Heating

I’ve followed families make the dramatic life changing decision to move to the country with ambitious plans to renovate some run-down, wreck of a building in the middle of nowhere often doing most of the work themselves. Yes they are all slightly mad, but like you and me they are absolutely passionate about creating a beautiful home to their individual style and taste.

My architectural practice has renovated many houses for our clients in Britain and around the world but, like the Build A New Life adventurers, there is nothing more rewarding than designing and building a place for yourself. After completing our humble country home in Dorset my family and myself are currently renovating an Edwardian house we have bought in West London. I’ve completely gutted the building and took out every internal floor, wall and staircase to be able to get the best new design we wanted.

Space is the most important thing for us (I have 2 small boys and our third child is due in August!) so it was critical that we did two things very well. Firstly, use every single square inch of the building in the most efficient and well-planned way and secondly, provide as much storage as possible.

To do this my top tip is to get rid of all your radiators in your house and install an under floor heating system everywhere. Yes everywhere! Ok, I admit, it might not sound like the most glamorous top tip, but we have installed it everywhere in our new home and it will transform the way we live. Under floor heating began its life some years ago as an expensive luxury that would only be installed in only the best bathrooms but the systems have become so simple and affordable that it seems crazy to me that we don’t put it in every part of our homes

Valuable wall and floor space once taken up by bland looking radiators has now made space available for me to design storage against and place furniture. No space is wasted and we will have a constant temperature in the house directly under our feet where we need it. Wall-mounted radiators often only heat part of a room and ‘cold spots’ can be created. Also, you aren’t that restricted by what floor finishes you can put on top.

Floor tiles used to be the only option as the tiles could withstand the heat and avoid cracking, but with the development of good engineered timber floors (engineered floors are basically high-quality laminated floors with a thick hardwood laminate that doesn’t crack when exposed to heat) you can now have a warmer material and piece of mind that it won’t fall apart when the heating system is turned on. In our home we will have installed a fine grade oak engineered floor in the living, kitchen and dining areas, travertine stone in the bathrooms and carpet in some of the bedrooms.

We have also heavily insulated every area of the roof, walls and floors in the house. You don’t have to use expensive technologies such as wind turbines and solar panelled roofs to be energy efficient. An incredibly energy efficient boiler, energy efficient under floor heating and lots of high performance insulation will make our home one of the most eco-friendly Edwardian houses in London. It will be warm, cosy and with all of that additional storage and usable wall space I’ve no doubt that it will add to the value and appeal of the property. Under floor heating is the way forward and I’m afraid that this might be the beginning of the end for the domestic radiator!