Architecture in North Wales

Living by the coast is definitely one of life’s luxuries, that many perhaps take for granted. Uninterrupted views of the sea or mountain scape, forever changing scenes form tranquility to nature in its full force and generally just being in touch with nature.

The above makes for a fabulous palette to work with when designing buildings in North Wales, however this wonderful experience does mean our local architecture, homes, industrial, commercial buildings, bridges, any kind of infrastructure really is subject to the elements.

SITE DESIGN

A good place to start is with the site itself. Normal considerations are;

Is the site subject to flooding by river or sea? It does not mean the site can’t be developed, but you do have to seriously consider if you would want to. In some instances, under the coastal management plan you can move your house out of the seas flood zone, if the site is big enough of course.

The geology of the site, what are you actually building on? This will affect your foundation design and costs. Planning issues, are you in an AONB or conservation area etc? Where are the views, prevailing wind direction, sun path? Coastal erosion, becoming much more of a consideration these days.

BUILDING DESIGN

We design buildings up and down the coast from Abersoch to Anglesey, through to Flint. Architecture along the coast is often very open to the elements and as such careful design is required. Salt and sand sprayed buildings require careful consideration, with the winds just compounding matters. But the views and joy of living in such a location is worth the time and effort.

MATERIALS

I don’t think architecture in north wales has a particular materials palette today, certainly not as obvious as people would say Cheshire does with its red brick. Traditionally architectural buildings in north wales were designed to sit low, small in stature, be made of stone, slate roofs and small window/door openings set back to protect from the weather. In the modern day climate, we live in now, we have a multitude of materials to chose from with access to the world trade markets. We still love the natural materials and will try and use them whenever possible.

If you have an architectural project in north wales that you would like to discuss, please get in contact with JAR Architecture now.