Miles Sampson Ecological & Sustainable Architecture Ireland

Miles Sampson News

22/09/2009 Orders being taken for 1st serious electric car

Combating the energy used in transportation is one of the great challenges we face in dealing with climate change and CO2 reduction. It seems clear that the solution will not depend on one new invention or solution; it is going to require a many different approaches to dealing with the problem. And one of the most important elements will be the use of electric cars run on renewable energy. Bluecar, a joint venture between Bollore and Pininfarina looks like it will be the first to offer an electric car that does not look like a teenage box car, and a car that can actually cover enough distance to make it useful in Ireland. This is especially important to Ireland, because it has a higher than average amount of people living rurally. The things that make electric cars are so important are:

  1. A huge amount of transportation is taken by commuting to work or bringing children to school. These distances are well within the range of one charge of batteries, therefore electric cars will be able to deal with a large part of the transport sector.
  2. They do not produce any waste substance when being driven
  3. They use an existing infrastructure of energy supply (the electricity grid).
  4. The energy to run them can be provided by existing renewable technologies (unlike hydrogen).
  5. They can easily be "filled", just need to find a power outlet.
  6. Parking garages and work places can easily provide power outlets to recharge the car.
  7. Anybody can generate the electricity required to power them (put some PV panels on the roof or install a wind turbine).
  8. Because the batteries in the car can be charged at point of power generation there is no transmission losses associated with electricity networks.
  9. The car batteries can be used as energy sync to store renewable energy (basically if a wind turbine is installed beside a house it will be producing a lot of energy when everybody is sleeping. This energy is wasted or sent to the grid, but having a car to charge up is a much more intelligent use of the energy).

It is important to remember that electric cars only become truly sustainable if the electricity is from 100% renewable sources. Both Photovoltaics and wind energy work together to provide electricity, because often when one does not supply energy the other does. In the future your home will provide the power for your transportation, how nice is that!

To place your pre-order visit www.solaris-energy.ie and to view the car visit www.bluecar.fr Remember to get an architect/designer that knows how to integrate them into your design.

15/09/2009 Miles Sampson BArch wins appeal

An Bord Pleanala have upheld the decision of Killarney Town Council to give planning permission for a new two and a half storey dwelling close to the town centre. An Bord Pleanala cited "sustainable building" and "significant architectural merit" among their reasons to grant permission.

26/08/2009 Permission granted for Eco Apartments

North Tipperary County Council has decided to grant planning permission for the Miles Sampson BArch. designed ecological apartment building in The Eco Village in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary. This building will bring a new standard in apartment living. The proposal overcame the planner's concerns by presenting a contemporary well resolved design that reacts to its location. Each apartment will have good southern orientation and a layered facade to ensure privacy and usable open space while adhering to the ecological charter of The Eco Village.

06/08/2009 Permission granted in sensitive Lough Gur

Limerick County Council has decided to grant planning permission for the Miles Sampson designed extension to an existing house in the scenic and archaeologically sensitive area of Lough Gur, Co. Limerick. By designing a contemporary building that makes reference to vernacular farm buildings, considerable extension and renovation of the house will improve the advantage that the house takes of it beautiful surroundings by giving many of the exiting rooms connections to these views.

04/06/2009 Organic Fruit and Vegetables

Organic fruit and vegetables are good for your health, help the environment and taste better. But getting a steady supply of organic fresh produce can be difficult, expensive and time consuming. This does not always have to be the case. Luckily there are services that deliver a box of fresh fruit and veg each week. By purchasing in bulk and offering what is in season they can offer quality organic produce at regular prices. Some suppliers include: Absolutely Organic in Dublin and Recapte in Barcelona

17/02/2009 Permission granted for Passive House in Killarney

Killarney Town Council has decided to grant planning permission for a passive house designed by Miles Sampson. BArch in Killarney town. The design takes maximum advantage of the site by increasing the sunny garden and locating parking to the cold north. We are now working closely with the client to build a passive house certified by the passiv haus institute in Germany. In the future it is hoped that this house could be rented for short stays to people thinking of building a passive house, so that they could experience a passive house before they commit to building/buying one. Killarney is an ideal location for Passive house holidays with its breathtaking natural beauty, national parks, lakes and the ring of Kerry. Project details to follow soon on this website

08/01/2009 The Story of Stuff

This is a great website (even if it is a little dumbed down) about consumerism and what it is doing to the planet (socially and environmentally). Have a look, if for no other reason than to pass it onto somebody who is a little less informed. Visit www.storyofstuff.com.

02/01/2009 - Self recycling Christmas cards

This year Miles Sampson Architects use the ″Grow a Note″ series of Christmas cards produced by the Green Field Paper Company. These cards are embedded with seeds and made with 100% recycled paper and natural soya inks. When dampened and placed in soil they burst into flower. This is a truly recyclable card and helps makes Christmas a little greener. Visit www.greenfieldpaper.com for more information.

25/11/2008 - Planning Granted in Cork

Cork CoCo have granted full planning permission for a contemporarily designed eco house near Mallow in Cork. This is the first planning application by Miles Sampson BArch in county Cork, but the design was accepted without question by the council. The design is for a contemporary design two storey family house with grass roof and substantial glazing to the south. The house is designed to benefit from substantial solar gains which will reduce the heating cost and help protect the environment. To see more information about the project visit the projects page or click here.

19/11/2008 - Authentic Business

The other day I met Neil Crofts, the author of authentic business. In a nutshell authentic business is about doing things the right way. It is a business that does not make its primary goal: profit, but profit is a side product of its primary goal e.g. for a weaver to make beautiful quilts without damaging the environment, exploiting people or cheating clients. In our case this is to make design beautiful buildings that our clients enjoy and are happy in. To find out more about authentic business visit www.authenticbusiness.co.uk
www.authentictransformation.co.uk
www.authenticinspiration.co.uk

04/11/2008 - Planning Permission Granted for Hotel Complex

Clare CoCo grant planning permission for the redevelopment of The Miles Sampson designed Smyths Hotel in Feakle, Co Clare

On the 4th of November 2008 Clare County Council decided to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of Smyths Hotel.

The new project involves:

  1. 10 bedroom hotel, with large function room, conference room, gym.
  2. 9 Holiday cottages that will be managed by the hotel and have been designed so they can be configured as self catering accommodation or as separate additional bedrooms.
  3. 14 sheltered housing / retirement village units. These are designed for aging people who seek the support of local service, but do not was to go into full care. The units can be used as normal houses and as the owners age the services of the hotel will be at hand to give assistance.

Throughout the project Miles Sampson BArch worked closely with consultants to create a sustainable development, both in environmental and economic terms.