Architecture
The core of our work is a full architectural service from inception to completion. We are experienced in guiding clients through all stages of a project whether it is gaining planning permission in sensitive areas, coordinating the design team, or delivering a project through to construction. Crucially, this provides us with continuous development of our technical expertise and our understanding of buildability and useability.
We know the importance of a complete service which provides a thorough briefing process, transformational design, and robust technical detailing. Through our work with school clients we have developed the ability to balance the practicalities (budget, sustainability, school requirements, programme, and legislation) with aesthetics and innovation.
Interior Design
We see this as integral to the design of our buildings and we can provide interior design as a separate commission or as part of our other services. We can help curate all aspects of your interior environments from colour, fabrics, finishes and lighting through to internal graphics & artwork, signage, bespoke joinery, and loose furniture.
We have relationships with a wide range of designers and suppliers and can organise showroom visits, mood boards, visualisations, and idea sketchbooks to help formulate your thoughts.
Masterplanning
Solving the puzzle
Our masterplanning approach follows six key stages. Each client organisation is different, so we will tailor this to work best with you but here’s what you can expect from the process.
Engagement
Getting to know you. Listening, looking and learning at the start is key to the success of the masterplan.
We will structure a series of regular meetings and workshops with key stakeholders to understand your requirements, ethos and the nature of the issues you are facing.
Vision
What does the future hold? The long-term vision and aspirations are often already established when we first engage with our clients, but we will test, evolve and galvanise this with you.
Mapping
Having gathered information from the right places during the engagement sessions, we begin to collate it into reports, drawings, sketches and schedules to form a clear and coherent record for you and a basis for analysis.
We can also build a virtual model of your site.
Analysis
What problems do we need to solve?
Our analysis often reveals some surprising results, it may change your preconceptions on development priorities, but it will certainly help you understand how your estate compares to guidance, benchmarking and other similar organisations.
Opportunities
We will look at the possible development opportunities and different ways of solving the problems. This is the most creative part where we test new ideas and explore solutions with you to get the best from the estate’s potential
Planning
We provide a clear framework for realising the opportunities we’ve identified, including phasing, costs, sustainable investment, servicing, and risk. Alongside setting out the practical development objectives for the school estate, we look for an overarching design concept which dovetails with your vision and ethos.
The process can also culminate with a more detailed proposal for the first phase of development to get things moving.
Take a look a our masterplanning case studies:
Masterplan Case Study: Haberdashers’ Girls’ School
Design & Build
We have a wealth of experience on projects procured traditionally or through design and build procurement. Whether it’s working for the client in a compliance monitoring role or as part of the contractor’s team (novated after the construction team has been appointed), we can provide the level of support to best service the team for successful delivery of quality and programme including providing information quickly in response to challenging construction programmes
Project Management
We have a long history acting as lead consultants and have managed hundreds of building contracts since the practice started in 1984. We are well placed to offer hands-on project management services alongside our design work. As architects with a good understanding of what’s needed in this role, we can also pro-actively assist external project managers and go the extra mile to solve the inevitable challenges which arise during the process.
Visualisation
Visualisation is an architect’s most powerful form of communication, whether hand drawn sketches or computer-generated, an image speaks a thousand words. We offer a wide range of visualisation tools to help clients imagine their projects, communicate their vision to stakeholders, help to fund raise and get others excited about the project. We can create high quality renderings for marketing or literally take you through your prospective project with the use of virtual reality and video flythroughs.
View the the fly through movies in full: