RIBA MacEwen Award longlisted

We are so proud to have our St Lukes project included in this years longlist for the RIBA MacEwen Award, the annual awards that recognise architecture for the common good.

The project has redevelopment the tired church hall to create The Host Café, a community cafe and multi-functional space which has become a vibrant local focal point, hosting events throughout the day and evening.

In total 30 projects have been longlisted in the MacEwen Awards, you can see the full list here, the shortlist will be annouced in early 2025.

 

Celebrating Six Years

In celebration of our six years in business, and as a reflection of how the business has evolved, we have written and published a new practice profile which we launched last week at an evening with clients, collaborators and friends.

We set up Studio BAD to deliver architecture without ego, to use our design skills as a vehicle of positive change. The idea of re-use has always been central to our ethos, in an era where climate change defines our lives it is important to us to reduce unnecessary waste and promote low energy solutions as much as possible.

Whilst these points are still core to the business, the business has evolved since it was originally established. Recently we took some time out to reflect on how the business has developed over these last six years to review what we, as a design collective stands,  now stand for. This work uncovered what we see as six essential aspects, which we think of as our Design Commitment:

  • To Listen
  • To Reflect
  • To Understand
  • To Imagine
  • To Act
  • To Realise

You can read more about our Design Commitment here, or get in touch to request a practice profile.

RIBA publish ‘Inclusion Emergency’

Darren was invited to offer his insights on the Architectural profession for the new ‘Inclusion Emergency, Diversity in Architecture’ book by Hannah Durham & Grace Choi, published by RIBA Publishing.

The book aims to encourage understanding across the industry, asking professionals to reflect on the industry and addresses critical questions to provides steps towards meaningful change. It is widely acknowledged that architecture is at a tipping point and if there isn’t any change there is a risk of limiting our relevance in today’s society, this book looks to engage in meaningful debate to show a way forward.

Within the book are insights from many leading voices, including Amy Francis-Smith, Clare Nash, Mary Holmes, Nick Walker and Sumita Singha to name a few. Each individual highlights a different topic and expresses their experiences to provide a rich foundation for a future of architecture, representing the diverse population the RIBA serve.

The book aims to help those who are under-recognised to find the role models, community and tools to feel confident, supported and valued. It will also help those intimidated by change to understand why it is important and provoke constructive action.

The book is now available from RIBA Books online, and will be in all good retailers from 1 June 2024.

Design-as-Degrowth

We have written a new research module for MArch qualification called ‘Design-as-Degrowth’. The module has been written in partnership with our wide network of collaborators and University partners; this work continues our strong emphasis on teaching and research, which is core to the foundations of the company.

The concept of ‘growth’, particularly economic growth, is central to western capitalist economies. Economic growth requires ever-increasing consumption which have no tangible limits. However, given the physical, emotional, human and natural resources required to support this growth can be so destructive, we question if design hold the potential to question the assumed orthodoxies and encourage a paradigm of ‘Design as Degrowth’.

The module focuses on this concept of ‘Degrowth’, and how architecture may generate meaningful social and economic change. Encouraging a rethink or reuse of existing buildings and spaces which can offer a positive social and economic offer, whilst also providing value and flexibility for clients.

Working with students the module will offer an invaluable opportunity to work on live projects as part of a multidisciplinary team to research, test and offer design solutions. Some examples of past projects that highlight this concept include, St Margaret’s Church or Gosport High Street.

We look forward to sharing updates from this module, and project updates from future students work. For more information about the module, please contact us directly.

Planning successes

We are thrilled to have been awarded planning for three quite different projects over the last few weeks – a re-imagination of a community church, a low energy house renovation and a town house reconfiguration. To get planning is such a positive milestone in the design process, it definitely is something we like to celebrate.

At St Lukes Church in Portsmouth, Hampshire, our design will enhance the engagement of the church building with the local community, making the space more welcoming and restful for visitors. Our scheme has been specifically designed to embrace a phased build, so the work is achievable in stages as the church is able to raise funds.

In Brixham, Devon, we have been granted our second planning approval, this time for Courtyard House, a traditional townhouse that needed some work to rationalise the layout and maximise the coastal views. The design focuses on reworking the internal space, to draw in natural daylight and help make the tall, thin house feel more spacious, a key design feature is the introduction of an internal courtyard to bring landscaping into the home whilst making sense of the steep site.

Our final approval to celebrate is for Cedarwood, a low energy home in Twyford, Hampshire set within the South Downs National Park. The project will reconfigure the existing home, making the space more suitable for the needs of the growing family. The design also concentrates on upgrading the sustainability of the home, to create a low energy dwelling, work includes increased insulation throughout, replacement glazing and a new roof. An external colonnade is to be added to the south side, to help mitigate overheating during the warmer summer months, which also creates a covered outdoor space that extends the time the clients can use the garden.

We are looking forward to sharing further updates of these three projects as they progress onsite soon.

Design and De-Growth

This post, written by Amanda Moore in collaboration with Studio BAD Architects, explores reasons to work towards a frugal architecture. Four design case study projects will follow, in separate posts, covering a variety of sectors in order to interrogate the credibility of a rebalance between the amount of construction and end user ‘benefit’.

It has been long-established in human society that growth is innately linked to progress. It may be a natural urge within us to grow and produce.

Rising GDP is linked to growth and political success. However, it is also being linked to rising environmental impact in terms of increased materials and energy needed to produce and use goods. Should we scrap using GDP as a measure of success in favour of a happiness index, (www.world happiness.report), if we really feel the need to rank ourselves against other countries?

De-growth is an economic theory born in the 1970s which looks at the merits of shrinking economies and saving the earth’s resources. There is good reason to fear de-growth, being able to pay for public services through taxation for example. Should we reduce production and growth and hence our working hours? Or, can we have the same amount of a greener-growth?

If we need financial growth to pay for services, can there be a reduction in some less beneficial sectors such as carbon-intensive food production including meats, cheap fashion and other cheap products and new-build construction? Could we see an increase in other sectors such as skills and education, leisure, health, public transport and other services which are less carbon-intensive by nature and may provide more satisfaction and enjoyment to end-users.

In architecture, should there be a post-growth movement? Architects Declare notes a pledge to ‘Upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon efficient alternative to demolition and new build whenever there is a viable choice’. This architecture wouldn’t serve to start with maximising building on a site for profit, but look to re-use existing buildings and sites for maximum gain and enjoyment to end users. Should this idea be part of the RIBA and ARB’s ethics codes?

Within the various large practices I’ve worked for,  projects mainly focused on maximising the amount of building on a site in order for the client to afford the construction costs and make a profit, particularly if expensive demolition and foundations were involved. Production to afford production. More construction is seen as the only ‘viable’ choice by many developers.

Architects may start with a smaller budget project and then encourage their client to go for a much larger one. This in part ensures a steady stream of fees, a bird in the hand is better than a hundred competitions in the bush. Charging based on a percentage of construction value rather than man-hours used can encourage architects to push clients to go for more construction. Taking on bigger and bigger-costed projects with the greater indemnity insurance and staffing requirements that can entail can then result in practices having to continually power up and up like a pyramid scheme, working to keep a bloating practice afloat.

More time should be spent on the feasibility stages of built environment projects to determine the actual needs of the local community and do the building work actually required, then determining the lowest embodied and operational carbon options. This feasibility service by architects should always be paid for by clients, not given by architects in the hope of winning/creating a lucrative  and prestigious project to work on at the end.

A friend who isn’t an architect once asked me, ‘haven’t architects built all the buildings?’ which seemed like a naive comment at the time. In actuality, there ARE a lot of buildings, and refurbishment and reuse could have been employed on most of the large projects I have worked on in practice before starting work as a freelancer, bar railway infrastructure projects.

Nowadays, most of the projects I work on are light-touch public space projects, installing artworks and outdoor furniture to activate underused spaces. Many are refurbishments, particularly for church buildings which require adjustments for custodians to carry out community-serving activities. Refurbishment has been forced onto many Christian churches who are trapped within their large, beautiful, historic listed buildings which are difficult to heat in the UK winters. Light-touch approaches over demolition are the only viable ones such as partitioning parts of the building which can be more efficiently heated, or using buildings seasonally. Going in with large and expensive technology such as air source heat pumps may also not be the best solution for older, less airtight and insulated building stock and may not solve the carbon problem when there is no wind or sun to run them in winter. At Studio BAD we work as a network of disciplines including design, building physics, building services, planning, costing and delivery/material sourcing from the outset to evaluate and test the best options in terms of cost, community benefit and environmental impact.

Materials should also be specified in relation to the lifespan of the building or it’s intended use, ie; is carbon-intensive concrete required for a new building or refurbishment which may only be used for 10 years, is a client willing to use materials which are less carbon-intensive but require more maintenance? Do buildings have to be made of the most robust/static and maintenance-free materials to retain their financial value to a client?

So, what are architects offering clients and the community and what could they offer with frugality being given priority in their design processes? Can they still add value? Can this value be credibly measured by social and community impact? If it is still financial value to the landowner, should architects be paid in relation to how much money they actually save the client rather than spend in terms of the amount of building work which needs to be done?