Whatever the original structure, a conversion means major building work.

Take the opportunity to build in major renewable technologies – PV, solar hot water, rain-water harvesting head my list. Invest now for sustainability and low bills.

Utilise as much of the original structure as you can and make the most of it.

Keep internal beams, exposed stonework (on fully internal walls only, building regulations prohibit exposed stonework on the interior of external walls), reuse original flooring…

I was invited to a talk by Christopher Day in Cardiff so thought I’d take a look at his work to see just what he was about. Can’t say I established that fully, but I did find an very interesting article by Christopher that feeds into the research I’ve been undertaking recently into my sons bedroom. The article, Environment for Children by Christopher Day gives some useful guidence in designing an environment for small children.

I recommend that you read the article for yourself, but my summary follows:

“Childhood is, essentially, the journey of growing up [...] Small children need
protection from the wider world, whereas adults are only fully alive when engaged in it.”

Small children need:

• As “small children live in a world between fantasy and fact” they need somewhere to retreat to, somewhere not too well lit, somewhere that provides a daydream inducing twilight.
• A secret place, a calm, safe, protective place. We all remember our dens behinds settees or under cushions – a place to hide, play or simply retreat to.
• Angles, edges and regularity are for the adult world, small children need spherical, soft edged, womb like places.
• “Infants don’t think. They experience – with their whole bodies and through all their senses.”
• Touch-friendly, tactile materials in their surroundings. Natural materials such as wood, clay and stone have a tactile vibrancy and ‘life’ not found in ‘unwelcoming’ man-made materials such as concrete or plastic.

“Even in unpromising surroundings, we can create environments for children.”

These needs are best provided for in out-of-the-way places in cellars, attics or under utilised parts of the home. Children want secret territories, adult unfriendly environments.

“The reassuring substantiveness and visual softness of curvilinear cob walls, for instance, suit infants, whereas exposed timber posts’, beams’ and struts’ visually explicit logic suit teenagers’ intellectual curiosity.”

As the building progresses so some of the clean lines that I’m so fond of start to emerge. Below are some of my current favourite examples, more can be seen in my Picasa web album – (following a couple of technical hitches flickr seems to have abandoned me for the time being…)

They are to be found in many places and take many forms…

Of course, not all clean lines are new and ‘shiny’ they can also be old and organic.
	From Clean Lines

It’s not all old either. This picture shows the high-tech face of clean lines – solar panels and modern ‘heritage’ velux windows set against original welsh slate roof.
	From Clean Lines

This picture is a favourite of mine, with its sharp technical (clean) lines tempered by the decorative (but functional) oak beam. I’ve always been proud of the fact that the beams are both decorative and structural (they bear much of the weight of the first floor).
	From Clean Lines

Visit my Clean Lines photo album on Picasa>>
	Clean Lines

What we now consider as high quality, high cost choices for building with, traditional materials such as limestone, sandstone, slate, hard woods, steel, dressed stone and hand-made bricks; were once standard. These materials are what contribute to those elusive but seductive and often valuable features of buildings often referred to as period charm or character.

Any building built before World War Two (and many built after) is likely to contain such materials. These will be from the days before mass transportation and the desire to move dense heavy materials over vast distances to be used at locations where similar materials exist, but cost a little more to extract, process or prepare.

Whilst current building practices necessitate the need for modern materials in a renovation project, it is important to respect an aged structure and the materials from which it was originally constructed. Use modern where necessary, use traditional were possible but only where fusing the two can be done in a harmonious and sympathetic manner.

The glass-half-full approach to this is to take the opportunity to work with materials that just don’t fit into modern buildings – 4 inch thick flags or oak window frames are a waste of time, a waste of money and a poor design decision when placed in a 1980′s house – in a renovation of an old building, in context, they can shine…

I’m sorry, but uPVC and dressed stone just don’t work in harmony for me!