P A L L A S V I L L A
The Pallas Villa project was situated within a sleepy Cheltenham Spa suburb and featured a Grade II Listed Regency Era building estimated to have been built around 1815. It is currently used as a university teaching building.
My main priority with this project was to return the building back to its residential roots whilst applying sustainable energy saving measures suitable for a listed building and respecting its heritage. Through this project I was influenced by practitioners such as Ben Penreath, Luke Edward-Hall and Campbelll-Rey whose work has influenced my designs.
Listed buildings hold a lot of importance to me having been lucky enough to grow up in them most of my life. I find that when I am around or in them, there is an overwhelming sense of both awe and perhaps intimidation at the scope, size and sheer beauty of them and all of their intricacies. They demand respect by just existing. I find it fascinating that the people who designed or built these buildings have since gone and whats left of them and their story is intertwined in a building we may walk past every single day. Their work and their legacy still stands and it demands careful and sensitive alterations.
Renovation and the notion of making something better than when I found it has also always been interesting to me. Analysing the way we live, and how we can improve these methods in terms of sustainability is another key passion or mine and I would love to investigate this further through my career - perhaps this could be my legacy.
T H E L O U N G E
With the nature of the lounge being a relaxation space and an evening hideaway for watching favorite TV programs and guilty pleasures, it was essential that this room evoked a sense of drama, warmth, cosiness and offered an escape from the outside world. A space you can go to be absolutely and unapologetically yourself and forget the day to day stresses of modern day life. Black paneling offered the drama and the warmth, elevated by the Harlequin Acropora cotton velvet to add rich texture and pattern. Pulling colours out of the fabric to furnish, brass finished antique pieces finished the room off whist mixing the new with the old in the setting of a historic building.
T H E K I T C H E N
Inspired by the works of Ben Penreath, the kitchen offers a space for occupants to cook, dine and socialise with bold, dramatic wallpaper complimented by the dark navy kitchen cabinets and marble worktops. A cohesive space is formed with a multi-functional family space. Plenty of counter space has been given to support a large family and promote a healthy lifestyle with home cooked meals. Large windows have been finished with floor to ceiling curtains which compliment the original shutters which are protected under the listing of the building.
This project was the result of 5 months of research into the sustainable renovation of listed buildings. I found that there is no one size fits all solution when it comes to listed buildings and their renovation, however, some key facts about the benefit of renovation proves that the use of such buildings has multiple impacts on the environment and society as a whole.
These facts come from the understanding that sustainability is more than just the impact on the planet. That it in fact has 3 interrelated pillars, the success of each determining the outcome and its sustainability. These pillars are social, economic, and environmental considerations.
Historic buildings can have major impacts on its surrounding society as they offer a physical link back to our heritage and it has been proven through studies that old buildings help people connect with their sense of identity improving their mental well-being. This can offer a financial benefit due to increased tourism and the increase average house prices. Evidence has found that the higher the amount of listed buildings, the higher the cost of living and average house price. These factors increase the chance for sustainable change with older buildings as there is a social and financial motive for them to continue to exist and improve.
These factors allow for funding and research to be issued in order to understand listed buildings and the impacts they have on the environment.
T H E D I N I N G R O O M
The dining room was designed to be a more formal eating area to eat with and entertain guests. Adjacent to the kitchen and facing north east with large windows, this room got a lot of natural light so could take a striking, bold pattern such as the Morris & Co Willow Boughs wallpaper. Sticking with a more traditional style in this room, colour choices were inspired by the notion of getting our your best blue and white china for a special occasion in the blue and white dining room with accompanying antiques. The pattern has been followed onto the table via fabric for a table runner and the colours have been picked up in the curtains, lampshade covers, skirting and cornicing, this time in a contrasting plain to allow the eyes a place to rest when taking in the room. Accompanying this room was also the original shutters which offered a layer of energy and heat retention against the single pane sash windows which I also planned to fit removable light adhesive insulative ribbon around all four edges to minimise draught.
Through my research, it didn’t take me long to understand that applying alterations to a listing building was easier said than done. In order to understand how sustainable alterations could be made however, I interviewed Dr Jon Furley, the Sustainability Operations Manager at the University of Gloucestershire and this is what he had to say:
When asked how to make an older building more sustainable, Dr Furley explained that it is possible to start by...
“Changing the heating system to an electricity-based heat pump system powered by renewable sources, change the electricity supplier to a renewable source like Bulb or Ovo energy, install draught preventing measures around windows and doors, apply for permission to install sensitive double glazing and be willing to compromise with planning/conservation officers, use breathable hemp insulation in roofs and floors where possible, place radiators in logical positions i.e. not right beneath a window, install underfloor heating too where possible, try to make use of any excess heat for example if you have a wood burner, install a back boiler which can heat water for heating from the heat of the fire, invest in quality doors and maintain their draught reducing features, invest in high quality, interlined and thermal lined curtains and blinds to retain heat and only heat rooms that are frequently used.”