Chartered Practice Architects: Warren Hagues – Making Space

Chartered Practice Architects: Warren Hagues – Making Space

Warren Hagues

Architect Warren Hagues recommends striking a balance between storage space and living areas

When you are planning significant home extension and refurbishment work, careful consideration should always be given to the most efficient ways in which to create storage space without it affecting how you live.

It’s particularly essential to achieve a realistic living area/storage balance when carrying out a loft conversion. Under-eaves storage at the front of a house (often the largest volume in a property) is usually no more than one meter high in order to maximise the floor area of the new loft room (often, a bedroom).

Hence, the floor area directly in front of the storage space is also limited to around one meter high. Personally, I question the practicality of this low level as part of the loft room. Instead, I would argue for a larger storage space, one with taller access doors and a slightly reduced main room floor area; this does not sacrifice the useable floor area of the loft but does improve storage by 50%-plus.

This is just one of many examples of how the design process can resolve issues. A professional architect should always discuss achieving the right balance with the client as part of a well-considered overall design.

Chartered Practice Architects
159 Askew Road, W12 9AU
020 8743 9535
warrenhagues@cparchitects.com
http://cparchitects.com

Leave a Reply