A holistic design takes into account a great many interrelated factors.
For example, the grade of insulation affects how powerful your heating system needs to be, but it is also affected by the orientation of your building. The orientation may be affected by your desire to have breakfast watching the sunrise. Everything affects everything else and so must be looked at as a whole.
Our approach is to start by looking at your lifestyle and how you will use the building. How will you use the rooms in different seasons, and at what times of day?
Then we begin to calculate the pattern of energy consumption. This has to be matched either by generating energy on site, or by using energy from the grid.
As we look at more variables they each affect this energy equation, and that helps us determine the final design.
Here is a list of some of the broad categories of variables that have to be considered:
- How many people live in your building?
- What are your activities / lifestyle?
- What is your budget?
- How keen are you on eco-living?
- What layouts and orientations are you thinking of?
- How will the local topography affect the design both aesthetically and in terms of shading by trees of mountains and views?
- What is the nature of the local micro climate in all seasons?
- How much energy needs to be generated on site and how? (e.g. location of PV or wind turbines)
- What restrictions may be imposed by the planning and other local authorities?
In our opinion all good architecture responds to people and to place, and fully expresses your lifestyle choice.
