We are thrilled to have submitted planning for the Coxford Road housing scheme in Southampton. Working in collaboration with our clients, Darcy Construction, we have delivered a proposal for a much needed major housing scheme for the Maybush district of the city.
Our designs aim high, to deliver quality accommodation for 21st century living. The proposal offers 15 units, comprising of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments, most with dual aspect and a private, south facing balcony. The apartments comprise of two red brick blocks, overlooking a central courtyard for all communal use.
The site is currently occupied by a redundant public house, which has been closed for 15 years and is now a magnet for anti-social behaviour. The redevelopment of this site would improve the local condition, and offer much needed housing in this prime location near the General Hospital.
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.
In May 2019 Studio BAD were commissioned to write, and curate a series of urban public realm interventions for Southampton, with a view of activating vacant retail shopfronts and redundant spaces.
The competitions are part of the ongoing, incremental strategy by GO! Southampton to enliven the public realm across the city centre. We were thrilled to see the first of the competitions brought to life, with vinyl artwork erected in place on an empty shopfront, located in the busy High Street.
The artist, Nathan Evans, won this first competition with a design concept for the vinyls, themed around a number of key phrases that represent the city and its inhabitants, reflected though the designs in an uplifting and positive way. Each artwork is crafted to be flexible, allowing them to be used to redecorate any dimension of shop front across the city centre.
The designs act to ask questions about the redundant space and place, what are the opportunities and how can the community get involved to reimagine and repurpose these spaces with new, vibrant uses.
A number of themes were identified in the initial briefing, representing the city in all its diverse forms and showcasing some of the best the city has to offer including: CITY OF LEARNING, CITY OF RESEARCH & INNOVATION, CITY OF CULTURE, CITY OF PLAY, GLOBAL CITY, ENTREPRENURIAL CITY and DIVERSE CITY.
GO! Southampton is the City’s Business Improvement District (BID) for Southampton City Centre. It was originally set up 2017 by a steering group consisting of local businesses and organisations who all share the vision for pushing Southampton to reach its full potential, through projects and improvements. Studio BAD are also collaborating with GO! Southampton on the Bedford Place reactivation scheme.
Studio BAD have been working on several urban planning schemes, each looking at how design can positively assist with the recovery plans after COVID-19, helping to support a deeper, stronger recovery for urban centres and create greener urban centres going forward.
The ’20 Minute City’ concept is an idea I have become increasingly interested in as a model to embrace. This idea is a break away from the current trend, which tends to zone aspects of life separately, like living and working, relying on private cars as the main mode of transport. This concept instead brings together all aspects of day to day life, so rather than having our lives separated, this plan brings everything one might need on a day to day basis, such as work, home, doctors and schools, within a short distance. The concept goes hand in hand with the urgent need to address our climate changes and introduce a green policy across our cities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given us an opportunity to rethink how we live. With so many of us now successfully working from home it has made people question the need, and want, to go back to commuting long distances to work on a daily basis. Bringing everything within a short distance, which is can be covered without needing a car, creates richer and more liveable neighbourhoods which could help regenerate our urban centres after the pandemic.
The core principles include being able to live locally with a diversity of housing, with a mix of commerce and utilities linked by a safe, walkable urban neighbourhood, safe cycling routes, high-quality public realm and open spaces. Everyday needs should be met within this 20 minute radius without the need of a car, shifting the need for private transportation and improving the ability to walking, cycling or using public transport for most needs. The concept it intentionally loose, allowing each area to embrace it individually and edit to fit the needs of the local context and community.
Our project at Bedford Place, in central Southampton, looked at fresh ways to revive this niche area just to the north of the main shopping area. The streets are well regarded as an area for boutique shopping but have been badly hit by the pandemic, to support social distancing the streets were closed to cars and we looked at how this could be built on to inject new life into the community and the public realm, strengthening the sense of community and supporting local economies to thrive.
This week the street painting has started at Carlton Terrace in Southampton, it is so great to see the plans we had for this area getting put into action. The bold, geographic design runs over 130 meters down the street, creating a vibrant and engaging backdrop for this newly pedestrianised area, which the council have confirmed will be in place until at least the end of the summer.
The painting is part of the wider strategy for the reactivation of the Bedford Place area which includes the pedestrianisation of the streets, decorated concrete barriers, outdoor seating and planting.
Last year some of the roads in this area were closed temporarily, to assist with social distancing measure and offer additional outdoor seating space for pubs and restaurants. The council took the opportunity to review if this could be a more permanent change, to support the economic recovery, greener living and creating a more vibrant community. We worked as part of a team, reviewing different ways design could help create a more engaging and thriving destination for this area of the city.
I cannot wait to see the painting completed, it is going to look amazing, and once lockdown rules are lifted later this month the space is going to transform again with people activating the streets.
Councillor Steve Leggett, Cabinet Member for Green City and Place, says:
“Bedford Place businesses are an important part of our local economy and we are committed to supporting their recovery and to seeing Bedford Place become once again a vibrant, thriving area where people can meet and spend time safely.”
