Granby/Toxteth Project

The architects for the Kingsley Road development are Ainsley Gommon Architects www.ainsleygommonarchitects.co.uk. The design and the construction needed to be as simple as possible, so that our houses could be built by unskilled future homeowners helped by volunteers, and this provided a particular design challenge. Timber frames were chosen as the most appropriate method for assembly by unskilled hands, Externally to the ground floor the walls are clad not with brickwork which would have required skilled labour, but with inert building boards screwed to the timber frame and coated with roller applied textured render. At first floor level, the cladding is a similar material but in the form of shiplap boarding, again easily screw fixed. The frames are filled with thermal insulation, and for simplicity, there is no cavity or double framing. Internally, the walls are lined with plasterboard in the traditional manner. The windows are high specification triple glazed to keep heating costs low and to provide security with secured by design rating. The houses are grouped in simple terraces with no protruding outriggers or porches so that there are no complicated junctions to build. The roofs are pitched steeply at 45 degrees so that an additional attic room can be created in the loft. This can be a bedroom for larger families or an office for home working. The fronts of the houses will be enlivened with entrance canopies. With their variously coloured painted render ground floors, and painted shiplap first floors, these houses will have a distinct character that will help further to define the sense of community of the homeowners who will have helped to build them.