Revision 9 of BC Building Code re low-flush toilets

Just released, a new amendment to the BCBC effective October 4th, 2010, which specifies "the requirement for high-efficiency (4.8 litre) toilets or dual-flush toilets in all new residential buildings (or when major renovations occur) in BC. In all other occupancies, the requirements for toilets with a maximum flush cycle of 6 litres will remain unchanged. Whenever urinals are installed, high-efficiency (1.9 litre) urinals will be required."

Good news for the earth and our dwindling resources!

The obvious modern choice instead of the ubiquitous granite and marble

Received the full sample range of Silestone by Cosentino from Daniela at Valley Countertops. Love them all! Love the sparkle the quartz brings to them, like any stone other product.

They are totally low maintenance compared to granite and marble - won't stain, don't need sealing and resealing... my clients are going to love them for that as well as the great look and the fact that they're anti-microbial. Did I mention they're green products, so they qualify for LEED points? It's a no-brainer for me.

The colours on the website simply don't do the product justice, especially the eco range, but worth a look. The Bianco River looks like marble and just love Eco's Luna. Want the look of concrete? There are some colours in the range that look like the real thing, only Silestone is not porous.

Signature styles

Is it important for a designer or design studio to have a signature style, or should they be able to interpret every client's wishes into reality no matter what the client wants? Do clients come to designers because they relate strongly to their signature style, or do they come for other reasons... professionalism, quality work, beautiful rooms no matter what... ?

Although we didn't design this room (and we wish we had!!), we have produced similar concepts: a cordwood cabin with stainless steel appliances and concrete counters in the kitchen, a city-style sectional in the living room and stone tiles in the bathroom. It's the bold interweaving of natural materials and traditional building methods with today's fixtures and furnishings that we love, mixing old with new.

And it's always relaxed: canvases without frames,  not too matchy matchy, light airy colours, not so traditional fabric patterns. And we strive to include eco-friendly materials and practices, and if we're renovating to the studs, we look for ways to improve energy efficiency while we're building.

Pic courteousy of MacDonald Lawrence, on Vancouver Island (http://www.macdonaldandlawrence.ca/)

LOVE this book!

I must be the last designer on earth to discover this little gem: "More not so big solutions for your home" by Sarah Susanka. Got it on amazon.com and I love the way she finds space for storage, or a few extra square feet (and I mean a FEW) which just make all the difference.

If you've ever worked on a condo, you'll know there is NEVER enough storage in a unit, which can be a real design challenge, and one always has to create space for dining, living, cooking etc where it never existed before to meet today's homeowners' desires.

Back to the book: just loved the truly simple solution of adding a tiny entryway... seems like nothing, right? But it enabled her to design a bigger kitchen, one could say a REAL kitchen, compared to what was there before. It's on page 13 if you have the book, or if you order it.

And let's be frank: smaller is often more sustainable, even if only in terms of reducing heating consumption. And it can be so CUTE! And of course there's less of everything to CLEAN...

Buildex 2010 (wish it was still called Design Northwest)

Spent yesterday at Buildex. Always go - never get round to every booth though. Amazing array of bathroom fixtures this year... thought it was only me whose business seems to revolve around bathrooms (7 on the go right now)!

Fortunately, amongst all the wildly contemporary lines, there are now more transitional models available. Which is good, because I can't think of a client who will buy the more extreme modernistic faucets knowing they have to live with them for years. But they love the more modern take on traditional styles. Or they just want traditional (sigh).

Attended the Kitchen and Bath trends seminar and yes, again it's the Boomers with the money to spend, and interestingly enough, they want to go green. In amongst the trend-talk, we looked at universal design and how barrier-free can be beautiful. And then the presenter, Donna Riddell of Artistry Design Group, showed us winners of the NKBA's design awards and although there were some VERY trendy new spaces, lo and behold, there were plenty of OTT traditional winners in there too. Worth a look at http://nkba.org/consumer_inspiration_2010_dc_winners.aspx.

Spent valuable few hours at the Lighting Lab - highly technical, but good to get the refresher and some very useful pointers from the three presenters. LEDs have come a long way :)

You had to look carefully at what was on offer on the trade show floor - everyone who doesn't have a truly eco-friendly product has figured out a green angle on their old product, but there are truly plenty of gorgeous finishes and FF&E that are more Earth friendly. Question: since that volcano erupted and made us realise how much of what we spec comes from Europe, can someone not find a way to manufacture some of these products here in Canada? Better for our economy and I'll bet lead times will fall radically... meaning happier designers and clients.

And since it's Earth Day today (and every day in our office), maybe we can all take a look at just one product we can show to clients that will replace an old one that does more harm than good? And then one more tomorrow, and another the day after?

If you follow us on Twitter, you will have seen our tweets on some of our trade show finds...

Green design is getting homeowners good returns.

At Penwork Design we strive to specify environmentally friendly materials and finishes whenever we can. It's part of our business philosophy. There's an ongoing debate about the cost of doing so, but we believe the price of some green products has come down over the past few years as the range of products and the market have grown.

Yes, some green products are more expensive, but then the quality is generally high. And we can mitigate some costs by making the ultimate green decision at design stage: to retain some existing finishes and incorporate them into the new design. It's a win-win because we keep it from the landfill (good for the planet) and save the client the cost of demo and replacement. It's not always possible, but sometimes it is.

The health benefit to those who live in non-toxic spaces is obvious - one only has to spend a few minutes in a green building to feel the difference... one's eyes aren't tired due to bad lighting, the air is light and easy to breathe because there's no off-gassing going on etc.

But now the financial rewards appear to be revealing themselves. In an article on an investment website, the following story appeared:

Environmentally Certified New Homes Selling Faster and at a Premium

Greener homes are bringing in more green, plucked off the market by buyers attracted to their environmental, economic and health advantages. Energy Star and LEED certified properties are being sold at a premium in many US markets, selling quicker than conventional homes and for as much as 25% more per square foot.

You can read the complete piece by clicking on the link above.

It's all about beautiful spaces...

I've been decorating rooms since I got my own room for the first time aged about 11, I think. Initially this meant sticking pictures of popstars on the walls, but then my parents extended our house and I got a huge new room PLUS my own bathroom... I don't think the furniture ever stayed in the same spot longer than a few weeks.

Then someone made the mistake of giving my mother the (very first) Terence Conran House Book - this was the 70's I hate to say - and I thought it would be great to paint a stylised landscape on my bathroom walls in bright London-in-the-70's colours. Without the homeowners' permission of course. I thought I'd do it in secret. Unfortunately, I picked oil-based paints (we didn't think about VOCs in those days) and you could smell it all the way to the front door. I'd heard someone say to place a cut onion in the room to absorb those nasty paint smells. All that happened was you could smell onions AND paint all the way to the front door.

I was in trouble. Big trouble. For weeks. AND: I had to live with the smell (thank goodness for Benjamin Moore these days).

And even years later when the bathroom had had several new coats over that one lurid landscape, one could still see the outlines of those lollipop trees. But you get what I'm saying... I've been a designer of sorts my whole life.

I took it to a whole new level when I started building houses for myself. I was 26 when I did it for the first time. I was young and stupid enough not to be scared one bit. I know better now. But that's still what I like best, building from the ground up. However, in the end, it's all in the interiors, because a house is just another house until you make it home, isn't it?

So here goes, world... say welcome to Penwork Design! We're going to create beautiful, livable spaces everywhere we go...