So on Tuesday 07 April we along with GO Southampton delivered our third in the series of Urban Lecture. Now that life has changed somewhat we did not want the barrier of been confined to our homes to limit our ability to continue  the debate around Urban City living and the future of public realm in Southampton.

On Tuesday evening with the expert help of Gemma at GO Southampton we switched to Zoom and and 35 people join us. We had three key lecturers this month, Clare Diaper of October Books, Prof Lorraine Farrelly Head of School at the new Reading school of Architecture and Founder of Allies + Morrison Bob Allies, delivered a deeply inspiring set of talks. Clare discussed the impact of Social influence and community driven projects in Southampton, focusing on October books. Lorraine discussed how in creating change in City conditions a distinct narrative was imperative and how Urban rooms can be a huge catalyst for change. Bob Allies discussed three core Allies + Morrison projects and how these where seen as Catalytic – Organic and Curated within Urban conditions in London. If you missed the lecture it was recorded and will be online shortly at Go Southampton. Next month we discuss the curated City on Tuesday MAY 5.

On Tuesday 03 March we delivered our 2nd Urban Lecture in collaboration with GO Southampton – ‘City as Urban Room’ at the Barclays Eagle LAB with the expert input of Rupert Cook Director of Architecture PLB and Piers Taylor of Invisible Studio. Rupert delivered a deeply rich insight into his family ties to Southampton and an insight into the design process for the recent Sports building for Solent University, which draws on the rich Urban grain of previous City layouts. Piers gave a wonderfully inspiring talk reviewing city life and what constitutes a truly sustainable city, way of life and home, whilst drawing on and using examples of his own social architecture and Urban rooms.

I would like to thank Barclays Eagle Lab, for throwing open their doors and organising the evening and to Rupert + Piers for their hugely inspiring talks.

On Thursday 12 March we where invited to the screening of Invisible studios new film ‘ Practice’ created and delivered by Laura Mark and Jim Stephenson which is a wonderful insight into Piers Taylor’s thinking, practice and methodology as new way to practice. The link is below, so when you have a moment take a look.

https://vimeo.com/394381124

Architects have welcomed calls by Historic England to slash VAT on retrofit, but warn that barriers to reusing buildings still remain. Richard Waite reports in the Architects Journal.

We gave our thoughts on how reuse, and re imagining existing buildings needs to be assisted with joined up thinking by government agencies.

COMMENTS

Darren Bray, director, Studio B.A.D Architects

Those of us who feel passionate about reuse and reimagining existing buildings for our clients in light of the climate change emergency face challenges each week on a whole range of projects, from existing churches and banks to former civic buildings. The current challenges around VAT and listed status make projects difficult to manage and deliver.

On many of these projects, budgets and timescales are the greatest barrier to unlocking potential and adding value for clients. Faced with 20 per cent VAT and, in some cases, difficult listed statuses to navigate on existing buildings we are trying to reuse and upgrade, it gives little scope to deliver both a retrofit solution with an inspiring reimagined piece of interior or architecture.

There needs to be some serious collective joined-up thinking and approach by both the government and Historic England. This would enable clients and architects to take the retrofit route as a first option. Otherwise the industry will continue to ignore and demolish much of the existing building stock.

 

https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/retrofirst-is-the-heritage-sector-adapting-to-reuse/10046473.article?blocktitle=more-on-retrofirst&contentID=24767

At St Margaret’s Church we have been developing a strategy that deals with the here and now, as far as the communities requirements are concerned, as well as having one creative eye on what we might speculate on for the future of the church. So as well as our long term development strategy, we where asked to undertake a small piece of joinery, which we have treated as small piece of furniture. Something that becomes the 1:1 test bed model, for what might come next. This small but perfectly formed door and screen is seen as a very light touch, respecting the existing structure of the church, with just a hint of a new addition in 2020.