RIBA Award winners 2018

Well done to Gresford Architects for winning a regional RIBA award for the Deerings, and to Knox Bhavan Architects for winning a national RIBA award for their beautiful studio!

See the full list of winners here.

Hunstanton Bungalow in AJ

Phillips Tracey Architects’ has obtained planning permission for a contemporary extension to an existing bungalow in traditional Old Hunstanton, Norfolk. In response to this, Phillips Tracey Architects aimed to maximise the potential of the site by increasing accommodation and improving the property’s presence. A new rear extension will replace the existing conservatory; this will be vaulted to provide a generous kitchen/dining room, which opens out to the re-landscaped garden. Carefully positioned rooflights and large glazed sliding doors will allow the new spaces to be bathed with natural light as well as providing for passive ventilation throughout the property.

The sustainably sourced materials will echo the modest alterations with a simple palette that reference the local area. The existing walls are re-clad in timber weatherboarding, which also provides the opportunity to improve the home’s thermal performance.

Click here to see the article

The Deerings in Grand Designs

The Deerings, a new build modernist certified Passivhaus, is a brave addition to a traditional suburban street scene in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. This striking five-bedroom home, built by Passivhaus experts Gresford Architects, acts as a sympathetic response to its urban setting and sits unobtrusively alongside its more traditional neighbouring properties. This simple two storey rectangular form is on the cutting edge of sustainable design, constructed utilising modern and innovative methods and built with family living in mind.

This project was featured in Grand Designs in February 2018.

Magna in Architecture Today

Lining the railway leading into Cambridge, bptw partnership’s development, Magna, comprises 95 high-quality units on a site that was once home to Rattee & Kett stone masons – an icon of local craftsmanship. The scheme celebrates a collaborative approach to the site’s heritage, resulting in a development which can be enjoyed by both new residents and the existing community.The six storey apartment pavilions buffer the railway noise, but step down towards the townhouses, engaging in a familiar visual dialogue. Each house features a private garden that connects to a communal green at the centre of the scheme, enhancing accessibility to create an enjoyable living environment for all.

This project was featured in Architecture Today’s print magazine in May 2018 and online in June 2018.

Click here to see the article

Albyn Road in Real Homes

Gresford Architects’ Albyn Road is an imaginative and expressive contemporary addition to an 1850s house in a south London conservation area. A rear extension and side return infill has created a bright and interesting new kitchen and dining room, and enhanced connections between the house and its garden. The key feature of the extension is its angular zinc-clad roof, which is a series of pitched roofs at different angles.

This project was featured in Real Homes in June 2018.

Muswell Hill in Architecture Today

Muswell Hill is an elegant example of cohesive design, linking traditional and contemporary architecture. Alongside a faithful reconstruction of a Victorian villa that stood on the site, Mulroy Architects have added a striking contemporary companion volume to form a unique three bedroom family home. The large entrance opens towards an impressive glazed light-well directly above the visual focus for the property, the bright yellow steel staircase. Polished concrete flooring continues through to the open plan living and kitchen space forming the heart of the home.

Arched windows softly frame each room, showcasing the clients’ strong decorative style. The contemporary element adds two large bedrooms and adjacent bathrooms, which echo the entrance sky light, allowing natural light to flow in easily.

Click here to see the article

Interview with Catherine Finkernagel in Grand Designs

This piece in Grand Designs takes a look at the thinking behind Finkernagel Ross Architects’ stunning project Wedderburn Road. Exquisitely detailed this contemporary extension and alteration to a Grade II listed detached Victorian property in Hampstead is built almost entirely of glass. Topped with a crisp marble clad canopy, which appears to float, allows for a clear view of the rear of the original Arts and Crafts house.

Newham Housing in AJ

Bell Phillips Architects’ Newham Housing projects at Florence Road and Pitchford Street are part of a new residential development across 17 locations in the London Borough of Newham, of which they are designing six. The scheme illustrates Newham’s commitment to providing high quality and sustainable affordable housing, with the aim to accommodate large families, maximise daylight, connecting the outdoors and create secure homes. Each are driven by adaptability, allowing easy reconfiguration to suit the settings of other sites across the borough.

This project was featured in The Architects’ Journal in November 2017.

The article can be found here.

Stahlwerk Augustfehn on Wallpaper*

The project is the result of a decade of regeneration at Stahlwerk Augustfehn, a small steel factory in rural North Germany, where beautiful rare survivals of Germany’s industrial past are now accompanied by crisp contemporary architecture. Alongside new production facilities, Finkernagel Ross has captured the unique industrial heritage of Stahlwerk Augustfehn by restoring and displaying industrial artefacts in the new buildings. These unearthed artefacts of a bygone era include a painstakingly restored former factory clock, a listed steam engine dating from 1902 (the only one of its kind still in operation) and several old original steel hammers. Wallpaper* covered the story in February 2018.

The article can be found here.

Southwick Yard on dezeen

Southwick Yard is an intimate four-double bedroom house by Belsize Architects, nestled in a secluded gated mews at the heart of Connaught Village in the Hyde Park Estate. Previously, a small, drab one-bedroom mews cottage in Southwick Yard offered limited opportunities for occupancy. In developing the site for the Church Commissioners, Belsize Architects advised that demolishing and replacing the existing building – rather than extending or remodelling it – and adding a basement would maximise the site’s potential, both spatially and financially. Southwick Yard was covered by dezeen in February 2018.

The article can be found here.

The Berkshire Twins in The Evening Standard

The Berkshire Twins are identical contemporary rear extensions to a pair of 1870’s townhouses in a conservation area in the village of Twyford. The first extension was carried out by architect homeowner Fred Guttfield of Guttfield Architects and his wife. Once the project was competed, the neighbours asked for an identical copy. The Evening Standard covered this story on 21 February 2018.

Click here to see the article.

Three projects featured in The Telegraph

Mulroy Architects’ Upland Road, Belsize Architects’ Ferncroft Avenue and Napier Clarke Architects’ Boat House feature in The Telegraph’s cover story on bringing natural daylight into period homes.

The article can be found here.

Three clients in The Times

This piece in The Times’ Bricks & Mortar takes a look at solutions to the housing crisis with quotes from Bell Phillips Architects, bptw partnership and Proctor & Matthews Architects.

The article can be found here.

Aperture Works in Inside Housing

Aperture Works by bptw partnership – the ambitious first phase of a multi-use regeneration of the historic Kodak factory site in Harrow for L&Q – appeared as Development of the Week in 12 January’s edition of Inside Housing.

The article can be found here.