating just isn't an option. Many of the gas and electric companies are duty bound to assist you in decreasing your energy needs. As part of this they will subsidise loft and cavity wall insulation (costing you around £300). Or you can do it yourself? The SBSA (Scottish building standards agency) produce documents which advise householders on the best way to reduce energy use and the most efficient means to introduce insulation.

Don't be left in the cold.

Steading conversion

2009-01-09T04:26:00.000-08:00

Over the new year break, some friends and I stayed in a converted steading near Banchory, Aberdeenshire. On the whole it was a very well developed layout and presented quite a few interesting spaces.

One problem often faced by anyone hoping to convert their farm building is that of minimising the circulation. Traditional Scottish steadings are often long narrow buildings which do not lend themselves to anything other than a corridor - room solution. This can be unsatisfying.

The steading we stayed in did have a fair amount of circulation but had managed to reduce it's impact; this was achieved by allowing the circulation to become additional space - corridors were wide enough to become occupied areas, useful storage zones or ad hoc sitting rooms. Roof lights had been added to flood the corridor with even top light, making them feel even more roomy.

In the UK we have an obsession with bedrooms. When we buy a house we look at the number of bedrooms, people complain about the size of the bedrooms, clients will tell me that they want fantastic views from their bedrooms. None of which makes sense to me. Okay, if you have a set number of people who need to rest their weary heads then the number of rooms is important but we spend so little of our waking hours in bedrooms that their prominence within the house seems a little overinflated?

If you are planning an extension, conversion or new build, take a step back from the estate agent mentality and really think about how houses are used, where are the kids going to play, do you need a space to stop and read a book. Examine what YOU need.

google49872cc8d5e03935

2008-12-19T16:57:00.001-08:00

google verification

Test Material

2008-12-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Today I ventured out in the wind and rain to nail a piece of metal roofing to my garage! strange I know but this particular piece was a sample of terne coated stainless steel which will weather down to a matt grey tone.

As Architects we are not only interested in the form of the buildings we design but also the materials from which they are built. Part of this is testing what a material may look like after it has been 'in the wild' for a while. Although the stainless steel is bright (think toaster) today within six months it will have darkened and its lustre will have faded.

All too often we are fooled by glossy images of buildings and fail to realise that the eventual appearance may be different. Housing estates (sorry, executive developments) are fond of clean white render which hides the many sins of poor quality blockwork. These shiny white blocks look great in the short term (usually while the sales shack remains on site) but quickly start to show their pain by revealing poorly designed cills, flashings and copes. The buildings bleed a dirty stain from strangely positioned boiler overflows and develop bags under their eyes due to rain shadows at eaves and projecting cills.

As consumers we should think a little harder about what we buy from developers, swishy kitchens and an LCD tv thrown in seems to be all that matters, who cares that the outside is ugly or failing or ill-fitting?

I wouldn't buy a suit with a loose button, why then are we so poor at judging the quality of houses?

Success!

2008-12-16T06:21:00.000-08:00

Room Architects are pleased to announce that they have succesfully secured full planning permission for 'Bogindhu' a significant extension to an existing farmhouse set in Aberdeenshire. Our design passed the planning process without any changes and should be on site sometime during the spring of 2009

Part Three Exam?

2008-12-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

Many people outside of the Architecture profession know about the 'seven years of training' but few realise the intensity of the exam which all hopeful students must pass in order to call themselves Architects - commonly called The part 3 exam!

This exam is what sets 'us' aside from 'them'. Anyone can be appointed by clients, produce drawings and submit applications but to able to use the title of Architect requires a long university course, recorded post graduate experience and the completion of the part 3 exam. Architects have specialist knowledge of design, harmony, construction and technology, the part 3 exam sits above this knowledge and provides an additional layer of professional competence in which the client can be assured.

Many other disciplines carry out building design services but few have the background in design that an Architect has - design is the difference between a bog-standard timber kit house and one designed by my good friends Dualchas; both employ the same technology, the same construction and the same materials but the one with the greater design input has more soul. I suppose it's the same as comparing a litre of paint and a Rothko painting.

If you are considering hiring a professional to carry our design services I would urge you to visit the ARB to check whether or not they are a registered Architect. If a company is trying to give the impression that they are Architects when they are not, you should probably ask yourself "if they can do that..."

Room Architects

Losing interest Again?

2008-12-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Yet another 1% cut in the BOE base rate today, even more reason to consider investing your money in your house, after all it is the single most important factor in your health, wellbeing and happiness - your money is better off working for you!

Losing interest?

2008-11-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

Now that the Bank of England has cut the base interest rate by a massive 1.5%, you may be literally losing interest!

Typically the banks are quick to adjust the savings rates downwards while being slow to drop the mortgage rates. If you are amongst the lucky few with savings rather than debts this could have a major financial impact.

As the housing market falls and the rate at which new houses are built drops, the availability of contractors increases (which means that building costs may also fall) As a result, this may be a good time to extend or refurbish your home - your money will go further, it will save you from the perils of the housing market and as your money is not working as hard in the bank you might as well put it to good use in improving your house.

Of course I am touting for business, but I do see a good opportunity to make the best of bad times and avoid the 'property development rush' which will inevitably come with the next boom.

room architects

e

2008-09-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Centerparcs

2008-09-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

We have just come back from centerparcs in the lake district, typically the British weather did us no favours but I was very impressed with the architectural quality of the site. A great deal of care and consideration had gone into the planning of the scheme.

What impressed me in particular was the manner in which the lodges were woven into the pattern of the forest, creating a feeling of seclusion in what is in fact quite a dense development. It would have been very easy for the designers to create 'roads' and 'streets' in the traditional sense, but this would have been overpowering and not so appealing. Significant mature trees had been left standing, pathways and tracks followed the lay of the land, and buildings settled neatly into the landscape.

The main centre building and the sports centre were impressive, modern structures but again, their location and setting was considered to make them appear 'happy' in their surroundings.

All too often new buildings are dropped into place, appearing as if by magic. Some new buildings ( I won't name any!) pay little regard to the slopes, hills, trees and paths which are already on site, preferring instead to level the site and start afresh. This is the easy option, the boring option!

We should use the features of the site more! Work around trees, step up and down with levels, nest buildings into the hillsides. Most people who say they don't like modern Architecture reason that it doesn't 'fit'. Modern Architecture can be made to look natural and intentional, all it takes is a bit of thought.

Credit Crunch

2008-07-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Tricky subject the credit crunch, what the hell does it mean? everyone talks about a downturn or a slowdown as if the world has ended.

In the world of Architecture our workload tends to reflect that of the building trade - if they slow, so do we! There will be an inevitable impact on my business, given the depth of the current crisis and perhaps a long lasting impact on how the housing market operates in the UK. What I do see happening is an increased awareness of the possibility of extending or altering houses, people are thinking 'If my house value is dropping, I'm staying put'. Despite the gloom, I see this as having a longer term positive impact on how we consider our houses.

For too long, the only consideration owners had for their houses was the market value. Fed stories of rising prices by the press and television, we forgot that the main 'value' in our houses is in the utility they provide us. They give us places to sleep, eat, laugh, relax and love. A house should be a long term concern and not just a vehicle for turning a quick buck.

Extending your house, converting a loft or a garage or simply making better use of the space you have is a far better way of 'up scaling' than moving. I say, ride the troughs as well as the peaks, enjoy your house, don't be afraid to change it !!!

As for me? we will continue to offer high quality design advice to our domestic clients and we relish the challenge of creating innovative buildings in a tough market.

room architects

A keen eye

2008-06-12T14:04:00.001-07:00

Well done Martin, you win the prize for spotting the deliberate mistake in the last post. It must be your Architects eye which managed to pick up that slightest of mistakes.

Sorry there was not a prize

Everday design

2008-06-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

whilst preparing for a seminar on design, struggling for a topic, I became aware of all the brightly coloured plastic which peppers the floor in my house (baby toys!).

The design of baby toys is generally very good; when I have taken the time to really look at the various toys, the thought and consideration of the designer becomes evident. From nothing, someone has taken raw materials and a set of rules (make them safe, eye catching, robust, manageable and educational) and has created a useful 3 dimensional object.

In Architecture, we start with a set of rules (client requirements, building regulation, planning policy) and a knowledge of materials and we try to balance these to create a unique and exciting building. Clients are often not aware of the work which goes into creating even the simplest of buildings. The head-scratching, sketching and design testing go unnoticed. The final drawings are often the only visible sign that any work has been done. Unless the Architect makes the client aware of the total work package, how does he expect to charge a fair price?

room architects are more than willing to demonstrate to our clients the full nature of our work. We encourage our clients to participate in the nitty-gritty of the design process so that they can both understand the value which a professional can bring to a project, and experience the enjoyment that the design process can offer.

First Post

2008-05-31T16:33:00.001-07:00

First post, just ignore