Serendipity made me purchase Alder. I was in the RIAS bookshop in Rutland Square to buy a much more prosaic Minor Works building contract when I spotted Alder and on impulse added it to my purchase. I had no idea what it was – there was little to go on except for some beautiful photographs […]
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £220,000 area new build 15 sq. m.; remodelled area 90 sq. m. The client asked Halvorsen Architects to open up and enlarge the dark ground floor of their listed Grade II Georgian terraced house in Inverleith. This was done by removing several internal walls, especially around the stairwell, and extending into
Extension and house remodelling, Inverleith, Edinburgh Read More »
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £180,000 area new build 53 sq. m.; total remodelled area 175 sq. m. Halvorsen Architects were asked to remodel and extend a house in Winchburgh, West Lothian. The core of the house was a 19th-century cottage which had been extended many times creating an incoherent layout. The use
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) contract value £160,000 area 40 sq. m and 45 sq. m. Happy Days nursery commissioned Halvorsen Architects to provide further accommodation for 3-5 year olds at two of their Midlothian nurseries, in Dalkeith and Hardengreen branch. In each case we proposed a detached building – a
client Balcaskie Estate engineers Millard Consulting total area 0.5 hectare Balcaskie Estate, on the East Neuk of Fife, commissioned Halvorsen Architects to convert Balcormo farm steading into a hub for small businesses such as the campervan converters that already operate there. This includes the renovation of several small stone Georgian buildings, significantly enlarging the one
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £287,000 total area 107 sq. m. This four-bedroom detached house in Craigleith, Edinburgh, was built to Passivhaus House standards in the garden of an existing house. The outline of the building reflects the planning constraints in every direction. The ground floor includes a large open-plan kitchen/dining/living area which
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £70,000 total remodelled area 56 sq. m. Halvorsen Architects extended and remodelled a 1970s house in Dunbar, East Lothian. A sun room was created at the heart of the house, linking all the principal rooms and, with the removal of a wall, created a large open plan kitchen-dining
It’s very rewarding to have a client who is dedicated to bringing old buildings back to life. Not only does it help preserve the heritage and character of the area, it also reinforces a sense of place, while helping us to meet net-zero targets – the construction sector is responsible for an incredible 37% of global
Our hempcrete house near Dunbar is going up much faster than we expected. In fact, the construction process is quicker than for an equivalent timber-framed house. This is because the qualities of all the components of a traditional wall are met by the hempcrete alone – with the exception of the structural frame. Unfortunately Hempcrete’s
Our client has moved into her new, four-bedroom Passivhaus in central Edinburgh. It was quite a journey, through Covid and escalating material costs, but we got there and the client is delighted. In fact we have achieved a Scottish Building Standards ‘Gold’ sustainability label it. The Scottish Building Standards Sustainability labelling is a broader endorsement
Halvorsen Architects are lucky enough to have water features going into two current projects. Last week I visited one that’s going beside a new hempcrete house outside Dunbar. It will be fed by rainwater from the roof, and form a focus of the garden, visible from the main rooms. I have learned a lot from the
Halvorsen Architects have just finished an extension to and remodelling of a house in Winchburgh, West Lothian. The core of this house was a 19th-century cottage which has been extended many times, most recently in the 1970s. Halvorsen Architects were asked to add further accommodation and reconfigure the existing house to make the most of
client private contract value £280,000 area new build 110 sq. m. A speculative house for a small town-centre site in Eskbank near Edinburgh, this has a simple plan with three bedrooms, two reception rooms and a large hall containing stairs and a seating area upstairs. There was considerable local opposition to a house being built
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £82,000 total remodelled area 45 sq. m. The previous pokey ground floor extension was replaced by much larger and extremely light sunroom. A new passageway was formed from the front door to the new extension, giving views to the garden from deep inside. Spaces either side of this
Planning permission has been approved for a new building at Happy Days nursery Hardengreen branch in Midlothian. It is located in mature woodland and is a playful take on a timber cabin. It is raised off the ground, on piles so as not to disturb the tree roots, with a south-facing deck. The north facing
Concrete accounts for 8% of CO2 emissions, far higher than aviation at 2.5%. So if we are to help stop climate change we need to stop using concrete. Even the ‘more sustainable’ forms of concrete that replace some of the Portland cement with alternatives such as granulated blast furnace flag and fly ash have their
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £160,000 area new build 95 sq. m.; total remodelled area 450 sq. m. The client had outgrown their semi-detached Georgian bungalow in the heart of the Grange Conservation Area in Edinburgh. They needed new detached accommodation and remodelling of the existing house, front and back gardens. A 67m2 self-contained
Studio and remodelling house and garden, The Grange, Edinburgh Read More »
Halvorsen Architects have just finished major works to a house in the Grange, a conservation area on Edinburgh’s south side which was first developed as an early suburb from the 1820s. The clients were keen to expand their Georgian villa in as sustainable as possible. We considered several measures, including renewable heating, insulation and airtightness. With
client private engineers CRA Ltd. contract value £57,000 area 35 sq. m. An extension to a Victorian house in Leith, Edinburgh, this project was designed to maximise the light coming in from the client’s south-facing garden. It is a large, single room for sitting, dining and showing films. The new multi-purpose room is pulled away to
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) Happy Days acquired a new nursery in Eskbank, Midlothian, a year ago and asked Halvorsen Architects to design an imaginative and original new playground for it using natural materials. Halvorsen Architects were delighted to be able to put their ideas about play and risk-taking into practice. The natural forms of the
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) This is our proposal for a nursery school on the outskirts of Haddington, East Lothian. It is located in the large, mature garden of a private house. The house was to be remodelled to house the 0-2 year olds and a new timber building proposed in
New pre-school nursery, Haddington, East Lothian Read More »
Pre-school pupils recently moved into their new brand classroom at Happy Days nursery, Hardengreen, near Dalkeith. The client wanted an extension to its existing nursery, which could be quickly constructed in order to help alleviate a growing waiting list. Halvorsen Architects response was to deliver a simple, timber-framed structure that is clad in Scottish larch.
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) engineers CRA Ltd. area 130 sq. m. Happy Days moved in to Hardengreen House, Eskbank, Midlothian – a large Georgian house originally built in 1796 – a couple of years ago but have outgrown the premises. The house has extensive grounds, with fields in front and woodland
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) engineers Gordon Eadie and Iain Thew contract value £150,000 area 48 sq. m. new build, 30 sq. m. refurbishment This is the first phase of the expansion of Happy Days pre-school nursery in Dalkeith, Midlothian. This phase includes a dining room, craft room and toilets. The
Extension to Happy Days Nursery, Dalkeith – Phase I Read More »
client private engineer CRA Ltd. contract value £70,000 area 55 sq. m. The client lives in a listed 1950s, Morris and Steadman house – the ‘Upside Down House’, and needed more room for an expanding family. After looking at various ways of extending the existing house in a bold manner, sympathetic to the original design,
