Looking for architect / builder / engineer in W Cork

useruser

Hi All,

I own a very run-down / semi-derelict farmhouse in W Cork, near Clonakilty. I am hoping to begin some renovation works on it and would like to get advice from an architect, engineer or builder who has experience of such restoration. I am keen to use natural materials (lime, stone, wood, slate) in as much of the work as is feasible.

The house is a simple 2-up, 2-down arrangement with a lean-to extension, I would like advice on how best to arrange the space and how to insulate and heat etc. There are several outbuildings surrounding the main house and I would also like to discuss ideas for including these into the building in the future.

Thanks,

UU.

treviesweets

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Retro-Fit

What comfort level are you looking for, 20 degrees +/- 2 with 8 air changes of tempered air? What running costs? €2,000 per annum space and water for B1 house or €500 for a passive house. Going Passive will probably cost around 5% extra but will a better long term investment. Using natural materials appropriately such as lime renders will allow the old structure to breath.

http://constructireland.ie/Vol-4-Issue-5/Articles/Passive-Housing/19th-century-ruin-renovated-with-passive-house-aims.html

treviesweets

Retro-Fit wrote: »

http://constructireland.ie/Vol-4-Issue-5/Articles/Passive-Housing/19th-century-ruin-renovated-with-passive-house-aims.html

The levels of energy efficiency they have achieved in that project you linked are certainly admirable but I think they have really taken from the character of the old house. All the little idiosyncrasies, the humps and hollows of the old walls have been smothered in that insulation. Its a difficult trade off between respecting the character of the old building and achieving passive standards.

Retro-Fit

Ya Trev, it does lose some of its 'olde worlde' charm. The architect spoke in cultivate and answered that question by saying that the building reflects its use as a modern building. The pared back simple detailing and compact form reflects the traditional relationship of the house in the landscape. Most houses in a rural setting are viewed from half a mile away, where any detailing or stuck on cottagey bric a brac disapear. The simple forms are easily legible in the landscape and contribute to the overall composition and social patchwork. Many new houses are sited with the countours and have many stuck on fancy details screaming for attention. The ad-hoc confusion of stuck on fascade stone, dormers, bay windows porches create visual confusion and are alien in our landscape and society. If you've ever been in donegal you can see this, where most houses are designed by draftsmen with no Architect involved. The vernacular houses built up to the 80's adhered to a set of simple rules but since then it has become a fashion to draw attention to oneself by breaking these rules.

Passive housing is using the same concepts and ideas our forfathers learned over the decades since they emerged from their windowless chimneyless cabins in the 30's. I dont agree its a trade off, I see vernacular and Passive housing as part of a continuim with cavity wall dormer bungalows an aberation on the slope.

treviesweets

Retro-Fit wrote: »

Ya Trev, it does lose some of its 'olde worlde' charm. The architect spoke in cultivate and answered that question by saying that the building reflects its use as a modern building...... I see vernacular and Passive housing as part of a continuim with cavity wall dormer bungalows an aberation on the slope.

Can't really argue with that!

Retro-Fit wrote: »

If you've ever been in donegal you can see this, where most houses are designed by draftsmen with no Architect involved. The vernacular houses built up to the 80's adhered to a set of simple rules but since then it has become a fashion to draw attention to oneself by breaking these rules.

I wouldn't need to go as far as Donegal, there's plenty of this around our end of the country as well, a bit of thoughtful design and a look at the 'rural design guide' would go a long way, in most cases the site is totally inappropriate and it goes down hill from there.

muffler

Retro-Fit wrote: »

If you've ever been in donegal you can see this, where most houses are designed by draftsmen with no Architect involved

If you lived in Donegal and involved in the planning process you would know that the above is a ridiculous statement.

treviesweets

muffler wrote: »

If you lived in Donegal and involved in the planning process you would know that the above is a ridiculous statement.

Care to elaborate?

muffler

treviesweets wrote: »

Care to elaborate?

That was an unsubstantiated sweeping statement made by Retro-Fit. I have previously worked in the local planning dept. and now in private practice and I can tell you that most houses are not designed by draftsmen

smashey

treviesweets wrote: »

Care to elaborate?

And I can back muffler's assertion on this.

Retro-Fit

I'm looking at a building upgrade to passive in Rosnowlagh for a client. The quality of the local built environment in south Donegal is appalling, before I even mention Bundoran. Looking at Gplan to get an idea of planning decisions in the area, the vast majority of planning applications are prepared by surveyors, engineers or Architectural technologists, very skilled professionals in their field of expertise but not trained in visual design.

In Holland, all applications must be vetted by a commission of 2 architects and an urban planner to ensure it contributes to its setting. It would have been useful if we had a similar system. Most schemes and designes would have benifited from a critique session to show where improvements could be simply made.

Engineers, surveyors and Technicians have done well to fill a void in Architecture, who were anable to provide a necessary service to society at an appropriate price. Our politicians have left us down by supporting those with means to leave our towns and live unsustainibly in the countryside. This is detrimental to our social fabric and the resulting flight of the higher demographic from our urban areas is having a detrimental effect on our towns. But thats a seperate issue.

Donegal Planners are technically quite good but cannot take a view on aestetics. Their Gplan is excellent http://gis.donegal.ie/gplan_donegalcc/