20 minute read
Industry News
Nicholas Burns nestles concrete chapel within grounds of Portuguese estate
Architect Nicholas Burns has hidden a chapel made from concrete amongst trees and granite boulders on a large private estate in northern Portugal.
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Fittingly named Chapel and Meditation Room, the project was commissioned by the estate’s owners who wanted a space for both private and group reflection within the grounds.
Australian-born and Bali-based architect Burns was given full rein on its design and location within the thirty-hectare site.
Burns decided to build the chapel on a knoll bounded by gullies and covered in rocks and dense foliage, which grants it a protective and isolated feeling.
Its form responds directly to this setting, with a curving exterior that slots between the boulders and tree trunks. While minimising damage to nature, this is hoped to make the chapel appear as part of the landscape.
“The idea that the landscape will grow around and envelope the building over time and become part of it,” Burns said.
Burns chose concrete as the primary material for the Chapel and Meditation Room for its “plasticity”, which allowed him to achieve its continuous, sinuous form.
It also provides the building with a “neutral, consistent surface inside and out”, Burns said, which retains focus on the landscape.
Photography is by Peter Bennetts.
3ways to make money off your home
Looking to generate some additional income in 2021? In this article, Peter Watton from OddsMonkey shares his tips for making money at home.
I
t’s always nice to have some extra money coming in. But, with Money reporting that 78% of people in the UK are starting off 2021 with personal debt, more and more of us are looking for new ways to generate additional income.
If you have credit cards, personal or payday loans, car loans, or overdrafts to pay off, or if you’d just like to have a little extra disposable income, you might be interested to know that the house you live in could be the key to doing just that.
Below, I’ll take you through just some of the ways you can make money off your home.
Rent out your driveway or parking space
Renting out parking space is a great option if you live in the city centre, next to a notable transport link such as a train station, or even a hospital or football stadium. You could stand to make between £50 and £200 per month on average, with even more profit to be made in London boroughs where parking space is at a premium.
Rules vary by council, but It’s important to note that you can only sell or rent out space on property you own, and not lease out your resident’s permit for on-street parking. You’ll also have to pay income tax, check your insurance and mortgage policies to see if they allow it, and — depending on where you live — acquire planning permission.
Alternatively, you could consider renting out your car through a third party, especially if yours isn’t getting a lot of use at the moment. If the worst should happen, you’re usually covered by the company’s insurance and not your own, so it’s very easy to set up and do. However, you still have to let your insurance company know what’s going on and the additional mileage may affect your premium. If you have the space then renting out a furnished spare room, loft, or annexe can be a great way to accrue additional income, either short or long term. Do your research so you know exactly what’s involved in being a landlord, and make sure you interview tenants first and ask them to sign a contract to avoid any complications.
Thanks to the government’s Rent a Room Scheme, you can rent out as much of your home as you like and earn up to £7,500 per year tax-free. You’ll have to let your mortgage and insurance lenders know that’s what you intend to do, but in most cases it won’t affect your policies much. If you currently live alone, taking in a lodger will affect the single person discount on your council tax so you’ll have to factor in the loss of this 25% reduction. But you can rent out long term and even run a bed and breakfast under this scheme.
Run a shop
Take advantage of unused space in your home by running an online shop. This can be as simple as searching in the sales to find discounted products, then selling them on through a digital
marketplace. Alternatively, if you’re good with your hands, you could use the extra room to set up a craft area in your home and sell what you make. As an online seller you can make up to £1000 taxfree on sites like eBay, Etsy, and Depop, but anything over that and you’ll need to register as self-employed with HRMC and pay the appropriate sales tax.
There are so many ways to make money online aside from selling, too. From blogging and influencing to matched betting, our free guides to online side hustles can help you find the right option for you.
The tips in this guide can help you find ways to make money off your home. Give them a try and you’re sure to generate some extra income.
Industry News Construction begins on MVRDV’s mixeduse tower in San Francisco
Construction has started on MVRDV’s 23-storey mixed-use building at Mission Rock in San Francisco. The project is one of four buildings in Phase 1 of a multiphase masterplan developed by the San Francisco Giants and Tishman Speyer. It is designed as part of a collaborative design process, with four architecture firms designing their plot in conversation with the other three offices. Alongside the MVRDV project, the masterplan also includes designs by the internationally renowned architecture firms Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, and WORKac.
The Mission Rock masterplan turns 28 acres (11 hectares) of asphalt including a windswept parking lot into an exciting new neighbourhood and community gathering point for San Francisco residents and visitors. Its ensemble of mixed-use buildings is tied together by public spaces that surround the buildings and continues through their ground floors, connecting them seamlessly to the projected China Basin Park. The project is part of a public-private partnership established by the San Francisco Giants, Tishman Speyer and the Port of San Francisco with the aim to develop a mixed-use waterfront neighbourhood near Oracle Park.
MVRDV’s design projects onto the block a topography inspired by Californian landscapes, forming an ensemble of low and high-rise sharing a publicly accessible canyon-like space that provides a more intimate space within in the open harbour-oriented masterplan.
The block, called Building A, occupies a prime location, adjoining the “handshake plaza” that will greet visitors entering Mission Rock via the 3rd Street Bridge. Its internal, canyon-like street is an essential part of a sequence of public spaces, extending the landscape from China Basin Park through the building itself and into the heart of the Mission Rock masterplan, connecting the different plots. •6•
DLA appointed to design new landmark for leeds’ international pool site
DLA Architecture has been appointed to design the much-anticipated new £270 million landmark development on the former International Swimming Pool site at Lisbon Street in Leeds city centre.
The 2.8-acre strategic site has been used as a car park since the pools’ demolition in 2009 and has since been under much speculation about its future potential as one of the city centres’ last remaining sites prime for development.
The news follows the recent announcement that joint venture partnership Marrico Asset Management and Helios Real Estate have been selected as preferred developer by Leeds City Council.
Plans for ‘Lisbon Square’, which sits in the heart of the city’s West End business district, include Grade A office accommodation, student apartments, residential apartments, an aparthotel and further retail and leisure provisions. The partnership expects to submit a planning application in spring 2021.
Leeds established DLA Architecture has a long-standing professional relationship with Marrico having already advised on its other major Leeds schemes including Central Square and the proposed new 300 bed hotel at Sovereign Square.
DLA was selected to advise on Lisbon Street because of its expert knowledge of Leeds architectural landscape and council aspirations to enhance the city’s public realm and connect this part of Leeds with other parts of the West End district.
Marrico’s Partner, Mark Barnes said: “We are excited by the Lisbon Square proposals, which would transform the former pool site and play a key role in bringing more investment and growth into the west end of the city centre.
“Since selection we have spent the intervening period working with DLA to refine our design to meet the changing needs of occupiers and maintain momentum despite current economic challenges. The result is a scheme which would be a major asset to the city. We face challenges in the current environment, but we are confident that our design will be compatible with market demands going forward.”
Jason Clarke, Director at DLA Architecture said, “We are delighted to be working with the whole team to design an inspiring new environment deserving of this critical site in Leeds city centre. Whilst it is important to realise the capital value of such a central location, it is also a pre-requisite that we balance this with strong public realm, creating strong linkages to neighbouring West End sites such as Park Square and Wellington Place.”
“Our design proposals will balance impressive and engaging buildings with new green spaces in line with the Council’s ‘Our Spaces Strategy’. It will embody the joint vision for a 24/7 destination supporting sustainable growth, offering a dynamic transition between the city centre’s financial core and neighbouring residential and riverside localities.”
DLA Architecture is an award-winning practice which employs over 75 architects, landscape architects, technologists and graphic designers. Established over 40 years ago the practice has offices in Leeds, Manchester and London.
Bristan OPAC TMV3 Commercial Showers
Easy fitting, maintenance, efficiency and infection control.
At Bristan we continually invest in new product development to ensure that our products excel in quality, safety and performance. That’s why we’ve recently improved our range of OPAC TMV3 Commercial Showers, designed with a host of new innovations to meet the needs of commercial sector environments. With a new patented built-in thermal flush mechanism, the OPAC range is designed for easy infection control and anti-legionella regimes. What’s more, a new front mounted one-piece cartridge makes for simple servicing and commissioning.
And with TMV3 technology, you can rest assured that the highest level of safety and protection is guaranteed. There’s a variety of options to choose from to suit your specification requirements — all of which quality tested in our UKAS accredited in-house testing centre.
Discover the full range at www.bristan.com/ specifiers-home/opaccommercial-showers
Industry News Planning approval for £50m landmark seaside regeneration project
The £50 million regeneration of Queen’s Parade, a 13 acre (5.26 hectares) waterfront site in Bangor, near Belfast, Northern Ireland, has been granted planning permission by Ards and North Down Council. The scheme, designed by TODD Architects for Bangor Marine Ltd, will see Bangor’s Marine Gardens returned to its heyday of Victorian seaside elegance whilst creating a vibrant mixed-use development of residential, hotel, office, retail and cultural and recreation floorspace in the heart of the town centre.
Nigel Murray, Associate at TODD Architects, says,
“We are delighted to see this project being taken forward; it represents a tremendous boost for the whole region and a massive vote of confidence in Ards and North Down and its future economy.”
“At a time when our already strained high streets and town centres are being fundamentally impacted by lockdown restrictions as a result of the pandemic, this project provides a template for future town centre renewal and recovery. Bringing new homes, office space and a hotel into the town centre will improve the town centre’s viability by creating a critical mass of people in one place that can sustain the town’s other uses more effectively, creating employment, attracting visitors and stimulating further investment for the town and the local area.”
The Queen’s Parade project, led by Developer Bangor Marine Ltd, is being developed in conjunction with the Department for Communities and Ards and North Down Council. The project will create a premier year-round waterfront destination for Bangor and for Northern Ireland and is seen as critical to the future of the town and maximising the economic growth potential of the wider borough of Ards and North Down. It forms part of a combined investment of £110 million in Bangor over the next 10 years that is set to generate new jobs, shops, offices, homes and tourist attractions.
A prime objective has been to re-stitch the town back together, with TODD Architects’ design for Queen’s Parade placing great emphasis on maintaining and creating connectivity by unlocking and activating underutilised brownfield areas and back lands, providing instead a series of vibrant, active public streets, plazas and private courtyards, which are in turn served and activated by the proposed new buildings. The proposed new areas of public realm are all interconnected, providing both individual focal points with distinct characters, and an overall lattice which knits together the somewhat disparate elements of Bangor’s existing town centre in an entirely more coherent and accessible manner.
The scheme seeks to reconnect people to both the town and the sea, with one of the key elements being the creation of an elevated Market Square looking over the Marina and to Belfast Lough beyond, offering the town a different relationship to the water and creating a distinctive character of space to the seafront Marine Gardens.
The waterfront will be re-activated by creating all year-round places and spaces to enjoy the water. A lively and inclusive public realm, elegant contemporary promenade and flexible outdoor event space are complemented by the residential and hotel elements which are key to providing 24/7 footfall.
Bangor Marine Limited is a joint venture partnership between NI property development company Karl Group and leading NI contractor Farrans, created specially to deliver the project. TODD Architects is the architect lead within a multidisciplinary team that includes TURLEY, Park Hood, Atkins, RPS, Dorans together with Wayne Hemingway as a brand and vision consultant.
These days, the word “sustainability” seems to crop up everywhere. Whether that’s in news reports, magazine articles, advertising campaigns or emblazoned on the side of lorries. But is it just another business buzzword, or are we genuinely making a shift in the way we think and act, in order to protect and preserve the world we live in for future generations?
W
hile “Green Issues” like recycling and sustainability were on the fringe 20 years ago, these days they’re right at the heart of business with sustainability having a huge influence on every aspect of industry, especially at Eurocell.
PVC-U is a highly sustainable product, robust enough to be recycled and repurposed up to 10 times without its quality or performance deteriorating, giving it a lifespan in the construction industry of 350 years.
At our recycling plants, we process up to 70,000 old PVC-U window frames per week, or around 39,000 tonnes per year. Once recycled, it is used to create a variety of new products, from thermal inserts to our revolutionary Modus window system. By doing this we are able to reuse almost 100% of our production waste.
2021 Targets
Despite 2020 resulting in a number of challenges - Eurocell Recycle still managed to recycle an impressive number of PVC-U frames. Like most businesses, Eurocell Recycle closed it’s doors for a few months in 2020 to keep it’s staff and customers safe, and put in Covid-secure work processes. This being said, for the last 5 consecutive years, (2020 excluded) Eurocell Recycle has managed to beat it’s previous years total recycling number and we plan to make 2021 the biggest year yet, with a target of a record-breaking 3.5 million frames recycled.
The recycling process makes PVC-U stronger
Products manufactured from recycled PVC-U are actually stronger than those made with virgin plastic because of the chemical transformation of the polymers it contains when it goes through the recycling process.
At our consolidated operations in Ilkeston and Selby, Eurocell Recycle now offers the largest and most complete closed-loop process in the UK for collecting and processing used PVC-U frames to be re-extruded and turned into new windows, doors and building products.
We support business that remove a large amount of frames per month, so if you want to sign up for this service and help us reach our recycling targets, please contact us on 0333 777 3042 to arrange a collection.
MAKE LIGHT WORK (IN ‘SOHO’)
A big impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic is that far more of us are now working from home. Ensure you maximise natural daylight in your home working environment – it’s good for your well-being says Crittall Windows…
The small office/home office (SOHO) trend has been growing for some time. With the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically impacting on how - and where - we work, it looks set to be an even bigger part of modern living. Increased home working for more people will be the norm as the majority of businesses consider it to likely be a permanent feature. A survey of almost 1,000 firms by the Institute of Directors (IoD) shows that 74% plan on maintaining the increase in home working. Over half planned to reduce their long-term use of workplaces.
While some companies are not likely to switch fully to home working, a smaller survey of bosses whose firms had already cut workplace use suggested 44% of them thought working from home was proving ‘more effective’. The BBC questionnaire found that 24 firms did not have any plans to return workers to the office. Other studies have revealed that nine in ten workers who worked from home during lockdown want to continue in some form and suggest most people working from home are as productive, if not more.
Using natural light to define a space is a key element within a home’s design - and should be a significant consideration for your home working environment; whether it’s a home office, study, converted playroom, your bedroom, at the kitchen table or in a garden annex.
In broad daylight
Daylight flooding into workplaces, schools - and homes - has a positive impact on our daily lives, and that’s not just a vague feeling, it’s scientifically proven. For example, the 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine went to three American scientists working on understanding circadian rhythms – the 24-hour cycle also known as the internal body clock. Daylight suppresses the hormone inducing sleep and the ultraviolet wavelengths in natural light have a positive effect on the body’s immune system.
Daylight induces wakefulness, cognitive function, productivity, general health and healing. No wonder in a 2018 survey 80% of UK office workers said daylight was important to them. That applies to the SOHO setting too.
Feelgood factor
“Evidence suggests it’s important to have a feelgood factor inside your home. Our positive well-being depends on frequent exposure to light, and daylight is the most powerful way, especially during these times of the pandemic, with more of us working from home and creating a home office or working zone,” says Russell Ager, managing director of steel window and door manufacturer Crittall Windows.
“Our homes play a big part in our sense of well-being and their design; lighting and exposure to natural light through windows and doors really do impact. Steel-framed windows are ideal with their inherent strength allowing large expanses of glass, elegantly slender frames and the slimmest of profiles.
“Passive daylight reduces reliance on artificial lighting which in turn reduces energy consumption while ensuring their occupants benefit from being inside. The window is the most obvious component for assisting this design outcome. “Its size, positioning, frame and glazing play a key role in the ‘collection’ and ‘distribution’ of natural light through the interior. It’s time to do away with daylight robbery!”
The hallmark of a Crittall window is the slender steel frame that is so much slimmer – and therefore admits so much more light – than alternative window systems which require far larger profiles due to the basic differences in the frame material and their relative strengths.
Adding bright, beautifully crafted walls of glazing and slim-profiled windows can reflect the timeless style of a period house, adeptly define spaces in a townhouse, minimalist urban loft, warehouse apartment or a selfbuild project. Glazing expanses within external walls give a greater sense of space and light to achieve a beneficial connection with the outdoors. When working at home a clear outdoor view of a landscape, garden, patio, trees or a park can be inspirational for that great creative idea – and good for our well-being.
For a new extension, combining outdoor space with an internal area under structural glazing, removing barriers so you have a level threshold, or creating a courtyard with stunning full-length glazing, are great ways to achieve impact and add value to your property.
Lighten up the inside
A plentiful supply of natural daylight in to and throughout a building, combined with good insulation, adequate ventilation and acoustic control all form part of an elaborate jigsaw.
On-trend steel interior screens and sliding doors offer open plan living with a different dimension - so you can partition areas to create contemporary ‘zones’ including your homeworking area, without impacting light or space.
Crittall’s slim profile windows and Innervision internal glazed steel screens with sliding or hinged doors are designed for modern living, providing a sense of space without compromising aesthetics. Innervision’s understated beauty with clean lines, subtle detailing and excellent technical properties can transform your property. Combining style with functionality, a distinguished-looking installation makes a wonderful talking point.
Slim profile steel windows and partitions give a retro-look with a contemporary twist; ideal for a home office extension with a dramatic steelframed glazed screen forming a lightfilled area off the kitchen, or a partition from bathroom to bedroom. Advanced glazing options mean bespoke steel framed screens maximise natural illumination without compromising your security. Cosy for comfort in the cooler weather, enhanced acoustic properties keep noise at bay.
Every iconic Crittall window, door and screen is tailored for each unique application, reinforced as authentic Crittall with the addition of a manufactured plaque which is factory-applied into the web of all opening windows and doors.
Crittall Windows offer a complete service from start to finish via their Crittall Specialist Partners (CSPs) - an appointed, dedicated and experienced network who offer a stress-free service from initial enquiry through to installation and after-sales. They give free, no obligation, quotes and a warranty covering windows, doors, glass and installation.
Crittall Community
Crittall has launched a Crittall Community for homeowners and renovators to display their installations and bespoke use of Crittall products. A new area on its website provides an open platform for members (customers with Crittall windows, doors or internal screens installed) to share ideas and inspire each other, showcasing their installations, and reinforcing their customer journey from start to finish of their project.
An annual award will be given for the ‘Crittall Home of the Year’, which will be promoted via social media. Full details are available at crittall-windows.co.uk.
More Crittall Windows info
www.crittall-windows.co.uk
t: 01376 530800 e: hq@crittall-windows.co.uk
