50% Excitement 50% Fear

Excuse the cycling analogy, but just like riding a bike at the velodrome, setting up a new office is a mixture of 50% Excitement & 50% Fear! The excitement being - designing logos, commissioning websites, the thrill of the new business cards fresh from the printers, the dream of future projects.....The fear being - income tax, national insurance, finding clients, getting paid!

With this in mind I thought the best place to start would be the RIBA otherwise known as the Royal Institute of British Architects. Now, for another sporting anology substitute RIBA with FA, the Football Association & you'll get the picture. (For those of a cycling persuasion think Pat McQuaid at the UCI & then you really will begin to understand where I'm coming from!)

Trawling through their bookshop I found what I thought would be the perfect read - 'RIBA Good Practice Guide: Starting a Practice'. So far so good, but open the first page & what is the first sentence that greets you?

'Why are you reading this guide? Thank you for buying a copy, but you shouldn't even be thinking about starting your own practice.'

Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up!!!

You may have (or probably not) noticed the change in blog name. Le Modulor - A not so subtle architectural indulgance paying homage to the great Le Corbusier's Modulor Man. As much a hero for his tragic Nietzschean view of the human condition as for his architecture. One thing is for sure, he wouldn't have paid any attention to page 1 of 'Starting a Practice'.

So enough rambling, there's no turning back now.

http://www.damianfieldarchitects.co.uk



Dreaming of Grand Designs?

With the housing market stagnant, it is still possible to achieve your 'Grand Designs' dream by re-modelling & extending. Here's our latest offering.........Dunstan Wood

                                         The view from the remodelled kitchen & family space

This Edwardian country house is set in large landscaped gardens on the margins of Burton Village on the Wirral to the East of the Dee Estuary.

Previous alterations & extensions had left a clutter of additions which failed both to visually integrate with the design of the building or to break out of the straight jacket of the original small concrete built service rooms & stairs which constrained the entry & family accommodation.


The extended kitchen space



The clutter was swept away & our design incorporated major structural alterations & opening up of the previously cramped entry areas, providing a bold new reception hall & stairway & re-modelling & extending to create a large family kitchen space, snug, lounge & master bedroom above. The kitchen family suite has an impressive panoramic outlook & terrace; integrating the living space with the garden beyond.



Rear elevation to gardens





The clients have been closely involved in specifying the highest standards of fittings & finishes & together with substantial refurbishments of many aspects, from roof to services; the scheme now results in a very impressive home.

To realise your 'Grand Designs' contact FSP Architects on 0151 709 4350 for our Liverpool office & on 02077 236090 for the London office. For wider examples of FSP's work, see our website http://www.fsp.uk.com . Many thanks to Nic Cushion for the photographs.

The master bedroom ensuite

 



Mealors Mews Nears Completion

The village of Ness on the Wirral has a conservation area with a number of former rural and agricultural buildings built of the local sandstone, brick and Welsh slate.

This site had previously been a smithy, agricultural implement workshops and mower showrooms of marginal architectural interest but containing elements of building fabric contributing to the character of the village.

FSP architects acted for the long term site owner in obtaining consent and subsequently has worked with the builder/developer to implement the scheme.  FSP, the LPA and developer sought to create a courtyard group of radically refurbished and new buildings, retaining and recycling many of the old materials, together with sympathetic new ones, in this small residential scheme.

There are three cottages created within the original road side range and four new linked houses at the rear of the courtyard.  The intricate form and roofscape and mixed materials provide warmth and interest in the resultant building group.

For sales & more information visit http://constablesestateagents.co.uk/