Smithy Cottage LABC Winner 2023 – Best Residential Conversion or Alteration to an Existing Home
Background
Smithy Cottage is a Grade II Listed Building tucked away in a conservation area within Yorkshire Dales National Park. The owners of the historic cottage set about bringing the house back to modern use, working with R Dawson Chartered RIBA Architect, Holme Building, Patchett Joinery, Yorkshire Energy Systems and J B Langley.
Situation
The converted cottage was in need of replacement timber windows and doors, to contribute to the energy efficiency of the home. As the building is in a conservation area, extra care had to be taken to replicate the original look of the building.
Patchett Joinery were approached by Richard Dawson of R Dawson Architect RIBA Ltd. Richard has over 40 years of experience in architecture and planning and has won several industry awards. He specialises across schemes in Conservation Areas and National Parks and is particularly knowledgeable about sustainability issues and homes that are both warm and energy efficient with low running costs.
Established in 1840, Patchett Joinery specialise in crafting beautiful timber windows and doors in historic buildings and for houses in conservation areas. We replicate windows and doors that fit with the original look and feel of the building whilst remaining energy efficient.
The solution
Patchett Joinery crafted Accoya Concealed Balance Sliding Sash windows, high-performance Flush Casement windows and entrance doors.
Accoya is an ultra-high-performance timber crafted from sustainable wood, selected for its exceptional durability and stability. Additionally, Accoya wood offers superior thermal conductivity compared to hardwood, making it an ideal choice for energy efficiency. It also has excellent paint retention meaning it needs less frequent coating and maintenance.
This revolutionary material is CO2 neutral over the full life cycle, which can be easily recycled to the highest quality exterior boards. A material that even if just discarded is 100% biodegradable, fitting perfectly in the biological cycle of the circular economy and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) philosophy.
Our Accoya Sliding Sash and Flush Casement windows were colour-matched to Farrow & Ball Hardwick White and fitted with Antique Brass hardware. We used 4/8/4 Pilkington S1 glass together with our 19mm astragal bar.
Pilkington Opitherm S1 Plus is a high-performance glass with an incredibly low U value. This contributes to the reduction of heat loss leading to energy savings.
The doors were designed to closely replicate the original look and were finished in a darker colour than the windows to match Farrow & Ball Treron. The doors were fitted with traditional Black Pewter hardware
Service
All of the timber windows and doors were manufactured at our Bradford-based workshop by skilled timber craftsmen. All of the materials used were chosen with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind, whilst replicating the original look of the Grade II Listed Building.
As this was part of our Silver-level installation service, our fitting team removed the existing windows and doors, disposed of them off-site and then carefully installed the new products. We also sealed the windows with mastic to protect the windows from the elements.
Outcomes and impact
The homeowners were delighted with their new windows and doors which fulfilled all the criteria in terms of performance and functionality but surpassed their expectations in matching closely to the original windows.
Smithy Cottage LABC Winner 2023
Smithy Cottage was recognised by a panel of industry experts at the LABC Awards and won Best Residential Conversion or Alteration to an Existing Home 2023.
The LABC said:
“Based in the Yorkshire Dales National Park just outside Skipton, Smithy Cottage is an excellent example of bringing a house back to modern use. As a Grade II listed cottage in a Conservation Area within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, sensitivity was needed to ensure the conversion was kept in keeping, as well as reducing the environmental impact of both the build, as well as the finished property. This proved a challenge, but an achievable one for this project team, evident by the result of an excellent conversion with superb preservation methods and environmental practices.”
