Refurbishment & installation of solar panels

The brief

The clients wanted to improve the thermal comfort of their property while reducing their contribution to climate change by investing in eco-energy.

The property

The property is contained within a Grade 2 listed terrace house in Kemp Town Brighton. The ground floor and basement have been converted into separate flats and the property is the top maisonette consisting of the 1st and 2nd floors.
The building is a solid masonry construction with timber windows, a ‘butterfly’ pitched roof (orientated south/north) to the main part of the building and a rear outrigger with a flat roof. Much of the original structure remains intact or is in evidence in the building and the windows in the main part of the property are the original traditional timber sliding sashes. An office located in the rear outrigger is a later addition to the property and is accessed half-way up the stairs over the original kitchens below. The exterior walls of the office are single skin masonry, the window was a single glazed softwood casement and the roof flat is finished with roofing felt with no insulation at all. The property is listed and any works needed both Listed Building consent and planning approval.

The solution

The office was unusable in the colder months and it had a detrimental impact on the thermal comfort in the rest of the property. The solution was to install internal wall insulation (IWI) to the external walls and to the ceiling of the office and fit a new double glazed timber casement window. The IWI was a 100mm PIR thermal insulation board, finished with plasterboard, a 5mm plaster skim and then painted white.
The south-facing slope of the ‘butterfly’ pitched roof allowed the installation of eleven 0.8m x 1.6m photovoltaic (PV) panels. The PV panels were fitted to the roof slope in the same plane as the roof tiles and are not visible from the public realm.

The result

The office is warm and usable and its improved thermal performance has had a significant and positive impact on the comfort of the whole property. The PV panels have reduced the client’s energy bills, they have given them a return on investment of approximately 10% per annum and the clients are contributing to the reduction in global warming.

“The work in the back room has drastically improved the way we live in our flat. In winter months the flat is now comfortable in every room and is sunny and airy through summer. We are also extremely pleased that Martin’s work meant it was straight forward to install PV solar panels across our roof. We really enjoyed working with Martin and would not hesitate to work with him again.”

Jackie & Mark, Brighton

Low-Energy Rear Extension

The brief

As the owners move towards a time in their lives where they want to use their home to follow their passions their brief was to create a studio, an office and a storage room in the large rear garden. The extension should be integrated with the current property, future-proofed and encompass triple glazed windows and doors as used in the existing bungalow.

The property

The property is a 1950s detached bungalow. It had a dilapidated garage to the side, and a small front and a large rear garden. The hipped roof is tiled on all four sides, the walls yellow bricks at the base with pebble dash above. Previous work to the bungalow included internal refurbishment, a new porch and the replacement of all the windows and doors with triple glazed PVC units.

The solution

Demolish the garage and replace it with a large (28 sq.m.) single–storey extension following the line of the northern boundary. The extension is linked to the bungalow and has direct access to the rear garden. The level floor runs through from the bungalow to the extension and the wide doorway from the existing to the new allows easy access. A drop in ceiling height in the link marks the boundary between the domestic and the working space.
The AECB Silver standard was used as the benchmark for the detailing and thermal efficiency targets for the extension. The extension has a warm flat roof, PVC triple glazed windows and sliding doors, minimal thermal bridges, good air-tightness and thick cavity walls allowing for 200mm of cavity insulation.

The result

The extension provides a large, light and airy studio, office space, and a big storage room and much of the sunny rear garden remains. Internally, the original space flows through to the extension but is distinct from the residential parts of the property. The AECB Silver Standard keeps the extension warm, in the winter and cool in the summer with very low heating costs. Externally the extension is clearly an addition but the link connects the old and the new and unites the domestic with the workspace. Through the use of matching materials the extension both compliments and reflects the existing form and there is visual harmony.

“We are very grateful to Martin for showing us what’s possible in terms of thermal insulation in a new-build property. Our annex requires surprisingly little heating in winter and, despite being south facing, it doesn’t get overly hot in the summer. He provided impressively detailed specifications for the builder, and when the work was in progress he visited the site regularly, forming a good professional relationship with the builder to facilitate the achievement of what had been planned. We found Martin to be reliable, easy to contact and communicative.”

JS & BM, Brighton

Replacement of First-Floor Conservatory

The brief

Replace the house’s cold, leaky conservatory, integrating it more effectively with the rest of the house and upgrading its thermal performance.

The property

The house, built at the turn of the 1900s, had an original first-floor conservatory facing south and west. The original conservatory had a timber structure with coloured glazing in the windows and an opaque glazed roof but the glazed roof had long been covered over with corrugated asbestos sheets.

The solution

To create an energy-efficient replacement conservatory whilst retaining the original glazing pattern and style. To do this we re-built the timber-framed structure using a sustainable hardwood for strength and durability. Precisely cut and painted in the factory, the timber was already finished with three coats of micro-porous paint when it arrived, reducing the on-site build time to a minimum.
We installed low-energy doubled-glazed units with special ‘blue’ glass in the roof to cut down the heat gain in summer, renovated the existing timber floors, and lined the dwarf solid-brick walls with insulation.
To integrate the space with the rest of the house, the doors and brick piers separating the conservatory from the adjoining room were removed and replaced with a steel stability frame.

The result

The new conservatory is now a hidden jewel at the back of the house, a beautiful light, warm room and a peaceful haven from the hubbub in the rest of the house. It makes the most of its aspect and its elevated location soaks up the evening sun when it has been lost from the ground floor of the house.