Bad news and Good news

This week we heard that unfortunately we didn't make the shortlist for the Belper River Gardens Swiss Tea Rooms competition. The 21 entries have been cut down to a shortlist of 6, which can be viewed in the Park and on the Amber Valley Borough Council website. Best of luck to the finalists.

http://www.ambervalley.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/parksandgardens/belperrivergardens.htm

However, we also heard that our design for a house in Portloe has been shortlisted for an RIBA award! The house was completed in 2010 and is designed to maximise its hillside location overlooking the sea.

Eco features include solar hot water, air source heat pump underfloor heating and a green sedum roof. The process of the build was recorded by the Client in a monthly report for the Sunday Telegraph on the 'Birth of an Eco home', giving an insight into building your own home from a Clients perspective -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/greenproperty/3361914/Birth-of-an-eco-home.html

Ecobuild 2011

A few of us had a day out of the office at Ecobuild yesterday. Ecobuild is a huge sustainable building exhibition, held this year at ExCel in London (Fancy!).

 http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/excel-phase-2-london-by-grimshaw/8601608.article

Highlights included:

Chelsea College of Art and Design’s Speedo pavillion for the Space of Waste competition:
http://newsroom.speedo.com/speedo-news/latest-speedo-sustainable-collaboration-launches-at-ecobuild/
Many thanks to the friendly student who showed us round.


Modcell's prefabricated straw bale panels that are manufactured in 'flying factories' wherever they're needed:
http://www.modcell.com/
Hoping to go and visit them on site in Barnsley later this year.

Boiled linseed oils and stains from PaintECO, just starting to get into the UK market:
http://www.painteco.eu/index.php?l=eng&s=main

And a fantastic talk by Professor Brian Cox on how can science save us, followed by a presentation of awards to the winners of the CIOB Inner Space 2050 competition for 11 and 12 year old students designing sustainable housing in space: http://www.ciob.org.uk/blive

(Followed by some autograph signing - Thanks Brian, I will be framing my signed Sky at Night magazine!)

Special Schools

We're very excited that the Ashgate Croft School Independent Living Unit will be starting on site soon. We've been working with the School on this small but important addition to their teaching facilities for the last 2 years. The building is essentially a classroom set out as a small bungalow to allow older pupils at the school to learn life skills. The scheme itself is a simple sinlge storey timber clad building with rainwater storage and an enclosed kitchen garden.


Another special school we're involved with is the Rosehill School in Nottingham. This is onsite and due to complete later this year. Its finally taking shape with completion of the roofs and windows.

Planning applications and exhibitions.

Firstly an update on the Belper Tea Rooms Competition: Our entry went in with 20 other submissions. The entries will be exhibited to the public on Tuesday 15th February, at the Lion Hotel in Belper between 3.00pm and 7.00pm. Looking forward to seeing everyone elses ideas.


Our planning application submitted for a new house in Derbyshire has been validated and is now out for consultation. The design is for a lightweight timber and glass block with turf roof, perched on top of a hill enjoying great views over Derbyshire whilst hidden from neighbours views behind a brick garden wall.

Pictures as promised...

Last week we said we'd add on some images of the competition entry we were working on. The competition was for a rebuilding/rethinking of the Swiss Tea Rooms at Belper River Gardens, and arranged by Amber Valley Borough Council:
 
http://www.ambervalley.gov.uk/microsites/press/2010/11/SwissTeaRooms.htm

Our proposal seeks to retain the strong roof structure of the existing, but reinvent the space below as a large open and multi-purpose pavilion, linking into the surrounding gardens: