Ferdinand

I would also phone the author of the school's report. He would be the second person to know after the school when it was found. Ferdinand

This is the first in a series of postings I will be making whilst on holiday in Sydney and Melbourne, mainly about architectural details which may be of interest to Buildub readers. My favourite way to meet a new city is to do what I call a random walk, followed by a random journey back to my starting point on public transport. I will be posting photos and descriptions of anything I find of interest, whether internal or external. Cycle Locking Point This first is ... If I am right ... a place to lock your bicycle. Zebra Crossings are as clear as in the UK. Cars stop, pedestrians keep going. But the Sydney version of a Belisha Beacon is joyous in its bluntness. You can also see that the Fun Police have reached Australia. I will have a bit more to say about the Sydney police force, and priorities of pedestrians and motor vehicles later. Textured Paving. In the UK we have moulded concrete pavers with grids of bumps to place next to, for example, pedestrian crossings, such that visually impaired people can tell by touch where to cross the road with the help of signals, or where they are approaching the edge of a kerb. This is the strangest item of street furniture I have met here. The Sydney version is grids of metal studs, which could almost have been designed as a slip risk in humidity or rain, especially for visually impaired or blind people in places there are even signs warning that the studs are a slip hazard. Quite how these are supposed to keep blind people safe is an explanation I would love to hear. Or perhaps I have misunderstood? Comments are, as ever, welcome below.

If you were not informed about a development affecting you, then there looks to be some shortcoming in the process somewhere, which may be challengeable. Or you may be able to claim compensation for costs which they are imposing on you. THis is very unusual and I believe there to be a general principle about claims not being possible in response to a grant of planning permission, but this is in response to an action required by PP and NAtural England. That PP date in 2011 looks to be dodgily old. ANd a compensation pond itself should require PP, supreme? Do they have it? Or create facts on the ground with a newt barrier and a rapid start to development. AN appropriate notice of intention to object, or perhaps a Letter Before Action, may stop them in a red tape trap while you create facts on the ground. This could potentially knock a large 5 figure sum off the value of your plot, a little like knotweed next door, so it needs careful thought. I would go for a newt barrier as part of the landscaping on the boundary. Ferdinand

Yes ... Familiar with that. PP required if the paving is not permeable. Peter Piper Premeditatively Picked a Protruding Private Portico Particularly Presenting Peculiar Permeable Paving Purposely to Preclude Planning Permission. Innit. Ferdinand

SOrry. That is vispa.net. Typo.

Talk to vispa.net. They do wireless broadband in Cheshire. They may help or know someone who could. http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/04/vispa-extend-60mbps-wireless-broadband-homes-cheshire-uk.html Ferdinand

Does anyone have a good knowledge as to what can be done without involving Planning Permission on an existing plot/garden, or a Landscaping Plan document for a new project etc? That would be useful information to know. I am aware that if I choose to develop a deck in my garden above I think 30cm then the Local Authority will want Planning involved if they notice or someone says something. But I think there is considerable scope to just do things provided neighbours are onside or if out of sight of roads etc, and in the past I am of people who just done and got away with considerably more than 30cm of height, and I have personally done rather more than that in adjusting ground profiles etc where I have been keeping materials on site rather than removing them. That can then get involved with the definitions of whether material being removed is 'waste' for disposal or 'material' for use elsewhere, which can get complex in regulatory terms. Does anyone have more knowledge? Ferdinand

We used to have one of those, simply laid in a well where we did not lay tiles near the door. But it was always problematic finding mats big enough and keeping the dust off the rest of the floor etc. At the new place we have several of those £5 rubber mats from ALDI cut to the right size, and outside, covering the whole floor of the traditional open porch. FItted together they do not move. FAr less complicated. Ferdinand

If you really want an alternative then one company doing Microwave are w3z.co.uk from my area, which is faster and less limited from satellite. But the long term costs are likely to be more than the one off and you are into rural solutions of a vintage before ADSL was available in even slightly remote areas. Ferdinand

As it happens I have just moved to a hotel at the corner of Wentworth Ave and Liverpool Street, and I was down on Crown Street today to register with Medicare, as one of Etihad's Brazil Nuts removed a filling from my front tooth. I have done my usual thing in a new city and started with random architectural walks (loving the clapboard houses with corrugated roofs - reminds me of the feel of London mews in semi-industrial areas such as Fitzrovia), And loving the sushi on the underground as a grab and run hand snack. But I baulked at the sea anenomes complete with tentacles to be eaten raw and alive from the Fish Market. Will start a thread in the off topic area as there are plenty of relevant ideas for the forum. Ferdinand

This is just for internet or phone as well? Suspect you are going to have to evaluate your alternative bullets then bite the least nasty, as high speed internet is going to be a basic requirement for a modern house. Any obvious alternative method (eg WiFi repeater outside your plot with a dish, or a microwave link) is going to be painful to maintain over the years. The only glimmer of hope I can see is if there is going to be some "right to internet" which may put the onus on Openreach or some govt funding package. That might argue for "wait and see". Or can you piggyback on next door? Ferdinand

Returning everso briefly to wrap this thread up. (*) After having a *very* fruitful conversation with the design chappie, during which he spotted a couple of things I had missed and vice-versa, my kitchen is rather too different from the basic package to fit, as: - I need a couple of extra cupboards. - A cooker hood (and hence the special cupboard) will not fit in my space. - I have gone for more durable taps and 38mm not 28mm worktops. - I have added end-of-run boards to make it look plusher. I have ended up with a quote for about 750 ukp plus VAT, which is fine. On top of that there will be perhaps 4-5 days labour from my fitter to include clear out, damp proof course, and adding a through the wall fan, and retiling splashbacks and worktop backs etc. The whole should be around 2k-2.5k or a little more as a project cost. I am told that Howdens are doing offers in October different from the LL offer I pointed out. Ferdinand (*) writing from the Potts Point Holiday Inn in Sydney before I go out on a wine tasting tour for the next day or two :-).

Perhaps you could remind them what happened to George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon .

If you are in London go to a show. Pamper yourself. I spent £40 on going to The Curious Incident (of the Dog in the Nighttime), and it was superbly innovative in the choreography. All set out in a big box made of graph paper. Far better than the one I went to 6 months ago - Kinky Boots, which to my eye was full of London Luvvie prejudices about factory workers. The £20 I saved by going to the Leicester Square Booth was spent on champagne and a pizza. Just for me. Ferdinand

Actually, Vijay, at this time of year plan to spend the weekend of 17-18 September visiting inspiring or interesting buildings via the London Open House weekend: Welcome to Open House London 17 & 18 September 2016 Open House London is the capital's largest annual festival of architecture and design. About Open House Open House was started in 1992 as a small, not-for-profit organisation to promote public awareness and appreciation of the capital's building design and architecture. The intention was to open up London's splendid buildings to the general public who don't otherwise have access. We saw this as a way of helping the wider community to become more knowledgeable, engage in dialogue and make informed judgements on architecture. Buildings surround us in a city but the one thing we do not learn about in schools is the fabric of a place, such as the structure, framework or composition. The urban fabric of our community has such a strong impact on us on an everyday basis. Core to our beliefs and values is having direct experience. You can't make an informed decision merely through abstract images, such as photos and illustrations. You need to be engaged with the space in question to know what the reality is. Perceptions of the city have changed over the past 20 years. Public space, including landscape architecture, are now recognised as essential parts of a city. Open-City has taken the original initiative one step further by including public spaces and infrastructure. While the public may already have access to these areas, the point of Open-City is to draw attention to the value that public space offers to the community, broadening dialogue further. Our main role is advocacy. We aim to help change perceptions, break down barriers and inspire people to demand high-quality places for current and future generations. Our pioneering programmes and initiatives are designed to meet the needs of decision-makers, young people and the wider community. And it is the success of our approach as an advocacy body that has positioned us as a progressive and influential authority among these groups. That sounds pretentious, but there a *lot* ordinary homes open too. Plan to visit 5 or 6, and just soak in the atmosphere and the detail. Many are inspirational eg 2 Willow Road. They or may not have a White Fluffy Cat. Visiting that one - Erno Goldfinger's House - and a couple that he designed (if any are included) would be a good way to start. I see that the Lawn Road flats and Highpoint One are included so that could be a nice afternoon on a Boris bike. http://www.openhouselondon.org.uk/about/index.html One of my most enjoyable weekends *ever* was partly spent under this project visiting 3 or 4 types of interesting Council House built by Camden from 1965 to about 1985. In the meantime enjoy this blog about Modernist Estates by Stefi Orazi (ignore the one off flashing gif): http://www.modernistestates.com/ Ferdinand

Get away for a bit. Currently there are various ticket sales around eg Virgin to Hong Kong (Economy) for £450. http://www.headforpoints.com/2016/09/04/important-dates-for-your-diary-offers-about-to-close-which-you-shouldnt-miss-15/ Ferdinand

I have buffer built in. Istanbul in the next day. Sydney on Tue.

I went to a showroom in Stockport when I was looking at cars recently. Prices went from a couple of thousand to about 15k. More realistically - is it practical substantially to heat these by changing part of the water for hot water from heat stored in eg a Sunamp, or using a gas boiler - which will be about 20% of the cost of electric, rather than treating it as an expensive kettle. Running some numbers. According to this calculator, to heat 2000 litres of water by 15C takes 35.2 kWh. A 4 cell Sunamp PV stores 10 kWh. A Sunamp stack can store up to 100kWh, though it presumably needs a stonking solar array to warm it up. But this looks like a good use for summer solar energy :-). According to the brochure Sunamp output *power* for a 5kWh two-sell Sunamp PV is 35kW, which suggests that it can go from full to empty in 5/35*60 minutes. Or if we have enough heat batteries (ie seven) that there will be no issue with delivering enough heat to the hottub in 1 hour - provided we can supply enough water to carry the heat. ie the Sunamp power output is not a pinch point in the system. If the water Sunamp is delivered at 50C, to match domestic hot water temperature, I make that half the water will have to be changed in the hot tub to raise the temperature from 20C to 35C. Or 1 cubic metre of hot water would be required in Terry's example, which is 1000 litres. At 12l / minute volume for a normal hot tap that is 90 minutes anadi (as near as damn it). Which looks to me to be a within-spitting-distance-of-being-practical way substantially to cut the cost of heating a hot tub with no loss of useability. And it would be easy to reheat when people are in it. And there would be some benefit from diluting ST's flaky bits by half each time. There would be a small extra cost of 50p to £2.00 for the water, and it would be made easier by having a generous throughput capacity in the water system. Or an approptairelt sized pressure maintaining vessel. My solar system has generated around 3500kwh since January, so that is a lot of nearly free refills, once I have swallowed the cost of the tub and the Sunamps. In the absence of a Sunamp, my own domestic boiler, albeit a stonking Worcester Bosch Greenstar 42 CDi which is the top of their combi range, can deliver 17.2 l/minute at a temperature increase of 35C, which has approx 15% spare capacity over the 30C here to spend on heat losses. Where am I wrong? I would argue for an effective water recovery system for anyone who does this, unless you want to give greenies heart attacks. And where can I get an insulated hosepipe? And I suppose that this might be *one* place where heat recovery is more justifiable. And who has done this? Presumably that chappie in Wales on Grand Designs with the Japanese wooden bath on his roof had something not dissimiiar in concept. Ferdinand

Wrong approach to reduce costs imo. That looks like a mean version of the whole scheme, which knocks out the possibility of building a generous version of anything later. Comparing to clothes, it is like having some money for Christmas, and some for your birthday later, and spending the Christmas money on a mid-range shirt and trousers, rather than buy a nice shirt now, and nice trousers later, and make do with your existing trousers in the interim. Which way you go depends on your ultimate and shorter term needs. For phasing, you want a generous version of the first half now, so that you can still reach your ultimate goal later - and to have your phases identified first. And you need to decide your objectives for living in it before putting pen to paper. The process is: 1 - What do we need for our family life? 2 - What spaces do we need to allow that family life? 3 - What would that look like as a building? 4 - Can we afford it? 5 - if not, what must we have when as steps along the way? 6 - If the phases match, then continue, else go to 3 (or 2 or 1) and adjust. 7 - Build it. You need a list for 1 or 2 first :-) Will have a little go with graph paper this evening perhaps. Ferdinand

Corner loo. Whb between loo and shower. Inward opening door.

As it stands, that looks to me like a 23-30k plus VAT extension, depending on where it is and excluding groundworks etc, minus what you do yourself. Useful whatprice calculators here: http://www.whatprice.co.uk/prices/ I could say detailed things like get the cloakroom door into the hall not not the kitchen, but I think you need to go back to your concept stage and decide what you actually need from your extension. This gives you a dining area separate from the galley kitchen and a garage, to add to one reception room and three nice bedrooms. That sounds like the obvious thing to have done 30 years ago. I'd suggest that for a family with teens now you actually want something more like: 1 - Social multiuse kitchen. Simply you could take out part of the wall and make the existing run of cupboards a peninsula. 2 - At least one extra reception room, or space, to be somewhere for your teens to be away and out of sight from parents, ideally where they can also leave things out. Do you want making-out or game-playing teenagers draped over your lounge sofa in a live demonstration of the nature documentary about bonobos you are watching? You probably could benefit from a separate alternative to bedrooms. 3 - Garage build to be a suitable games room / teen space for a few years / ganny flat for the future? I'd also suggest that a larger one storey extension is more important than a 2 storey, as your current house is over balanced to bedrooms vs receptions (imo) - though you could do a 2 storey with teen-room / workroom / future studio upstairs. I would be looking at enlarging the kitchen into the "link" area, coming forward more, and wrapping something around the back (could be a conservatory or sun room for morning/evening use as it gets E/W sun there), with that wall removed so it is no longer a galley. But work from a list of the uses you will actually want, and then use that to build a use / budget table to help your thinking. From the plan it feels (assuming to scale) that the house has a huge amount (20-25%) of floor space dedicated (wasted?) to circulation, but I cannot see easy ways to recover it (eg extend lounge to be up against the staircase) without knowing where the structural walls are. Sorry for the candour, but I am about to go offline for a couple of weeks to chase kangaroos. Ferdinand

Or a screen and no door. Least maintenance of all. There could also be a case for a corner loo, and whb next to it on the far wall, which would leave room on the LHS for a row of coat hooks. Ferdinand

When I asked this 3 years ago I was told water based was the way to go. That was by the people at a Johnstones Decorating Centre.

I was partly thinking of future owners, for some of whom it would be attractive as a differentiator.

Given that the galley kitchen is 1.72m wide with 2 runs of base units and a .5m 'corridor', I think I can qualify for exemption under the "required for functional room" exemption - should I have to have the argument. Or I could just leave it uninsulated and take off less than 25% of the plaster to avoid the rules :-) (which would not be ethical imo). In practice I will probably use something like Celotex PL4025 or PL4015 (25 and 15mm of PIR plus 12.5mm plasterboard resp.) dot and dabbed on the external wall only. My only other alternatives would be EWI (difficult) or to replace one side of base units with wall units, which would cripple the kitchen. Ferdinand