On Design

So here we are again at nearly the eve of this whole Christmas thing.... It has been another great year for self-build and individual design even with the recession, change of government policies, general world disaster and doom at every turn. Its great to see that self-builders are still so passionate about their desire to achieve buildings of distinction and ones that meet their own very personal requirements.

The standard of self-build has been raised again this year with simply amazing homes being built by people who have never done it before.... you cannot fail to be impressed with the quality of homes that have appeared in the magazine this year... well done to Jason, Michael and the rest of the H and R team who make it all possible.

In terms of design trends for next year...? Well, the family unit is now more important than ever with kids staying at home longer and people living longer generally. The trend of large open plan kitchen/dining/family rooms will continue to be popular. The majority of homes I have been designing lately all seem to have bedrooms, each with their own en-suite and I would suggest the days of the "family bathroom" are numbered... makes sense to me anyway. I would also predict the increased use of slimline glazing and frames for more contemporary projects as their availability is on the increase.

What else,...? Oak frame continues to increase in popularity and we are absolutely inundated with commissions with Oak wrights at the moment. I can see this trend maintaining its popularity for some time yet as I don’t see any other alternative that comes anywhere near close in terms of architectural honesty and quality of material and detailing etc.

I still have a healthy balance of traditional and contemporary projects on the books which is good to see. Self-builders are definitely the leaders in terms of vision when building and perhaps attempt things which are led more by aesthetics rather than just pure cost.

Conversions and extensions are also on the increase but now using 60's/70's houses rather than perhaps older Victorian properties... this I suppose is just natural evolvement of using the housing stock that is out there but I would see this an increasing trend and one that certainly gives me as a designer, another direction to take in terms of architecture.

Planning is a harder process more than ever now but if you put the hard work in at the front end, it is always worth it. Policies are becoming more stringent and sometimes conflicting and with the Localism Bill now being implemented, we shall have to wait and see how this affect the whole process.

I am also seeing an increase in clients wanting to fully understand the spaces within their homes so that we can exploit wow factors such as double height spaces, glazed floors, galleries, natural light and also the use of these spaces as being artistic, creative and pleasurable environments rather than just being a series of rooms. People are individuals and with the prospect of building your own home, you can really create something special and unique and its good to see that design is now being understood as a vital part of the whole process and in fact the blueprint for the project.

But in summary, I think a very positive year for the industry and self-builders and i for one am looking forward to things continuing in a similar fashion into 2011.

Happy Christmas to all of you and best wishes for the New Year.

Pete.