Help & Advice

The primary need of a house is as shelter.  Obviously, from the effects of nature and weather and in this country we are fortunate to have little seasonal difference between our mild summers and mild winters.  Unusual extremes occur only rarely but when they do they invariably catch us unawares.  Floods and storms are the obvious villains.  Burglars and thieves will probably call at some time. 

The unexpected could be anything that harms or hurts from explosions, gunshots, ridiculous storms, fires, floods, and maybe even the blast from a foreign dictators territorial ambitions.  Anything you might imagine (and some you might not) is on this list however unlikely, and should be in your design brief to your architect, Some homes are good for rain and wind but cannot cope with disaster conditions. 

One of the first and foremost written works on architecture was “De Architectura” by Vitruvius. His guiding priciples for a building were “firmitas, utilitas, and venustas” which translates as “strength”, “utility”, and “beauty”. Unfortunately, designers do not always consider the “firmitas” element.

Expect burglars.  You can also expect the crazy extremes of climate change to appear on your doorstep at some time. 

• Make your walls as strong as you can. 
• Make it resistant to high energy impact. 
• Make a structure that will remain standing after fire and flood. 
• Structural materials should not decay.  Unseen creatures should not be able to eat your structure.
• Make your windows impossible to get through. 
• Make your locks bump-proof and resistant to heavy impact.