“A spacious light and airy home in the Cotswolds, with a blend of traditional and contemporary styles inside and out ” Project Background Our clients wanted to move house to be closer to their daughter. They have found a plot in the ideal location, but would like to build a replacement dwelling as the current house is unattractive and inefficient. The House The plot is very narrow and is in a conservation area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our clients asked us to design a contemporary four bedroom house with open plan living, and a connection and flow between the interior and exterior space. Progress Designing a replacement dwelling for a site within an AONB has its challenges. As is common with sites of this nature there can be no increase in footprint and any increase in height and volume must be immaterial. Planning officers will evaluate scheme designs to make sure that any new dwellings do not have any detrimental impact to public viewpoints into the AONB, and if anything, must enhance it. “I wanted to make sure that the design made the most of the amazing views into the garden and valley below”, says architect Luke Jackson. “Because we are in a conservation area we had to make sure that the front of the house complimented the neighbouring properties, so I have created a beautifully crafted front elevation which compliments the traditional Cotswold village style/aesthetic. However I designed the rear to be more contemporary with a balcony and lots of glazing facing the garden. The end design is a stunning light and airy home with great views, where our clients can live, relax and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings of the Cotswold countryside.”

“A spacious light and airy home in the Cotswolds, with a blend of traditional and contemporary styles inside and out ” Project Background Our clients wanted to move house to be closer to their daughter. They have found a plot in the ideal location, but would like to build a replacement dwelling as the current house is unattractive and inefficient. The House The plot is very narrow and is in a conservation area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our clients asked us to design a contemporary four bedroom house with open plan living, and a connection and flow between the interior and exterior space. Progress Designing a replacement dwelling for a site within an AONB has its challenges. As is common with sites of this nature there can be no increase in footprint and any increase in height and volume must be immaterial. Planning officers will evaluate scheme designs to make sure that any new dwellings do not have any detrimental impact to public viewpoints into the AONB, and if anything, must enhance it. “I wanted to make sure that the design made the most of the amazing views into the garden and valley below”, says architect Luke Jackson. “Because we are in a conservation area we had to make sure that the front of the house complimented the neighbouring properties, so I have created a beautifully crafted front elevation which compliments the traditional Cotswold village style/aesthetic. However I designed the rear to be more contemporary with a balcony and lots of glazing facing the garden. The end design is a stunning light and airy home with great views, where our clients can live, relax and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings of the Cotswold countryside.”

Located on a corner plot, the site gave opportunity to design an atypical extension for the area. Although obtaining planning permission was challenging, it was proven that a flat roof single storey wing projecting 9.5m off the rear of the house would have no detrimental impact on neighbours and completely change the function, layout and circulation of the house. Shifting the orientation of the extension 90° results in two sides of the house opening up to the garden, with the new aspect south facing. This significantly improves the overall connection to the garden and forms a bright and naturally lit space. The extension hosts a large kitchen, dining and living space with two sets of bi-fold steel framed doors and roof lanterns.

“A spacious light and airy home in the Cotswolds, with a blend of traditional and contemporary styles inside and out ” Project Background Our clients wanted to move house to be closer to their daughter. They have found a plot in the ideal location, but would like to build a replacement dwelling as the current house is unattractive and inefficient. The House The plot is very narrow and is in a conservation area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our clients asked us to design a contemporary four bedroom house with open plan living, and a connection and flow between the interior and exterior space. Progress Designing a replacement dwelling for a site within an AONB has its challenges. As is common with sites of this nature there can be no increase in footprint and any increase in height and volume must be immaterial. Planning officers will evaluate scheme designs to make sure that any new dwellings do not have any detrimental impact to public viewpoints into the AONB, and if anything, must enhance it. “I wanted to make sure that the design made the most of the amazing views into the garden and valley below”, says architect Luke Jackson. “Because we are in a conservation area we had to make sure that the front of the house complimented the neighbouring properties, so I have created a beautifully crafted front elevation which compliments the traditional Cotswold village style/aesthetic. However I designed the rear to be more contemporary with a balcony and lots of glazing facing the garden. The end design is a stunning light and airy home with great views, where our clients can live, relax and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings of the Cotswold countryside.”

“A spacious light and airy home in the Cotswolds, with a blend of traditional and contemporary styles inside and out ” Project Background Our clients wanted to move house to be closer to their daughter. They have found a plot in the ideal location, but would like to build a replacement dwelling as the current house is unattractive and inefficient. The House The plot is very narrow and is in a conservation area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our clients asked us to design a contemporary four bedroom house with open plan living, and a connection and flow between the interior and exterior space. Progress Designing a replacement dwelling for a site within an AONB has its challenges. As is common with sites of this nature there can be no increase in footprint and any increase in height and volume must be immaterial. Planning officers will evaluate scheme designs to make sure that any new dwellings do not have any detrimental impact to public viewpoints into the AONB, and if anything, must enhance it. “I wanted to make sure that the design made the most of the amazing views into the garden and valley below”, says architect Luke Jackson. “Because we are in a conservation area we had to make sure that the front of the house complimented the neighbouring properties, so I have created a beautifully crafted front elevation which compliments the traditional Cotswold village style/aesthetic. However I designed the rear to be more contemporary with a balcony and lots of glazing facing the garden. The end design is a stunning light and airy home with great views, where our clients can live, relax and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings of the Cotswold countryside.”

Winter has arrived and this means many months of snow and ice are ahead. When trees shed their leaves and go dormant for the winter, this is like how bears hibernate; they are both sleeping through the cold and waiting until the warm spring weather comes back. But unlike hibernating bears, who are safe and snuggled up in a warm cave somewhere, trees are left to withstand the harsh, cold elements throughout the entire winter. This means that they are more impacted than you might believe. It is easier for mature trees to be able to handle the long winter months due to their extensive root system and thick bark. But saplings and other newly planted trees are not yet fully equipped with these natural defenses to handle the cold. No matter if you have new or older trees, following our tips will help them prosper during the cold Canadian winter ahead. Our team at Five Star Tree Services has come up with some winter maintenance essentials for your trees that will give them an extra hand over the winter. One Last Water Getting one last good watering in before the ground freezes is helpful to newly planted and young trees. Always make sure to water your tree slowly and gently. This allows the water to seep down into the root system as opposed to it running off the top and freezing. Apply Mulch When you use mulch, it acts like a barrier between the tree roots and the cold snow, it helps to insulate it. When you are applying mulch, make sure you spread it around the base of the tree so that it is no more than 3 inches deep. You also need to make sure to spread the mulch all the way to the drip line surrounding the tree. Make sure to not exceed 3 inches around your entire tree and keep the mulch away from the trunk of the tree. Wrap Tree Trunks There is a condition called sunscalding that can occur during the winter months. This happens when there is a temperature change that happens quickly. You might notice it when the sun warms the trees, which thaws the bark but during the night, when it gets cold again, it causes the melted water in the bark to rupture, causing cracks in the tree’s trunk. Young trees are especially susceptible to this happening. To help stop this from happening, it is best to wrap your trees with tree wraps or a plastic guard. It is advisable to wrap the trunk from the ground up and stop just below the first branch. Shelter Your Trees Young or newly planted trees are fairly defenseless for the first handful of years. Older and more mature trees have had time to develop a strong root system and hardy bark that help to protect them against things like animals and the freezing cold. If you want to help your little sapling along this winter, you can build a shelter that can handle having snow piled on it. You can also periodically use a broom to brush off the snow that accumulates on a tree’s branches. But try to avoid breaking off any ice that has formed on the branches, as this can actually end up hurting the tree if you accidentally break one of its branches instead. Keep Road Salt Away It’s no big secret that the use of road salt is detrimental to trees. When it gets on them, the end result come springtime is a dead tree, or at least, a severely damaged one. As much as you can, protect your trees and limit their exposure to salt over the winter. Protect Your Trees Winter is not only limiting for trees, but for a lot of other animals as well. This includes rabbits, mice, moles, squirrels, and other furry little creatures, who like to use trees as a food source during the summer months. During the winter, this food is now cut off when the trees go dormant. This only leaves the tree’s bark as an alternative food source for these critters. They seem to especially like young tree bark to chew on over the winter. In order to stop this from happening, you need to protect the bark with things like a fence surrounding your tree, wrapping the trunk with a plastic guard or hardware cloth. Winter Pruning The best time to prune any tree is during the winter months when the tree is dormant. Pruning allows you to rid the tree of any excess branches and control disease. Winter pruning is highly beneficial and lets your tree improve branch development in the spring. Don’t Use Always make sure to avoid products that are known to hurt trees, especially ones containing sodium chloride. Products like that cause negative reactions in trees or any plants, as it hinders their water intake. Instead, look for products that have potassium, calcium, and magnesium chloride. How Five Star Tree Services Can Help For newly planted and young trees, it is especially important to help them through the winter as best you can. We here at Five Star Tree Services are here to help you get your trees through the winter. If you require Toronto Tree Care, make sure to give us a call at (416) 990-3355.

Let's face it: times are changing. We're living in an era where technology advances at a fast pace and its developments have a significant impact on the surroundings. The need for environmental solutions has become more urgent with each passing day. While we live and adapt to our immediate environment, it doesn't mean that we have to settle with what's present, especially when our surrounding conditions are becoming detrimental to our wellbeing. This is the reason Singapore architects are looking into eco-friendly approaches when designing residential spaces. Singapore architects are becoming more proactive in integrating eco-friendly principles in their residential projects. Below are some of the standout reasons why: 1. You get to practice energy efficiency. In typical homes, electricity is powered by non-renewable sources. The continuous use of non-renewable energy increases carbon footprint and worsens air pollution, both of which negatively affect the environment. However, there are alternative sources of energy that can be included in your home's architectural design. These include solar panels and wind turbines that produce electricity that can keep the house powered. These methods do not produce toxic compounds or carbon emissions; they are also renewable and do not incur recurring expenses. 2. Eco-friendly architecture brings you closer to a more "natural environment." The emergence of urban landscapes has deprived today's generation of the opportunity to be one with nature. Individuals these days have to travel to the countryside to enjoy nature's beauty and all the amazing benefits it has to offer. Fortunately, eco-friendly architecture provides a route where you can better appreciate many of the benefits nature offers. As a homeowner, you must enjoy a calm, clean, and fresh indoor environment. Eco-friendly approaches to homes aim to provide this kind of atmosphere through the use of local materials, renewable energy sources, and incorporating nature's elements (such as sunlight and air ventilation) on the structural design. 3. You save money for maintenance and upkeep. Eco-friendly architecture is known for its low maintenance costs. At first glance, you may find it expensive to build a "green home." However, since it makes use of renewable energy sources and local resources for upkeep, operational costs become much cheaper compared to living in a conventional home. Also, green homes promote material efficiency. Apart from using local resources, eco-friendly construction involves building processes that generate as little waste as possible. Recycled and reusable materials are preferred in building the home, while the architectural design follows construction techniques that use less energy, water, and raw materials. 4. You enjoy better health. Living in a green home offers a lot of health benefits. For instance, eco-friendly architecture supports the use of natural materials and it discourages having plastic by-products in the building process. At the same time, eco-friendly architectural designs look into utilising vertical space to boost freedom of movement and air circulation. These spatial strategies allow you to breathe better even while indoors and move around the house without feeling cramped. Lastly, utilising vertical space offers more natural light to enter the home. Natural light is essential not just because it illuminates the house during the day, it also regulates the circadian rhythm, which dictates our body's waking and sleeping hours. In a nutshell Eco-friendly homes can help you save money and time, not to mention improve your health dramatically. Moreover, it can also help reduce your environmental footprint significantly. From improving air quality to helping regulate the effects of climate change, eco-friendly homes allow you to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

It’s important to make sure that all trees on your property are healthy and in good condition. This means hiring professional tree trimming services to maintain your trees yearly in order to keep them looking beautiful and healthy. In late winter or early spring is the best time to trim your trees. Doing so will help to improve the new growth that happens later in the spring. But fruit bearing trees and damaged trees can benefit from careful pruning in the summer. It takes an expert to skillfully trim trees during the summer without damaging them or causing harm and our team at Five Star Tree Services is just a call away to help you with your tree trimming needs! Why Trim Your Trees? By trimming your trees annually, this will not only open up your landscaping, which allows more sunlight to get to your property, but there are many other benefits. These can include: -Keep Trees Healthy and Promote Growth When you trim your trees in the spring, before they start producing buds, this helps to stimulate more new growth, which helps to keep trees in excellent condition. This can be especially important for saplings as it encourages them to fill out nicely and in a controlled and structurally sound way. If you are not maintaining your trees properly, they can become too dense, which causes a bunch of problems. One being that it restricts the amount of sunlight getting to all the leaves and it reduces the amount of nutrient circulation needed to support the tree. Professional tree pruning properly aids in tree growth and its overall aesthetic. Cutting off unneeded or unwanted branches allows other parts of the tree to grow easier. Ridding the tree of these extra branches also stimulates more leaf and fruit production. -Increased Safety Your landscape is affected when you neglect to take care of your trees, along with everything else on your property. If you have any dead trees remaining on your property, not only are you putting yourself at risk of injury, but you are putting your family, neighbours, pedestrians, and guests at risk as well. Dead or damaged branches can also be a hazard as they could fall at any time and impact with anyone standing too close to it, or it can fall on your house, which is another issue altogether, if it causes damage. Luckily, you are able to avoid all of this by simply having regular trimmings that will keep your trees healthy. You also need to make sure that all branches close to power lines are cut. This especially, should only be done by a trained professional in order to avoid potential electrocution. -Increase Production of Fruit If you are lucky enough to have a fruit bearing tree, it is especially important to have it professionally trimmed before and after it fruits. Doing so helps to improve its overall health and ability to bear fruit by getting rid of unhealthy branches. New fruit also develops and spurs for bearing fruit for the following year. -Manage Spreading Diseases Tree branches that are damaged tend to be prone to diseases which are able to spread to other plants and trees in your yard. Branches that are dead also have the potential to easily fall with any wind and especially during a storm. Severely damaged branches can even fall without reason. When you get your trees trimmed and pruned regularly, this prevents these things from happening. It also prevents spreading disease to other trees. Any disease branches should especially be trimmed if they are close to where kids play, people walk, or by doors. -Increase the Value of Your Property and Overall Appearance Continuous maintenance and trilling will improve the aesthetic of your property. It controls clutter and opens up the space of the landscaping. Meaning that the curbside appeal to your property increases. This is especially important if you are planning to sell your house, which will actually raise the value of your property. The first step in enhancing the appearance of your property is properly taking care of your trees. The first thing people see when they pull up to or go past your house is the trees. By simply pruning your trees you can make a good impression on potential buyers and your neighbours as well. -Safeguarding Your Property Owning a house is the biggest investment you will probably ever make. Making the effort to maintain and increase its value by keeping it in good condition should be your first priority. By trimming your trees regularly, you will be protecting your investment. Not to mention this also allows you to enjoy a nicely manicured property. Why Professionals Are Essential Professionals help to improve the health and overall condition of your trees. Trying to trim or prune your trees when you don’t know how can be detrimental. This is why hiring a professional, who has the right knowledge and tools, is better than trying to do it yourself. -Cost-Effective Think of it as a short-term expense for a long-term return on your investment. Allowing professional arborists to do your tree maintenance can potentially help to negate the costs of injuries attained from DIY home improvements related to trees, replacements and repairs. -Skilled and Experienced Real tools required for trimming a tree need to be handled properly and by the appropriate people. If a regular person were to try and use these tools, the end result could be injury and property damage. This is especially true for any trimming required around power lines. All professionals will have the right experience and skills required to wield these tools in a safe way. This minimizes the likelihood of hazards, injuries, and life-threatening incidents. -Proper Tools Heavy-duty chainsaws, ladders, and protective gear are all needed to safely and properly trim a tree. When you hire a professional, they have all the required tools and more. Meaning that you won’t have to go out and buy these tools yourself. As a professional, they also make sure that their tools are reliable and well-maintained in order to efficiently get the job done well. -Insured Professionals are also always insured with liability insurance when doing jobs to cover any damages or injuries attained while working. They are able to also provide a guarantee for the safety of your property and belongings while they are doing a job for you. How Five Star Tree Services Can Help Although trimming your tree might seem like an easy job, it’s always best to trust the professionals. Proper execution of the task requires the right skills, experience, and knowledge. Our team at Five Star Tree Services have all of this and more! Give us a call at (416) 990-3355 to enlist us for all your Toronto Tree Trimming needs!