Fitz Architects have recently obtained planning approval for the conversion of the former Cleadon Infants School building within the Cleadon Village conservation area. The proposal is to restore and convert the existing building into 2 luxury dwellings with two new, detached, contemporary properties in the playing field, all accessed from a new site entrance on Sunderland Road.

The approval reinforces the practice’s reputation for gaining planning approvals for bespoke, site-specific developments within sensitive areas.

Through sensitive design and with the removal of recent extensions to the school building, the vision is to restore the building back to its former appearance. By demolishing the 20th century extensions to the school we will reinstate the Girls’ and Boys’ entrances to the building to become the main principle entrances for the 2 new dwellings.  After carrying out reviews of the previous planning approval a decision was made to reduce the amount residential units in the existing school building from 6 to 2 and thereby protect the internal arrangement and overall character of the building.  As a result of this the high vaulted ceilings are retained taking advantage of the tall windows that maximise natural daylight into the internal habitable spaces.  It is intended that the appearance of the school building will remain unchanged with the restoration of the hip roof to the north-west gable of the building and the reintroduction of the cupola in the centre of the roof.

The 2 new detached dwellings have been designed to integrate sensitively within the existing mature trees with emphasis on contemporary design that makes reference to surrounding buildings

Fitz Architects are proud winners of the Sunderland Echo Portfolio Awards ‘Green Business Award’ 2012.

The award was presented to Fitz Architects on 11^th October 2012 following the recently completed Sinclair Meadows Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 housing development in South Shields.  Over 700m2 of solar panels have been used to provide the whole energy needs for the development. The scheme has been recognised as ‘carbon negative’ as 20% more energy than required is provided and goes back into the national grid making it one of the most environmentally friendly housing scheme in the UK.

Fitz Architects are increasingly aware of their impact on the developments they are creating across the UK which was recognised by the Green Business Award sponsor O’Briens Waste Recycling Solutions.

Replacing the Durham Suite within the Stadium of Light, the new SAFC business lounge has undergone a dramatic transformation during the close season of 2012.

The new informal lounge has a contemporary finish with the club working in partnership with Fitz Architects.

Gary Hutchinson, commercial director for Sunderland AFC, said: “We are delighted with the transformation of the new business lounge and it’s already proving popular with our clients. There are only a few seasonal spaces left.”

“The new suite will not only be used for match days, but it’s also ideal for business meetings, presentations and seminars and our vision is that it will become the place to do business in Sunderland.“

“The business lounge is just one of the projects that the club has invested in during the close season, to improve the match-day experience and add value for our supporters.”

For more information please see SAFC.com

http://www.safc.com/news/club-news/2012/august/business-lounge

Sinclair Meadows in South Shields is the first ‘carbon negative’ housing community of its kind in the UK making a major contribution to national house building initiatives.  The design, as envisaged, is well in advance of current and near-future standards, and will serve as an excellent example to others of sustainable and low environmental impact development.

The scheme has been delivered by Four Housing Group and provides 21 affordable homes that are available for l affordable rent comprising 9no 3 bedroom houses and 12no 2 bedroom apartments.

This work would not have been possible without the initial vision and hard work of the various partners involved, including South Tyneside Council and Groundwork South Tyneside and Newcastle.

The concept for the project was to design and construct an exemplar, sustainable and affordable housing community that was ‘carbon negative’ in energy use. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions through the use of innovative design principles and renewable energy technologies.

The specification and construction methods will deliver a carbon negative scheme, which is currently 15 per cent beyond zero carbon in energy use and exceeds Level 6 of the Code of Sustainable Homes.

The design concept was to provide residents with healthy homes within a sustainable community lifestyle.  The intention was to create a development that will set the standard for local regeneration schemes but also inspire residents to revisit the true values of community life.

DESIGN PROCESS

Fitz Architects’ approach to the design by was in three distinctive and disciplined steps to provide the sustainable solution.

STEP 1 – SITE SPECIFIC DESIGN

The major concept was to orientate the buildings to face south meaning that the roofscape was primed for the integration of renewable technologies.

Equally important was the houses being ‘huddled’ together in a staggered layout, which minimised exposed north facing elevations creating party walls in thermal equilibrium with the neighbouring property.

The remaining elevations created opportunities for rooms with west, south and east aspects to ensure good daylight levels throughout the day.

These two key factors dictated the organisational structure of the site and the internal spatial relationships of the homes.

The positioning and size of both the window openings and solar shading allowed for passive heating (use the sun to heat the building) and passive cooling strategies (natural cross ventilation) via the open-plan layouts and the incorporation of useable sun-space buffers.

STEP 2 – FABRIC

The selection of the materials was dictated by a choice of renewable, carbon negative building elements.  Responsibly sourced timber frames, larch cladding, natural lime render, cedar roof shingles, recycled woodfibre insulation and triple glazed timber windows were among some of the materials selected.

Very high levels of air-tight construction were achieved as well as heavily insulated walls, roof, floors and windows and the elimination of cold bridging junctions to reduce heat loss.

NBT Timber frame DIFFUTHERM System is for any timber frame building externally finished with render. The system uses interlocking lightweight recycled wood fibre-boards over the outside of the timber frame in a continuous layer. Recycled wood fibre insulation is used between the timber frame studs.

Externally a mineral based thin render system is applied directly to the wood fibre.  Internally plasterboard, with a breathable paint, is used to finish the system on battens, fixed through OSB racking direct to the timber frame.  In places, the external render is replaced with battened timber cladding.

Using a 220mm timber frame packed with insulation very low u-values were achieved.

Floor                0.12 W/m2K

Walls                0.14 W/m2K

Roof                 0.13 W/m2K

Openings          0.7 W/m2K

The windows are triple glazed to add to the high levels of insulation and help to mitigate adjacent traffic noise.  The timber window frames are thermally broken with an insulating material.

Air tightness strategies and quality checks throughout construction ensured that the building had been sealed to prevent unwanted air movements, draughts, and heat loss.  The buildings have achieved an air-tightness level of 1.6m3/m2/hr@50pa compared to a standard Building Regulation requirement of 10m3/m2/hr@50pa.

Sound testing has also taken place on site and has given phenomenal results of between 9 and 17db higher than the Building Regulations require.

The health and well being of the residents was paramount, so the building envelopes were designed to be natural and breathable with low volatile organic compound (VOC) finishes. Breathable means that water vapour can diffuse through the material without any associated loss of heat.

STEP 3 – RENEWABLES

As energy demand for heating is extremely low, a central community heating system was installed. Utilising a zero-carbon community biomass boiler, the installation provides heating and hot water to each dwelling, via individual heat exchangers with integrated heat metering.

The development is solely powered through the 700sq.m of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to the south facing roofs.

The homes are also integrated with highly efficient ‘A’ rated appliances, low voltage artificial lighting and power and a heat recovery system.

A mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system (MVHR) is used in all dwellings to closely control ventilation, re-use heat from exhaust air to heat incoming air, and thus increase the energy efficiency of the homes.

MVHR means that the home enjoys constant fresh air without having to pay the energy cost for heating it up to a comfortable temperature. MVHR systems also reduce the carbon footprint of the home, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels required to heat up the property.

Intelligent ‘smart metering’ is also installed so that each resident can monitor and record all energy and water use within their home, enabling close control on energy consumption.

In addition to the above, a rainwater harvesting system provides non-potable water for use in toilet flushing, washing machines and in garden irrigation. The system is designed to reduce mains water use by up to 70per cent compared to an average UK detached house.

DESIGN FEATURES

The design responds to all major circulation routes around the site whilst creating sheltered open spaces within.  Entrances to the site are concentrated on existing pedestrian routes and the scheme integrates the surrounding residential development to the west into the new open space.

The scheme is an imaginative layout which maximising views, vistas and privacy distances. The striking built forms create a local landmark development. The quality of a residential neighbourhood strongly influences people’s quality of life.

Private external balconies and gardens are in excess of requirements and active frontages create natural surveillance without overlooking as well as defensible space for each residential unit.

An important design feature is the no parking scheme which reduces embodied energy and transportation to and from the site.  This puts the emphasis on promoting the use of public transport, shopping locally or internet shopping.  A future car sharing scheme is also a possibility.

In lieu of car parking, high quality landscaped spaces has been incorporated. This includes extensive green open spaces, children’s play areas, quiet spots and seating areas, communal refuse areas and cycle stores.  The site has been greatly improved in ecological value.

Provision has been made for large gardens to encourage vegetable growing and further promote sustainable living with reduced supermarket trips. The holistic nature of the scheme is reinforced with community waste recycling and composting on site.  In order to make sure everyone recycles it has to be made simple and convenient.

Internally, the adaptable internal spaces of the houses meet lifetime homes requirements and the generous floor plans allow easy upgrades for full disabled access, with 900mm clear doorways and opportunities to mount a domestic access lift in the lounge.