May 2106 Update & Fire Safety

May 2106 Update & Fire Safety

I'm currently looking at the Architect's initial sketch design and thinking about making a few changes. The great thing about lines on a page is they are much more easily shifted than when they become a detailed drawing or worse, about to be built!

When you look at a plan you might get that perfect feeling or like me you feel, great here but not so much here. This is where the Architect's experience will help shape the design in the direction you would like it to go. There's always concern of extra cost of course but this is a big investment. Do you add extra space for the sake of it, do you really need the extra room? What about moving the spaces around and would you prefer your bedroom upstairs or downstairs? Light and use of space takes a while to get right so I see this as a slow process that might take 2-3 months to get right. The tipping point is when you take a design so far but feel it's STILL not right, then you need to step back, rethink your brief and ask for a fresh approach and new design.

Take your time with this as making changes later costs. I could send the current sketch to pre-planning but I'd prefer to be certain this is the one I intend to build in case I scrap it and start over, no sense annoying the planners twice!

Talking to friends for advice and especially neighbours who may be impacted / overlooked / overshadowed needs time and patience. There's always the risk of a casual conversation triggering concerns but keep talking, Let people know where you're at and hopefully you can get good answers to meet their concerns.

On the subject of overshadowing there are some cool smartphone apps, one website I found really useful & easy was:
http://www.findmyshadow.com/
You start by grabbing a background pic from google maps - the satellite picture works best, then overlay the shapes on top of that - each building is made up of two parts with an A and B side - when set to different heights so can create the roof ridgeline. Then pick the date, press play and watch the sun create the shadows!

It doesn't accept measurements, just units. When you've created the shape of your new house (the sides of the building line up with where you expect them to be build) and it faces the right way - check the unit value and compare it to the actual measurements you've got in the design. to work out the height, you need to keep the same ratio, so some maths is required. This way you're keeping the same ratio and the roof size is proportional to the sides of the house. Give it a go and you'll see what I mean.

I suppose this is the fun phase, no pressure, just back and forth with the Architect until they are driven mad with "what about this or that" questions!! The trick is to get all of those out of the way and pin the design down. That's what I'm off to do next...!!

Best of luck with your own house design.

Fire Safety

With an Air Tight building you should keep one external door at least able to open outwards. The reason is in case of a fire - internal pressure will quickly build up in an airtight house and make pulling a door inwards much harder. This was experienced in an apartment fire in Germany in 2013. There is also a 7 times greater risk of flashover.

I'm going to check all the windows open outwards to facilitate egress and put smoke detectors in EVERY room in my house. I've found a water mist installer in Northern Ireland as there are none interested in residential work locally in Dublin!! It adds to the cost so I'll have to see if I can include it my budget but I don't think I can afford not to. It's compulsory to have a fire suppression system in all new builds in Wales currently.

In any case get expert advice and have an evacuation plan but be aware that fire safety in an Air Tight building requires a bit of thought as it can hit 600 degrees in 2 minutes. Have a read of these:

http://www.cjwalsh.ie/tag/serious-passivhaus-apartment-fire-in-koln-germany-on-the-night-of-5-february-2013/

http://sustainable-firengineering.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/NL_Modern-Residential-Buildings_Fire-Safety-and-Suppression_2015.pdf

Again, consult an expert on these matters and be informed. This is one area I'll be paying careful attention to.