Culverlands Farm is progressing well on site. It is always such a joy when projects move from the drawing board and into the physical world, we really enjoy and celebrate seeing our designs start to take shape.
The project has reimagined the Farm House with a contemporary 2 storey extension onto the traditional Victorian Farm House located in West Berkshire.
The clients have been very conscious through the site clearing process, looking to embrace a circular economy to reduce waste and reuse as many materials as they possibly can. Reclaimed bricks, from redundant structures on the site, are getting reused in the build, adding a unique and rich texture to the new addition.
We have started onsite for the new ‘Summer Lounge’ project in Southampton.
The collaborative project reimagines the historic Guildhall Square, animating the space with the introduction of pop up markets, performance space, seating and an 480sqm urban beach. This week we have been painting the ‘urban rug’, the bold artwork that will cohesively bring all the elements together.
We were thrilled to see our Bedford Place scheme in Southampton, and the work we collaborated on for the Southampton Tactical Urbanism project, featuring in the report on future of urban centers by Metro Dynamics. The report was prepared conjunction with the 36 key cities & core cities network across the UK, looked into our changing urban landscape.
The study has highlighted the unique, post pandemic, opportunity we have to make real and positive changes to our cities. ‘A straight bounce back for urban centers is neither likely, nor desirable.’ It uses various case studies from across the UK, demonstrating possible solutions that can assist other urban areas with their economic recovery, creating more liveable cities and greener cities.
They applauded the work Southampton has done in tackling urban changes, to create new uses for the high street and establishing culture as a key part of its economic recovery. The Bedford Place and Southampton Vinyl project are key example of these aspects coming together, working with local artists and businesses to create active, creative projects that deliver ‘go-to’ destinations.
The above image is an aerial shot of Bedford/Carlton Place, Southampton, taken in July 2021. The Bedford/Carlton Place Activation Project is a scheme I worked on recently in collaboration with Studio B.A.D, designing the artwork for the street mural. This was applied in semi-permanent coloured paint to encourage pedestrian interaction with this road surface, temporarily closed to vehicles in relation to COVID-19 social distancing measures. The street mural was further furnished with lighting, planters, tables, chairs and also other items placed by local traders which further developed the project over time.
I originally trained as a sculptor before deciding to study architecture as I hoped to work on creative projects within more of a team environment, rather than the typically more solitary artist studio environment. I also aimed to work on projects which would be of benefit to a wider community and become less of a commodity than fine art works can sometimes be. For me, moving into public art over the last few years has integrated various skills from both disciplines including; researching local context, imaginative design, selecting materials, project management, working with others and assessing community feedback.
Over the last few months I have also been collaborating on other projects with Studio B.A.D including the Summer Lounge activation scheme due to be installed in Guildhall Square, Southampton, later this month. Studio B.A.D work with a range of collaborators and this is my first instance of working with an architectural practice where the artwork has been thought of as an intrinsic part of the overall scheme. Too often different creative disciplines sit at arm’s length in built environment projects. In the Bedford Place scheme, the artwork was fundamental to the placement of the other designed elements. The success of the project has been the day-to-day use of the artwork to informally test permanent solutions for this area of public space. This type of wide-ranging collaboration is a growing trend and an opportunity to bring in creatives from outside of the traditional masterplanning backgrounds to create more unique experiences.
We were delighted to have worked with the National Centre for Joint International Research of Low Carbon Green Buildings at Chongqing University, one of the leading higher education schools in China. The university gave us a brief to look into a feasibility design for a new ‘Lab House’ for Huzhou, a city located on by Lake Tai (the third largest freshwater lake in China) and just over 90 miles to the west of Shanghai.
The brief was to create a British style contemporary house, that delivers a low carbon sustainable dwelling, responding to the major challenge of our age, the climate change emergency. Each of the design concepts have unique ways in which to meet these criteria.
We presented three initial ideas, taken the traditional idea of a British dwelling and used these as drivers for concepts, putting great importance on the quality of space and light within. The three concepts include a Courtyard House, a Gable House and a Great Hall House. Each design idea delivers a piece of 21st contemporary architecture with British styling, delivered suitable for the existing context.
The designs are fundamentally low energy, low carbon, sustainable solution for the site condition. We have employed fabric first solutions to the designs, including naturally insulating materials, concrete floors to act as a heat sink, height levels of insulation and U values, cross ventilation, solar shading, designed for solar gain and draught lobbies. Adding technology to enhance the design, such as rainwater storage and attenuation, bio mass, ground source heat pump.
The Courtyard; inspired by the classical country house with walled kitchen garden. The home wraps around this internal sheltered courtyard space, offering a source of fresh air to allow for natural cross ventilation, the layout is optimized for shading and solar gains to give passive internal courtyard allows for cross ventilation, a secluded and sheltered courtyard.
The Gable House; taking the architectural lines from English residential architecture with a classic gabled roof. The design idea adds a glazed living space, with ‘slides’ out from the gabled volume. In concept the single storey glazed addition offers spaces for a green roof on top, the gabled roof gives space for maximum insulation levels and
Great Hall House; taking design cues from the large formal stately homes with a generous multi-function hall at the center of the dwelling with all functions branching off. Our concept uses this layout principle, with a large, double height space at the heart of the building which encourages natural ventilation throughout.
We recently were asked to contribute to an article in Homebuilding & Renovating on Glazed Links. These are an increasingly popular method to stitch old and new buildings together, as they offer an exciting design ‘moment’ in any dwelling, but they also bring some challenging aspects to be considered.
The beauty of using a glazed link it is allows the history of the building to be clearly read, highlighting a clear addition without any visual distractions. Done well these links can really complete an extension. If you are looking to link your building to a new element here are my top 5 things you should consider:
Research your team; it is important that your Architect, Engineer and specialist glass supplier have a good track record with delivering similar structures. The Architect you work with can make or break the overall outcome of your project, many who have experience in incorporating such elements will also know the best structural engineers and specialist suppliers to appoint – so pick your team carefully.
Check if you need planning; it is always essential to consult with planning and building regulations and seek approval before you start on any project, you might also need to consider if you need to speak to a Conservation Officer (should your property be situated within a conservation area or AONB.) They are there to advise and protect any heritage assets within a defined area, they will judge any proposal on its merits and in many cases, they look favourably on such pure, transparent structure.
Think about the orientation of the space; if your space faces due south you need to take this into account to reduce overheating. There are design methods that can cut out solar gain, such specialist coatings, designed structural solar shading and, or creating some elements to open to allow ventilation. If the link faces due north, then I would recommend that the link is total glass, for 100% transparency, to allow for maximum light penetration into the space.
Think about the roof design; in such a structure you have a choice of the roof you incorporate, glass, solid or incorporating a mix, which will impact on budget and ongoing maintenance needs. If you opt for a glazed roof, which is the costliest, then it should never be totally flat, in order to shed water, a minimal slope of approx. 3 – 5 degrees must be used. I would also recommend adding a specialist coating to assist with maintenance and reducing residue left on the glass. If you go with a solid insulated roof (flat or pitched) you allow for reducing cost but the key challenge is incorporating anything other than glass successfully into the structure. There could be an opportunity to incorporate both, that might employ the use of central glazed roof light or lantern to draw light into the centre of the link. Personally, if budget permits, then the best solution will always be to deliver a total and complete seamless and elegant glass box, walls, roof and supporting elements.
Think about how you might hide the structure; to create a seamless space, you need to consider how the glazed link will be installed into the adjacent walls and what type of structure may be required. The best solutions are where you are able to hide or conceal supporting frames. So that the glass reads as the only entity by simply slotting into the steal or aluminium frame and are then fixed in place with structural silicone. When considering the structure, this will ultimately come down to budget, as using steel or aluminium framing is a standard way of supporting the glass. But if your budget allows, you could use glass as the supporting structure.
If you are looking for inspiration, there are many architects and engineers who have pioneered glass technology over the past 30 years. Rick Mather Architects produced a wonderful total glass space back in 1992. More recently Eckersley O Callaghan has become the leading engineer in the world on glass technology.
