our traditional style house in Moorfields, Ballymena has been completed & handed over.
Blog
New Project | Gladiator Gym Ballymena
We’ve recently been commissioned to make a planning and building control application for one of Ballymena’s best-known gyms – Gladiator Training.
Ran by Scott McGarry over the past 3 years Gladiator gym has gone from strength to strength.
With the additional space, we are proposing the gym will end up with an additional 12000square foot of extra space to train in.
making Gladiator Gym one of the largest in Northern Ireland.
should you have a project you’d like to discuss, feel free to get in touch
Finalists in 2 categories at the Ballymena Business Excellence Awards 2019
Some great news for the end of the week.
We’ve been nominated finalists in 2 categories at the Ballymena Business Excellence Awards 2019.
Best Business Premises & Most Creative Business in the Ballymena Area.
Held by the Ballymena Chamber of Commerce, Sponsored by Mid & East Antrim Borough Council & being held in Tullyglass House Hotel has a recipe for a great nights entertainment.
Best of luck to all the finalists & we’ll see you all that evening
#ballymenachamber #midandeastantrim #nightout #architects #deadproud
Creating Your First Smart Home
From voice assistants to remotely controlled thermostats and doorbells, your home is set to get a lot more intelligent in the coming years.
Imagine living in a home that reacts to the way you live, that’s tailored to your needs and is constantly evolving. With the rise of the Internet of Things, homes are becoming smarter every day which means soon we’ll be controlling our lighting, heating, entertainment and more, from just a few swipes on our smartphones.
It might sound like something out of a sci-fi film but smart homes are already here and over the next few years smart devices are going to become a reality in our lives.
So, if you’re toying with the idea of adapting your current home, or building a new home, with smart design and features in mind then this should provide some guidance and inspiration.
Now, let there be heat, light and…fun!
Control
Control is potentially the biggest selling point when discussing smart homes, although time and energy efficiency might be a close second, and there are multiple options out there including Amazon Echo (Alexa to you and me), Apple Homekit and Google Home
There are pros and cons to each system but the differences are generally small. When choosing one think about your priorities before exploring the world of compatible devices and accessories.
Heating
Every home needs heat, especially here in Northern Ireland & the whole of Ireland where Slemish Design Studios operates, and a smart home provides more than a few options when it comes to keeping you and your family cosy!
Here in the UK, the most visible smart home heating device currently in the market is Hive as it is designed and maintained by British Gas. Hive, and other similar devices like Nest, will allow you to control your home heating and hot water from one central app.
This control includes the ability to turn the heating on and off at specific times, even when you’re away from home, put your heating system into holiday mode, include geo-identifiers that turns the heating on in preparation for your return and stops pipes freezing during the winter.
Whether you’re designing a new build or considering a home heating upgrade it might be worth considering a smart option as we gradually move closer to this style of heating.
Lighting
Right next to heating at the top of the list is lighting and there is a growing list of options and possibilities when it comes to smart lighting.
To get started you’ll need wifi bulbs or light strips that connect to your chosen smart home system. Most smart lighting sets, including the Philips Hue range, feature LED bulbs that can be turned on, off and have brightness altered and dimmed depending on the mood you’d like to set.
Beyond that, you can begin to explore the various options available including setting lights to turn on or off at certain times as well as being able to use them as an alerts system when preparing food or boiling the kettle to ensure you never burn another dinner again. Tasty!
Devices
Moving on, heating and lighting are obvious essentials but, if you do a quick poll amongst your own household, it will probably become clear that food and entertainment aren’t too far behind either.
Luckily there are more and smarter home devices entering the market every day and the Internet of Things trend is set to grow over the coming years.
At the time of writing, you can get smart TVs, smart fridges, smart kettles, that can be boiled from the comfort of your sofa, and more!
Our advice here would be that if you can think of it, it probably already exists in some shape or form so a quick search on Google should steer you in the right direction.
What’s Next?
At the time of writing, we’re only at the beginning of the Internet of Things and smart homes so over the next few years more and more devices and opportunities will be created so keep your eyes peeled…
lisnafillon house complete
We have recently overseen the completion of our Lisnafillon house, just outside Ballymena, County Antrim
This modern house has been kitted out with all the latest in smart home technology, from motion detected CCTV to battery backup solar PV
Materials such as western cedar cladding soften the front elevation against the Kilkenny limestone & smooth Weber render
Internally we’ve gone with a neutral tone, using white paint, light grey porcelain tiles & oak doors.
Head over to our project page for more images & information on this project.
should you have a project you’d like to discuss, feel free to get in contact with ourselves.
woodtown manor project moving along well
Our housing development at Woodtown Manor, in Ballymena, is coming along nicely on site.
Creagh Concrete on site
Today we had Creagh Concrete on-site with their Spantherm concrete slabs.
Spantherm is an insulated, precast concrete flooring system designed specifically for residential and commercial ground floors. By producing high performance insulated structural concrete units off-site we have redefined the speed of installing a fully insulated ground floor.
if you have a project you’d like to discuss feel free to contact our office
New project | traditional house Tipperary, Ireland
We’ve recently been appointed as architects for a new project in County Tipperary, Ireland
The client has amazing view from the site looking over the local countryside right up to Devil’s Bit mountain
We’re looking at a traditional house with modern features, local stone, smooth render & western cedar cladding.
We have a number of architectural projects running all over Ireland from modern and traditional new builds to extensions & renovations.
Are you looking to build in the future?
Should you have any planning queries or have a project you’d like us to take a look at, feel free to contact our office to see about our free consultations.
mortgage inspection in Kells
onsite outside Kells, Ballymena for a mortgage inspection
Winters coming in Northern Ireland.. an awful windy day to be out doing mortgage inspections at our project in Kells, Ballymena.
great to see that everything is coming along well onsite & at a good speed too.
Broughshane granny flat featured in Selfbuild Ireland magazine
We’re pleased to have been featured in the Autumn edition of Selfbuild Ireland Magazine.
The granny flat in broughshane was a personal project for Steven (one of our partners) and his family.
Built to accommodate Stevens parents, the new granny flat has been clad in charred Siberian larch to “stand out” from the 1930’s house.
It’s defiantly been a marmite type of finish, with some loving it & the odd one still to be convinced.
thankfully both parents love it, which matters most.
should you have a project you’d like to discuss, feel free to contact our office
New project | Woodtown Manor Ballymena
We’re pleased to be working alongside award-winning developer AMD Homes for an existing new housing development
A prestige small development, Woodtown Manor offers well designed spacious family homes with a modern stylish quality turnkey finish.
Woodtown Manor is located on the old townland of Leymore on the edge of Ballymena town via a picturesque country road with no passing traffic.
All that & walking distance to local amenities, town centre and M2 links less than 1.5 miles.
Check out AMD Homes Website or Agents Rainey & Gregg of more information
Should you have a project you’d like to discuss, feel free to get in touch with our office
Planning approval |Modern House Dunfanaghy, Donegal
Irish Architects Slemish Design Studio have recently received planning approval for a modern house in dunfanaghy, County Donegal.
Sited outside the village of Dunfanaghy, our recent approval has views to Muckish Moutain along with views towards Horn Head and Sheephaven Bay
Materials used for this modern house will be in keeping with the Donegal planning coco & blending into the local countryside with natural materials, such as Natural Donegal Stone, white rendered walls with a slate roof, we have also brought zinc standing seam into the materials to add a more contemporary look to one part of the house
we’re looking forward to this going onsite.. .if nothing more than to have an excuse to head back to Dunfanaghy 🙂
Should you have a project you’d like to discuss, feel free to get in touch. We cover all over Ireland & UK
new project | replacement dwelling, London
Slemish Design Studio Architects have been appointed as for a modern replacement dwelling in London, England.
last month we went over to Old Windsor, London for a site visit and to discuss the brief with our clients.
The brief –
open plan living with access to outside living
4 bed with office space
clean lines
stone/brick/white render
along with the house we’ve a much smaller project to design for our clients… a mooring at the Thames River!!
just to prove it’s not all modern houses we do
Are you looking to build in the future?
Should you have any queries or have a project you’d like us to take a look at, feel free to contact our office to see about our free consultations.
We cover all over Northern Ireland, including Ireland & the UK