Architectural Consultants Ltd.

As it seems to have kicked off in the intriguing thread, which is a bit intriguing...
The thing is that, as RJS in particular will be well aware of, those darned architects shape our urban landscapes, and you can't avoid their handiwork, good, bad, and just 'meh'.
Anyway, to kick things off, here's a view I quite like in Topsham, with two new builds echoing the building in between, a an old warehouse from Topsham's days as a prosperous port. I think the one in the foreground is Tim Martin's (he of Wetherspoons fame).
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See I quite like that too. I don't know why but probably because although it is a mix of old and new they feel in keeping. I don't have a clue what the symbolism may be though.
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It makes me think of the changes in archaeology as presented in museums: in the 19th century, if they were piecing bits of artefacts back together, they would try to make the replacement of bits lost look like the original bits, whereas more enlightened recent practice is to make clear what is modern replacement.
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FWIW, here's the viewpoint of what was at one stage an industrial landscape:
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There you go. Former industrial landscape => industrial steel framed shed softened up with some rather nicer timber cladding and and some big windows.
It's not as overt as the examples mentioned on the other thread, but it's still saying something about how the owner wants to present themselves.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
If you buy a place like that how to do you establish whether it will flood or whether water will affect the foundations?
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Well, the building in this photo, apparently you could hear water under the floorboards at high tide, so I guess that that was a clue, but they still paid £1.5m for it. I would guess they've spent as much again pouring in 100s of tonnes of concrete, rebuilding from scratch everything on the left, and completely gutting the bit on the right and stabilising the walls. I think it's been about 18 months of work so far, with several teams working on the site. All overseen by an architecture practice, of course.
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Re flooding, I guess that there are reasonable forecasts on sea-level rise, tide forecasts taking account of that, and possible storm surges after heavy rain, with zillions of extra gallons coming down the Exe, and an incoming tide pushed higher by strong SE winds.
tl;dr I'd not want to live there, even no, let alone in 50 years time, if predictions are borne out.
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I think the short answer is you don't. We looked at a few in passing and they tend to be unmortgageable.
If it used to be a mill, it is liable to flooding. If it used to be a mine building it's liable to subsidence, if it is on a dock associated with mining, it will flood, just a question of when.
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I remember seeing a "Grand Design" posh gaff on the Thames and they made it float like a boat.
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That was fantastic. Slightly out of my price range though.
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Here you go.
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It's a house which is amphibious.
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The utility connections would be interesting.
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You could park your backwards row boat by it.
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A former colleague did the barge thing in one of the South London docks. Apparently it was somewhat less well insulated than a caravan. Character building stuff.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
I'd worry more about leaks. It's not like you can pop a tile back in place.
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That's what a bilge pump is for, no?
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0