project inspiration

Undertaking a high-quality home renovation requires imagination. Lucy Keech shares some inspiring projects where creativity is at the forefront of design

Barn renovation

One of the major components of Church Hill Barn’s renovation was its roof refurbishment, with the insulation located on the exterior above a timber deck, allowing the timbers to be viewed internally while conforming to modern thermal standards. Roofing slates and materials were salvaged from other decaying agricultural structures on the site, while the external walls were insulated with sheep’s wool and clad with larch timber. Oversized glazed sliding doors fill the hipped gable porches of the barn, and a pair of rooflights bring natural brightness deep into the interior of the 8m-tall central open-plan spaces. (www.davidnossiter.com)

DAVID BARBOUR

EXPERT VIEW ENERGY SAVING TIPS FOR RENOVATORS

RICHARD JOHN ANDREWS, director of Richard John Andrews Architectural Design Studio, advises on ways to ensure a renovation project is as energy efficient as possible

How can homeowners best insulate their renovation projects?

I would always look to insulate from the inside first, depending on the scale of the project and how invasive the planned works are. You might want to consider stripping the internal finishes back to the original brickwork to check for defects before investing money on top of a poorly ageing shell. You can do this whilst retaining original details, but bear in mind it is time consuming and costly. We would always recommend an insulation and finish that works well with the external finish of the original building. For example, in homes with London stock brickwork, cork insulation board with a lime based internal plaster finish would allow it to breathe, avoiding the common causes of damp or mould spots. Alongside this, we would consider the insulation on the ground floor, first floor and finally, the loft spaces.