Office Christmas Closure 2021

Our offices will be closed from midday day December 24th an opening again at 8:30am Tuesday 4th of January.

We would like to wish everyone a happy holidays and look forward to working with you all again in the new year.

Working From Home

Further to the Governments announcement on the implementation of their Plan B to help control the spread of the Omicron variant the office will only be accessible by appointment only. Please call the Office on 01603 787 778 before visiting.

Our staff have been in a position to work from home since the implementation of the first lockdown in 2019. A work schedule which we have now embraced as a practice only having two mandatory office days per week. We have implemented a telephone system which allows our staff to work from home seamlessly using there mobile phones as their office desk phones. This means despite our absence from the office we are still just as contactable as previously.

Copas De Arnold

This modern dwelling is nestled on a gentle sloping site surrounded by mature trees. The property is set of 4 half levels to hug the contours of the site and provide separation between the bedroom and living spaces. The property is open plan with large glazing units looking out over the balcony and garden. The balcony also provides shelter for an outdoor dining and cooking space below..The Carport has been sized specifically to accommodate the Clients requirement to store a motor home allowing this to be seamlessly incorporated into the building.

The property is constructed from Structural Insulated Panels (SIPPS) and achieves very high insulation and air tightness values. The property is in turn ventilated with a mechanical heat recovery ventilation (MHRV) which further increases heat efficiency.

https://www.dfal.co.uk/residential-design/copas-de-arnold

Changes to Part L and how it will effect you (New Build).

This month the interim Part L document will be published which is part of the Government's long term plan to reach zero carbon homes. The regulations will officially change in June 2022, the initial issue is to forewarn the construction industry and allow us to prepare for the change.

Significant changes are coming which will affect all new homes constructed after June 2022 meaning many forms of ‘traditional’ building will no longer be viable. Roughly there will be a 30% increase of all fabric standards in this change. 

The key change that will affect all homes is the adjustment to thermal bridging values within SAP calculations. Thermal bridges are the junctions between different building elements such as floor and wall or wall and roof. Previously Government issued accredited details could be used to cover these junctions which included a standard psi value (thermal bridging value) for each junction. As of June 2022 these details will be obsolete and a default value for these will be set at 0.2. This effectively renders these details as unusable.

To overcome this change there are two options, either each junction for the building is calculated individually which is a costly exercise or standard junction details are used from manufactures which have had their psi values calculated. The later option has the added difficulty that once specified the insulation can not be changed without recalculation of the SAP assessment. This presents a problem for many builder who have benefited from the ability to change insulations based on availability and price. 

It is important for builders big and small as well as Clients who employ them that the flexibility on specified products will be much reduced with this change.

Housing Development Horsford

After a call from the author Sophie Wyllie for an article to be included within the Norwich Evening News we were intrigued to see the opinions voiced within. In the article the Local councillor has voiced concerns that the house may be over developed but these are not reflected in his statutory consultation on the planning application (Broadland DC ref 20212069). His concerns in his consultation rest upon the surface water flood risk for the area. These are legitimate concerns which will be dealt with at a detailed planning application but as this application is outline planning application for access only we imagine this will be reserved by condition. 

The article also notes the highways authority has raised a concern of access which is true but they have not raised an objection. The highways officer has voiced a preference for the access to be moved to the southern corner of the site but this is not a requirement.

We work upon the ethos that we do not design things that we would not be happy living in or using ourselves. The site is for outline planning for 6 dwellings all with their own garaging and reasonable back gardens. These plots are generous and well spaced when compared to the ‘postage stamp’ plots which are often built by large scale developers. 

We will continue to monitor the planning application and look forward to the Planning Authorities thoughts on the application. 

Link to original article.

https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/housing/plans-for-six-homes-in-holt-road-horsford-8514620

Norfolk Design and Craftmanship Awards 2021 Commendation Award

DFAL are proud to receive a commendation award from the Norfolk Design and Craftsmanship awards for the Recreation Road project.

The project was constructed by ARC Homes whom engaged us to progress the technical detailing of the project. ARC homes have built a well finished and beautiful property that is truly exemplary in the area.