Bere Admin April 2nd, 2008
A further research trip is planned for April 2008 and Dan Gibbons will also participate in the technical and creative research that bere:architects is conducting to address the ecological imperatives of 21st century architectural design. Details will follow shortly of the directors’ forthcoming visits to some of the European mainland’s leading manufacturers of (a) timber construction products (b) Passivhaus heat recovery ventilation products (c) Passivhaus façade products. Quentin Newark, John Powner and of Atelier Works (www.atelierworks.co.uk) will also be accompanying bere:architects on part of this research trip.
Bere Admin March 25th, 2008
After a private tour of the Danish Embassy in London, designed by Arne Jacobsen, Justin Bere attended a small private reception with Tony Fretton, architect, hosted by the Danish ambassador in his ambassador’s suite above the embassy overlooking London’s Sloane Street.
Bere Admin March 25th, 2008
Easter Sunday saw BBC1’s Countryfile programme feature Justin Bere’s eco-house ‘The Muse’. Interviewing both Justin Bere, the architect and owner of the house and Dusty Gedge of Living Roofs, the programme provided an in-depth review of the achievements and aspirations that have driven the development of this pioneering project in the Canonbury area of Islington. Continue Reading »
Bere Admin March 13th, 2008
Justin Bere presented a philosophical lecture to the Geffrye Museum members’ 2008 annual general meeting. The talk explained the link between architecture and land resource management, particularly farming and food and energy production. Justin referred to Professor Tim Lang’s recent lecture at City University and lamented the lack of government planning that is clearly necessary in order to address the increasing and conflicting demands on land for housing, energy and food production. Continue Reading »
Bere Admin March 13th, 2008
Justin Bere accompanied the Leader of Islington Council, Cllr James Kempton (Liberal Democrat) in giving a keynote speech at the opening of what is thought to be the UK’s largest solar heating installation to date at the Highbury Swimming Pool in the London Borough of Islington. The project was made possible by the Islington Council Climate Change Fund with an unprecedented spending budget of £3 million. Justin spoke in his capacity as an elected advisor to the council, a service provided charitably by a small group of sustainability experts. Justin praised Islington voters for electing such an environmentally responsible council and in response to a vote of thanks from Cllr Kempton, Justin in turn highlighted the dedication of all the council employees who work well beyond the call of duty in order to ensure the success of this unique and important trail-blazing scheme.
Bere Admin February 29th, 2008
Justin Bere attended the GLA sustainability advisory panel meeting as an external advisor to the GLA. The panel meets regularly and is preparing the Mayor’s bold sustainability strategy for London.
Bere Admin February 27th, 2008
Justin Bere presented a lecture at Ecobuild 2008 on Passivhaus technology, which is now recognized by the RIBA as the emerging European standard for low energy design. The lecture was titled “Keep it Simple Stupid” (KISS) and explained how 15 years of Passivhaus research in Europe has resulted in proven design techniques that are clear and simple to understand and to verify for both designer and contractor. Justin argued that the clarity and authenticity of this ‘no nonsense’ approach is the essential next stage in UK sustainable design. The Passivhaus design approach overcomes the widespread confusion, failing targets, false rhetoric and ‘greenwash’ that presently plagues the UK low energy scene.
Bere Admin February 25th, 2008
20 tonnes of soil has now been loaded on to the Muse, Justin Bere’s own self-build experimental home and an all-native planting scheme has been installed in good time to get settled in before the growing season. Justin says: “at last we got 20 tonnes of soil on the roofs of my house and we have completed an all-native planting scheme, including a native hawthorn thicket, a native hazel woodland with native honeysuckle and two native wild-flower meadows. Also forty native birch trees have been planted along the gravel entranceway. The selected plants are all species native to the UK, which means they are perfectly suited to support native insects and animals, creating a comprehensive, symbiotic, fully functioning ecology. The plants were all grown in the south east of England and sourced from English Woodlands Continue Reading »
Bere Admin January 20th, 2008
By Jill Macnair
The Sunday Times
20 January 2008
Full On-Line Article
Home gave three leading eco-architects different budgets and one brief: to create a sustainable urban family dwelling. Our correspondent is impressed by the results.
exert…
Justin Bere, principal of the north London-based firm Bere Architects, designed a four-bedroom, 1,800 sq ft home costing £400,000 (plus land costs). His residential projects include Focus House, built in 2006 in Finsbury Park, north London, which won the Riba London Region Award 2007, among other prizes. His practice is a devotee of PassivHaus, an established German style of energy-efficient construction. Continue Reading »
Bere Admin January 15th, 2008
Justin Bere spent another week in Germany and Austria in January studying Passivhaus projects and technology. He also met Hermann Kaufmann who is at the forefront of Passivhaus design in Europe. Although he is not yet well known in the UK, Hermann Kaufmann is famous in mainland Europe for demonstrating how technically advanced low energy buildings can also be inspirationally designed. Justin believes that Hermann Kaufmann’s work represents the pinnacle of architectural design because he achieves the highest quality architectural design standards whilst also being constrained by the discipline of Europe’s most advanced energy saving standard, the Passivhaus standard. (see the BRE website www.passivhaus.org.uk)
Continue Reading »
Bere Admin December 27th, 2007
Grand Designs Magazine
December 2007
Jutting out at the end of a mundane Victorian terrace in North London, what looks like a couple of striking zinc-clad boxes stacked on top of each other turns out to be the three bedroom family home of Edward Gibbs and Felicity Caning. Designed by eco architect Justin Bere, Focus House occupies the skinny, wedge-shaped sit of a former car park, a plot that was big enough for a grand total of five cars. The new 250sqm building is a mind-boggling example of how to manipulate an awkward piece of land, especially as ‘it isn’t the rectangular shape you get at the end of most terraces,’ says graphic designer and illustrator Edward.
Download Focus House Grand Designs Article.pdf
admin October 24th, 2007
By Pamela Buxton
Building Design
12 October 2007
Architect Justin Bere is so determined to be part of the solution to climate change that he’s set up his own glazing business
As an architect, it was never Justin Bere’s ambition to set up a window company. But frustration at the standard of UK-manufactured windows, coupled with his admiration for German-made Bayer products, led him to do just that, and this summer Double Good Windows was born.
Not only will the company operate as the UK agent for the super-airtight Bayer range, it also aims to encourage UK manufacturers to produce similarly high-performing windows of their own.
“I realised that people’s expectations in the UK are much lower than they need to be,” says Bere.
“I saw the opportunity to help bring about a rapid change in the environmental performance of UK buildings through something quite simple — windows and doors.”
Bere’s quest for premium airtight windows began six years ago, when he conceived the design for his own house in Islington, north London. Determined to make it as energy-efficient as possible, he designed his own triple-glazed windows with double seals, taking inspiration from the Swedish-made windows he’d seen at the 1960s offices by YRM at Greystoke Place in central London.
Continue Reading
Bere Admin August 31st, 2007
A video of the Grand Designs Magazine Awards evening, featuring Justin Bere, has now been posted on their website.
http://2.www.granddesignsmagazineawards.com/gdawards07/press_images.shtml
Bere Admin June 13th, 2007
bere:architects were awarded Best Eco House at the Grand Designs Awards on Friday night. The awards, presented by Kevin McCloud, were recorded for television. In his statement afterwards for the television cameras, Justin Bere expressed the sentiment that we are very fortunate to live and work in the UK in the early 21st Century. “Most people in the world do not have the opportunities that we have…” he said, “…and this makes it all the more important to try to do the right thing for the greater good.”
Bere Admin June 6th, 2007
bere:architects were last night presented with the Small House of the Year award for the Focus House project in North London at the British Homes Awards 2007. The awards, presented by Jack Pringle, President of the RIBA and Fiona Fullerton, columnist for the Daily Mail, were sponsored by The Mail on Sunday, NHBC and BRE. bere:architects had also been shortlisted in the Home for the Future category for Comfort-Haus.
Read the article from Property on Sunday Continue Reading »
Bere Admin May 15th, 2007
PassivHaus Study Tour
21 & 22 May 2007
Hanover, Germany
This seminar is aimed at housing professionals and professional bodies whom are involved in lowenergy housing. Pro-active company directors, decision makers, architects, contractors and developers will be represented at the study tour.
BRE is offering a unique opportunity, as a part of this study tour, to experience first hand what it means to live, work and design PassivHaus dwellings.
More information and Booking form
DG May 15th, 2007
The RIBA last night presented bere:architects with a London Region Award for the Focus House project in North London. The house will now be put forward for the RIBA National Awards in June.
Bere Admin May 11th, 2007
Concept
The amazing thing about Comfort-Haus is that it doesn’t need a boiler. It has no radiators, no underfloor heating or air conditioning, yet it stays warm in winter and cool in summer. With insulation three times better than current building standards and air-tightness 14 times better than building regulations, the heat from people, appliances and the sun are retained in the building to maintain a comfortable year-round temperature.
Community
Comfort-Haus has been designed to allow communities to grow and evolve. It is easily adaptable to changes in its occupant’s requirements and allows people to grow old among their lifelong friends. The whole ground floor of Comfort-Haus can easily be converted into an autonomous “granny flat” with a carer accommodated above, so that families and communities can remain intact. Continue Reading »
