May Practice News

This month we are excited to share news about our Paddock House & Paddock Gardens project, updates from our Bristol church scheme, and good news about the Brick Pavilion.

Planning submitted in Brockenhurst

We have recently submitted planning for two new houses in the village of Brockenhusrt, in the New Forest National Park.

Paddock House is a low energy, five bedroom replacement dwelling, and Paddock Garden is a smaller three-bed new build home, designed to maximise the potential of the owners adjacent field.

Our designs thoughtfully respond to the rural setting; we have carefully considered the plot ratios of neighbouring homes in order to deliver contemporary, sustainable homes that are balanced and appropriate for this village centre context within the national park. Read more about the projects here. 

 

Progress at St Barnabas Church

Our phased works at the Bristol based St Barnabas Church are progressing well. The first step of our designs proposals focuses on improving the internal layout to create a space that functions better for the local community, following the feedback from our engagement workshops.

Key design moves include the relocation of the kitchen, reconfiguring of the large open plan interior, and the introduction of smaller, more flexible rooms for events and community use. The improvements have also prioritised improving accessibility, including new WC facilities, widened door openings, and the installation of lists into the building. We look forward to seeing this phase of the community project completed.

 

Planning Secured for Brick Pavilion

We are absolutely delighted to have received planning approval for our new arts community facility located in the heart of Chichester, reusing the locally important Brick Pavillion.

The building, having stood vacant for several years, had fallen into disrepair resulting in it becoming a magnet for ongoing antisocial behaviour and vandalism.

We are thrilled to be reimagining the building, working in collaboration with Chichester Community Development Trust, to bring it back into the heart of the community. We are looking forward to bringing updates as this project progresses to site.

 

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Planning secured for Brick Pavilion

We are absolutely delighted to have received planning approval for our new arts community facility located in the heart of Chichester, reusing the locally important Brick Pavillion.

The building, having stood vacant for several years, had fallen into disrepair resulting in it becoming a magnet for ongoing antisocial behaviour and vandalism. We are thrilled to be reimagining the building, working in collaboration with Chichester Community Development Trust, to bring it back into the heart of the community.

We look forward to bringing updates from site as we start the construction stage later this year.

Planning submitted for two New Forest homes

We have recently submitted planning permission for two new contemporary homes in the village of Brockenhurst, in the New Forest.

Paddock House and Paddock Garden will deliver two new independent homes. Paddock Homes is a replacement dwelling, delivering a low energy five bedroom family house. Paddock Gardens is a smaller new build, maximising the potential of the adjacent, and underused paddock field, to deliver a three bedroom home.

Our design responds to the rural setting, while also have carefully considered the plot ratios of neighbouring village homes in order to deliver contemporary, sustainable homes that are balanced and appropriate for the New Forest context, while also reaching the full potential of the site.

April Practice News

This month, we’re proud to share beautifully captured photographs of The Granary by Richard Chivers, along with news of the start on site at St Barnabas, and highlights from a recent event with the University of Reading School of Architecture.

The Granary completes

We’re delighted to share images of the recently completed The Granary, a truly unique project located near Burley in the New Forest National Park. The original property forms part of a late 18th-century agricultural model farm. While the building itself is not listed, it sits within the curtilage of a listed structure, which made the planning process more complex.

Our design carefully reworks the existing building, infilling the open carport at ground floor level to extend the living accommodation and bring the primary living spaces down to this level. This approach allows the first floor to accommodate more private functions.

The result is a generous and flexible ground floor, with the potential to create additional bedrooms as needed, supporting the long-term future of the building for its young owners.

Have a look at more completed photos here.

St Barnabas started onsite

Phase One of the church renovation is now underway on site. Located in the Knowle district, close to Bristol city centre, the church required reconfiguration to better support the needs of its local community.

This phase of work focuses on the interior, creating more accessible and flexible facilities, including an upgraded kitchen, private meeting spaces, improved WC provision, and a range of sustainable enhancements.

We look forward to sharing further updates as the project progresses, learn more about the project here. 

Reading University Lecture

Darren was invited to take part in the University of Reading School of Architecture’s latest lecture series, The Politics of Space, this month.

His presentation, titled Small Moves, Big Impact, explored how architecture and design can achieve more with less. The talk reflected on a number of key projects Studio BAD has delivered over the past seven years, with a particular focus on community-led work, including St Margarets Church, Bedford Place, and October Books.

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Reading University Lecture

Darren was invited to take part in the latest Reading University School of Architecture lecture series ‘The Politics of Space’ this month.

His presentation was titled ‘Small Moves, Big Impact’ and focused on the ability to use architecture and design to do more, but with less. The talk reviewed some of the key projects Studio BAD has undertaken over the last seven years, focusing on many of our community projects such as St Margarets Church, Bedford Place, and October Books.

March Practice News

In this month’s update, we are sharing news of sustainable EV charging at Marwell Zoo, update on the Brick Pavilion project in Chichester, and another award win for our Brockenhurst House.

New Forest Design Award Win

We are honoured to have had our Brockenhurst House awarded with Best Residential Project in this years New Forest Design Award, the second award for this project so far!

These awards are organised by the New Forest District Council, set up to recognise high quality design and the best new developments within the New Forest National Park.

The judges commented, ‘this design was a noteworthy combination of modern, forward-thinking ideas, which referenced the local vernacular in materials, and employed good green credentials. They were particularly pleased to see a proposal more in spirit of the government’s advice over embodied carbon, with retention over replacement, and showcasing a retrofit scheme on a more typical modern dwelling found within the New Forest.’

Chichester Brick Pavilion update

We have submitted planning for our Brick Pavilion project, an exciting milestone in this community project. Our design reimagines and redevelops the vacant, locally significant building situated in the north-west corner of the cities Priory Park.

We have been working in collaboration with Chichester Community Development Trust (CDT). To help steer the designs we have hosted communitte engagment events, to explore how this neglected building can be restored, using design to deliver a valuable community asset.

Sustainable EV Charging at Marwell

We have achieved planning permission for a unique, fully off grid electrical vehicle charging system at Marwell Zoo, working in collaboration with the University of Southampton and the FEVER research project.

The project delivers over 20 EV charging spaces, designed with solar panels installed on butterfly roofs, which are linked to battery storage and a back up generator.

The design offers visitors an opportunity to charge their cars sustainably, aligning with the zoo’s strong commitment in this area. Learn more here.