Understanding Portsmouth Historic Home Building Regulations

Because the TMS Architects team specializes in historic homes, we know what it takes to achieve both energy efficiency and historic integrity. Through experience, we’ve found having these resources “in house” allows for better project cohesion, respects schedules and budgets, and adheres to our clients’ personal needs. When you decide to take a step in renovating a historic home, or including and modern updates, there are a few headaches TMS can help you avoid.

TMS Architects excels in navigating through government historic buildings regulation and ensuring our homes meet coding–and our own–standards. Helping you understand how your home renovations or updates need to comply with state regulations will help expedite the project. In fact, there are even government incentives that will help move your project along! Here are a few key things you should know about historic home renovations and updates in Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

* An application must be submitted to the city to request a building or renovation permit. Fees are required to submit this application for review. This application must be approved prior to project commencement.
* Sets of photographs on the site of the proposed renovation, additions, or changes to the building must be submitted with the application. This allows the commission to understand how the project will impact the public space, as well as identify safety concerns in the surrounding space.

* The Commission meets the first Wednesday of each month at 7 PM in the City Council Chambers at the Municipal Complex to review applications and exterior changes to buildings and structures located within the Historic District of Portsmouth.

* The Historic District Commission is comprised of seven members and two alternates.

* Multiple copies of the project plan is also required for taxation purposes.

* Once the building permit application is approved and a permit is issued, Code Enforcement Officers inspects the construction to ensure Building Code compliance.

Interested in learning more? Check out the Historic District Commission for the City of Portsmouth, NH or simply call TMS Architects today and let us take care of it all!

Working With your Architect to Make a Green Home

You can’t read the news without at reading about how everyone is going green. If you stop to think about it much of what you read actually makes sense. The benefits of being environmentally conscience can save you money while saving the planet. By being green we often see instant results in our wallets. Many earth-friendly ideas actually pay for themselves over a short time. Thinking green when building and remodeling is no exception. Here are a few tips that are helping millions of people be more earth friendly while saving cash when building and remodeling:

Green Grass Roof: Let’s approach this top to bottom. There are several green tips for your roof. One is green grass roofs. Green grass roofs are becoming more common every day. They are both cost efficient and attractive. You easily apply a green roofing system to your entire roof or just a portion. The extra insulation helps keep energy cost down.

Solar panels: Solar panels have been around for ages now, but thanks to almost daily advances in technology they are now more accessible and cost effective to the general public. New attractive designs make them more visually appealing. There are clever ways to install them so that your roof is not covered from one end to the other with solar panels. Solar panels are most often used to heat swimming pools and they may even power an entire home.

Wind turbines: These are another excellent idea for gathering free energy from your natural surroundings. Wind turbines are highly effective in producing energy for your home by using wind as its power source. Before you get too excited about nabbing some of that free electricity be sure to first check your local building codes.

Water collection systems: While collecting rain water is not a new concept the technology surrounding this method has changed to become more efficient. Many hardware stores carry large barrels that are used for the sole purpose of collecting rain water. This water can be used to water plants as well as other uses limited only by ones imagination. Use collected rain water with a simple filtration system and solar energy and you have a free shower.

Recycled materials: Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of recycled materials is that they are so versatile. There are no limits to the recycled materials that can be used in green architecture designs. Reclaimed wood can be used for flooring, trim and exposed wood ceilings. Recycled rubber tire chips can be used in landscaping. Even broken glass fragments are being used inside walls for insulation.

Just remember to keep open lines of communication with your architecture firm so that you two can fully evaluate any and all viable green options.

Retail Architecture Influences Interior Design

Crafting the architecture of a retail environment can help dictate interior design. Retail interior designers are trained to learn what will attract the customer to certain areas of the store, while complementing outside architectural elements.

Window displays can be an important part of retail design when the windows are located in an indoor or outdoor mall. What the customer sees when walking by will determine if they will come in and shop. Bright colors are a must; our eyes are attracted to them! Most likely some sort of metal might be added in with jewelry, lamps, appliances, etc. Ah, they’ve grabbed your attention now!

Inside displays are set up to guide your eyes directly to products. A “pathway” is created to allow visitors to easily walk from display to display and not get caught in a “dead” zone. This improves foot traffic, which is great for boosting retailer profits. Lighting can be an added advantage; with the right amount of light focused on an item, our eyes are drawn to the display. When products are placed on shelves shadows can take away from the coloring. To prevent this, lights are placed above the shelves to keep our interest.

Color inside the store is a huge factor in keeping you inside. This might mean the products themselves or with coloring on the walls. When color is used on the walls fixtures themselves tend to “disappear,” keeping the eyes concentrating on brighter colors. Often you will find the bright colored walls towards the back of the store or near the sales counter. This will unconsciously lead the customer to the back (and hopefully they will buy more if they walk through the entire store). Some stores like to keep the walls, flooring, and fixtures very neutral. This is likely to allow the store to avoid appearing “dated” or clash with seasonal color trends. It is then up to the visual merchandiser to be able to pop the products by their color. Often you will see this in clothing stores, souvenir shops, or furniture/accessory stores.

When visiting your next retail location, consider how the outside architecture influence the interior design. You may notice some cost-saving, profit-boosting elements!

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