How To Plan A loft Conversation P2

How to plan a loft conversion

Know your building regulations Part Two

LAST month we examined whether your attic space is suitable for a conversion. We also explained what kind of developments would be permitted.

This month we guide you through the various building regulations which your loft conversion needs to meet. Access to your loft space

Building regulations stipulate that if the loft is to be turned into a bedroom, bathroom, study or playroom, it must have a permanent staircase. The stairs leading to it need not be as wide as the steps on the lower flights. The most minimal arrangements resemble a fixed ladder and a spiral staircase offers an attractive solution where space is tight. When weighing up the pros and cons of converting, look at the space you will lose on the floor below to accommodate the new stairs, and check in particular the head height available. Insulating a loft conversion

Part L of the building regulations insists on a good standard of insulation. The main reason for this is that loft spaces can be subject to extreme temperatures, getting very hot in summer and feeling extra chilly in winter. For walls and ceilings, specialists generally use a rigid insulation such as Celotex insulation boards, while a fibre blanket such as Gyprock Rockwool is often used between floor joists. This insulation should be 150-250mm thick in order to satisfy building regulations for thermal, sound and fire insulation. Soundproofing is also advised. Fire regulations

Fire regulations should be incorporated in your earliest plans. Building materials must comply with standards of fire resistance - your builder should have this in hand. At the very least, you will need to fit a smoke detector in the hallway. However, any building with a floor more than 7.5 metres above the ground should have a sprinkler system. In a two-storey home, internal doors around the staircase must be replaced with fire doors to create a protected path from the attic down to the ground-floor exit. If there are several rooms in your conversion, you need to provide an emergency exit to the roof. The easiest, most attractive option is to fit a fire-escape window large enough to climb through in each space.

Next month we look at the different types of loft conversion.

Clarice Cliff ceramics

THE striking creations of trailblazing British ceramic artist Clarice

Cliff have gained something of a cult following - celebrity collectors include Vogue editor

Anna Wintour and actress

Whoopi Goldberg - and can fetch anything from £100 to £30,000.

Cliff was a prolific artist and produced many hundreds of designs during the interwar period, but her style remains immediately recognisable. With bright colours, patterns and interesting shapes, they’re vibrant and light-hearted - which is why they’re still so appealing. When the fashion documentary The First Monday in May was released in 2016, fans of Vogue were treated to a view of Anna Wintour’s office and New York home - revealing the

influential editor to be an avid collector of Clarice Cliff ceramics. Her minimal, neutral furnishings were highlighted by stunning pops of colour provided by Cliff’s designs. Although designed and bought to function as household items, they are now considered to be important examples of British Art Deco style.

Collecting tips

When collecting something, it’s really important you buy it because you love it; but you should also learn about the patterns and shapes that characterise Clarice Cliff’s output. Once you know more about her work it’s great fun to discover patterns you recognise, and perhaps even to collect by hunting down one example of each set. Whereas many of Cliff’s pieces are discoverable at the more affordable end of the market, some of her designs - usually those that had a

smaller production run - fetch much higher prices. Christie’s holds the auction record for a 1933 piece called ‘May Avenue’, which achieved £39,950 back in 2003. As with any work of art it’s important to check for authenticity, damage and repairs. Always read condition reports and reach out to the specialists involved who will be happy to assist you - and look for the mark. You want it to have an authentic Clarice Cliff script signature on the base and for the glaze to be in good condition. Condition is important, but beyond that it’s just what you find attractive and would like to live with. Essentially, it’s a totally fun and relatively easy category to collect - and just beautifully decorative.

Who was Clarice Cliff?

Born 1899 into a workingclass family in Tunstall, Staffordshire, Clarice was sent to work in the potteries at the age of just 13.

But Cliff was to prove no ordinary factory girl, as she took the unconventional step of moving to another factory, A.J. Wilkinson’s. Always ambitious, she began to hone her skills. Her talent was recognised and she was sent to the Royal College of Art in London for three months - followed by a trip to Paris to take in the latest fashions. On returning, she was given her own studio, where she would create the famous “Bizarre” line of wares in 1927. She was in charge of a team of workers, dubbed “the Bizarre Girls”, who would paint her Deco designs by hand.

When she became a designer each of her pieces was stamped with the Clarice Cliff signature.

She soon became a household name, and was one of the first women of the potteries to launch a line under her own name.