These are recent photos from the eco-village near to Dar-es-Salaam, where we have been working on projects since 2017. This is the first of a series of 4 houses that are planned as homes for the orphanage there. The design has worked on the principles developed in the test building; see project page. Locally made concrete blocks are the usual construction method in the area. Openings are maximised to give optimal natural ventilation. We have worked with Hannah and Otis Sloan Wood on the detailed design of the steel ventilation grilles. These were commissioned from local metalwork specialists in Dar.…
Great to get energy in use update for 2022 usage from some clients as the New Year arrived - their total gas used was 2000Kwh . For a treated floor area of 133 sq.m that's achieved 15 Kwh / m2.a ....actually Passivhaus target. The design didn't quite aim for PH certification due to budget etc. Design heat demand was 22 Kwh/m2.a so that's a great result ! Has cost £21/mth for gas. Christmas lights
Great to hear news of a certified Passivhaus building we designed / completed over 12 years ago - formerly Disability Essex - now Trustlink are using this building, open to the public on 4 Feb. 2023. this short film explains the valuable work going on here. Great to hear the building is being so well used. https://youtu.be/imKjj3UYX2w
The AECB conference on 30.9.22 at the new engineering institute in Hereford https://nmite.ac.uk/ was a day full of debate and interest in furthering good retrofit standards within the industry. Photo above shows the demo. wall for our project the Chestnuts; external timber I beams onto existing cavity wall construction. Sponsorship / partnership for the demo and the whole project from https://www.ecovertsolutions.co.uk and https://www.partel.co.uk/
Three deep retrofits begun before the pandemic are now finally near to completion; the last one should be on site within the next month. We've developed collaboration with Tim Hulse of www.ecovertsolutions.co.uk for our 'Better Building Model'. The block of working in rural counties with good quality experienced builders being few and far between meant that input from Ecovert could help with pricing, value engineering and with project management role during construction. We use trades local to each job as available. Chestnuts - target - Enerphit - complete Jan 2022. photos on project page to follow 1980's bungalow transformation -…
March 2021. The effects of the pandemic still affect everything. In the world of retrofit projects, some work has carried on ; planning permissions and other approvals have slowed down - with Council officers often on more pressing duties. We have several ongoing projects; three concurrently being detailed and costed ; skilled builders as ever are in short supply. No doubt all the best ones are extra busy as lockdown has focused so many on domestic projects. One retrofit to near Enerphit standard has started on site now. The value engineering process involved in honing a scheme to balance everything…
GDPR On May 25 2018, new EU General Data Protection Regulations come into force. It requires that all personal data held by organisations is with the consent of that person and is held securely and managed properly. At Simmonds.Mills architects, we have always taken your data privacy very seriously. We never share your information with third parties without your consent. If you are a client, your email, and in some cases, address, and telephone number, are held on the Simmonds.Mills database. This is for use in contacting you as our clients, and third parties who are involved in your job.…
The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has slowed our latest project at the Eco-village. In early 2020, project managers and advisors to the Village were negotiating with possible building contractors in Dar-es-Salaam; ready to start the pricing process for the first of our updated house design. We will upload drawings to a specific project page soon ! Let's hope that the situation stabilises and this construction work can commence before too long. See 'Tanzanian Eco-Village' project page for more information. Post 3: 16/12/17 As promised, this post of the Tanzania Project will explore all the phases of development, up until it’s…
GARWAY COMMUNITY CENTRE It's now getting on for two years since the community centre was complete. User groups are settling in - reports back about yoga classes and t'ai chi are positive about the consistent, warm temperatures and fresh air in well spaces. Read about events held in the centre here.