Talking about it

North Somerset planners were sympathetic to the idea of retaining the old stone building rather than flattening it to make way for a modern bungalow.

However, overlooking nearby houses and gardens from upstairs windows was considered a problem. We proposed to solve it by designing shutters to restrict views in a North Westerly direction. The idea was given further value by detailing the inside face of the shutters as a reflective material to bounce sunlight from the South West into the bedrooms. The advantage of movable shutters over fixed fins or bries soleil is that they can be closed at night to reduce heat loss in winter.

The case officer, Paul Hayworth accepted this overlooking remedy.