Renovating and restoring Listed Buildings

Renovating any building has its challenges, but listed building throw up all sorts of additional considerations and potential problems. When we worked on a Victorian Grade II listed Town House in East Yorkshire, just about every possible problem came up. Part of the difficulty was the previous conversion from he 1970's much of which had been done without the right planning permission. The house was built as a commercial premises and one of the difficulties was knowing what the original business looked liked. We took on planning, design and research all of which are essential for completion of any successful build.


What we did
Working with the client to sort out planning permission set us on the first stage when we removed stud walls, suspended ceilings and a staircase which revealed extensive damage to some original features. Using our in house expertise and where necessary bringing in trusted craftsmen brought the Town House back to life. Working with the local planning department ensured the conversion was legal, restored an important building and provided a comfortable home. A state of the art underfloor heating system ensures the house is warm and dry without any cold spots. This also helps to preserve the building.

Managing a Holiday Cottage Business

When we converted a listed barn in North Yorkshire, the plan always was for two of the three cottages we designed to be holiday cottages. This plan was a bit of a gamble for all sorts of reasons. Finance with big building projects and with listed buildings is always something of a challenge. This project was no diferent!

The problem we had was convincing the banks of our vision and how this would improve the chances of filling the holiday cottages  for as many weeks of the year as we could. What was so radical about our plan? We were convinced that people on holiday want quality accommodation. The banks and business advisors were convinced that we were designing the holiday cottages to too high a standard. Not only that but we had decided to make the cottages bike friendly so we included a bike cleaning area and a lock up for bikes. This was based on our knowledge and research that showed us many people cycled the tracks and lanes around this area as well making good use of nearby Dalby forest. This part of the plan was seen as a bit eccentric.

So a year on how are we doing? The cottages are well booked and one of main successes was to obtain a five star rating from the English country cottages, based on the high standard and comfort of the accommodation. Because there are not too many 5 star cottages in this area we come up on searches for accommodation on their web site.  We have also attracted business customers out of season, mainly because the accommodation feels like a home and not a holiday cottage. Even better we are now starting to attract attention from cyclists!

Commuters' surplus body heat used to warm office building

Did you know the energy people expend dancing can be used to power cellphones and even nightclubs? Swedish Jernhusen, a real estate company has devised a way to use the excess body heat of the more than 200,000 commuters passing through Sweden's Stockholm cenral station. 

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2012 and Jerhusen are aiming to obrtain Green Building certification. So how does it works? Very simply the station's ventilation system includes heat exchangers that convert all that excess warmth into hot water. That water is then pumped to the nearby building, where it reportedly reduces energy costs by as much as 25 percent. Website: www.jernhusen.se . you will have to use Use Google translate the site from Swedish

Energy Efficiency Homes

At Kent Building Developments we are committed to producing energy efficient buildings and 'green homes'. We use the best products and energy efficient measures in all our projects. This includes private homes and commercial buildings.

We do this is not just from an environmental point of view but also to help reduce the fuel bills of our customers! The way we do this is to use efficient heating systems and high levels of insulation. Where possible we also use solar power to produce domestic hot water and reduce glazing on north facing walls.

In 2009 we completed the first eco house in York and one of only a few in the UK. This house shows perfectly what we can do. What our customers don't initially realise is that the energy efficient methods we use mean the  homes we build provide filtered air systems which are excellent for allergy sufferers.

Here's what the owner of York's first eco home had to say.

"The house is incredibly well-insulated, meaning it requires only 3kW of heating. That's equivalent to three bars of an electric fire to heat the entire house, in temperatures down to minus five degrees Celsius and the clever bit is that the air from inside warms up the fresh air coming in, so 80 per cent of the heat is retained. The constantly filtered air means the system is also excellent for allergy suffers." TD home owner.
The Energy Efficient Eco house York 2009 
http://www.kent-build-eco.co.uk