Sustainable Spaces
Making light work
Natural light has a huge influence on how a home feels.
Morning sun in the kitchen, soft afternoon light in a living space, or a glimpse of sky from a quiet corner can completely change the way a room is experienced.
We think carefully about how light enters, moves through and settles within a home, using windows, rooflights, openings and materials to make the most of every opportunity. The aim is simple: to create bright, uplifting spaces that feel comfortable to live in, beautifully connected to the outdoors and enjoyable throughout the day and across the seasons.
What Sustainability Means to Us
Design for the future
A building that remains useful for longer is more sustainable. Robust brief exploration to embed future usefulness and expertise in delivering durable construction.
Assured comfort with Low Environmental Impact
Mark is a Certified Passivhaus Architect. The passivhaus standards provide assured comfort as well as guaranteed low energy use year-in-year-out.
As we lower the In Use Energy of a building, so the Carbon footprint of its construction becomes a greater factor in its life-time carbon footprint. We have established expertise in low carbon materials, local sourcing where possible, and intelligent engineering to minimise material quantities.
Biodiversity
We value every site, and explore opportunities to cherish what is there and exploit its potential for increased diversity [a legal requirement for larger sites]. All our designs are integrated into the landscape, often designed in collaboration with ecologists, including bio-diverse roofs. Mark is currently re-wilding his Cornish fields with oak seedlings, wetland and fruit orchard.
Our work
Innes Architects have managed over 30 projects in North Cornwall
Explore a small selection of recent work
As featured on Grand Designs this Passive House was designed around comfort, simplicity aswell as performance. It combines clean forms, carefully proportioned openings and a restrained palette of natural materials. The architecture is quiet and considered, allowing light, texture and views to shape the experience of the home. Exceptional insulation, airtightness and ventilation provide year-round comfort with minimal energy use.
This extension creates a generous new heart to the home, bringing kitchen, dining and living spaces together in one calm, light-filled room. The design responds quietly to the character of the Manor House, using simple forms, carefully framed views and a restrained material palette. The result is a relaxed, contemporary space that feels connected to the garden and effortless to live in.
This extension uses a restrained palette of slate and timber to create a simple, contemporary addition with a strong sense of place. Carefully detailed junctions and deeply framed openings give the building definition without unnecessary fuss. The contrasting materials will weather naturally over time, while generous glazing brings light into the interior and creates a closer connection with the surrounding landscape.
This project uses a simple palette of timber, glass and a planted roof to reduce its visual impact on the site. Large areas of glazing bring daylight into the main living spaces, while roof-mounted solar panels contribute to the building’s energy performance. The design is compact, practical and clearly expressed, with materials chosen to suit the rural setting and age well over time.
This project uses a palette of timber, glass and a planted roof to reduce its visual impact on the site. Large areas of glazing bring daylight into the living spaces, while the solar array formed an important part of the environmental strategy. The project later became an inspiration for the solar approach adopted on the Grand Designs house.
Making Light Work. The entrance is designed as a light-filled transition between inside and out. Exposed timber framing and large areas of glazing give the space a clear structure, while high-level windows draw daylight deep into the plan. Simple materials and visible construction details keep the design practical and direct, creating an informal arrival space that connects naturally with the garden beyond.
This project brings together existing slate roofs with a new standing-seam metal roof, using the change in material to clearly distinguish old from new. Carefully formed junctions, rooflights and concealed drainage resolve a complex roofscape while bringing daylight into the spaces below. The result is a practical, durable intervention that adds a contemporary layer without competing with the original building.
Grand Designs - Behind the scenes
Behind 45 minutes of TV lies months of effort. Lots of visits my the lean-team of Marc and Megan, filming, asking questions, organising. At pivotal times, the bigger production team with Kevin at the centre of it all.
Could we avoid the characteristic Grand Designs redemption from disaster? As professionals our job is to help avoid disaster! For us, the project had a much more engaging theme: The Learning Journey. Visits by Mark’s students from the Falmouth University Architecture degree course, Bryony’s local school kids, and the collaborative ethos underpinning the clients and the build team were all forms of mutual education. Will this come across in the programme? We hope so. Will it replace the disaster redemption story arc? Well, there wasn’t a disaster, the build went wonderfully well, but the programme does like some dramatic tension…
The question we are most asked is - “what is Kevin like”. The answer is, a really genuinely warm, interesting and interested person, with a passion for engagement and knowledge sharing. And like us, he has a thing for Douglas Fir, a foolproof indicator of a great human being.
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