Renovation of old house

tails_naf

Hi All,

As I finish my build, my sister is looking to start hers, which would be an renovation and extension of an old-irish house (thick-stone-wall type).

The rough idea is to leave the front (road-facing side) in the old-style exterior walls, gut the inside, and extend the back and possibly make that more modern, incorporating lots of glass, etc.


When I built my home, it was easier as I picked plans I liked, however, in the case of my sister, I wanted to ask the folks here on the recommended way to proceed -

is the usual process for renovations to first get some concepts drawn up, an then the final plans?

If so, can anyone recommend an arch-tech in the cork/tipp/limerick area that would be able to quote for this?

Builderfromhell

Good chance you'll need planning permission.
May also need new water treatment unit.

In my experience it is much cheaper and better quality to demolish and start from scratch.

Don't know too much about your sister's cottage so I am making assumptions.

tails_naf

Thanks for the tips.
We're ok with going for planning, and know it might be more expensive than to build direct - but its more for nostalgic reasons that we want to preserve some of the old house and build on a new extension.

The part I was more interested in is how to go about getting a design first - i.e. do we commission an architect to do some concepts up, and then final plans? or what way are renovations normally handled?

Poor Uncle Tom

Best to throw around lots of design ideas first and to do this it is always wise to use the professionals Architect/Architectural Technician.
There are three main components to the project:
a) The orientation of the Site/Building (which is already chosen except for the extension).
b) To fit the requirements within the shell of the house/extension.
c) The needs of the occupiers. (good design results are usually got from collabouration)
Then it's down to the finishes, materials, insulations, etc.,
The professionals do this on a daily basis, so, yes it is important to get them involved at this stage, imo.

Slig

In an ideal world it would be nice to go to several different architects/technicians with a brief, get a concept sketch from each of them and pick the one you like best. However, thats not practical because even a simple concept sketch takes time and effort and most professionals arent willing to do that for free.

The best approach seems to be:
-Find an Architect/Technician whose work you like (from their websites, check Planning applications of houses that you see and like or look for recomendations)
-Try and get a reference from some of their previous clients
-Ask for an initial meeting and see how things progress from there.