Home & Build Winter 2017 by Clear Designs

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Irish Homes in Cork, Antrim, Wicklow and Dublin

WINDOWS & DOORS SPECIAL

9 772009 866017

Shower Buyers Guide

WEST CORK PASSIVE HOUSE see page 8| HOME & BUILD DVD’S see page 42| INTERNATIONAL HOME see page 78

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Wherever you are

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Contents

Letter from the editor

ello and welcome to the latest issue of Ireland’s Home & Build. Architect and designer John Morehead of Wain Morehead Architects Limited did an outstanding job on a spectacular passive house on the edge of a bay in West Cork in recent times and we are delighted to have this fantastic property on our cover. The two-storey house which is 281 square metres is most certainly an eye catching one, with its breath-taking views and spectacular design. Nestled in the Cork countryside is where you will find the eye-catching and quirky home which belongs to Cork natives Catherine and Colin Barry along with their two young daughters. Their impressive home is on page 66 and as Catherine explained a lot of people assume that the couple have renovated the house which Mrs Barry sees as a compliment as it means she has accomplished her goal when it comes to her vision for the house. We are delighted to have the opportunity to feature the home of Robert Logan who is a member of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects. This build gave him the opportunity to explore the practical challenges of developing a design where the ratios of the plan, section and elevation dimensions were all interrelated. I’m sure you will agree the results are impressive. In Clondalkin in West Dublin Joe Fallon Design and his team have worked hard to transform a house from a late 1970’s early 1980’s property on Monastery Road to a modern day house which has become the home of a young couple and their two young children. The full feature is on page 50 and it was a delight to cover another property from the team at Joe Fallon Design. Our final property was once a 1930’s cottage and thanks to the creative eye of the architect Mark Davies of Arc Design and the new home owners who moved all the way from South Africa to the quaint and picturesque townland of Delgany in County Wicklow it now has a new lease of life. You can read the full feature on page 34. Finally, we have modern day compact home which was designed by Derek Trenaman to maximise solar gain on the Malahide Road in a picturesque setting. This build involved renegotiating land boundaries in order to get the best possible site for a starting point. The final result is a credit to all involved. Finally, in this issue we also take a look at the new Nissan Leaf in our motoring section, our windows and doors feature is a great way to get you focused on planning to upgrade to prevent loss of heat through drafts. We also review new and handy gadgets in our New Gear section. Enjoy the latest issue and our next issue is in shops early April! Enjoy the issue. Home and Build Team

Sales & Marketing Director: Anthony Kelly Graphic Designer: Colin Brennan Editorial Assistant: Emer Kelly Design & Layout: cleardesigns.ie For all advertising and marketing queries, contact Anthony on ph: +353 1 458 7672 or email: info@homeandbuild.ie Home and Build Magazine Ltd Ph: +353 1 458 7672 Email: info@homeandbuild.ie Address: The Loft, Main Street, Newcastle, Co Dublin © Home and Build Magazine Ltd 2016 ISSN: 2009-8669

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Contents

NEWS 4 Latest news from the self-building and home sector in Ireland COVER STORY 8 Cracking the mould in West Cork WINDOWS AND DOORS SPECIAL 16 In depth guide to buying new windows and doors NEW GEAR 32 The latest tools and gadgets FROM RUN DOWN COTTAGE TO BEAUTIFUL HOME 34 1930’s cottage transformed CAR REVIEW 38 We review the Nissan Leaf HOME OF ARCHITECT ROBERT LOGAN 44 Light at the end of the tunnel for architect’s new build

FOLLOW THE PATH TO THE YELLOW DOOR Clondalkin property gets a modern upgrade SHOWER FEATURE Don’t underestimate the importance of your shower

LITTLE GEM NESTLED IN CORK COUNTRYSIDE 66 We take a peek inside the home of the Barry family 5 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN BUILDING NEW HOME 74 Make sure to think through your decisions INTERNATIONAL HOME 78 Canadian Country House

56 WEBSITE www.homeandbuild.ie for further information

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News

NEWS

Norah Casey wins Celebrity Home of the Year

he Luxourious South Dublin home of entrepreneur Norah Casey was named the Celebrity Home of the Year in a Christmas special of the popular RTÉ television series. Ms Casey shares the refurbished Victorian terrace abode with her 17 year old son, Darragh. Her house went up against Irish designer Helen Cody, PR Consulatant Terry Prone, Rugby pundit Brent Pope and Fashion designer Darren Kennedy with each of the properties having a unique twist. It was Casey’s house that caught the judges eyes as they said the house was a ‘perfect combination of glamorous and cosy.’ In winning the show, Norah won €5,000 which she has donated to Focus Ireland. Focus Ireland helps prevent families, young people and individuals from having to first experience homelessness if possible. For those currently experiencing homelessness, the organisation identify the best available supports and options to aid people on their journey out of homelessness. Another key aspect of their work is supporting those at risk of homelessness again in the future, to minimise the risk, by providing excellent tenancy supports. Throughout her segment on the show, Norah opened up the difficult times she and her son had in the home after her husband Richard Hannaford’s death in 2011 and how they’ve worked to create a new space and happier memories throughout the last two years.

“I suppose many houses have lots of happy memories. Richard got very sick very soon after we came back (to Ireland), this house had nothing but bad memories. He was diagnosed with a tumour in his kidney but within a week they found it in his spine and his liver. “This house became a refuge because he didn’t want to be in the hospital. It wasn’t a safe haven after he passed away. I know it’s only bricks and mortar and it’s walls but even walking into the kitchen was hard surrounded by his pictures,’’ she explained. “I had gotten so used to having even a coffee with him in the morning when he was alive that I just couldn’t get out of the habit of doing it after he had gone. “It’s taken me the guts of two years [to refurbish the house] but I think the feel of the house is very different. It helps enormously when I walk in. It’s very much me and I definitely feel like it’s home,’’ enthused Ms Casey. The judges admired Norah’s conjoined kitchen and living spaces, which are connected by a courtyard, creating a flood of natural light. A porcelain cow in Norah’s back garden also captured the affection of the judges, as well as a luxurious bathroom with a television mounted above the bath. Ms Casey’s favourite space in the house is her pink study where she admits to having ‘spent thousands of hours working.’

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News

Take the first step to creating the home of your dreams

e all love our homes but sometimes they can frustrate us. With underused rooms, cluttered sitting rooms, neglected hallways, impractical kitchens and lack of storage, the list of things we’d like to change can be endless. In Rooms, award-winning architect Declan O’Donnell shows us how we can release our inner designer to create a home that works for the way we live. From open plan living, to cleverly-designed kitchens, home offices, extensions, attic conversions and clever storage ideas, Rooms takes us through each room in the house and, looking at common problems and the fundamental decisions in any project, big or small, helps us to channel our inner creativity to create the living space we’ve always wanted and make changes to our home - to live better.

Dublin City Council sets new standards for excellence with its social housing

scheme of social housing has been the first to achieve the exacting Home Performance Index (HPI) label. The block of apartment at Rathmines Crescent was built by Dublin City Council and designed by its own architects. The label allows housing providers and private developers to highlight the quality and sustainability of their homes to occupants, investors and home buyers. The Home Performance Index label was developed by the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) after extensive research and consultation with the industry to encourage quality and excellence in the development of new homes. The HPI certificate demonstrates that the home has been designed and constructed with care to ensure low running costs, enhance the health and wellbeing of the occupants and minimise environmental impacts. The certificate was presented to Dublin City Council by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney TD and Pat Barry CEO of the Irish Green Building Council today. Pat Barry CEO of the Irish Green Building Council stated. “ We are delighted to award the first certificate to Dublin City Council for social housing, as this demonstrates sustainability is about skills, choices and design and not about additional cost”. Mr Barry added: “It is important that we are all working to a quality sustainability standard for new housing in order to protect home buyers and the environment. This also demonstrates that sustainable housing have a role to play in enabling active healthy communities”. Reacting to the Comments, Minister Coveney said: “Energy efficiency should be at the heart of all our building projects. It is important that we build all our social housing to the same quality in terms of energy efficiency and design as we saw here this morning”. Speaking at this morning’s event, Ali Grehan, City Architect, Dublin City Council added: “Dublin City Council were delighted to be the recipients of Ireland’s first Home Performance Index certification for the social housing project at Rathmines Crescent – and which provides us with external validation of the exceptional work being carried out by City Architects. We

found the information required and the HPI accreditation process to be very straightforward and will certainly be looking at the HPI certification of future projects.” Sustainability labeling schemes such as HPI have become increasingly important for banks when assessing mortgage default risk, with the European Mortgage Federation recently announcing the intention to develop a Green mortgage product which could allow Irish Banks to offer discounted mortgages to homebuyers of certified green homes. A number of leading Irish developers are currently vying to bring the first privately built HPI certified homes to the market.

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News

Belling Puts a Modern Twist on Iconic Range Products

elling, has announced a major relaunch of two of its most iconic range cookers – The Farmhouse and The Cookcentre. Originally launched in 1994, The Farmhouse was credited with kickstarting the mass market range sector. Constructed from the chassis of two 50cm ovens, it offered consumers the first viable alternative to the traditional heat storage stove and cooker. The launch also marked Belling’s first move into the manufacture of gas cooking appliances. The new products will be constructed from a single piece, tempered steel frame that is unique to Belling, making them sturdy and robust. The reinvented Farmhouse collection includes three size options – 90, 100 and 110cm - all available in a choice of dual fuel, ceramic, gas or induction. Taking a fresh look at another product from Belling’s rich product archive is the Belling Cookcentre collection, based on the original ‘Cookcenter’ of 1997. Offering modern design, spacious cavities and robust build quality across 90, 100 and 110cm size options, the Cookcentre Collection is available in Silver, Black and professional Stainless Steel. Both the Farmhouse and the Cookcentre products offer plenty of capacity for keen bakers, with the 90cm models across both ranges featuring generous 91 litre capacity ovens, the largest tall ovens currently available on a 90cm range cooker. Prices start from € 1494.95 and the range is available from leading electrical retailers such as Harvey Norman, DID, Power City, Expert & Euronics stores nationwide.

Arc Design wins Alan King award

rc Design Architectural practice which is run by Mark and Brian Davies was shortlisted for two architectural awards in the CIAT awards which took place in the United Kingdom in November for the Streamline House in Delgany belonging to Tony and Theresa Casey, the practice won the main award which is the Alan King award as well as been highly commendated with a second award for technical excellence. The Streamline house is a unique & modern residence influenced by art deco design. The house with its subtle curves, takes advantage of the natural curvature of the stream nearby. It incorporates surrounding elements such as the sound of water rushing underneath the overhanging balcony which looks out over an existing secret garden. “Winning the award was a massive achievement for our practice, especially bearing in mind the competition was open to RIBA Architects and other worldwide CIAT Chartered Architectural Technologist Practices,’’ said Mark Davies. “On the shortlist for this architecture award was a RIBA practice who had won a major RIBA award the week before. “Getting properties you have worked on featured in newspapers and magazines is great but the ultimate accolade is being judged by your professional peers,’’ he imparted. Established in 2007, Arc Design’s success is based on understanding the

client’s needs whilst focusing on Quality in Design. The practice has a reputation for producing highly detailed functional, energy efficient buildings in a variety of design styles with emphases on maximizing light, space and use of materials. The practice’s body of work is broad, with commissions including private houses, interiors, mixed developments, housing estate schemes, sports facilities and Public houses. “We cannot believe that we now follow last years winner of the Alan King award, Patrick Bradley whose shipping container house had featured on Channel 4’s ‘Grand Design’ programme,’’ added Mr Davies.

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Bamboo Ireland offer a beautiful range of products from Moso, including flooring, panelling and countertops. Choose from the collection that suits your style. We also offer screening panels and pole material for exterior and interior use Winter 2017.indd 7

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Cover Story

BREAKING THE MOULD

IN WEST CORK

Architect and designer John Morehead of Wain Morehead Architects Limited recently completed another outstanding job on a spectacular passive house on the edge of a bay in West Cork.

his 281 square metre, two-storey house is certainly an eye catching one. With its breath-taking views and spectacular design, it is a house that would fit right in overlooking the Hollywood Hills or as a home to a film star. The owners of the property bought a small-holding eight years ago and they held the passive house standard as an ambition from the outset.

Before contacting WMA, the clients had already successfully secured planning permission for a four to five bedroomed house ‘of a much more traditional design,’ which had been designed by a local architect. “Our practice would be synonymous with low energy and passive house design. The clients approached us to see if we could bring the design up to the passive house standard. They had spent almost five years waiting for their

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Cover Story

9 Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Wain Morehead Architects Ltd and gm-photo.com

planning permission to come through,’’ said John Morehead. “The clients then asked us if we would give the design a twist. We discussed it with the previous architects and they told us to go for it. The planning process had compromised the various architectural approaches that the original architects had. “We started on site in March 2014. The project should have taken around one year to complete but we ran into difficulties half way through due to significant quality issues with the original window contractor. Thankfully the Austrian window licensor, Optiwin stepped up to the mark with replacement windows. The problem with the windows extended work on the project until April of 2016,’’ added Mr Morehead. “The house is fitted with a Mechanically Ventilated Heat Recovery Unit- a Nilan Compact P with a Geo 6 geothermal heat pump. Active heating and cooling is provided (when needed) by the Geo 6 geothermal heat pump which is fed by 600m of horizontal collectors buried on site. Excess energy taken from the exhaust air is used to heat domestic hot water. The unit comes with an integrated 250 litre cylinder for domestic hot water. “We monitor all of our houses and this house is performing very well. We are very pleased with it. I think the attraction of passive house buildings compared to low energy houses, is that (passive) houses are designed in such

a way that they don’t overheat and they don’t have thermal issues,’’ enthused John. “There are three basic wall types used in the construction comprising of cavity wall, timber frame and block on flat externally insulated with a Baumit system, all with various finishes applied,’’ said Mr Morehead. The structural design of the property made things slightly more difficult in terms of achieving thermal bridge free design with Mr Morehead’s design calling for the intergration of the structural components into the overall building envelope. Achieving this thermal bridge free design required some innovative work by the structural engineer Conor Coburn. Mr Coburn used ‘Parallam,’ a product which is a form of engineered wood made from clipped veneer strands laid in parallel alignment and bonded with adhesive. This product has a fraction of the thermal conductivity, but similar strength to a steel beam equivalent. A PV system is installed on the roof of the house comprising of Sharp 250W polycrystalline panels. Power optimisers on each panel increases the output whilst also offering full monitoring of the overall system. “This was an all gloves off house design where we wanted to try to show that you don’t have to build a stererotypical passive house to achieve the passive house standard. In Ireland, we are blessed with very mild (weather)

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Cover Story

conditions where you can use far more expansive areas of glass than you can in other countries. This house is built on an incredible site with beautiful views and we were able to integrate these into the design without compromising the energy or comfort performance of the house,’’ John explained. “The site itself would just blow your mind and it is a place that we had to take advantage of. The connection between inside and outside, both visually and physically was an important feature of the design. When the vegetation grows around the house, it will settle into the landscape much more than it is currently. “The layout of the house is unusual in that everything circles around the stairs. Circulation areas and corridors have been practically omitted altogether, so as to maximise the available habitable space. As there are no drafts in the house, you don’t have to close off rooms to maintain comfort. This allowed for the open layout. It is designed as a family home with teenagers and we wanted people to be able to use the space in the house but also have their own individual spaces as they required them. “All of the service areas- plant room, the utility room and the pantry are located to the north side of the house. There is also a guest bedroom to the north with lovely views overlooking the bay. A separate study is located off the main hallway. From the centralised stairs you can go straight in to the

kitchen or turn left to the dining room/living area. The dining room/living area overlooks a solar reflecting pond which we would have in a lot of our houses. Up eight steps, you have the sunroom which is facing south,’’ explained Mr Morehead. The kitchen features a Neff oven and a SMEG cooker extractor which glides up from an oblong panel in the worktop when it is switched on. This SMEG unit also includes high performance carbon filters which filter the air to a very high standard and means that the filtered air can be recirculated into the room and extracted by the MVHR system. The kitchen also features a vertical Liebherr 345L frost-free freezer which uses approximately 130kW of electricity per year. A low energy larder fridge by Liebherr was also purchased due to its controlled humidity and Bio Fresh doors. A high efficiency dishwasher and washing machine, both of which are by Bosch have been installed. The utility room is home to a raised tower to accommodate clothes drying racks. At the top of the tower, there are two vents connected to the MVHR system which draws air through the tower and are aided by two remotely openable clestroy windows to assist with the drying of the clothes in summertime. “The staircase is used for stack ventilation, meaning that the building can be naturally cooled. A north facing window at the top of the stairwell provides the

“We enjoy working on all of our projects but this one was particularly enjoyable.”

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Cover Story

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Cover Story

“The energy load of the property is extremely low at 9.9W/m2.’’

draw. The hotter the house gets, the greater the temperature difference between inside and out, the more the stack ventilation works.’’ “Upstairs there are three bedrooms, a bathroom and an enlarged landing which is like a lounge area which then leads on to a first-floor terrace which has excellent views and leads back to the garden area,’’ John added. There is a lot of bamboo used throughout the house, which from a carbon footprint perspective, really adds value to the whole project and it is a beautiful product to work with. “This house has achieved a A1 BER rating. It is certified to the Passive House standard with a heating load of 9.9 W/m2, a space heating demand of 10 kWh/m2a and it has a primary energy demand of 60.1kWh/m2a, based on PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) results. Last October, the dwelling required just 2.14kWh/m2 for the month! Most importantly, it performs at almost half of the nZEB (near zero energy building requirements of 0.302 EPC and 0.305 CPC. This property has an EPC of 0.153 and a CPC of 0.156. “We enjoy working on all our of projects but this one was particularly enjoyable considering what was thrown at us with the windows. It was a very interesting project not just from an architectural perspective but also a humanity one. It was amazing to see how people pulling together could actually get out of a serious problem, that was presented by the original window installation and that was wonderful to see,’’ revealed John Morehead. “Any one of us would love to live in this house but it is designed to suit the client’s needs entirely. They’ve got their stamp on the house already. I love the staircase area in the house and how it segregates and defines the individual spaces and I really like the quality of light coming down the stairwell. “There is northern and southern light coming in-to the same space and it is wonderful to see!” “I think the client likes the quality, the assurance and the third-party certification that comes with a passive house,’’ he added. Home & Build Winter 2017

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Cover Story

A MODULAR SYSTEM OF SEVERAL SOLUTIONS COMPACT P BY NILAN

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“A PV system is also installed in the house.”

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Cover Story

CONTACT LIST ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES & PASSIVE HOUSE DESIGN:

Wain Morehead Architects Ltd., N.S.C Campus, Mahon, Cork T12 X75N www.wma.ie 021-2307150 STRUCTURAL ENGINEER:

Construct Engineering www.constructeng.com MAIN CONTRACTOR:

CHOM Construction Ltd, Bantry, County Cork Kieran Crowley 087-9353527 chomconstruction@gmail.com QUANTITY SURVEYORS:

Richard Leonard & Associates Ltd, Galway’s Lodge, Douglas West, Douglas, County Cork 021-4895111 MECHANICAL CONSULTANT, HEATING & VENTILATION SUPPLIER:

Nilan Ireland, Ballylahiff, Abbeydorney, County Kerry www.nilanireland.ie 087-9798361

MECHANICAL & PV SUBCONTRACTOR:

Energywise Ireland, 6 North Point Business Park, New Mallow Road, Cork, T23 H227 www.energywiseireland.ie 021-4308185 ELECTRICAL SUBCONTRACTOR:

John O’Sullivan, Skibbereen. County Cork johnsull_79@hotmail.com

THERMALLY BROKEN WALL TIES:

Ancon TeploTie via Longs, Douglas, Curraghconway South, County Cork 021-4520202 AAC BLOCKS:

Quinn Lite, 235 Ballyconnell Road, Derrylin, County Fermanagh, BT92 9GP www.quinn-buildingproducts.com 1800 322122 info@quinn-buildingproducts.com PIR INSULATION:

Xtratherm, Liscarton Industrial Estate, Kells Road, Mullaghard, Navan, County Meath www.xtratherm.com 046-9066000 EPS & ADDITIONAL PIR INSULATION:

Kingspan, Dublin Road, Kingscourt, County Cavan A82 XY31 www.kingspan.com

042-9698000

Ecological Building System, Main Street, Town Parks, Athboy, County Meath www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com 046-9432104

0041-41 499 6969

WINDOWS & DOORS:

Optiwin, Unit B, rear of Number 8 Auburn Terrace, Athlone, County Westmeath sales@optiwin.ie www.optiwin.ie 094-76581

EWI SYSTEM:

LIGHTING:

Baumit www.baumit.com 710763

sales@baumit.com +441622

BONDED BEAD INSULATION:

Warmfill, Unit 5 Redlands, Coastguard Road, Larne BT40 1AX, United Kingdom www.warmfill.com +442828 270319 MINERAL WOOL INSULATION:

Rockwool www.rockwool.co.uk

WOOD FIBRE INSULATION:

Ecological Building Systems, Main Street, Town Parks, Athboy, County Meath wwwecologicalbuildingsystems.com 046-9432104

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info@nilan.ie

SANITARYWARE:

Soaks Bathrooms, 5-7 Apollo Road, Belfast, BT12 6HP United Kingdom www.soaksbathrooms.com +44 289068 1121 KITCHEN DESIGN & SUPPLY:

Classic Kitchens, Carrigaline Industrial Park, Carrigaline, County Cork www.classickitchenscork.com 021-4375900 Bosch, Liebherr, Neff &Smeg via Dwyers Electrical, Forge Hill, Lehenagh Beg, County Cork 021-4965880 www.dwyers.ie BAMBOO FLOORING, DECKING & FURNITURE:

Bambeau www.bambeau.com info@bambeau.ie Nick Bowen 0863065414 ROOFING:

Collins Energy Consultants, Newtownshandrum, Charleville, County Cork www.collinsenergy.ie 087-2254886

AIRTIGHTNESS TESTER:

Nilan Ireland Ballylahive, Abbeydorney, Tralee, County Kerry 087-9798361

APPLIANCES:

AIRTIGHTNESS PRODUCTS:

Siga, Rutmattstrasse 7, CH-6017 Ruswil, www.siga.ch.

Lancashire, BB1 2QU, United Kingdom www.heatmiser.com sales@heatmiser.com 0044 (0) 1254 669090

ERCO Lighting Ltd www.erco.com LIGHTING CONTROLS:

Legrand, Great King Street North, Birmingham, B19 2LF United Kingdom www.legrand.co.uk

Soprema Ireland, 75 Cookstown Industrial Estate Tallaght, County Dublin www.soprema.ie 01-4625857 DRY LINING BOARD:

Fermacell UK, 7 The Priory, Old London Road, Canwell, Sutton, Coldfield, B75 5SH www.fermacell.co.uk fermacell-uk@xella.com 0044 (0) 121 3113480 SCREED:

0044 (0)370 6089000

EXTERNAL LIGHTING:

Sika Ireland, Sika House, Ballymun Industrial Estate, County Dublin D11 DAV2 irl.sika.com 01-8620709

Shane O’Byrne A S Lighting 3 Douglas West, County Cork 0214898228] info@completelighting.ie

GGBS:

HEATING CONTROLS:

BORE DRILLING:

Heatmiser, Units 8 & 9 Shadsworth Business Park, Mercer Way, Blackburn,

Ecocem, via Keohane’s Readymix, Dromkeen, Ballygurteen, County Cork, www.keohanereadymix.com 023-8838710 Harte Divining and Boring Ltd

16/01/2017 16:38

WINDOWS & DOORS FEATURE SPECIAL

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Windows & Doors Special

Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Webpress

THE ANSWER MY FRIEND

IS BLOWING IN THE WINDOW! According to William Shakespeare the eyes are the window to our soul

hen it comes to our homes, the windows are similar to human eyes in that they are an integral part of the subject They are something that is going to bring a lot of attention to the house and just like a nice set of eyes, they are going to be a talking point. New windows and doors certainly enhance the look of a property whilst also maximising heating efficiency within the house. Throughout this feature, we will discuss things to consider when buying windows and doors and information that you the consumer may find useful. Save Money: *If your existing frames and sills are still sound and square, you’ll save money on materials and labour by using partial replacement units. These replacements are also known as ‘pocket replacements’ and fit into the existing frames. Otherwise, you’ll need full-replacement windows. These include the frame, sill, jambs, and usually what’s known as a nailing flange, which attaches the window to the outside wall around the opening. “There are loads of advantages to replacing

windows and doors, it can only benefit you really,’’ said Thomas Kenny of K & K Windows. “It’s an affordable and fast home makeover and you will have lower Energy Bills, there will be reduced noise, and reduced fading on materials i.e. furniture inside if you opt for laminate glass. “A homeowner will know when they need to get new windows and doors. When you’re doing so ask yourself these questions: What do you like about your current windows and doors (appearance, trim, operation)? What problems do they have (cold drafts, overheating, poor operation, water leaks, and condensation)? Do existing operable windows work well? Are they located where you would like them to be? Do they allow enough natural ventilation? Are there any fixed windows you would like to replace with operable windows? Would you like to improve the security of your windows and doors, or reduce outdoor noise due to traffic or other sources? Is energy efficiency a primary goal for your replacement project? Do you want to take advantage of existing energy efficiency incentive programs? “When you are choosing windows and doors

make sure you choose the right style and colour and make sure that you are 100% happy with it. Visiting the showroom and meeting with the sales reps and physically seeing the product and have them explain to you the ins and outs of the products would be a major help,’’ added Mr Kenny. “They can explain the u-Values of the glass etc. all the technical details that the untrained eye might miss,’’ he enthused. “Leaky and inefficient, windows are responsible for more than 25% percent of the average household’s energy bills,’’ said Linda Tristram of Ultimate Windows and Doors. “Just like any other upgrade in your home, new energy efficient windows are an important investment. New windows will inevitably help increase the resale value of your home. Generally they can increase the resale value as much as 70% or more of the cost of the window replacement. “Newer weather-resistant materials will reduce your regular maintenance; UPVC windows or aluminium-clad exteriors need no painting,’’ added Mrs Tristram. “Drafts are one of the key signs that you have used up the life of your windows. Most manufacturers

“There are loads of advantages to replacing windows and doors.”

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Windows & Doors Special

suggest replacing windows after 15-20 years. If you feel cold air coming in during the winter, your windows have little insulation value and you need to replace them with new windows. In addition, this means you’re paying more to heat your house to compensate for the exterior air entering your home. “Older windows on your home may look outdated or unattractive. Changing the windows with new replacement windows will help give your home the look you are aiming for and improve the curb appeal. New windows can also aid in easing fears of break-ins and intruders. Double locks and interlocks double strength glass for high impact resistance, enthused Linda. Installation: *If windows are not installed correctly, they will not deliver the look or comfort you would expect if they are installed to a poor standard. Many major window manufacturers train and certify installers for their specific products. Using the same contractor for purchase and installation can minimise the chances of problems arising later. Popularity: • All vinyl frames as well as wood window frames are popular with an apparent decrease in all-aluminum windows due to the development of vinyl. Material doesn’t guarantee performance and nor does the cost. Whilst wood and vinyl frames are very popular, a new and in demand frame is a fibreglass frame. • Most wooden frames are made from solid wood, though some may include composite materials (e.g., plastic with wood fibers embedded in it). • Vinyl frames are typically the least expensive and do not need to be painted or stained, but most are white and usually they can’t be painted. There are also fewer hardware options. Among casement windows, there was little difference between vinyl and wood frames. • Fibreglass window frames are relatively new to the market. These frames don’t have to be painted but if you wish, they can be painted. Fiberglass needles embed the plastic to make it stronger and stiffer. “People are being smarter with their money,’’ said Director Gina Murphy of Wexford Viking Glass, the makers of Viking Energy Plus Glass. “With the boom, there was a lot of carefree spending, whereas now home owners are more discerning with their finances and educated about products they spend money on. Our customers are looking for value for money, something that’s cost effective, so it makes sense that they would look to replacing their glass instead of a full window replacement when it comes to investing in energy efficiency for their home.

“During winter, 25% of the heat in your home is lost through your windows, people are starting to feel the chill and pick up the phone. We’re definitely getting more enquiries now. The colder weather creeping in reminds people about preparing their home for the wintery season and wanting to make things cosy. 80% of Irish homes today have inefficient glazing by todays standards, so people will definitely start to feel the cold and damp,’’ added Ms Murphy of Wexford Viking Glass. “Glass has really come a long way in not only energy efficiency but quality. We provide an end to end full service from the initial survey to the design, manufacture, supply and fit, so that we can ensure the quality standards from beginning to end. Then we offer a 10-year guarantee. People need to think about the long term as well when they’re looking. “Replacing the glass in your windows usually can be done in a day. It can be sometimes just half the cost of a full window replacement, and typically requires no redecorating. Energy Glass uses advanced coating technology, which not only reflects heat back into your home, but also captures the free energy from natural daylight to help heat your home. This means less energy is needed to heat your home to the desired temperature, saving you money in heating costs,’’ enthused Gina. “Home owners have a range of options with glass replacement that combine energy efficiency, practicality and look - with argon or krypton gas in the cavity, solar control glass, self cleaning glass, safety and security glass, anti fade glass, integrated venetian blinds, Georgian and more decorative options. Customers are pretty amazed at the extensive range of options available to them when they speak to us,’’ concluded Ms Murphy. Types Of Windows: Casement Style Windows: These type of windows provide an unobstructed view and they are hinged on one side, like a door, and a crank lets you open them outward. When fully open, casements allow good ventilation and easy cleaning. They’re usually more airtight than double-hung because the sash locks against the frame to close. Double-Hung Windows: This type of window are a popular choice amongst home owners. The lower inside sash slides up and an upper outside sash slides down, improving air circulation and making full screens ideal. Doublehung are easy to clean since you can tilt the sash on any of the windows. Single-Hung Windows: These windows look like double-hung windows but only the bottom sash moves. These windows usually cost less as a result. The top sash is sealed to keep out cold air and water. Awning-Style Windows: These windows are hinged at the top and open outward. Like casements, the sash presses against the frame so they close very tightly. Hopper-Style Windows: This style of window is the opposite of awning windows. They are hinged at the bottom and they can open inward or outward. Fixed Windows: These are used where lighting but not ventilation is important. They’re airtight and are available with decorative glass accents or in unusual shapes. “Once you have decided what colour and style windows you wish for your windows, like choosing a front door type, it’s down to UPVC, Wood or Aluclad windows,’’ said Tom Redmond of Divine Windows and Doors. “Generally speaking, all three will provide the same level of heat efficiency, as in keeping the heat in the house. The reason being it is the quality of the glass that is the most important element of a window. Go for triple glazed where possible. It is only marginally more expensive than double glazed so don’t be fooled into thinking that a UPVC window is inferior to an Aluclad or wooden window. From our point of view in Divine Doors and Windows, thanks

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TIMBER AND ALU CLAD WINDOWS & DOORS

Aru Joinery is an Irish owned business, part of the Aru Grupp who have been producing Timber â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Alu Clad windows & doors since 1995. Today Aru Joinery is a noticeable force & leads by example in the windows & doors market whilst keeping a very personalised service. We offer a simple yet detailed process & we will deliver on what we confirm at the order stage. In this industry nothing is standard, each client have their own thoughts & aspirations. This is where Aru Joinery years of experience can greatly assist and guide the client through a difficult process made easy with our professionalism & choice of products.

All our products are custom designed & plenty of colours to choose from. SO DROP INTO OUR SHOWROOM NOW BASED @ 91 PATRICK STREET, DUN LAOGHAIRE, CO. DUBLIN OR EMAIL INFO@ARUJOINERY.IE TEL- 01 2140646

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Windows & Doors Special to advances in technology we recommend UPVC windows over the other types. “Regarding maintenance UPVC and Aluclad will be more maintenance free than wood which, like wooden front doors, need to be sanded and re-painted or varnished every three to five years,’’ added Mr Redmond. “Regarding security all windows will be fitted with multi-point locking systems. However glass can be smashed easily regardless of what the window frame is made from so when changing your windows please also ensure your alarm is also updated with motion sensors,’’ enthused Tom. Doors are also an important part of the home so here are a few things to consider when selecting your doors Types Of Doors: • Composite doors are one of the most secure, durable and energy efficient external doors on the market at the moment. • Bi-folding doors create a stunning feature for homes and commercial properties. These doors create a large opening for easy access to gardens and patios, optimising the use of space in a room and creating extra light. These doors are particularly suited to new builds. • UPVC doors are available to purchase in a variety of colours and styles with the most popular being white, black, light oak, wood grain, green, blue, red, yellow and two-tone. • UPVC French Doors offer a welcome addition to any home, conservatory or sunroom. The extensive openings allow greater access to your home and provides the maximum ventilation, while also creating a practical entry to your garden or patio. French Doors are available in many colours and you can choose from designs such as full glass, Georgian bar or decorative lass. Double French Doors both open, unlike a patio door, so you decide if they open in or out or if they have a left or right hand master door. • Sliding doors are ideal for porches and patios to brighten up an area and give extended views to front and back gardens. • Patio doors are made to provide extra insulation, privacy and make your home more secure at the front. When used at the back of the home they

•

open the room to the back garden and the sunlight. Popular colours available include white, woodgrain, light oak or mahogany. Residential doors are made to the homeowners specification, keeping the heat inside and the nasty elements outside.

“For the door you need to choose from the different front door types which are a UPVC front door, a solid wood front door or a composite front door. At Divine Doors Ireland we recommend Composite Front Doors as opposed to any other type of front door,’’ imparted Tom. “Our Composite doors come with a 12-year guarantee. Contrast this with a 1 year guarantee for solid wood front doors and a 5-year guarantee for both UPVC front doors. “A Composite Door will keep the heat in the house better than both UPVC and Solid Wood doors. This is due to a composite door being thicker than the other two and is also supplied with triple glazing rather than double glazing,’’ stated Tom Redmond. “Other than basic cleaning, Composite doors are virtually maintenance

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Winterwww.tradecraft.ie 2017 Home & Build

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Windows & Doors Special free. Basic day to day wear will affect any type of door, be that composite or otherwise. A composite door won’t crack and warp - UPVC and solid wood do suffer from this, especially wooden doors. “The colour of a composite door won’t fade and doesn’t need to be re-painted or varnished. UPVC doors are prone to colour fading and timber doors must be sanded and re-painted or varnished every three to five years. “Of the three types of front doors the composite door is by far the most secure. With a composite door you are almost guaranteed that the door cannot be smashed through especially with the

unglazed models,’’ he revealed. “A UPVC or timber door are both far easier to kick open. This is due not only to the type of lock but also the structure of the composite door which is far thicker and tougher,’’ enthused Tom. “We stock a new type of composite doors as well as UPVC windows. Composite doors provide more heat than a normal door. When you are buying windows and doors definitely consider the price and where your openings for the windows and doors are,’’ said Maciej Godek of SM Solution.

“There are loads of advantages to replacing windows and doors.”

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Established in 2007, Arc Designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success is based on understanding the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs whilst focusing on Quality in Design. The practice has a reputation for producing highly detailed functional, energy efficient buildings in a variety of design styles with emphases on maximizing light, space and use of materials.

DESIGN

Tel: 00353 1 876875448 Tel: 00353 1 2010377

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Willowgrove Delgany Co. Wicklow

Email: info@arcdesign.ie Website: www.arcdesign.ie

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Windows & Doors Special

ARE AN EXPENSIVE BUSINESS... For anyone considering replacing their windows and doors, it is worth shopping around before deciding upon what company you are going to employ for the job.

ith so many companies offering a variation of services at numerous different costs, when it comes to something as important as windows and doors though it is very much worth your while paying that little bit extra to ensure that the job is done properly. The windows and doors are going to have to work to a high standard but most importantly that they will stand the test of time. Doors and windows carry a heavy workload. Not only do they play a significant role in the aesthetics of your home, inside and out, they also shoulder the responsibilities of keeping people out, keeping your family safe, keeping your heating and air conditioning in and keeping the weather out. With that much responsibility, they deserve your respect and maybe

Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Webpress

WINDOWS AND DOORS

some love, in terms of upgrades. Updating your interior doors, replacing your exterior doors, installing or repairing a garage door or even adding new windows and skylights can all be sound investments if done correctly. Exterior doors must be durable enough to withstand wind, rain, sun, and would-be intruders, yet pretty enough to enhance the overall look of your home. Most doors combine several materials; for example, many fiberglass and steel doors have wood frames. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the surface material that most affects appearance, durability, security and price. Wood doors are the most common, but other alternatives like steel is great for security and durability, fiberglass composite which is maintenance-free and good for humid climates and aluminum which is custom built. Picking the right exterior doors will pay off in smoother operation, less maintenance and

â&#x20AC;&#x153;But most importantly that they will stand the test of time.â&#x20AC;?

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Sm Solution

Sm Solution Security & Improvement For Home And Business

e offer modern designer Composite Steel Doors, classic constructions as well as anti-burglary entry doors for homes, apartment and public use buildings. The brands we offer have a distinct style, technical applications so that the process of choosing is simple. We attach great importance to product quality, while still keeping in mind the budget of our customers. Therefore, the basic offers are relatively cheap. We offer three different class of doors: budget, standard and premium.

PVC Windows And Doors We offer a full range of custom made Windows and Doors, A-rated German PVC profiles that tilt & turn inwards, as well as classic outwards constructions. Our products are from German PVC profiles leaders, steel reinforced double glazed in standard U-value 11, triple glazed U-Value 0.7 with wide range of colours available, security/anti-burglary hinges, handles and glass are optional. In our offer you will find many solutions tailored to your needs.

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Windows & Doors Special

energy savings. With so many different house types and requirements out there, here is what the experts had to say as to how much new windows and doors would cost at an approximate guess. “To replace a standard sized 3 bedroomed house with white UPVC double glazed approximately seven windows with a front door and back door. The prices start from €6,995.00,’’ said Linda Tristram of Ultimate Windows and Doors. “To replace a standard sized 3 bedroomed house with a coloured UPVC double glazed approximately seven windows with front door and back door. The prices start from €7,500.00. “To replace a standard four bedroomed semi-detached house with triple glazed low energy windows approximately nine windows front back and French doors with standard white wood grain, the prices from €10,500.00. With colour inside and out prices start from €12,000.00,’’ explained Mrs Tristram. “To replace a standard four bedroomed semi- detached house with low energy triple glazed windows, approximately nine windows, front door, back door and French or sliding doors with standard white wood grain frame inside with aluminium colour frame outside the prices start from €15,000.00. “To replace a standard 4 bedroomed semi-detached with triple glazed low energy timber aluclad windows approximately nine windows, front door, back door and French or sliding doors with colour frame inside and out, the prices would start from €17,500.00,’’ imparted Linda. “There is no average price as such as it depends entirely on what the

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Windows

K&K WINDOWS LTD. K&K Windows Ltd is an Irish owned Company established since 1995.

n this time we have rapidly grown in to one of Ireland’s largest fabricators and installers of uPVC & Aluminium products for both residential and commercial products. All our products are fabricated at our state of the art factory in Craanford, just outside Gorey in Wexford, Ireland.

Your Design, Your Home Our Staff are completely and utterly committed to the best design and quality. We offer an extensive range of bespoke framed glazing products providing a cost effective and reliable solution to your needs. Our extensive knowledge of the current building regulations can help you create the perfect window, door or screen. Let our Sales Reps talk you through your dream to make a house a home. We Create from Design to Finish (No Middle Man) Our in house team comprising of Sales, CAD Technicians and Production Personnel are highly experienced in the commercial glazing industry with many years experience with various glazing facilities. We will work tirelessly

to ensure you get the very best of the best. All hardware used by K&K Windows Ltd are sourced from Europe’s leading suppliers. All glass used by K&K Windows Ltd is sourced from Ireland’s largest suppliers. With 72 different types of glass K&K can offer a wide range of glass options with workable lead times, K&K are leading the way in insulating glass by offering “Vistatherm Elite” a Low E energy efficient double and triple glazed units, and for extra care a treble seal. K&K Windows offer a much lower U-Value. Rejuvenate your Home We have completed many small to large projects over the years and one of our more familiar projects was the K Club completed in 2006 and the Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey completed in 2006. All our expert and highly trained fitting team are impeccable and courteous in their work. We have completed many small to large projects over the years and one of our more familiar projects was The K Club completed in 2006 the Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey completed in 2006.

OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE WE SELL MANUFACTURE, AND INSTALL ALUMINIUM AND UPVC WINDOWS DOORS AND CONSERVATORIES

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FOR A PROMPT FREE ESTIMATE PLEASE CONTACT US 0539383526

FREEPHONE 1800 250 260 WEB www.kkwindows.ie EMAIL info@kkwindows.ie OPENING HOURS 9AM - 5:30PM MONDAY - FRIDAY | 10AM-2PM SATURDAY | ANY OTHER TIME BY APPOINTMENT Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Windows & Doors Special

customers want themselves and the work involved,’’ said Thomas Kenny of K & K Windows. “We can fit and supply a three bed semi-detached home from €3,500. For example, replacing existing windows and doors would require a lot more labour time than a new fit. “We cater for all types of budgets. The best thing you can do is be honest and say “look I have x amount of money dedicated to this, what can you do for me?” From there, Our sales reps can prioritise what you need done and see what can be done, as they say “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and you can always renovate your house bit by bit,’’ he imparted. “Also at the moment with the tax back, the sale and the grants, there is a lot of give in what we can do,’’ added Mr Kenny. “To supply and install a composite door will cost in the region of €1,795, a UPVC door will cost approximatlely €1,100 and a timber door about €1,200,’’ said Tom Redmond of Divine Windows. “A typical bedroom UPVC window will be on average €750 supplied and installed. An Aluclad window will be approximately €1,150 and a solid wood window about €800,’’ added Mr Redmond.

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www.divinewindows.ie DOORS & WINDOWS

15% discoun t when you m ention the "Home & Build Magazi ne" when request ing a quotati on

Divine Windows has over 15 years experience in the home improvement industry and today we are a brand recognised for quality and service. We use only the highest quality products and work with carefully selected installers. When you choose Divine Windows, you know you are in safe hands.

North Dublin Unit 33, Slaney Rd, Dublin Industrial Estate, Glasnevin, Dublin 11 South Dublin The Wigoders Premises, 109-113 Long Mile Road, Dublin 12 www.divineireland.ie | www.compositedoorstore.ie | divinedoorsireland@gmail.com Winter 2017 Home & Build

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JP Distributors FP.pdf

16/01/2017

15:09

Dik Geurts Folke Suitable for Passive Housing

Global 120 Corner BF Gas Fire

Please contact jpdlsales@eircom.net to find your nearest dealer

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Spartherm Ambiente A2

Dru Maestro 80/3 Balanced Flue

Please contact jpdlsales@eircom.net to find your nearest dealer

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New Gear

NEW GEAR Sean Woolsey Studio Waterfall Desk

alifornia-based designer Sean Woolsey continues in the tradition of the Agent Desk with a recent adaptation dubbed the Waterfall Desk. Originally designed for architect William Itzen, this minimal and asymmetrical version of the Agent Desk features a continuous grain flow of Black Walnut off one side with slim legs and a power strip off the other. The desk also includes signature features like a built-in leather mouse pad covered compartment that can only be opened with an include wood geode, Blum soft close drawer slides on the lockable drawer and magnetic power block to charge all your devices. If you want an asymmetrical desk with all the old world construction and new world technology that makes a desk great, the Sean Woolsey Studio Waterfall Desk is it. It’s one of the nicest desks we’ve ever come across. Price range from: €3,650

www.seanwoosley.com

HP Envy Curved All-in-one PC

hether you’re an Apple fanatic or not, it’s hard to argue with the fact that they make some seriously sexy hardware. But as the world waits for Apple to finally put a fresh spin on the iMac, HP has swooped in and crafted something equally gorgeous. The HP Envy Curved All-in-One comes with a show stopping Ultra Wide QuadHD display that offers close to 5 million pixels and a micro-edge. While that’s enough to delight your eyeballs, the PC also gets an audio boost from a smartly placed sound bar and Bang & Olufsen brawn. Add on things like an intuitive touch audio dial, 178° wideviewing angles so everyone can watch Netflix, and multiple storage options and, well, maybe you don’t want to keep waiting on that iMac. Price range from €2,650

www.hp.com

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New Gear

GoPro Karma Grip

ne of the greatest features of the GoPro Karma Drone was the fact that the stabilizing mount could be removed with your camera attached and be installed into the Karma Grip so you could capture stabilized videos on the ground too. And now the GoPro Karma Grip is finally available separately for those GoPro owners that aren’t interested in the full drone package. Attach your favourite GoPro to the Karma Grip and then run, jump, hike, bike or explore while capturing professional grade stabilised video with the Grip in your hand or attached to your gear. You can even charge the Grip and your GoPro at the same time and download your footage without ever having to un-mount your camera. Price range from €600 www.gopro.com

Oak Linen Sofa

utsandwoods is a Berlinbased maker that creates a fantastic amount of cleverly designed and creative accessories, but none will ever hold a higher place in our minds than the Oak Linen Sofa. “Built for eternity” with a combination of solid oak wood, natural linen and down filling, this couch perfectly blends the comfort that your overnight guests are looking for with the simple and stylish elegance that will leave you totally ok with having this fantastic piece on display 24/7. It might not fold out into a full-size bed, but that’s a bonus in our books because it’s a gorgeous piece of furniture, and we don’t want any long term uninvited guests. Price range from €2,500

Light Bar

hen you’re working late night projects, wrenching away under the bonnet or behind the wheels, you need a way to light up your work area without having to worry about moisture, drops, or anything else that will draw your attention from the task at hand. Enter the Big Ass Light Bar. 5000 lumen at maximum output. 48 hours on battery power. Water-resistant design. Shock-absorbing components. Chemical-resistant materials. Design that prevents it from rolling away. Overmoulded in areas with Versaflex so you don’t have to worry about dropping it. Quite simply, this is the most badass, brightest, battery-powered LED work light ever created. Price range from €300

www.bigasslight.com

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Mark Davies

hat was once a 1930â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cottage is now the house of dreams thanks to the creative eye of the architect Mark Davies of Arc Design and the home owners who moved all the way from South Africa to the quaint and picturesque townland of Delgany in County Wicklow. Work began at the property in September 2013 and it was completed 18 months later, in March 2015 making the property an ideal dream retirement home for its owners.

Looking at the front of the house, it still has the cottagey feel to the property with the house being brought forward to the modern era with quite a substantial extension added on to the back and side of the house. The area of the house is now 181 square metres. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are a lot of those little cottages around Delgany, they are well built and I think they were originally owned by the council. The house in question was bought in or around 2012/2013 by a South African couple and they approached me about renovating the house as they had seen and

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Mark Davies

35 Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Mark Davies of Arc Design

“The work on the overall project took approximately 18 months.”

FROM RUN DOWN COTTAGE TO

BEAUTIFUL HOME

1930’s cottage transformed Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Mark Davies

heard about the work I did on a similar cottage five or six doors down from them,’’ explained Mark Davies as to how he got involved in the project. “At the front of the property we renovated a single storey bungalow and at the back of the house there was a long extension which was in quite bad condition so we knocked that down. We basically rebuilt the house and gave the clients first floor accomodation whilst connecting the front and the back of the house together quite well. “The work on the overall project took approximately 18 months from beginning to end. When the clients saw the finished product they were over the moon, the clients wanted a different type (and feel) to this house in comparisson to the one they had before. Their old house had quite a cellular feel to it,’’ said Mr Davies. “In the house, there is an open plan kitchen/living/dining room which brings in a lot of natural light and it is a south facing space at the back of the house. At the front of the building there is two bedrooms with their own en-suites and upstairs there is the master bedroom and bathroom. The utility room is also off the kitchen.

“There is a lot of space within the house. The neighbours are very envious of the house the home owners in question have. The clients are very happy with the house and the work we have done on it,’’ enthused Mark. “It was necessary for us to retain the cottage from the street view and add a new single storey construction to the rear end (of the house) and side. The new structure to the rear was able to be raised to allow first floor master bedroom accommodation. Mr Davies specialises in bringing Passive and Low Energy into building design whilst keeping a close eye on the architecture of the practices designs. He is also a Chartered Architectural Technologist with the Chartered Institute of Chartered Technologists. Mark is also on the Register for Building Surveyors under the Building Control Act 2007 acting as Assigned Certifier on the practices portfolio of projects. “The house is very energy efficient and the property was very well insulated. The amount of fuel that is going to be used to heat this house is going to be very, very little because the house is so well insulated. “There is also an underfloor heating system running throughout the entire ground floor. If you build a house properly, give it good air-tightness and insulate it well there is no need to install a renewable heating system or get a lot of fancy heat pumps installed,’’ he explained. “When you turn the heating on in this particular house for one hour, the heat is retained due to the standard the house was built, the insulation and the air-tightness. There is also a wood burning stove installed in the house. The lighting in the house is LED efficient,’’ said Mr Davies. “We were engaged by the clients to completely extend and renovate at the 1930’s cottage in Delgany. This is a retirement home for our clients and they wished to have open plan layouts whilst taking advantage of the southerly facing rear garden.

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Mark Davies

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Which assisted the house to achieve its admirable A2 energy rating.â&#x20AC;?

Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Car Review

hen you build your home you rarely think of your car in the build. You might think of a garage to park it but I think it’s fair to say that even in 2017 not too many explore the options regarding building their home with the car they drive being a consideration in the build. Electric cars are becoming more common and Nissan is certainly leading the way with the Nissan Leaf. Electric cars are one of the key pieces of renewable energy economy of the future and readers such as you are in a key position to take advantage of low running costs of the Nissan Leaf along with a cutting-edge technology called xStorage brought to market by Nissan and power management leader Eaton. Both these innovative companies are broadening their home residential energy storage solutions by drawing energy from the sun or the grid and in turn making energy consumption more affordable. It also gives consumers greater control over how and when they use energy in their own homes. The xStorage Home unit also has the capability to provide energy back to the grid in countries where the conditions enable customers to do so. This in turn brings us back to the Nissan Leaf. If you want to save a lot of money, be kind to the environment and be ahead of what is inevitably more electric cars taking market share, then preparing for the future is not a bad thing. If you are building your own home, then take some time out and do your own research to see how combining home and car within your build plans can be hugely beneficial. I spoke with Brian Purcell, Business Development Manager at Nissan Ireland and was surprised at the level of information he had regarding this sector and how advanced things are. There is a huge amount of benefits so you really need to go do some research yourself to appreciate it all. The Nissan Leaf has evolved since 2010 by taking customer feedback seriously and trying to make the car better based on this information. This new Nissan Leaf has 25 percent more range than before with 250 kilometres possible on a single charge. That is thanks to the 30 kWh battery. The first thing I noticed after getting into the Leaf is that it takes a few seconds to adjust to the setup. With a round gearlever and foot handbrake along with the different instruments, it takes time to readjust. But once familiar, driving it is so easy. Engage D in your round dial and off you go in a noticeable nippy silence. In normal mode the Leaf pulls away at the lights effortlessly and does get looks of interest as people invariably think of electric cars being slow which is simply incorrect. The Leaf’s power is delivered more suited to a family than the likes of the Nissan BladeGlider prototype which is aiming at performance and 0-100km times. Put the Leaf into Eco mode through a button on the steering wheel and you’ll notice your range increase while acceleration is noticeably slower as the Leaf tries to extend the range capacity to its maximum. The Leaf also generates energy and more range through braking so it can happen that if in busy traffic you use very little if any power on your journey. Around town and urban areas I found the Leaf to be an ideal drive and on the motorway it was efficient and quiet. The car looks much the same as before. It is aerodynamically designed to reduce any drag and it does look different to most vehicles on the road. On the inside it feels well built with a good driving position and plenty of space. Legroom and headroom is good for both driver and passengers in the front and rear and the Leaf comes with a 370 litre boot. That’s bigger than a Ford focus. Unlike some cars the Nissan Leaf has been built from the ground up to be an electric car. It is a pioneer in this segment and has sold more electric cars than any other manufacturer. Specially developed eco-tilted Dunlop tyres along with special lining in the roof to reduce heat loss in the cabin to minimise heater usage (to extend vehicle range) are just some of the extra steps Nissan has taken. The Leaf also has a cool smartphone app giving you the ability to put the heat on while getting ready to leave the house for work. A really cool feature for those cold Winter mornings. It’s not surprising that the Leaf is the world’s best-selling electric car. Through a ground up development process along with listening to previous customers Nissan has a car you really can consider as your daily commute. It’s not built for handling or driving enthusiasts but those looking for short work commutes are not going to care. With some planning regarding your electricity provider and availing of cheaper night time rates you can have a very capable car with a very low annual cost to run. It makes sense to me.

Technical Specification Engine Size 80 kW Synchronous motor Power 109hp Transmission Single speed gear – front wheel drive Torque 254Nm Acceleration (0-100km/h) 11.5 seconds Top Speed 143km/h CO2 Emissions 0g/km Road Tax €120 (Band A1) Base Price €21,500 Our Test Model €29,390

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Car Review

39 Words: Anthony Kelly Pics: Nissan Ireland & Motors Ireland

TURN OVER A

New Leaf

The Nissan Leaf has an extended range that certainly makes it more appealing but is it time to think about switching to an electric car

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Electric cars are becoming more common and Nissan is certainly leading the way.â&#x20AC;? Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Since 1969

www.murphyheating.com

For the widest choice in modern and traditional stoves

Home & Build Winter 2017

Kinvara Co. Galway. Tel: 091 637159 www.murphyheating.com

Since 1969

Winter 2017.indd 40

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Advert s

BUILDING FOR GENERATIONS AN INTEGRAL PART OF

BUILDING HOMES IN IRELAND SINCE 1936

+353 (0)59 863 1316

www.tegral.com Advert self build 230x297.indd 1 Winter 2017.indd 41

Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Robert Logan Property

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL FOR

ARCHITECTS NEW BUILD

As an Architecture student, Robert Logan had a fixation with the use of proportion systems in building design from Vitruvius to Le Corbusier.

everal architects historically employed mathematical and geometric systems to help formulate the layout of their buildings, an approach which has been largely abandoned by contemporary architects and designers. “My house was my opportunity to explore the practical challenges of developing a design where the ratios of the plan, section and elevation dimensions were all interrelated. The controlling influence of the system is extended beyond the house to the external landscaping beyond,’’ said Robert Logan who is a member of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects

(RSUA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects. “The house is an upside-down house with the primary living accommodation being laid out in an open plan arrangement upstairs whilst looking out on to panoramic views over the surrounding farm land. The bedrooms are located downstairs and they have a more traditional layout. Having the living accommodation upstairs allows the vaulted ceiling to be incorporated as a feature of the main living space. “A direct interrelationship between the open plan living space, dining area and kitchen is a core attribute of this house. While all three areas are

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Robert Logan Property

Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Robert Logan

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The house is an upside-down houseâ&#x20AC;?

Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Robert Logan Property

“Building forms should be beautiful, interrelated to surroundings with meaning in human terms”

positioned within the one vaulted space, the kitchen and dining areas have a more intimate setting within it,’’ explained Mr Logan. “This has been done without doors and large screens, instead the kitchen units and a small area of flat ceiling have been used to create the subareas. The living area has large window panels and access to a cantilevered balcony. The balcony is sheltered by the overhanging roof and it has frameless glass around it to ensure unimpeded views of the surrounding countryside. “I got the inspiration for the design of the house as I collected things (knowledge and techniques) as an architect. There are certain things that appeal to you and you don’t always get a chance to try them out on other people’s properties so when it came to my house, I decided that I was going to try some of these things out,’’ enthused a laughing Robert.

“Every architect is pre-conditioned to the ideal that not every house is going to work on every site in terms of views and the orientation. We get a lot of solar heat gain in through the glass which is pretty much to the south, the west and the north and east elevations are a lot more solid. The most unique thing about the house is that it is based on a proportion system which was something I had an interest in as a student. The house is set out basically on a grid and everything in the house has some sort of rationale to it. “There are curves in the house and they again relate to the system of proportion. Most clients aren’t going to be bothered by anything like this but because this was my own house, I had no excuse but to give these things that preoccupied me as a student a go and see if they could be used in a useful way,’’ he explained.

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Robert Logan Property

Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Robert Logan Property Work on the house began in 2011 and the eye-catching property was built in stages and there is still some work left to do on the house before it reaches completion. “My wife and I have two children, they are eight and ten. The whole set up of the house suits us as a family. The front corner room is used as a room for them and they are both into music and obviously they have piles of toys. So all of their stuff is in there and the idea we have is that room will adapt as our needs adapt so I suppose in the future as we get older, I won’t want to be going up and down the stairs as much so I can revert to using the downstairs living room. At the moment it is a toy room/ music room. “All of the other rooms in the house have a function and they are used. We don’t have a good room, there is no room that just sits untouched. Day to day, we live in the big open plan kitchen, living and dining room and then really the other reception room is downstairs which the kids use at the moment. There are four bedrooms downstairs also,’’ said Robert. “My favourite part of the house would probably be that upstairs living space.’’ As to the technical aspects of the property, Mr Logan went on to say. “There is an Xtratherm board in the cavity which is 150mm wide, the roof is an inline warm roof and we have foam insulation between the rafters and that was sprayed in with an Xtratherm board on top of that. “To anyone who would like to build a house like this and in terms of any of my clients I tell them this my job to design the house they way, not the house I think they should have. My house was the house we wanted and I suppose it has some unique characteristics to it, none of which we regret but I wouldn’t necessarily try to impose that on someone else but if someone wanted to have a house like ours I would encourage them wholeheartedly to go for it,’’ explained Robert. “I enjoyed working on this project but I suppose the thing was, I struggled to dedicate the time to the project as it was a very busy time for us in work and at the latter stages of the project my wife was diagnosed with cancer and she was very unwell, thankfully she is through that now and things are good. Really there was a lot going on for us and we were raising the two children so at the time the house became something in the background but we pushed on and tried to get it finished but it wasn’t the priority for a long time.’’

CONTACT LIST Natural slate and fibre cement cladding: Tegral Building Products Limited, William Street, Athy, County Kildare 05986-31316 www.tegral.com Concrete Surfacing and Exposa specialist concrete: RTU, Cloughfarm Avenue, Newtownabbey, County Antrim BT37 OU3 0044 28 9085 1441 Kitchen: Interior 360, Locksley Business Park, 39 Montgomery Road, Castlereagh, Belfast, BT6 9HL, United Kingdom 0044 28 9070 9360 www.interior360.com Concrete blocks: Robinsons Quarry Masters Ltd, 32 Glenhead Road, Ballymena, BT42 4RE, United Kingdom 0044 28 2583 1245 www.robinsonquarry.co.uk Floor Tiles: The Tile House, 114 Irish Hill Road, Ballyclare, BT39 9NL, United Kingdom 0044 28 9334 9115 Underfloor Heating: MYSON, Myson Radiators, Eastern Avenue, Team Valley,

Gateshead, NE11 0PG 0044 0845 4023434 sales@myson.co.uk www.myson.co.uk Light Fittings: The Big White supplied by Yesss Electrical, Pennybridge, Ballymena BT42 3HB Bathroom Fittings: Original Tile and Bath (Ballyclare), 81 Ballyeaston Road, Ballyclare, BT39 9BS, United Kingdom 0044 28 9334 2088 www.budgettileandbath.co.uk Zinc Roofing: DM Roofing, 53 Tullyaran Road, Donaghmore, Dungannon, BT70 3HL 077 25205 908 Woodflooring, doors and other joinery items: JP Corry, 12, Unit 14A, Pennybridge Industrial Estate, Ballymena, BT42 3HB, United Kingdom +0044 28 2564 2261 www.jpcorry.com Frameless glass balustrade: Topglass Contractors, Unit 1, Toomebridge Business Park, Antrim, BT41 3UB, United Kingdom +0044 28 7965 9333 www.top-glass.com

Home & Build Winter 2017

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Floor Screed

EASY SCREED

As the longest established liquid floor screeding company in Ireland, Easyscreed are the sole suppliers and nationwide installers of Easy Screed.

he vastly experienced site and office staff have dealt with the installation of over 200,000 mÂ˛ throughout Ireland. They are the market leaders in liquid floor screed installations in Ireland offering a professional, reliable and quality service every time. An Irish owned company, offering advice and expertise to architects, builders, home-owners, the underfloor heating industry, timber frame manufacturers, pre-fabricated building systems and the renovation market. Easy Screed is a self-levelling liquid, natural floor screed. A fast, efficient alternative to traditional sand and cement floor screed, Easy Screed is designed for smoothing and levelling floors before installation of the final floor finishes. Easy Screed is made from a blend of the highest quality materials available combining a mix of sand, water and an alpha-hemihydrate calcium sulphate binder agent. It contains no cement and therefore eliminates many problems generally associated with traditional floor screeds. Because of its unique high-strength properties, Easy Screed is poured in a much thinner layer than traditional screeds, from just 10mm when used for floor levelling and between 35mm and 50mm with underfloor heating. Easy Screed is a CE certified product, conforming to DIN EN 13454.

162 Richmond Road Fairview, Dublin 3

What is Easy Screed? EasyScreed is a self-levelling liquid, natural floor screed, alternative to traditional sand and cement screeds. Designed for smoothing and leveling floors before installation of the final floor finishes, Easy Screed is made from the highest quality natural materials available in Europe.

For more information, please give us a call +353 (01) 837 3555

Email: jerry.beades@gmail.com

Web: www.easyscreed.ie Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Joe Fallon

JUST FOLLOW THE PATH TO THE

YELLOW DOOR IN CLONDALKIN Old property on Monastery Road Clondalkin gets a modern upgrade

or years upon years now we have heard ‘follow the yellow brick road’ over and over again due to the very popular film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ but fast favourite a few decades and it now seems that all you have to do is follow the path to the ‘yellow door’ in Clondalkin and what you will find is a long standing house with a modern day twist due to Joe Fallon Architectural Design and his team working hard to transform house from a late 1970’s early 1980’s property on Monastery Road to a modern day house which has become the home of a young couple and their two young children. Architectural Technologist in Joe Fallon Design, Eric Stilwell oversaw and worked on the project from beginning to end and he is happy with the result. “This project is a complete refurbishment, the original house was built by a Canadian architect which explains why the house is quite unusual in terms of its design and layout. The estate is beautifully landscaped with mature trees and Cherry Blossom trees,’’ said Eric Stilwell. “We were approached by the clients in March or April of 2015. They are a young couple with a growing family and they previously lived in an apartment block down the road from the house. “The house was in planning by late summer 2015 and the work began on site in February 2016 and it was finished by mid-summer, explained Eric. “They bought the house as obviously they needed more space and there are only a few like this one in the estate as all of the rest of the houses are dormer bungalows. This house is quite unusual, I’ve never seen anything like it before in terms of layout. “When you walked in the front door, the stairs were in the middle of the hallway and to the left was the living room which went back around the staircase which brought you in to the kitchen and dining area. There was a little bathroom next to that as well as a garage to the side. There were originally four bedrooms upstairs. When we spoke with the clients, they told us that they wanted the house gutted and rebuilt. Everything was pulled out and down apart from the four external walls and we redesigned it from the ground up in more of a traditional sense,’’ imparted Mr Stilwell. “The front door stayed more or less where it always was but we pulled it out to the front of the house a bit more with the extension which has given it (the front of the house) a bit more of a porch. We put in a traditional staircase and an open hallway. We closed off the front living room and we opened up the entire back of the house. “We put a lightwell in to the middle of the house and that was designed to bring light in to the house because of the north facing garden. The big open plan space at the back of the house would have been quite dark without any windows in it and there was no potential for roof lights so we had to get light in somehow. The lightwell catches light in the evening and the westerly sun quite nicely,’’ he adds. “At the side of the house, we converted the garage in to a playroom, a family bathroom and a large utility room. I designed the house from the top down in that I laid out the upstairs first as I knew the owners wanted four bedrooms and that was going to be reasonably tight but it gave me the layout of the upstairs.

Home & Build Winter 2017

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Joe Fallon

51 Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Eric Stillwell of Joe Fallon Design

“They bought the house as obviously they needed more space.” Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Joe Fallon

The layout of the stairs had to be decided upon and then the design for the ground floor was more or less given to me. “The interesting aspect of this design is the fact that the rear extension was exempt from planning (permission) and we only had to apply for planning permission on some of the build, not all of it. “The main method of construction used was 225mm hollowblock with 100mm Xtratherm insulation on the inside and all of the usual airtightness membranes, externally a matte plaster finish was used. Roadstone Centurion tiles were used on the roof. “For me, something that would stand out in the house would be the lightwell, I’ve been trying to include one in a project for the last while and I

eventually got to do it! I think it really benefits the whole project and it turns the living space into a ‘wow space,’’ he explained. “There is a nice bit of space at the back of the house for a shed and for some grass, out at the front of the house there is also some grass and then there is the green in front of the house so they have lots of outdoor space. “This house was a very nice project to work on and they were lovely clients to work with. When the front door went up, the clients were going to paint it but the colour grew on them and they left it. The door is quite a stand out feature and in the street-scape as you look at the house in context it would blend in to the background if it weren’t for the yellow door. It is striking and it makes you pay attention to the house,’’ enthused Eric Stilwell.

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Joe Fallon

Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Joe Fallon

CONTACT LIST ARCHITECT:

Windows:

Furniture:

Eric Stilwell, Joe Fallon Architectural Design, 1A Ryland Street, Bunclody, County Wexford www.joefallon.com 05393-77633

Senator Windows, Seaview Industrial Estate, County Wexford www.senatorwindows.ie info@senatorwindows.ie 053-9155300

Contractor:

Kitchen:

Kian Furniture, Kylemore Factory Estate, Kylemore Road, Ballyfermot, County Dublin www.kian.ie info@kian.ie 01-6434831

Dave Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara, Rosehill Construction, 46 Fortunes Walk City Park Citywest County Dublin www.rosehillconstruction.com info@ rosehillconstruction.ie 087-9408947

Kube Interiors, Unit 6 EP Mooney Retail Centre, Long Mile Road, Dublin 12 www.kubeinteriors.com info@kubeinteriors.com 01-4569674

Interior Designer:

Ruth Noble Interiors, GEC, Taylors Lane, Dublin 8 www.ruthnobleinteriors.com ruth@ruthnobleinteriors.com 01-4100600 086-1789702

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Passive House Performance - Traditional Build Costs

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+ 353 45 889276

www.amvicireland.com Made In Ireland

Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Shower Feature

ith a wide range of showers to choose from, below are a few things to consider when selecting a shower. A shower is something that sprays to get you clean, from a primitive overhead bucket to a multiplehead enclosure that’s more like a high-end car wash. Showers differ by construction, material, size, and configuration. The consumers main decision will be to choose between a prefabricated shower that’s installed as a unit, or a custom shower that’s built in place and surfaced with tile or virtually any waterproof material. “Showers come in a large variety of types, sizes and colours. Nowadays customers are more demanding in terms of energy efficiency and cost effectiveness. There is a very much welcome addition to the market in the form of a rainfall type which gives a higher ranking shower experience whilst using less water,’’ said Wayne Lyons of Soaks Bathrooms. “A new application has recently arrived on the scene and it allows you to pre-heat the shower and the bath to your desired temperature so it is ready for you to use whenever you want,’’ added Mr Lyons. A steam shower is a small, enclosed room with a vapour-tight door that is equipped with a steam shower generator. The generator heats water to a boil and then delivers the resulting vapour into the enclosed room. The room’s walls, ceiling, and floor must be made of a material that is impervious to the hot, moist vapour. Steam showers have been popular at gyms and health clubs for decades, thanks to their ability to help relax muscles, soothe aching joints, and invigorate tired bodies. Currently, steam shower manufacturers are focusing on the home spa market, offering homeowners a range of products from complete steam shower units to equipment that can add steam capabilities to a conventional shower. These products offer a great way to install steam showers in residential bathrooms for the ultimate in comfort and luxury. In addition to the cost of the equipment, expect to pay a contractor to install it and note that because a steam shower puts a tremendous amount of moisture into the air, the shower enclosure and the bathroom will have to be designed or modified to handle the steam. Otherwise, you’re likely to have a problem with mould and/or moisture damage. People with certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes should not use a steam shower before contacting a

GP first. Pregnant women and young children should never use this type of shower. If you’re building a new home and have a generous budget, a world of options is open to you—and a custom shower may be just the ticket. If, on the other hand, you’re doing a minor remodel and are working on a tight budget, a prefabricated model will probably make more sense. Single-piece molded fiberglass, synthetic marble, or laminate showers are relatively inexpensive, quick and simple to install, easy to clean, and watertight. Most prefabricated shower stalls are formed with benches, integral shelves, and grab bars. Shapes include square, rectangular, and corner configurations. One-piece showers are common in new construction because they are very quick to install and don’t have seams that could leak in the future. Unfortunately, these generally don’t work in a remodel unless one or more walls are being removed because they are too large to fit through a doorway. For most remodels, prefabricated showers with wall panels that are assembled on site work better. With these, wall panels fit over a molded shower base and are attached to a waterproofed wall. A custom shower is built on the spot to whatever specifications you want. It can be a small tile enclosure built into an unusual corner, a conventional tiled shower, or something that’s really unusual, such as a stoned-lined area that’s open to the master bedroom. Basically, a custom shower needs a shower fixture, a drain, and surfaces that can handle the very wet conditions. A manual mixer shower is a shower system that most people will be familiar with. This type of shower takes water from the existing hot and cold water supplies which is then combined within the unit. Mixer showers can come as a deck mounted unit with an integrated shower handset, which can be attached to the wall with a rail and bracket – making them a popular choice for shower baths. Manual mixer showers are the ideal solution for shower baths, they can also be fitted for a single shower enclosure too. Most mixer showers can work with any plumbing system, but it’s worth keeping in mind that because they take water from your existing water supply they will not increase the flow of water to the shower, if you have poor water flowing from your taps, the same will go for your shower. Thermostatic showers give you complete control over the temperature. They are similar to a manual mixer shower, a

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Shower Feature

Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Triton & Webpress

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Showers come in a large variety of types, sizes and colours.â&#x20AC;?

DUMP YOUR TUB FOR A

DREAMY SHOWER For anyone who is building a new bathroom or remodeling their old bathroom, there is a good chance that a new shower will come as part of the package. Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Shower Feature

thermostatic shower takes water from the existing supply, but unlike the normal mixer unit, it incorporates a pre-set thermostat to keep the water temperature consistent – even when a tap is used elsewhere in the house. These showers can be deck mounted for use in a shower bath or work as part of a concealed or exposed unit. A power shower is similar to a standard mixer shower, which uses water from both the hot and cold water taps, combining to create the ample temperature. As mixer showers are usually installed into homes which typically have a low-pressure water system (such as a gravity system), many people install an additional booster pump, which creates more significant pressure from the shower. These are typically known as ‘power showers’. There are two types of shower pumps available, plastic and brass. Plastic bodied pumps are reliable and quite a bit cheaper than the brass alternative. However, these can be a little noisier when they’re in operation and are likely to require more maintenance than brass pumps. Brass pumps might be a bit more expensive, but they’re a heavy duty piece of equipment that’s quieter when in use, and more likely to stand the test of time. Electric showers are usually the shower of choice for households where hot water created by the boiler is in short supply. Unlike mixer and power showers, electric showers take water from the cold water supply, where it is heated by the heating elements inside the shower unit.as an electric shower unit is completely separate from your hot water system, you can have hot water in an instant. A digital shower is something of revolution in shower technology. It works in a very similar way to mixer or power showers, but allows you more control over the temperature. A standard power or mixer shower requires adjusting the flow of either hot or cold water from the taps into the shower head, to achieve the right temperature. A digital shower, however, allows you to set the right temperature on the wireless digital shower panel installed in the shower.

As digital showers are programmable, you can set the shower to a warm up mode, which gently heats the water to your preferred temperature before you step in – so there is no need to dip your toe in or to stand against the wall to avoid the freezing jets of water! The wireless digital panel gives you complete control over both temperature and water flow, so you can programme it to suit your personal preferences. “Before purchasing a new shower, you need to find out what shower system is going to work with your plumbing system at home,’’ said Shauna Barrett of Triton. “Every house is different, and could have one of the three different plumbing systems installed: gravity system, pressurised system or a combination (combi) boiler system. Whatever plumbing system you have fitted in your home, Triton Showers have a shower system to suit.

As2000xt Thermostatic

Elina Inclusive bar mixer with grab kit

“Low level shower trays have become popular.”

A b a

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T90 SR

Ireland’s First Silent Running Pumped Electric Shower

Dene Mixers Chrome Mixer Showers, Available in 6 Stylish Designs As Triton Showers is renowned for prompt and efficient after sales service, and is based locally in Earthridge International, Co Kildare, you can choose Triton with absolute confidence that you’re buying from Ireland’s leading shower company

Winter 2017.indd 59

(01) 6286711 For more info, visit:

Winter 2017 Home & Build www.tritonshowers.ie

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Shower Feature

“Water usage in the home is coming under ever increasing scrutiny. With this in mind for showering purposes the most economical form of showering will be the instant electric shower. “These products such as the Triton T90sr which is Ireland’s only silent running pumped electric shower, only heats the water that is actually used during showering unlike mixer valves and power showers where water has to be pre-heated in large capacity storage cylinders before one can use for showering,’’ added Ms Barrett. “Irrespective of household water pressure systems, Triton has a shower option that is designed to limit water consumption and conserve a valuable resource while still delivering a fully satisfying showering experience no matter what model or type shower you have,’’ enthused Shauna Barrett. “Showers can range in price from €100 up to thousands of Euro with the midpoint shower costing between €400 to €800. In my knowledge, mixer showers that use high pressure valves are one of the most economic options but they need a good constant level of water pressure which isn’t available everywhere so before you buy this type of shower be sure to check the water

pressure in your area,’’ stated Wayne Lyons. “As there is a colossal range to choose from when it comes to showers, it is important that you have lots of time on your hands to look at as many different types and styles as well as discussing with the experts what each unit has to offer,’’ he added. Often a slight jump from the standard shower size can make a big difference to how a bathroom feels and the additional cost can be very little in comparison to the benefits. If a shower is the only option for bathing in the house then this is even more reason to ensure that it is a good and generous a size as you can make it. Splurge on a quality shower head to give you a proper rinsing and depending on the water pressure a pump may need to be installed or you may want to think about changing your boiler to help with pressure. Recently, shower trays have become so slim and they can almost be flush with the floor finish. “Over the last number of years, low level shower trays have become popular with some trays even allowing level access as the trays are designed to be

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Shower Feature

T90 SR

Safeguard Pumped CSGPE08WC

fitted directly to the floor joist and tiled up to the edge of the tray,’’ imparted Mr Lyons. “The glass that is used for shower enclosures has also changed in recent times, it has become thicker whilst bestowing a opulent look,’’ explained Wayne. Alternatively, a wet room is the right solution in certain circumstances. Wet rooms need to be thought out though as the falls in the floor need to be worked out in advance. “If you are thinking about installing a wet room, make sure you think about

Triton Eden

T80Z Fast-Fit white chrome

it thoroughly. In Ireland, this type of room is correctly one with a fragmentary screen. Some advantages of having this room is that it is easier to clean the surfaces and there is a reduced risk of water spillages. In this type of environment, wood and chrome plated fittings are distinctly in peril due to the damp atmospheric conditions,’’ enthused Mr Lyons. The main advantage to this type of room is that as there is no shower tray, the floor finish can continue into the shower giving the room a sense of openness and making it feel bigger.

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All-New

Renault MEGANE GRAND COUPE Feel the drive

Available this 171 with:

APR

3 years servicing included 5 years warranty & roadside assistance Offer available only until 31st January 2017

Book a test drive at renault.ie

Model shown: All-New Mégane Grand Coupé Signature Nav dCi 110. RRP €27,290. Price excludes metallic paint, delivery and dealer related charges. Maximum recommended delivery charge €750. Finance example: All-New Mégane Grand Coupé EXPRESSION dCi 110. RRP €21,990. Deposit €7,762. Term 36 monthly payments of €175. APR 3%. Total cost of credit €948 inc doc & completion fee €75 each. Optional final payment €8,730. Includes 3-year service plan. Excess mileage plus excess wear and tear charges may apply upon return of vehicle. Offer is made under a hire purchase agreement. Subject to lending criteria. Terms and conditions Home Build to Winter apply. Offer& exclusive Renault2017 Bank. See renault.ie [Warning: You will not own these goods until the final payment is made].

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HOME & BUILD DVD’S DVD001

€20

DVD002

Access For Everybody DVD DVD005

€20

Foundations DVD DVD009

Carpentry DVD DVD006

€20

Plumbing & Electrics DVD €55

DVD010

DVD003

€20

DVD007

Self Build 1 DVD

€55

Self Build 2 DVD

DVD017

€20

Stone DVD

€20

History Of Buildings DVD DVD011

Renewable & Sustainable Energy DVD DVD014

€20

Concrete Slab DVD

Health & Safety DVD €20

DVD013

€20

DVD004

Easyscreed & Superquilt Insulation DVD DVD008

DVD012

€20

Wet Trades DVD

€20

Rooﬁng 2 DVD

Stairs & Joinery DVD

DVD018

€20

Materials Technology Wood

Rooﬁng 1 DVD DVD015

€20

DVD016

€20

Stairs Manufacture & Erection DVD

DVD019

€15

Workbook DVD

Home & Build Winter 2017

*All prices exclude P&P €4.95*

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16/01/2017 16:42

Cork Countryside House

“It was a very wild valley with a stream running through it.”

estled in the Cork countryside is where you will find the eyecatching and quirky home which belongs to Cork natives Catherine and Colin Barry along with their two young daughters Robin and Hazel. Chickens and ducks can be found wandering around the place, a creek tinkles through the garden with breath taking views of the River Lee estuary. Mrs Barry was inspired by West Cork cottages that she has admired since she was

a child when it came to looking for inspiration and ideas when building her house of dreams in recent years. Catherine who is a former Chef, drew a picture of the house she wanted and gave it to the architect with the architect making the addition of a large window at the gable end so as to make the most of the views. “When we first came to the site, it was a very wild valley with a stream running through it. Our family and friends thought we were mad, but we had a vision for the site,’’ said Catherine. A lot of people assume that the couple have

renovated the house which Mrs Barry sees as a compliment as it means she has accomplished her goal when it comes to her vision for the house. As minimalism isn’t her style, when it came to her house Catherine knew that she wanted the semblance of an old farmhouse or a traditional cottage with the property having to be split level. Catherine is from Douglas, and her husband Colin is from Monkstown in County Cork and they first met when they were both teenagers. Mr Barry’s family home reminded Catherine of

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Cork Countryside House

67 Words: Emer Kelly Pics: Ramona Farrelly for Irish Country Magazine

A little gem

NESTLED IN THE CORK COUNTRYSIDE We take a peek inside the home of the Barry family Winter 2017 Home & Build

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Cork Countryside House

her own family home from the first time she walked in through the door, with her mother-in-law providing Catherine with inspiration for the expressiveness for her own home which often leads to the pair sharing and exchanging woven fabrics, cushions and lights. “When you’re building a house, you change your mind as you go along and one thing I don’t have in the house is a utility room, where the kitchen units are is where the utility room was supposed to be but when the stud walls were going up, I thought it would be a shame to use that space as a utility room so the kitchen went in and we left the rest of that space open. We haven’t got an attic either and we’re a bit stuck for space but we love the house! “We moved in to the house with our bedding for our bedroom when the kitchen was complete, the floors were down and the bathroom was also complete and that was on Christmas Eve (in 2008!),’’ explained Mrs Barry. “The blinds in the kitchen are made from tablecloths and the blind in the

bathroom is made from a pillowcase that I bought in Tesco. When the prices came down, we bought the rest of the valley so we put our money in to that and we’ve only recently got a bit immune to the fact that things need to be done to the house, sure we only got the porch done in 2015! Throughout the house idiosyncratic art, textiles, furniture and utensils can be found which help add to the buzz both inside and outside of this funky home. The collection of artwork and ornaments throughout the house grew over time as Catherine discovered things she liked whilst abroad or getting presents of them. The interchange with the clock happened before both parties had children who grew up, fell madly in love and got married! An antique writing desk in Hazel and Robin’s bedroom holds fond memories for Catherine. One of Catherine’s favourite pastimes is to entertain, it is a hobby that she inherited from her mother. Mrs Barry’s mother would ensure that the table

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Cork Countryside House

“The next thing we’re going to build is a nice garage.”

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Cork Countryside House was set nicely and adorned with beautiful flowers as well as candles lighting and fires ablaze, making her home an inviting one whilst making guests feel very much at home, all things which Catherine does in her own house. “I would have to say that my favourite room in the house is the kitchen. It is such a bright room and the view is just glorious I also love the loft and our bedroom. I’ve got a chair at the window in the kitchen which looks out at the creek and it is where I read my books. There is also a lamp there, my father bought it for me. I saw the lamp in Skibeerean one summer but I couldn’t afford it and my father went down and bought it for me that winter as a Christmas present,’’ she imparted. “The view out of the large kitchen window is of the creek and on from that, the Raffeen golf course” “In 2015 we did the landscaping of the new bit of land with the driveway and parking area added and that in December with the storms and all the rain there was a landslide through the garden and the stream became a river washing all the work and planting away. We had to redo it all again in the April that followed “The house is definitely our forever home but going forward I do think we need to extend the house a little bit. It would be nice to have another room or two in the house. The next thing we’re going to build is a nice garage. There is always room for improvement! We’ve got lots of space too which is fantastic. I definitely would recommend building your own house but it isn’t for the faint hearted! *For some interior inspiration, be sure to visit Catherine and her sister Eadoin’s Instagram account www.instagram.com/pebbleandsash and their blog which can be find on www.pebbleandsash.wordpress.com.

CONTACT LIST FABRICS: Peony & Sage, www.peonyandsage.com sales@peonyandsage.com 0044 289 388650 INTERIORS: Clarabelle Interiors, The Courtyard, Underley Home Farm, Kearstwick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Nr. Carnforth LA6 2DY 0044 7973 562997 www.clarabelleinteriors.co.uk hello@clarabelleinteriors.co.uk

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Flogas LPG

Make the Smart Move to

FLOGAS LPG FOR YOUR HOME Join Neven Maguire and Kerry GAA legend Darragh Ó Sé who’ve made their smartest move yet by switching from oil to Flogas LPG for their homes. Neven said, “I’m so pleased that I made the switch from oil to gas heating. We now have a cleaner and greener way of heating our home. It was so quick and easy, and I just love the control we get from cooking with gas.” Flogas LPG is already in thousands of homes throughout Ireland efficiently providing heating, hot water, cooking, gas fires and even gas tumble-drying.

LPG If your home is not on the natural gas grid, Flogas has a very special offer if you are converting from oil to gas or installing a gas heating system for the very first time. Sign up to Flogas LPG and you’ll not only get 1,200 litres FREE, we’re also offering a two year interest-free loan of up to €3,000 to help with the cost of switching from oil to LPG (terms and conditions apply). If you switch, you’ll benefit from our price freeze promise for the first 12 months and there’s also an easy payment plan available. Customers also receive a free site survey, the removal and disposal of any existing oil tank and full system testing after installation. Your LPG is conveniently stored in a tank beside your house and our remote monitoring system means you can rest assured that you’ll never run out of LPG. You’ll enjoy the convenience of our easy monthly payment plans as well.

There has been a recent surge in the incidence of theft from residential oil tanks, which has left many owners out of pocket. With Flogas LPG, homeowners have peace of mind that their energy supply is secure and safe from theft.

Flogas Superser Heaters For instant heat that’s both stylish and useful, Flogas supplies two very contemporary looking and stylish mobile heaters, the Superser Radiant and Superser Catalytic. In particular, the Superser Catalytic burns without a flame and has lower touch temperatures, making it even safer. Both models are fitted with easy glide castors, which allows for trouble-free moving from room to room. They are extremely useful as an instant, economic and portable way to ‘spot-heat’ a room quickly, as many customers find it far cheaper than turning on the central heating for an hour or two. Flogas also provides payment plans to its LPG customers at no extra cost to spread bills over 12 months. Call us anytime and discover how much Flogas can change your life for the better. Contact Customer Service on 041-9831041 or www.flogas.ie

Neven Maguire switched from oil to Flogas LPG for his home

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Flogas LPG

A family enjoying some quality time in a kitchen warmed by a Flogas Superser Catalytic heater.www.flogas.ie

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5 Simple Mistakes

5 SIMPLE MISTAKES TO AVOID

WHEN BUILDING YOUR HOME You’re going to build your dream home and you’ve thought it all through – or so you’ve thought. You know exactly what you need and want to have in your home, but have you thought about what you don’t want and what you don’t need? Have you really thought the whole thing through? You have given much thought and consideration to what will work for you, but have you taken the time to think about what won’t work? Poor planning and budgets that are too small can lead way to some wayward, inconvenient and disastrous mistakes. When you plan on building a new home, you must look at the home from many angles. You must consider your current and future lifestyles. You need to take family planning into consideration – Will

your family be expanding? Or will your children be leaving the nest? Do you entertain often and host overnight guests regularly? Take your time and do your research both online and in person. Be sure to take the time to meet with professionals in the industry. Poor design choices can make your home not only uncomfortable, but downright unhealthy. Architects, engineers and builders are all trained to help you make effective decisions. They will help guide you as to where you can save a few euros and where you absolutely should not cut corners.

Poor Space Planning

nless you have plans to build a very large home, space planning and design is crucial. Ample storage is necessary, but pay attention to where you place your storage space. Does the master bedroom really need an oversized walk-in closet when the space could potentially be added to your bedroom or master bath? Pay attention to where you place your closets. There should be one in each bedroom and in a main hallway. But too many and the storage space takes away from the living space. Do you want a closet in the foyer? If you live in a cooler climate like Ireland where coats are worn at least three quaters of the year, this would be wise, especially if you entertain in your home and the front entrance is the main point of entry.

Poorly Lit Homes

ight fixtures and outlets should be plentiful. As should windows. Windows should be present in every room and as large as possible. Natural light, when possible, should be the main source of light. Think about adding skylights as well.

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5 Simple Mistakes

Under Utilised Rooms

he addition of a playroom, game room or multipurpose room sounds enticing, but only plan to build a room that will actually get used. What good is a wasted home gym where the treadmill is used to hold clothes from last season? Often an unused room becomes a dumping ground to place those things that never get used. If you plan on adding a spare room, make sure that it is a room that can transition well from one type to the next. A sewing room may never get used, but a sewing room or office that also doubles as a guest room could indeed get used often.

Placement of The Bedroom

he bedroom needs to be as far away from the noise and traffic as possible. The master bedroom should not be near or above the garage if members of your family are likely to be coming and going while you are asleep or resting. It would be advisable to keep the master bedroom away from the central living areas as well. If your home is to be on one level, the master bedroom should ideally be at the far end of the house, the end furthest away from the garage or where car doors slammed. The master bedroom, ideally, should not share a wall with the central living area.

Placement Of The Kitchen

ut what are your options if the wood and solid fuel option isn’t for you? The obvious answer is to replace wood for gas. With a varied range of natural gas and LPG fires and stoves to choose from which come in traditional as

well as the contemporary styles, there are a wealth of options. Gazco’s latest large format fire, the Reflex 75T offers an ease of installation that goes hand in hand with any build project. It can be that

centrepiece you’ve been looking for with all the ease of a gas fire, giving a natural realism few gas fires can match.

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IN SHOPS NOW! 16/01/2017 16:47

A NEW KIND OF LUXURY. 9

The Volvo S90 D3 from €43,900.* Our new executive sedan was designed with a single aim in mind; to create a car that would redefine the idea of luxury. The result is the new Volvo S90; a blend of the best Scandinavian design and advanced technology in safety and power to give you a new, unforgettable driving experience. This is how a modern luxury sedan should be. This is the new Volvo S90. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL VOLVO DEALER TO ARRANGE A TEST DRIVE. *Delivery and related charges not included. Terms and conditions apply. Model is shown for illustrative purposes only. Fuel consumption for the Volvo Range in mpg (l/100km): Urban 35.3 (8.0) – 68.9 (4.1), Extra Urban 58.9 (4.8) – 85.6 (3.3), Combined 34.4 (8.2) – 156.9 (1.8). CO2 Emissions 215 – 48 g/km. All new Volvo cars come with a 3 year warranty and 2 years’ roadside assistance.

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04/01/2017 17:23 16/01/2017 16:47

International Home

CANADIAN COUNTRY HOUSE Canadian Country house by Simard Architecture contrasts pale cedar with dark slate

edar boards and slate blocks clad the geometric blocks that make up this house in rural Quebec, designed by Canadian studio Simard Architecture to sit over the remnants of an old farmhouse. The residence, located in the village of Hemmingford in southern Quebec, was designed for a couple swapping their home in the city for a life in the countryside. Called Hemmingford House, the property takes its cues from the surrounding landscape, characterised by fields and orchards, weathered fences and wooden barns. The path of the sun also influenced the design. “The sun’s course throughout the changing seasons, as well as precise views over the fields, guided the home’s orientation and site location,” said Simard Architecture, a studio based in Montreal. The 3,500-square-foot home (325 square metres) was built over the

foundations of the old farmhouse. The original fieldstone walls were preserved, serving as artefacts that lead visitors to the main entrance “while bearing witness to the memory of place”. Windows of varying sizes puncture the cedar and slate walls of the twostorey home. The untreated cedar boards, which draw reference to the area’s wooden barns, are intended to develop a patina. “With the passing of time, the house will become increasingly fused with its surroundings,” the firm said. The grey slate was sourced from a nearby quarry and was cut into blocks rather than the typical thin slabs. The firm extended the slate to the ground level in order to conceal the concrete foundation. “Like a stone heaved from the frozen earth, the house rises from the field,” the studio said. The slate also was used for the flooring, for walkways and terraces. Visitors enter into a glazed, double-height entrance hall at the centre of

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International Home

the home. “With floor-to-ceiling windows at both extremities, this space offers expansive views over the entire property,” the firm said. An open staircase leads to a glass-floored bridge on the upper level, which connects the master bedroom to a library and guest suite. On the ground level, the eastern portion of the house contains an open-plan living and dining area. The other side encompasses a kitchen, a game room and a casual living room envisioned as an enclosed veranda. To lend a sense of openness to the space, the team installed sliding glass windows between the kitchen and veranda. The home features wood and tile flooring, contemporary decor and a restrained colour palette. “Interior spaces are open, fluid and awash in natural light”, the firm said.

“The path of the sun also influenced the design.”

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A world of bathrooms starting in Italy…

Proudly our 6,500 sq.ft. showroom is the largest in Ireland, show casing all the latest in bathroom and tile design. Whatever your taste or budget you’ll have a world of choice at Soaks Bathrooms. Call in today to

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view the latest in the Mastella range, a stunning Italian brand, exclusive to ourselves. Our bathroom and tile experts will inspire, advise and guide you through every stage of your new bathroom project.

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THANKS HYBRID

WE CAN TAKE IT FROM HERE Say goodbye to petrol and emissions for good. The Nissan LEAF comes with zero running costs. That means 2 years’ free insurance, 2 years’ free servicing and 2 years’ free road tax. So why take the Hybrid road when you can go all the way with the 100% electric Nissan LEAF?

We’re 100% confident you’ll love your Nissan LEAF. But if you change your mind we’ll swap it for a 172 petrol or diesel car for free. Visit nissan.ie for details.

For full LEAF Guarantee terms and conditions, please visit www.nissan.ie/driveleaff ree. Insurance is provided through Chill Insurance Limited and underwritten by its panel of insurers. Chill Insurance Limited trading as Chill Insurance is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Free insurance is only available in the event that Chill can arrange cover with an insurer. Insurance is arranged subject to insurer’s acceptance and their T&C’s will apply. To be eligible, you must be 26+ with a full Irish licence, 3+ years no claims bonus in your own name, no accidents, claims or convictions, less than 3 penalty points & be a permanent resident in ROI. This offer strictly applies to private vehicles and use for social, domestic or pleasure only. Other eligibility criteria applies. Participating dealers only. Offers end on 31/01/2017. For terms and conditions on all Nissan offers and dealer locations, see Nissan.ie.

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