6 tips for creating a sustainable kitchen

As the heart of your home, a new kitchen is a big thing to plan. We’re pleased to have teamed up with Sheffield Sustainable Kitchens to share their top tips for creating your own sustainable kitchen.

The kitchen is understandably a focal point during any renovation or new building project. We first worked with Sheffield Sustainable Kitchens during our Sycamore Hall project.

How to get the most from your architect

Working with an architect is an investment. Choose the right one and their fee will be paid back in spades by the value they will add to your project.

However, to get the most from your architect it’s important that you’re prepared as a client.

Here are our top tips to get you started:

Are you making the most of natural light and views in your home?

We have several residential projects in the Stamford and Oakham area, and so we were delighted when Houseproud Stamford & Rutland magazine asked Alan to write a piece for their Architecture Explained series.

Full of tips and tricks, the article explores how to make the most of the views that surround your home and invite more natural light into your space.

Is your home is cold, draughty and expensive to heat?

We can help your family stay comfortable, safe & healthy.

When you think about what you need out of a home, it’s easy to forget some of the fundamentals that ensure you and your family are comfortable, safe and healthy. This is mainly because we don’t talk about these things in relation to our houses. We talk about numbers of bedrooms, parking, gardens, Internet speed, even solar panels, but do any of these things meet our primary needs?

Thinking of Self-Building? Don’t plan your project without reading this…

Why it pays to be patient when planning your dream build

Our Top Tips for getting your project finished on time.

When you’re investing so much money into your construction project, including architect fees, it’s worth taking your time to make sure it’s planned correctly. Especially as you’re likely to be enjoying the finished building for many, many years to come.

Thinking about downsizing?

Are you apprehensive about planning your construction project?

We’ve collated some useful links to help avoid common pitfalls.

Planning a building project can be complex.  There are thousands of decisions to be made between the start and end of your project. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the design process and works starting on site. But it’s equally easy to forget the less glamorous decisions that must be made along the way.

stoves in airtight houses…

For Cinder bridge Road we’ve been looking at the possibility of installing a wood burning or mixed fuel stove. Since we’re aiming for a decently air-tight thermal envelope I found the demands of approved document J demanded a significant compromise with regards ventilation for the stove. This is noted in Mark Brinkley’s blog from as long ago as 2010 and led me to ask the question on Twitter. There definitely seems to be a lot of uncertainty as to what can or can’t be achieved without breaking the rules or significant vents through the building envelope. I was reminded of a blog post from the Brute Force Collaborative that discusses fires in Passivhaus projects and which hints, by the omission of log burning stoves, at the issues we were facing.

Why is air tight & breathable construction important?

Why build air tight buildings?

As we’re moving towards better and better insulated buildings, the simplistic use of U-values to measure the performance of the building envelope is becoming less and less adequate.  If warm air is leaking out of the building at junctions between materials and at poorly finished service penetrations it makes the insulation less effective, and the relative impact this has increases as the levels of insulation grow.