I recently spent a day at UK Construction Week at the NEC, listening to talks, catching up with people and looking at what’s changing in architecture and construction.
It’s always interesting to hear what’s happening across the wider industry, but for me the real question is: what does any of this mean for the homeowners we work with?
A few things particularly stood out.
Designing homes for hotter summers
There was an interesting discussion about climate resilience and how our homes need to respond to a changing climate.
When we’re designing a home extension, clients often want lots of natural light and big areas of glazing. I completely understand why, but more glass isn’t automatically better.
We also need to think about what that room will be like on a hot summer afternoon. Where does the sun come from? Can we create some shade? Can you open the windows properly and get air moving through the house?
It’s about creating a home that feels good to live in throughout the year, rather than simply looking great on the drawings.
Improving your home while you’re improving your home
One of my biggest takeaways from the discussions about retrofit was actually very simple.
We don’t think twice about replacing a kitchen. We might spend thousands of pounds on new units, worktops and appliances, but we’re much less likely to think about upgrading the insulation at the same time.
If the kitchen is being stripped out anyway, could that be the opportunity to add internal wall insulation to an external wall before the new kitchen goes in?
It’s about making energy improvements part of the normal cycle of improving our homes, rather than seeing “retrofit” as a completely separate, enormous project.
If we think about these things at the right time, we can gradually make our existing homes warmer, more comfortable and more energy efficient while doing the work we wanted to do anyway.
AI, technology and architecture
There was inevitably plenty of discussion about AI too, including a fascinating session about how it’s beginning to change the construction industry.
I use AI myself and I’m interested in how it can make running architectural projects simpler, particularly by cutting down some of the repetitive admin.
But I came away thinking that the important bit of my job hasn’t really changed.
It’s sitting down with a family, finding out what drives them mad about their current house, understanding how they actually live and then working out what we can do with the space.
After 15 years of designing extensions and remodelling homes, that’s still the bit I enjoy most.
And no amount of new technology is going to replace a good conversation around the kitchen table.
