Microcement
Cement finishes on external and poured-concrete walls are so last year. In 2022 it’s all about microcement finishes in showers and wet rooms as a seamless alternative to traditional tiling. It’s very versatile, with options ranging from rustic travertine-style to subtle low-contrast shade effects.
Sally Hotchin, the director of the microcement specialist Relentless, says: “With advanced trowel movements often used in Venetian plastering we can create a wide range of exclusive patinas including bespoke murals from your own high-resolution photographs. With a huge choice of textures, colours, metallics and finishes, there really is an endless combination of options available.”
Successful microcement application requires skill and patience. Relentless does a 100 per cent waterproof microcement kit for wet rooms designed specifically for DIYers and available in more than 40 shades and three finishes (matt, satin and gloss), from £295, relentlessmicrocement.com
External shading
Huge expanses of glass have been a Grand Designs must-have for years, but as summer temperatures rise, keeping the home cool and comfortable is becoming more of a concern. Stuart Dantzic, the managing director of Caribbean Blinds, says his clients want more control over internal temperatures. “All that highly energy-efficient glazing keeps a property warm in the winter, often without the use of heating, but causes significant overheating in the summer. We are seeing a trend, therefore, to integrate external shading into the façade as part of the architectural design, adding a new 3D dimension and turning it from static to dynamic.”
Oriel windows
The trend for a box window that juts away from an external wall has evolved with the frameless structural glazing vogue. Self-builders love the feeling of being outside when they are indoors, curled up reading an interiors magazine, looking for new ideas. And oriel windows also serve a design purpose: they are used to create a striking break against the solid mass of a typical black-cladded extension.
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“The new popularity of oriel window boxes is a charming trend,” says Ben Weymes, a designer at the architectural and design company Resi. “These bay-style windows protrude and provide snug reading corners, which are perfect for family members who are looking for some peace and quiet or just want to admire the surrounding green space.” Oriel windows by IQ Glass, from £1,800-£2,500 per sq metre, iqglassuk.com
Self-powered home
Soaring energy costs, climate change concerns and fears over future supply are prompting architects to design homes that are fully self-sufficient in energy terms and capable of generating and storing their own power. “With electricity prices going through the roof, the high capital cost of a fully self-sufficient renewables set-up is looking more and more attractive to self-builders,” says Jason Orme, a property expert for the National Homebuilding and Renovating Show (Birmingham, March 24-27). “Being self-sufficient in electricity means combining PV panels with the emerging — and increasingly good value — battery stores as well as a back-up. It’s not a cheap package, but the payback all of a sudden looks a lot better.” Costs vary because each energy package is bespoke. Orme recommends Sonnen, a German company specialising in solar power and battery storage.
Linseed paint
It has been around since the first Queen Elizabeth was on the throne and is still popular in Scandinavian countries, where original coats have survived for 500 years, and now linseed paint is undergoing a renaissance with architects and self-builders looking for sustainable products. It’s especially effective for builds that feature lots of timber and it is highly durable; Brouns & Co experts say that they expect a coat of linseed paint to last 10 to 15 years and require a rub-down with linseed oil just once a decade to keep it in good nick.
The company’s paints are hypoallergenic and made entirely of boiled linseed oil from flax harvested in Wetherby, Yorkshire, and ground natural pigments. Available in 40 shades, from £49.50 for one litre of interior paint and £59.50 for exterior paint.
Radiant radiators
There are so many innovations under way to make radiators more efficient, and we especially like the radiant heat models in the Radiator Company’s Ceramica collection, made from recycled materials, because they deliver effective heat and recycle waste — double points.
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“They are manufactured in white with three finishes — smooth Senso, ribbed Varenna and textured Pavia — using waste from the production of marble worktops and shower trays,” says Simon Morris, the marketing manager at the company. “Unlike traditional radiators, they produce radiant heat for an even and direct transfer of heat, utilising less energy and lower CO2 emissions.”
Aluminium windows
Everyone loves the look of sleek aluminium windows, especially in a contemporary build, but this fashionable choice can present problems with “cold bridging” in a highly thermally efficient project. The solution is aluminium-clad windows with a wood or uPVC core. Weather-resistant on the outside with low conductivity on the inside, this combination provides outstanding heat insulation and is available in double or triple glazing to suit a range of specifications. Individual windows cost from £1,200 each.
Ryan Schofield, the managing director of Thames Valley Windows, says, “The frames are less prone to water and air penetration, so homeowners can rest assured that no warping, shrinkage or rotting will occur.”
Smart tech
The “people-sensing platform” Butlr uses Heatic sensors, which detect changes in temperature. The company, which is based on the US west coast, but works with global collaborators, is developing a range of super-reactive technological products such as the Butlr smart building gadget, which makes use of wireless thermal sensors. This can work in conjunction with any heating system, including gas, to tailor it according to the number of people in a house, adjusting as people arrive and depart. Butlr sensors cost from $220 and are available to buy in the UK. The co-founders, Honghao Deng and Jiani Zeng, say: “It has become apparent to many building owners and occupiers that getting data on how people use their space can significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs.”
Hempcrete
The architect Katy Esdon, a co-director of the Wiltshire-based company Esdon Architecture, says that her clients are increasingly asking about alternative forms of insulation from established man-made materials such as glass or mineral wool. She’s using hempcrete — made from hemp, the balsa wood-like core of the cannabis sativa plant — which forms the walls and insulation in one. From the Hemp Block Company, from £28.30 per sq metre
Curved lines
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Maybe it’s our need for comfort in challenging times, but everything’s gone curvy this year. Whether it’s circular sitting rooms, arched windows, barrel-vaulted ceilings or winding garden paths leading to intimate outdoor boudoirs, the quest for sinuous curves is influencing every aspect of home design.
In Royston, which is south of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, the staircase company Bisca, whose prices start at £25,000, has supplied a voluptuous sweeping staircase to self-builders making a family home out of the village’s former coal-mine winding house, which once housed an engine and winding drum to hoist the cage up and down the shaft.
Composite external cladding
Made from recycled plastics, polymers, wood and other materials (manufacturers use a range of different elements), composite cladding is proving to be a durable, UV-resistant, easy-to-maintain and eco-friendly alternative to timber. Leading manufacturers include NeoTimber, which produces cladding made almost entirely from recycled materials including wood; Teckwood, which uses recycled wood and plastic; and the fibre cement specialist Cedral. Another benefit is that it’s easy to sandwich a layer of insulation between an external wall and the cladding, improving a house’s thermal and acoustic performance.
Vertical sash windows
What’s next in glazing? Rebecca Clayton, the communications director of IQ Glass, says: “Everyone has slim-framed sliders, so now people want to have sliders that are extremely large sizes, which also means automation as these can be heavy. Everyone has got a frameless roof light, so now people want one that also opens automatically. Everyone has bi-fold doors, so now we get asked for glass walls that rise up.”
Really? Yes, the good old sash window has entered the 21st century. IQ Glass manufactures vertical sash windows in two or three-pane configurations, with the bottom pane rising upwards to reveal an aperture — a glass wall that rises and falls, in other words. The opening system connects vertically sliding glass panes to an integrated pulley system, and counterweighted engineering allows the panes to slide naturally upwards. From £3,000 to £5,000 per sq metre.
