all under one
roof
What memories do you have of your childhood homes? I grew up in Dorset with two sisters and most of the homes that we lived in were quite modern at the time: cross-wall houses built in the 1960s which aren’t very trendy these days. They had massive picture windows and tile-hanging on the outside. Load-bearing side walls with studwork internal walls allowed open-plan living on the ground floor, which I thought was great as a kid. My dad was a boat-builder and carpenter and our houses were always being changed and extended, which meant they were constantly in a state of flux. We lived in six different houses and three of those my dad built from scratch, so we all had a horrible stint of living in a caravan.
Paul Halford moon design & Build Paul Halford is the design director for Moon, a leading design and build company based in Bristol which specialises in refurbishment, extension and new build projects. Paul studied architecture at Oxford Brookes University and has worked in private practice for 18 years. His forte is re-inventing existing houses. He has an indepth knowledge of planning issues and Building Regulations, and is responsible for the company’s architectural studio, designing exciting and practical schemes in which to live and work.
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Moon office Transforming this building into a contemporary office space for Moon involved completely remodelling the old part of the building at the front and building a new extension on the rear.
What inspired you to become an architect? I grew up on building sites, looking at architects’ plans at the breakfast table, and from an early age I knew that building was what I wanted to do. When I was younger I was in awe of my father’s practical skills and was fairly useless at anything like that myself, although when I bought my own house I literally took it to bits and rebuilt it. I left school at 16 with a few O-levels but I was embarrassed about having no A-levels and returned to college. I enjoyed technical drawing, and when my work was exhibited at the end of the year I was offered several jobs. At the age of 17, I worked for a building surveyor, and was left alone in his office – which meant that I learnt by making an enormous number of errors. After that I worked in Bournemouth for a couple of different architectural practices, and at the age of 20 I was given my own job on site – a big nursing home in Poole, which was an exciting challenge.
Penthouse apartment This 1960s penthouse apartment was redesigned to take advantage of the panoramic views of the city and surrounding hills. Extending the property created a new living and dining room area with large sliding doors onto the terraces.
Profile
February 2013 SelfBuild&Design 45
Crisp & simple Designed and built by Moon, this uncompromisingly contemporary two-storey house is situated on a small infill plot and features simple materials and crisp detailing.
How did you end up working in Bristol? The recession kicked in and in the late 1980s I had a couple of years without work. I applied for the first job I saw advertised in Building Design magazine, which was for a technician in Bristol, and got the job. When I arrived in the city I had nowhere to live and managed to blag my way into a shared house on the day I arrived. It felt like a proper grown up city and I absolutely loved it. I worked for a multi-disciplinary practice which specialised in large commercial schemes, but after a year I left for the charity The Home Farm Trust, which involved working closely with adults with learning difficulties – improving the places that they lived and building new homes and extensions. I received the most unadulterated and blunt feedback from the clients, which I quite liked. I was always really interested in how buildings are put together, but it wasn’t until the age of 26 that I actually went to university to formally study – taking a degree which covered both architecture and town planning. After that I worked with a Bristol practice called Architecton for six years before leaving in 2006 to start my own one-man band practice.
How did Moon Design and Build come to be? 46 SelfBuild&Design February 2012
I’d won a commission for a new build house, and through that I met Nick Ross and Tony Newman, who tendered to build the house. We realised that we were all speaking the same language and began to work together. For me it was a dream come true – to design something and then be involved throughout the build process. We moved into our own new offices in 2007, and as the team expanded we needed new premises with enough space to house the design and project management teams. There are currently 14 of us in the office, with around 45 tradesmen on site working on between 10 and 12 jobs at any one time – the recession hasn’t affected us at all. Most of our work takes place within a one-mile radius of our office and we have scooters that we use to get around the city. I love meeting clients for the first time and learning what makes them tick. The other end of the spectrum is seeing a building come out of the ground and influencing the process.
What is the secret to Moon’s success? I dislike the term ‘one-stop shop’, but people appreciate that they have just one point of contact and don’t need to co-ordinate a designer and various tradesmen. They’re literally handed a set of keys and walk in to put the kettle on at the end of the project. Sometimes our clients have already experienced the more traditional architectural approach, which hasn’t worked for them. The tendered cost may have
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1930’s revamp The owners of this 1930s property enlisted the help of Moon to design and build an extension across the full width of the house, including a large kitchen/dining area with sliding doors opening out into the garden. The bespoke fitted furniture in the new study was integrated into the design from the beginning.
proved too high or the design work has taken far too long. We have a sort of tension within our company between the designers, who want to produce creative ideas, and the construction team, who want it to be as practical and cost effective as possible. This creates an interesting friction which is perhaps the secret to our success.
Can you sum up Moon’s approach? I’d like our projects to be seen as beautiful, practical and real value for money.
Describe your current home. I’m married with two children, and we’ve lived in the same Victorian end of terrace house in Bristol for the past 10 years, which is a standard-issue architect’s house. The layout on the ground floor has been rearranged and we’ve added an en suite upstairs. I’ve used the house for a number of experiments to try out things I would never risk on a client’s home. This included building a Formica and glass shower with no tray or tiles – just vinyl flooring and a trap at the lowest floor point. We’re currently in the process of buying a 1960s house which will be completely gutted and reinvented – with a big open-plan kitchen/dining/day space on the ground floor. I’ve been looking for years for a suitable 1960s house to
extend and remodel, inspired by my childhood homes, and this is probably the ugliest house in the street on a very sloping site. I really like the long, low style of these houses compared to the more upright feel of period buildings.
Have you noticed any recent trends? What’s interesting is that nearly every client asks for the same thing: an open-plan kitchen/dining/living space with folding/sliding doors onto the garden. Working with an existing house dictates the design to a great extent, and we’re good at tailoring the project to a realistic budget – which means not spending money on unnecessary detailing which ultimately doesn’t deliver anything to the job.
Do you have any tips for selfbuilders and renovators? Don’t design your house for how you live at the moment – try to think ahead and create flexible, multi-purpose spaces. Don’t bother designing a playroom which will only serve the family for a short time, because their needs will have changed almost before the building work is finished. Design for the future and be open to new ideas.
Moon Design & Build www.moondesignandbuild.co.uk February 2012 SelfBuild&Design 47