Chesterfield’s Lomas and Mitchell Architects, a firm specialising in low-energy design recently featured in an episode of Grand Designs.
Broadcast next Wednesday, 28th September on Channel 4 at 9pm, the project featured a new, multi-generational home built on a small-holding in Derbyshire.
Jillian Mitchell, one of the directors at Lomas and Mitchell Architects, has been closely involved with the project. She commented: “The building design is a modern interpretation of a Derbyshire Longhouse, often a long, narrow building housing humans, animals and farm machinery.
“At the heart of the Longhouse is the kitchen and dining area, where everyone meets to prepare food and eat together. With our project, a generous open-plan space will enable the whole family to gather.”
The building is a refined barn, with profiled cladding and a steel-framed structure. Vertical fins – not yet installed, so they won’t feature in the programme this time – mirror the ‘hit-and-miss’ timber often found in barns to protect cattle and sheep from direct sunlight. The dramatic roof planes relate to angles in the surrounding countryside and the building is anchored into the landscape on both levels.
Jillian added: “We have been privileged to work with a great team on this project, and have delivered this building in spite of the challenges from the pandemic, the shortages in materials and the on-going war in Ukraine.”
Jillian is also involved as Vice-Chair of Chesterfield’s Property & Construction Group, which brings together business leaders of the region’s property sector and Chesterfield Borough Council to shape and drive forward collaboration, investment, sustainability and skills across the town.
Read Jillian’s recent blog on how the group is coming together to highlight the importance of sustainability across the town.
Lomas & Mitchell Architects supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.
