July Newsletter

We are pleased to share a selection of highlights from the past month, including Darren’s interview in The Architects’ Journal, the commencement of two new church projects in Birmingham, and celebrating the end-of-year exhibition at the University of Reading.

Retrofirst Article in Architects Journal

Darren was recently interviewed by the ‘Architects’ Journal’ as part of its extensive RetroFirst campaign, which advocates prioritising the retrofit and reimagining of existing buildings over demolition and redevelopment. We were delighted to contribute to this important initiative, which closely aligns with our practice’s commitment to sustainable design and making the most of existing built assets.

The interview focuses on the Brick Pavilion project, for which we recently secured planning permission. The scheme will transform a vacant local landmark in Chichester, breathing new life into the building while preserving and enhancing its existing character.

Read the full article here.

Two Birmingham Community Church’s

We have had the pleasure of working on two very different church projects in Birmingham: St Gabriel’s Church and St Chad’s Church.

Both churches play a vital role as community hubs and present significant opportunities to reimagine their existing buildings and wider sites, in order to better serve local people and support future generations.

We began the design process for both projects with community engagement workshops, providing an opportunity to hear directly from those who use and value these spaces. These conversations have been invaluable in helping us understand the needs, challenges and aspirations of each congregation and community.

Drawing on this feedback, we have developed bespoke feasibility studies that explore how we can maximise the potential of the existing assets. This includes creating more flexible and welcoming community spaces within the church buildings, as well as investigating opportunities for social housing and other community-focused development across the wider sites.

Reading University End of Year Show

Last week, the University of Reading School of Architecture hosted its annual end-of-year show, celebrating the creativity, dedication and achievements of students across all year groups.

The exhibition showcased an impressive range of design work, including projects from the first-year students whom Darren has been teaching throughout the past academic year. It was a fantastic event and a valuable opportunity to see the breadth of talent emerging from the next generation of architects and designers. The quality of work on display was both inspiring and encouraging, offering a positive glimpse into the future of our built environment.

Darren has a close relationship with the School of Architecture, where he has taught for the past nine years. As a practice, we believe in teaching and engagement with academia. The academic environment provides a valuable forum for testing ideas, challenging assumptions and exploring new ways of thinking about architecture. It encourages us not only to consider how we design, but also to continually reflect on why we do it.

 

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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.

Planning success for sustainable charging at Marwell

Studio BAD have worked in collaboration with University of Southampton to research, and achieved planning permission for fully off-grid electric charging within the Marwell Zoo customer car park, near Winchester in Hampshire.

Designed to deliver sustainable infrastructure to support the nationwide drive towards sustainable car charging, without adding a burden to the existing electrical grid, this project is a trail which we hope can be rolled out to more locations in the near future. This scheme is set to be live for three years, to test the unique, fully off grid electrical vehicle charging technology. Because of the temporary nature of the installation, the design does not involve the removal or alternation of any of the mature trees on the site, installing permanent foundations, or fixing, it has been designed to touch the ground lightly, and be removable.

In total the project will deliver over 20 car charging space, with solar panels installed on butterfly roofs, linked to battery storage, and a back up generator.

The design offering visitors to the zoo an opportunity to charge their cars sustainably. Supporting and aligning to the zoo’s strong commitment in this area, other initiatives include generating their own power through solar power, and their ‘Zoo Poo’ project which recycles animal waste to heat buildings.

The project works in collaboration with the FEVER research project, led by the University of Southampton in partnership with Universities of Sheffield, Surrey, and Portsmouth, and funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

New Forest Building Design Award Win

We are so happy to have had our Brockenhurst House recognised in the New Forest Building Design Awards this year, picking up the award for Best Residential Project – our second award for this project to date!

Our project has reimagined the distinctive 1970s chalet-style home set on the edge of Brockenhurst village. Our design was guided by three key ambitions: improving spatial flexibility, enhancing environmental performance, and strengthening the connection between house and garden. The finished project has created a contemporary, sustainable, and accessible home, without compromising the architectural quality of the spaces.

The judges commented that the project had a ‘noteworthy combination of modern, forward-thinking ideas, which referenced the local vernacular in materials, and employed good green credentials.’

They went on to praise the project, which they felt was ‘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’.

This would not have been possible without our wonderful and inspiring clients, and our hardworking team of collaborators who brough this scheme to life – congratulations to us all.

Courtyard House cladding update

On our most recent site visit to Courtyard House, we were thrilled to see the roof completed, the scaffolding removed, and the external cladding almost completed, marking another positive milestone in the construction phase.

The vertical timber cladding wraps the whole building, helping to blend the new structure into the rural setting. Two complementary timber finishes have been introduced to subtly break down the building’s massing and add visual depth.

The work is now shifting to the interior works, and we are very much looking forward to documenting how this projects continues to evolve onsite.