with the famous architect Glenn Murcutt; he’s the master of building spaces in a wild context with minimal resources to make the most of its place. Ventilation and sunlight were his principles and I carried them into the architecture of our old home when we built it. Yet over the years, designing homes for others, I became aware that my own home was deficient in its passive environmental performance. As I get older, the practical elements of making a building perform become incredibly important - I want to be thermally comfortable at home and to control the temperature of my environment as each season changes, while still being connected to the natural environment outside. Of course for others, COVID-19 changed the concept of ‘home’ too. 12 years ago I left my architectural practise in London for a more flexible way of working, be that at home, or away, but never in an office. Post-COVID, many people have realised that they want to be at home more, they can work from anywhere and very few people are going back to their offices - we’re no longer beholden to them and life in the wilderness is calling. Additionally, not commuting is one of the very best things we can do for the planet. How does a good home benefit individuals, families and society more generally? We’re deeply affected by the spaces that we occupy in many ways and we’re conditioned by the buildings that we grow up in. Your home is a way of reflecting your identity back at yourself and allowing you to cast your personality in a true and obvious way. Our homes connect us to our community, to the seasons and we carry our sense of home with us as we go - it’s grounding and it’s primeval. There’s no escaping the places that we dwell and none of us live isolated existences in hermetically sealed pods. We live in places that subtly connect us to other people - to the community and wider society - the shared endeavour of dwelling in a particular place is deeply important. Sharing rhythms and space with each other is too. I’m not a huge fan of the house that has massive barriers around it - fences or gates, for example - that stop you connecting with the people that live there. It’s not healthy, we should be sharing the natural environment around our homes instead of trapping each other in. Buildings also have an obligation to be part of a place and their design is key to this, whether you’re on a new build estate in the UK or in a small rural village in the French Alps. Do you believe that a good home is achievable for all, regardless of budget? I absolutely do. Look at the council houses of the ‘50s and 60’s - they had the best spaces and daylight standards we’ve ever known. A modest cottage can be the most fantastic place to live, but I’d argue that you need big windows, access to nature and not much more. We built a house for my daughter for just £45,000. OK, it’s quite small but it has an amazing sense of space and she loves living there. In terms of sustainability, should we renovate and retro-fit an old home, or build a new one? Generally, I think it’s better to renovate and retro-fit this is the most sustainable way to make a home. Our old buildings have already paid their carbon debt, reusing the materials embodied within them, where possible, 108
home - piers taylor
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