First fix solutions for our 1960s remodel
As Paul continues with the first fix, he explains the challenges and solutions to replacing the staircase and lighting in his home
To reach the strict airtightness standards of Enerphit – an energy efficiency standard for existing homes developed by the Passivhaus Institute – we had to remove the stairs in order to gain better access to the walls and floor to add insulation. We wanted to replace the staircase while we were at it, but decided to keep them in their original position. As they’re of a 1970s era in terms of steepness and are therefore not compliant with current regulations, we had to agree in advance with building control that we could replace the existing staircase with a like-forlike model of the same steepness. Building control were happy enough and there was no negotiation. (Achieving current regulations would have impacted on first floor space available in our home.)
Our new staircase is of an ultra-simple, traditional design, with stringers, treads and risers in MDF to keep the cost down. Our only variation from the norm was a cut stringer: each step is visible from the side.we also wanted to link the stairs to the ground floor which has been laid with polished concrete, so we formed the bottom two steps out of the material to visually ‘anchor’ them to the ground floor.the rest of the treads and risers are timber.the joy of the staircase, though, is in the birch plywood joinery which we have used to build the balustrade, under stairs storage and plywood soffit above.
Lighting solutions to renovation issues
The house doesn’t have the highest ceilings so we wanted to avoid including too many pendants that weren’t design features, and we’re not fans of the light quality that spotlights provide, so we were inclined to follow a lighting design I’d discovered in Zurich where recessed linear fluorescent lights run round the ceiling edges. these will provide the majority of artificial light – acting as both ambient and feature lighting – and will be supplemented with additional lamps.
Once we agreed on the main approach, we then worked with Tom at Tyson Lighting. It was really useful to discuss all of this with an expert. We could try samples in the spaces early in the build to get an idea of light quality. Admittedly, Tom pushed us to invest in higher quality (and ultimately more expensive) lights than we might have otherwise specified, but they do look much better.
Many of the fittings required profiles and fixing rings to be installed prior to plastering, which meant the first fix electrical work was more involved than normal. A recessed plaster in aluminium extrusion used to house the linear fittings needed to be very precise, making the initial installation critical to a successful finish. The linear LED tapes can be very bright so we’ve put dimmers on these circuits to allow us better control of the output.
Overall, we’re really pleased with how the lighting has worked out. We’re still tweaking some of the controls to get things perfect, but the quality of light in pretty much every space is excellent.