B1 Reading - Welcome to the home of the future

B1 Reading

Welcome to the home of the future

The 2019 British Homes Awards challenged the industry to design a house that can adapt to different life stages. The participants were asked to rethink the construction and design of individual homes, so that they were easily adaptable to less mobile inhabitants, and also to create communities in which ageing occupants could continue to enjoy shared amenities.

The top design also had to be attractive to its potential buyers, because the competition was put to the public vote. The winner, gaining 12,000 votes from Mail on Sunday readers, was the strikingly modern Sunnyside Up, designed by Kosi Architects. Here are its three main features:

 Upside Down House

The architects took as a starting point the accepted norm for a house, rows of houses facing onto streets crammed with cars, with living rooms on the ground floor and bedrooms above. Then they scrapped it. They ended up with the living room, dining room and kitchen on the top floor where they can benefit from the light and views, and maximise energy efficiency. And they put the bedrooms on the ground floor where the garden aspect gives inhabitants increased privacy, and a cool temperature is maintained throughout the day. The two floors are linked by wide, gentle gradient stairs, which are designed to allow for a stair lift to be fitted if necessary as owners age.

Concealed Parking Spaces

But the feature that, according to Warren Rosing, one of the Kosi architects responsible for the design, was particularly popular with the public, is actually the parking. In a Sunnyside Up development no one has to look out onto a street full of cars, or worry about their kids being run over, because the terrace zone at the first floor level link all the homes and is a car-free zone. Vehicles are tucked away on the lower floor, leaving safe and pleasant spaces outside the houses for people to meet, and kids to play.

A lift takes people directly from garage to living area, so that all residents, including the elderly and those with heavy shopping, can move comfortably between the floors. The natural feel of the front area is enhanced by the planters that are placed outside the kitchens at the front to encourage residents to grow vegetables and flowers where they can be seen. The idea is that not only would they look pretty, but they would be a talking point, encouraging interaction between residents on the terrace area outside.

Flexible Spaces

But it’s the fact that the space is designed to adapt to the changing needs, including the fluctuating income of its owners, that makes it a thought-provoking, as well as a winning, design. The lower-floor bedrooms have separate outdoor access so they can be easily let. The idea is that owners can get some extra money to pay for their mortgages during the first years. And later in the future, those bedrooms can be used as a granny flat, or an office, and can easily be converted into a separate one-bed flat if your kids won’t leave home. And if more space is required, as well as the usual loft that can be converted, there is potential for a gallery floor to be inserted in the living room.

Where can you get one?

At the moment the Sunnyside Up house is still just a set of drawings. But Warren Rosing says, “We are hoping to have it built.” The organisers are in talks with builders, but due to the economic climate it may take longer than we would like. 'Were sure it will be worth the wait” they say.

Multiple Choice

According to the article, The British Homes Awards challenged architects to design a house …

• for disabled people

• for ageing inhabitants

• that could adapt to all ages

• for young families with children

Multiple Choice

According to the article, in the winning property, bedrooms are downstairs to …

• benefit from the view

• have easier access to the house

• have more privacy in the living room

• keep the same pleasant atmosphere the whole day

Multiple Choice

According to the article, the parking spaces in this house design are …

• on the first floor

• on the ground floor

• in a separate building

• in the street

Multiple Choice

According to the article, in the Sunnyside Up house the ground floor ...

• can be rented

• can be sold separately

• is only used to store cars

• has a room for grandparents

Multiple Choice

We learn from the article that …

• children can play safely outside the house

• the houses overlook a street crammed with cars

• the back garden is the main talking point for the inhabitants

Multiple Choice

According to the article, the house has been designed …

• to be rented

• to be shared if necessary

• for families with a small income

Multiple Choice

According to the article, the Sunnyside Up development …

• is being built

• will never be built

• will hopefully be built

• has been recently built

Multiple Choice

Why was Stonehenge built here?

• Because it's a strategic point.

• We don't know.

• Because there are rivers near the place.

Multiple Choice

How many people visit Stonehenge?

• Six thousand every day of the year.

• One million every summer

• Six thousand every summer day.

Multiple Choice

Stonehenge was built ...

• 5,000 years ago

• 2,500 BC

• 2,500 years ago

Multiple Choice

What do we know about the people who built it?

• Its the place where they lived.

• Nothing

• We know a little about their rituals.

Multiple Choice

What do we know about the stones?

• They all come from Wales.

• The small rocks come from far away.

• They all come from 25-30 Km away.

Multiple Choice

How did they carry the stones?

• Probably using animals.

• Using advanced technology for that time.

• Probably a lot of men were needed.

Multiple Choice

Which of these theories does he mention about why it was build?

• Astronomical calendar.

• Ritual sacrifices.

• Religious

Use of English

Read the text and choose the correct answer for each gap.

Multiple Choice

Many people have tried _______ smoking at some point in their lives,

• to put down

• putting dwn

• giving up

• to give up

Multiple Choice

and these days many of us ______ to stop taking ______ substance which is not cigarettes,

• attempt / the other

• are attempting / another

• attempted / other

• had attempted / others

Multiple Choice

but which ________ be killing the same number of people ______ tobacco, or even more. I am talking about sugar.

• is able to / that

• might / as

• should / so

• can / than

Multiple Choice

When I went to the doctor five years ago, he told me that sugar _________ kill me one day if I didn’t avoid _______ it.

• should / eat

• could / eating

• would / eating

• will / eat

Multiple Choice

My only chance of long-term survival, said the doctor, was ________ all sugar from my diet.

• cutting out

• cutted out

• cut out

• cuts out

Multiple Choice

Before that day, I ________ to quit anything;

• has never tried

• have never tried

• had never tried

• having never tried

Multiple Choice

________ , I didn’t think it would be too difficult. “I have achieved difficult things in my life, much more difficult than that,” I thought. It wasn't true.

• But

• However

• Although

• Because

Multiple Choice

I didn't know how difficult it was to stop smoking, or drinking alcohol, because I __________ addicted to anything, but when I stopped eating sugar, I realised that sugar is a very powerful drug.

• has never been

• have never been

• will never been

• had never been

Multiple Choice

I think it __________ easier if I had been addicted to nicotine, for example, instead of sugar.

• had have been

• should have been

• could have been

• would have been

Multiple Choice

The first few weeks or months I ___________ that I was eating chocolate or cakes, and then I woke up in the morning and my body was crying for sugar.

• use to fream

• used to dream

• using to dream

• was to dream

Multiple Choice

It's been 3 months now, and I ____________ very, very little sugar in that time; only the added sugar that food manufacturers put in some of their processed products, like bread, tinned tomato, etc.

• have eaten

• has eaten

• will eaten

• been eaten

Multiple Choice

I am very happy because I don't crave sweet things any more, and I feel ________ healthier and energetic than a few months ago.

• more

• so

• much

• many