Samuel Kendall Associates Ltd

11 years after completion, Rascal Wood stands as a fine example of the service Samuel Kendall Associates continue to provide. Gordon Hawcroft provides a personal account of the process and quality of work we can achieve as a close team.

A new dwelling at the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, Rascal Wood offers carbon neutral residential accommodation with over 5000 square feet of floor space, in a three storey retreat providing bedrooms for up to 14 people. Read more on Rascal Wood's page.

Following the completion of a substantial replacement dwelling in 2003, Samuel Kendall Associates have returned 15 years later to investigate the dwelling and explore how it has matured over this period of time. Owner Gordon Hawcroft and his lovely wife Jill are still in residence and still love the house that they still call home. The central atrium containing the feature staircase has matured well, top lit with copious quantities of top lit natural daylight, which brings a lovely ambience to the heart of the house, from which all rooms radiate. Still lovely!
Check out the new video of this country dwelling, which is published today online through their website www.samuelkendall.co.uk or go to youtube and enjoy!

WHEN a group of farm buildings at Baswick Steer in Holderness, East Yorkshire were converted into residential use, the owners’ success in the growing of hemp led to hempcrete being used as the insulation material.

Despite being constructed in the 1800s, the buildings were in sound structural condition and could be altered without excessive change.
In order to establish a satisfactory thermal mass to this “Deep Green” development, the Hempcrete was mixed on site and applied as an external insulation layer over the existing brick structure. The 250mm thick layer of hempcrete was laid in-situ in 150mm thick vertically tamped layers and finished externally with a traditional lime render.

This ensured that the dew point thermal curve through the external structure was satisfactory and that no interstitial condensation is likely to occur within the structure.

The potential heat loss through the external envelope of the converted buildings well exceeds the minimum requirements for “U” value, thereby further reducing the need to heat or cool the internal environment.

The buildings were further insulated with hempcrete at pitched roof level using Hempcrete in the form of a “warm deck” construction, which eliminates the need to ventilate any roofspaces.

Grow your own home with hempcrete

When it comes to new, versatile and sustainable building materials, what is better than one you can grow yourself?
Made from the shiv or inside of the hemp plant and then mixed with a lime base binder, hempcrete, like concrete, is strong, lightweight and breathable.
It is best used to insulate masonry constructed buildings or as an enveloping insulation when used in conjunction with timber-framed buildings, explains Stephen Samuel RIBA, director of East Yorkshire-based chartered architects, Samuel Kendall Associates.
It can be used to insulate floors, ceilings and pitched roofs and once its special properties are fully understood it “can significantly simplify the construction and insulation of buildings,” says Samuel, whose family practice in Catwick, Beverley, prides itself on creating homes for real families.
It can be used in the construction of new buildings and to refurbish existing buildings “where perhaps a change of use occurs, such as in the case of a redundant farm building into a residential dwelling where contemporary building regulation standards need to be sympathetically satisfied,” says Samuel.
Hempcrete absorbs moisture from the air when humidity levels are high and releases them once levels drop.
"These amazing properties become very important both in retaining the fabric of a building in good condition and also assisting with the health and well being of their occupants,” says Samuel.

Samuel Kendall Associates have been featured in this month's "Builder & Engineer" Magazine (August/September 2016) ISSUE 1946 published six times each year in their "Modern Methods of Construction Section, as part of a written feature entitled "Building the Modern Way", pages 18, 19 & 20, exploring the use of straw & Hemp in Construction. It also a featured photographic case study of a residential Barn Conversion (page 20) that we designed using "Hempcrete" as the insulation for walls, floors and ceilings.

This use of Hempcrete was in this instance was grown by the client, a local farmer, for his own residential barn conversion, he effectively grew his own house in just one summers growing season, given it grows over 3m high in a matter of a few weeks!

Hempcrete is a carbon positive building insulation material that absorbs more carbon dioxide (around 6 times!) in its growing cycle that it uses in its processing into a Hydroscopic building insulation material.

It can therefore be used to lock up harmful Carbon Dioxide that is being cretaed by continuous and excessive world consumption of harmful fossil fuels, acting as a Carbon Capture building product.

The French have been using it for years, we have only recently discovered its amazing properties!

Their website is www.builderandengineer.co.uk., where the article can also be found.

Beverley, East Yorkshire, UK, January 12,2016 Samuel Kendall Associates Limited of Beverley has won “Best of Design on Houzz®, the leading platform for home renovation and design. The 20 year old RIBA Chartered Architectural Practice was chosen by the more than 35 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than one million active homebuilding, renovating and design industry professionals.
The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories:Design, Customer Service and Photography.Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 35 million monthly users on Houzz. Customer Service honours are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2015. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognised with the Photography award. A “Best Of Houzz 2016” badge will appear on winners’ Houzz profiles, as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.About Samuel Kendall Associates Limited
As a design led RIBA Chartered Architects Practice based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, Samuel Kendall Associates have practiced Architecture for the best part of the last two decades, offering professional Architectural Service to clients throughout Yorkshire, across the whole of the UK and further afield.
Principally serving a discerning clientele, the aim is to provide high quality architectural design
utilizing passive solar design principles that minimize the impact of the design on the Planet, whilst providing exceptionally low running costs in use.
“The aim of all design solutions is to limit reliance on fossil fuel use, in favour of natural daylight wherever possible, combined with heating and cooling systems based upon heat pump and associated technology, rather than conventional boilers and the like” said Stephen Samuel, Architectural Director of Samuel Kendall Associates.
About Houzz Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.co.uk.Stephen Samuel RIBA, Principal Charte