Architecture Living up to The Location

 A glorious setting in the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) near Swansea, Wales, gave Loyn + Co Architects (loyn.co.uk) scope for an impressive 357sqm, four-bedroom home clad in local Gwrhyd Pennant stone (specialiststone.com) and Kebony wood (kebony.com). To take advantage of the sea views, the house is set further forward than the dilapidated building it replaces. It is thermally efficient, has photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar battery storage. The three-storey indoor garden caught the eye of the judges, who have shortlisted it for the Royal Society of Architects Wales (RSAW) Welsh Architecture Awards 2022.

The Royal Institute of BritishArchitects (RIBA) is urgingthe government to focusa new National RetrofitStrategy on updating3.3 million interwar homesin England to help solve theenergy crisis and reducefuel poverty. Many havepoor insulation and only10 per cent have an EnergyPerformance Certificate(EPC) above band C. ItsHomes for Heroes reportsets out how the strategycould be implemented,from insulatingwalls to deploying heatpumps. 

Recommeded Architecture Living up to The Location :

1. Eco aware. When the owners of an end-of-terrace house in Herne Hill, southLondon, wanted to replace a conservatory, architectural studio Typedesigned a 45sqm side and rear extension. To limit its environmentalimpact, natural materials such as wood, lime plaster and quarry tileswere chosen. Douglas fir is used for the joists, ceiling panelling, picturewindow, shutters and a pivot door, with ash used for the kitchen joinery,internal wall panelling and furniture.
2. Simply effective, Fletcher Crane Architects made great use of the space in this 85sqm, two-bedroom detached home in Ealing, west London, which replaced a garage. Built for a family looking to downsize, the house is arranged on four half levels with an open-plan kitchen on the ground floor. A living room on the top storey benefits from plenty of natural light, while at lower ground level there’s a bedroom and bathroom. The main en-suite bedroom is in the basement, leading to a sunken courtyard garden. 
3. In the running. Fifteen renovation projects have been chosen from 200submissions to New London Architecture’s 2022 Don’t Move,Improve! competition (nla.london), which celebrates innovativehome-extension projects. Winners will be announced in May. Onthe shortlist is A Tuscan Veranda, designed by Turner Architects(turnerarchitects.co.uk) to extend a five-bedroom terraced housein Lambeth, south London. It draws on the perfectly proportionedRomanesque arches depicted in Raphael’s fresco, The School ofAthens. The arched glazing is echoed by archways between theextension and the house. The project cost £150,000.
4. Walk this way. PiP Architects upgraded a Building of Local Interest in a conservation area ofCambridge. The practice reconfigured the three-bedroom, semi-detached Victorianhouse from rented flats into a family home for a couple with a teenage daughter. The60sqm of new-build elements include a kitchen extension and a corridor leading toa garden studio. This scheme was devised to avoid having dark rooms at the heart ofthe house. Hung brick tiles, Anthra-Zinc cladding, Corten fins and a sedum roofcomplete the exterior of the £700,000 project.