Even a plantroom is Instagram worthy, with the services beautifully expressing their own rigor and order. It reminds me of the Pompidou centre in Paris, where the services are celebrated on the outside of the building. (see picture in post of a fresher faced Cian and Gemma!).
Full disclosure, I will struggle to explain how the services system works in a simple way.
We have a Midea monobloc heat recovery unit that sits outside and generates heat in a slightly magical heat exchange process. This heats a hot water tank internally which supplies water for showers and underfloor heating.
The cold water coming in from the mains, fills up the blue storage water tank, this is usually located in most people’s attics. We have a submergible pump to give the desired pressure and a bypass value if we have a power cut. The plantroom is a translation of the heating diagrams and systems into 3D. I really appreciated that our plumber Dave from Bromur took such pride in his work, ensuring equal spacing between pipes, there is such joy in order! It looks like an underground map following all the routes from the water source to their final destination to keep us clean.
The blue pipes are the supply and extract pipes for our heat recovery ventilation system. These are connected to the outside through the separate supply and extract pipes insulated to prevent any condensation forming. This ventilation system is needed as we have an extremely airtight house.
It’s a far cry from the homes that were built in this village 100 years ago, before the comforts of electricity had arrived. What would our ancestors think of the modern way of building and living? Once electricity arrived in the 1950’s, it created an exodus to the main road to connect to the lines of power. What an achievement that the power now comes to our doorsteps, regardless of where we call home, but also to the detriment of landscape filled with poles. Perhaps the next generation will make the services more beautifully seamless and return us to an uncluttered landscape.
