Faye Davies becomes Trustee of Covent Garden Area Trust

Our Managing Director, Faye Davies has been appointed as the RIBA nominated Trustee on the Council of the Covent Garden Area Trust.

The objectives of the Trust include the conservation of the Covent Garden area, its architectural character, buildings and features of historical interest. The Trust also aims to promote high standards of planning that will contribute to the area’s development and improvement, and encourage both new and traditional building uses, appropriate to the area. The Trust is governed by a Council of up to 22 trustees, including representatives of local council and community groups, and nominees from designated bodies who reflect the public interest. The Council meets formally on a regular basis to consider matters submitted by the freeholders of The Protected Lands and other issues that may arise.

Faye is the Managing Director at Burrell Foley Fischer Architects with 20 years experience working on sensitive conservation projects, from alterations to the creative reuse of historic buildings. She is a dedicated Specialist Conservation Architect and Project Lead, with a Post Graduate Diploma in Historic Building Conservation from the Architectural Association. Faye also acts as a mentor for the RIBA conservation accreditation scheme and is a visiting lecturer.

The Strand London becomes a pedestrian/cycle zone

Burrell Foley Fischer are delighted to see that Westminster City Council have announced that from Sunday 22nd August the Strand will become a Pedestrian/Cycle zone.

Working with SAVE Britain’s Heritage in 2015, at the time of the public furore over the proposed demolition by King’s College of 154-158 the Strand in the Conservation Area, Burrell Foley Fischer was first to identify an opportunity to create a magnificent new piece of public realm for the capital halfway along the great processional, ‘coronation route’ to and from Westminster and Buckingham Palace to St Paul’s Cathedral and the City 

John Burrell prepared a publication for SAVE “Save our Strand” analysing the history and future potential of this ancient piece of city and the importance of retaining and sympathetically adapting, rather than demolishing the buildings. He proposed turning the whole of the south of the Aldwych into an active pedestrian friendly piazza to act as an animated forum and public entrance space for Kings College and Courtauld students to use, that would also link them more coherently with Somerset House. His forecast was that it could be even more effective and extraordinary than the closing of the road in front of the National Gallery.

By advocating and demonstrating the reuse of the very fine threatened facades and buildings and opposing their demolition he showed how they could remain as an active backdrop to sustain continuity of street life. He also suggested, as a bonus, that :

“Pedestrianising this part of the Strand will mean that Gibbs’s wonderful church, St Mary-le-Strand is no longer marooned on a traffic island, but becomes the focal point of a splendid new public space. Both Somerset House and King’s College will gain a spacious new setting - the most beautiful new public realm in the capital for years.”

Last year, after an extensive co-design process with over 70 stakeholders, Westminster City Council revealed plans for ‘a new destination for London’.

“The proposal converts busy roadways into a major new public space at the Strand and an enhanced pedestrian experience across the Aldwych, including new crossings, wider footways and a pocket park. Strand Aldwych aims to bring the inside out – celebrating the wealth of cultural and educational offer in the area, whilst providing a new green oasis in central London to relax, play and come together.”

Following the closure later this month, the Council have planned a three-week celebration of activities along the Strand to mark the removal of traffic and launch the space before construction of the permanent redesign commences. Further details can be found here.

With the traffic removed, St Mary-le-Strand will now be accessible and pedestrian-friendly to all for music events, as the superb pioneering, high quality concerts organised by SAVE in the church have already proved.

The University of York signs a 15 year lease of the restored Guildhall

Burrell Foley Fischer’s Restoration and Redevelopment of the Guildhall began in September 2019, following significant investment by City of York Council and will be completed this autumn. The University of York has signed a 15 year lease of the Guildhall, which will bring the historic building back to the forefront of the city’s social, business and civic life. The Guildhall will become a city centre hub for business, enterprise and events and its role in the city will be brought into the 21st century.

The Guildhall is one of the city’s most prestigious and historically significant buildings. The complex contains a collection of Grade I, II* and II listed buildings.

The Guildhall is currently closed to allow for restoration work to complete, which will offer:

• High quality (business) office, meeting and events space

• Availability for community, civic and council use

• A café

• A new riverside restaurant

• Access for visitors and local residents

Due to the Guildhall's central riverside location, use of the waterway has been critical for the delivery of materials to site, avoiding the City centre streets.  The Canal & River Trust enabled contractors Vinci to use the river to erect an on-site tower crane as part of construction efforts. The project has now reached a crucial milestone with heavy construction work completed, the tower crane is currently being dismantled by a 100 tonne crane that is in place on a barge beside the River Ouse.

Funding for the £21.7m restoration and redevelopment work was provided by York City Council, the York and North Yorkshire LEP and West Yorkshire Combined Authority through respective HMG Growth Deal contributions and the Getting Building Fund.

The building will be leased to York Science Park (YSPL), a subsidiary of the University of York. York Science Park offer support for entrepreneurs and start-ups looking to grow.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed how we live and work. In response to these changes, the Guildhall will provide a flexible and collaborative workspace for local businesses.

The newly refurbished Guildhall will provide greater access to local residents, through the creation of a new restaurant and public space, and members of the public will be invited to a series of scheduled events, offering an opportunity to learn more about the history of the building. More details will be announced over the upcoming months as the restoration works near completion.

The new riverside restaurant is not part of the lease and work is underway to attract a tenant.

The terms of the lease also ensures that the council will retain access to the Guildhall for civic events such as Mayor-making, and full council meetings. The building will also be used for community events.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Keith Aspden, said:

 “York’s historic Guildhall has been at the heart of the city’s social, business and civic life for centuries. We are delighted that the University of York has signed the lease, as we firmly believe that they are the ideal tenant to manage this historic asset. The University of York have experience in managing other historic buildings, such as Kings Manor, and are, of course, important partners in helping take forward our economic strategy to drive inward investment and inclusive growth in York. The Guildhall will also be accessible for local residents for the first time in many years, and I hope that everyone will have the chance to visit this excellent and historic building when renovations works are completed.”

Councillor Nigel Ayre, Executive Member for Finance and Performance, added:

“The Guildhall restoration project has continued despite the pressures and challenges brought on by the pandemic, and I would like to thank everyone involved in this project for maintaining good progress during these difficult months. Once the restoration works have completed, the Guildhall will operate as a new business hub in the city centre, offering support to local businesses to start, stay and grow in York. Once completed, the Guildhall will once again be the home of civic events and council meetings as it has been for centuries."

Professor Charlie Jeffrey, Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of York, said:

“It is an exciting time for the University of York to be involved with the next era of the prestigious and historical building that is the Guildhall, right in the heart of the city of York. The renovated Guildhall will offer fantastic opportunities for collaborative working to support business start-ups, drive innovation and growth, and strengthen links between the University of York and partners in York and beyond. I look forward to seeing how the facilities at the Guildhall will be used by students and new businesses to support and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs, including opportunities to promote social enterprise and charitable work for the benefit of the local community. All of this chimes directly with our commitment, as a University for Public Good, to work with like-minded partners to bring positive impact for our society."

Office fit-out at the Guildhall is supported by investment from the Government’s Getting Building Fund, allocated by York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

David Dickson, Chair of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership Infrastructure and Joint Assets Board, added:

“We’re looking to a greener, fairer and stronger future as we navigate through the pandemic and projects like this will help our region get there. This high quality space for a range of businesses will create good growth for the local economy.”

Sir Roger Marsh OBE DL, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and NP11 group of Northern local enterprise partnerships, said:

“Innovation and new ways of working will be key to the future prosperity of our region and the North, so it’s great to see the Guildhall being brought into new life for York’s business community. This project shows how important the £1 billion Growth Deal we secured with Government has been. Independent research we have commissioned shows it has delivered £12 worth of lasting benefits to the region for every £1 of Growth Deal funding invested."

Read the University of York announcement here

Planning application submitted for Former Magistrates Court in Kidderminster

A detailed planning application has been submitted to Wyre Forest District Council for the complete re-development of the Former Magistrates Court in Kidderminster.

Working in consultation with NWedR, on behalf of Wyre Forest District Council, Burrell Foley Fischer have developed the designs which will transform the Former Magistrates Court building in the town centre.

Plans for the site transform the space into a cultural and creative hub. The space provides a range of flexible work, performance and production spaces and co-working areas in the main buildings and historic former weaving sheds.

BFF are privileged to be working on this project which will create a unique public building, opening up the previously hidden spaces behind the 1879 façade of the original carpet factory, as a new home for the creative industries in Kidderminster and a new hub for the community. The historic Grade II Listed buildings will be retained and refurbished, giving them a sustainable future, as an integral part of the vision, supported by carefully designed new interventions which reference the Town’s Heritage.

Cllr Helen Dyke, Leader of Wyre Forest District Council said

“We are looking forward to progressing with the development of this site which is being made possible through The Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) – the Government funding initiative to transform struggling high streets. Kidderminster has been awarded £20.5 million from this fund and we have three major projects underway which are all part of our long-term vision.  Our overall intention is to improve connectivity across town and redevelop key sites. Our remit for the Former Magistrates Court redevelopment is that it provides an iconic yet affordable space that will be a magnet for the people of Kidderminster and a hub for creativity and innovation for many years to come.”

For more information on the development of the Former magistrates Court in Kidderminster, visit www.nwedr.org.uk/invest/major-projects/wyre-forest/former-magistrates-court

Minley Home Farm, a model Edwardian Farmstead

John Burrell has been working with SAVE Britain’s Heritage to demonstrate that Minley Home Farm, a model Edwardian Farmstead in rural Hampshire, threatened with demolition by owner the Ministry of Defence, could be restored and reused.

The decorative Tudoresque façade of Minley Home Farm (Darren Buckland)

Located within the idyllic setting of the grade II listed Minley Manor Estate near Farnborough, Home Farm boasts a decorative tudoresque façade and comprises extensive covered yards, livestock and fodder storage sheds and an impressive central range. A cottage (for a stockman) sits in one corner and a free-standing farmhouse with a cart lodge attached completes the site. Despite other buildings within the park, including historic farms, being listed in recent years, Home Farm remains unlisted. 

The south west elevation showing the attached lodging house on the north west corner, the roof to the western, part-covered courtyard with its continuous glazed lantern light to the steel Fink-truss roof, the lean-to sties, and the fall steeply pitched roof to the symmetrically arranged corner pavilion blocks that were used for storage (grain, water, crops). The seven-bayed south east elevation has a central arched entrance flanked by two ranges of stables and loose boxes. The tall chimneys are to the groom’s fireplaces. A superb range of two symmetrical wings with subtle variations, arranged around the central axis of the principal enclosed space of the central Cow House with its vented lantern roof and tiled floors.

The model farm reflects the change from arable to cattle and stock during the great agricultural depression of the late 19th century.  It was built around two covered stock yards as a dairy farm with feed processing rooms and pigsties for pigs which were fed on the bye products of cheese making. There are bull boxes, calf and cow houses and 20 loose boxes.

Thought to have been completed in 1896, Home Farm was until the mid-20th century an active dairy farm. The model farm was set out to designs by Arthur Castings, the chief draftsman and associate of renowned architect George Devey who had been engaged by Minley’s then owner Raikes Currie to design several other buildings on the Minley Manor Estate.

The Curries of Glyn Mills were a leading banking family, and the Home Farm is one of a group of ambitious Home Farms inspired by the example built by Prince Albert at Windsor Castle.  These include those built by the Rothschilds at Waddesdon Manor and Aston Wold.

Minley Home Farm when in use (Camberley)

Despite being in active use until the 1990s and under the continuous ownership of the MoD since 1935, Home Farm has sadly been abandoned and now stands derelict in need of restoration and reuse. 

Drone footage of the current condition of the buildings (Alex Seedig)

Following years of neglect, in January 2021 the MoD applied for approval to bulldoze the historic farm complex under permitted development rights in order to construct a “concrete tent” for training exercises.  Following an SOS from concerned residents, SAVE took legal advice and objected strongly to Hart District Council, arguing that demolition should not be approved under Permitted Development Rights, and that a formal planning application was required. With news that the MoD’s application for demolition has now been refused, SAVE is mounting a listing application and seeking to engage the MoD in order to agree a positive means for restoring and reusing the historic site. 

Minley Home Farm has been on SAVE's Buildings at Risk Register since 2017.  

Marcus Binney, executive president of SAVE Britain’s Heritage says: “Drone footage shows the Home Farm is a sleeping beauty bordering on an idyllic stretch of parkland with public access.  Though the buildings have been badly neglected, and roofs have fallen in, they are candidates for repair and reuse.  The Home Farm with its Tudor style gables and distinct patterned brick (known as diaper work) was built to match other estate buildings all of which are listed. The Home Farm is a gem of the North Hampshire landscape.”

Click here to see a feature on SAVE’s campaign on ITV news.

Click here to see drone footage of the current condition of the buildings

A new Community Greenspace for the village of Gamlingay

Burrell Foley Fischer’s design for a new Community Greenspace for the village of Gamlingay in South Cambridgeshire have been revealed.

The 10 acre plot, 95% of which will be gifted to Gamlingay in perpetuity, is located alongside Cinques Road and within easy walking and cycling of the village centre. Based on known local needs, the new green and amenities would strengthen the individual identity of both Cinques and Gamlingay by providing a new permanent open recreational space between the two. The current private ownership of the new green would be legally transferred as an open public space with the intention of safeguarding ‘the gap’ forever from any future development by re-purposing it in a holistic way as an accessible, useable space for all.

A new single low rise barn structure of ten modest dwellings will be accompanied by a new bowling green and clubhouse, and the significant landscaped amenities will also greatly improve the access, parking, setting, and aspect to the existing houses in East Lane.

Included are 9 acres of new village green, 2,500 trees, an arboretum, orchard, a community ‘walled garden’, new walking routes and linked cycle paths all with outward views to the horizon and ancient woods. New sport, health & wellbeing facilities will include: a bowling green, indoor and outdoor all-weather gyms, sports pitch, and a clubhouse ‘hut’. The new village green will act as a focus for clubs, societies, fetes, concerts, local produce market shows, etc.

The simple agricultural barn style building arranged around a ‘green-walled’ courtyard will accommodate 10 dwellings in a single building, with three units designated as affordable starter shell units. The mix of 3/4 bedroom flexible live/work style homes will all be constructed using modern methods of construction (MMC) to the highest energy efficient zero carbon ratings.

The site is outside the current red-line designated development boundary, but the proposed dwellings enable and facilitate 95% of the land to be re-purposed as a new permanent open space to establish a clear open threshold between the villages thus strengthening the threshold and individual identity and character of Gamlingay as well as Gamlingay Cinques. By providing a new permanent village green open space between the two villages by the transformation of a machine-ploughed field it will create a more bio-diverse, sustainable, useful landscape that for the first time will be accessible to everyone.

It is the applicant’s intention that the creation of the new place ‘Gamlingay Village Green’ open space, for which planning consent will now be sought, will be appropriately and legally transferred to ensure it will remain as an open, public space for all time as an enlightened contextual exemplar and alternative to the threat of it being intensively developed as yet another alien, ‘ad-on’ infill housing estate.

Click here for our client’s website giving further details of the proposals

Winter Gardens Great Yarmouth restoration project receives NLHF funding

We are delighted that the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) have awarded £10m towards the restoration of the Winter Gardens in Great Yarmouth. The project will return the magnificent structure to a year-round attraction, with a botanic garden brimming with plants to reflect the town's historic trading links, restaurant and cafe areas, and a new first floor with galleries, viewing areas and education space.

Burrell Foley Fischer undertook a Feasibility Study, to support the application by Great Yarmouth Borough Council to the NHLF for a Heritage Horizons Award to rescue and repurpose the Grade II* listed Winter Gardens. The objective was to investigate / test the possible future activities within the Winter Gardens alongside a developed Business Plan to secure this significant building for the community and future generations. We also reviewed how this site would sit within the long-term strategic objectives of the Seafront Development.

Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens ‘is the last surviving seaside Victorian cast iron and glass winter gardens in the country. The structure has an unusual prominent, tiered lantern and good quality decorative treatment to the exterior and interior cast iron frame. When constructed it was one of the three largest cast iron and glass seaside winter gardens in England. It represents the culmination of Victorian cast iron and glass design and technology, of which Paxton’s Crystal Palace was a milestone, and demonstrates the engineering achievement and versatility of such structures. Although some of the glazing and window heads have been replaced, it is largely intact. It has considerable group value with the Edwardian entertainment architecture of Great Yarmouth’s seaside resort.’

The Winter Gardens will be a powerful commercial contributor to the regeneration of Great Yarmouth’s seafront and an innovative, exemplar, environmental project. The restored venue will have two coherent and integrated parts:

• Engaging all generations in an exploration of environmental resilience and sustainability through an interpreted and innovative planting scheme.

• Providing a food and drink offer with a commercial operator partner.

York Society of Engineers Lecture on the refurbishment and remodelling of York Guildhall

Faye Davies, Managing Director of Burrell Foley Fischer presented the designs for the refurbishment and remodelling of the historic Grade I, II* & II listed buildings at York Guildhall, at the latest York Society of Engineers Lecture. The talk covered the history, design, delivery and future of this amazing building from a client, design team, contractor and future occupier perspective.

York Guildhall forms a large part of York’s history dating from the 15th century, with a prominent position on the River Ouse. The vision for the project is to provide a world-class venue, supporting and nurturing the expansion of York’s vibrant businesses; combining events and exhibition space with state-of-the-art collaboration and co-working facilities in the heart of a historic and creative city, securing a sustainable future for one of the city’s most iconic buildings. Faye, a Specialist Conservation Architect, discussed the development of BFF’s designs for the remodelling of the Guildhall complex, together with its comprehensive refurbishment. She explained how best practice conservation principles are being adopted, whilst incorporating modern services and amenities.

Richard Stephenson, Property Services Commissioning Manager from City of York Council gave an introduction to the event and discussed the delivery of this project from a client perspective. 

Arup are the Civil and Structural Engineers for the project and Rick Lee, Principal Structural Engineer, discussed solving the unique structural challenges that this historic building has presented. From solving cracks that you could get your hand in, to sensitive interventions with historic fabric and interfacing with new build elements. 

Bart Stevens is director of SGA Consulting who are the environmental consultants and are designing the mechanical and electrical services for the project. He discussed the ways that the carbon footprint of the scheme has been reduced as much as possible. A significant element being that the River Ouse will be used as a source of heating and cooling for the building. He also discussed the many challenges incorporating modern services into the listed buildings. 

Rob Henderson, Project Manager for Vinci the main contractor for the project, discussed the delivery aspect of this challenging project. The Guildhall and its associated buildings are trapped between the River Ouse and the buildings fronting Lendal. With limited access from the street, Vinci have had to utilise the river for deliveries including erecting a tower crane from a stabilised platform in the river that was floated up from further downriver. Vinci have also had to carefully select plant and constructions methods to make use of the restricted width alleys that give access to the site.

Professor Kiran Trehan, PVC for Partnerships and Engagement at the University of York discussing the future of the building. The University of York is planning to take a 15 year lease of one of York’s most prestigious historic buildings, creating a City centre hub for business, enterprise and events. The new space will enable the University to bring the support it offers to local business and enterprise into the heart of York, driving inclusive and sustainable growth in the City as it recovers from the pandemic. 

SAVE and Museum of London host Prince Charles on historic visit to Smithfield General Market

The Prince of Wales this week visited the scene of one of SAVE Britain’s Heritage’s greatest battles – the General Market and the Fish Market in Smithfield, where he had the opportunity to view Burrell Foley Fischer’s campaign drawings. The Smithfield Conservation Area had been extended to protect these impressive Victorian iron and glass market halls, but they were not listed and two major attempts at demolition were fought off by SAVE at successive public inquiries in 2008 and 2014.

SAVE’s Marcus Binney shows The Prince images of SAVE's 2014 alternative vision for Smithfield General Market (MoL)

John Burrell first looked at the project with SAVE in 2012. He immediately realised that it was not just the street facades that were important but also the magnificent formal roof structure covering the interior market spaces, and the spatial and development potential of the vast basements that originally linked Farringdon and Barbican stations which are hidden from view. 

BFF’s drawings showed that was not necessary to demolish the above ground structures in a futile attempt to make a 'conventional' development site because the real value, interest and 'cache' was embodied in the existing buildings, their street connections and the huge relatively uncontentious potential and value of below ground spaces, especially with the new Crossrail platforms soon to be close by.

Cutaway image showing how the General Market could be retained and converted in SAVE’s 2014 alternative vision by architect John Burrell of Burrell Foley Fischer (SBH)

The campaigning document produced for SAVE by BFF showed how the street spaces around the market could become the focus of a major new urban space in London affirming the identity of the Smithfield quarter and its street life that was already underway.  John presented this evidence to the Public Inquiry.

It is currently being restored as a public building, the New Museum of London.

View looking up to the central dome of the General Market which is set to be restored as a centre piece for the new Museum of London (MoL)

https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/campaigns/item/717/PRESS-RELEASE-SAVE-and-Museum-of-London-host-Prince-Charles-on-historic-visit-to-Smithfield-General-Market

Birmingham Roundhouse moves towards completion

BFF are delighted to be working for The National Trust and The Canals and Rivers Trust on the fit out works for the newly refurbished Roundhouse in Birmingham, creating a flexible, and sustainable workplace within the Grade II* listed structure.

Photo : Kev Maslin

Kidderminster carpet factory to be a hub for the creative industries

BFF Architects are leading a full consultant team for the redevelopment and refurbishment of the Grade II Listed Former Magistrates Courts, including the weaving sheds, in Kidderminster. This month saw the first team site visit with Architects, Engineers and Designers from all disciplines visiting site under COVID-safe conditions and starting the process of re-imagining the site, one of the last traditional carpet factories to be built in Kidderminster, as a new hub for the creative industries in the region.

The £14.15million project, funded through the Future High Streets Fund, will be completed by spring 2024.

The weaving floor as it is today

BFF start work on Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens

We have started work with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to help establish new uses for the Winter Gardens and apply for National Lottery Heritage funding.

The remarkable Grade II* listed landmark is the UK’s last surviving Victorian seaside cast-iron and glass winter gardens. It forms part of Great Yarmouth’s collection of Victorian/Edwardian seaside entertainment architecture, a collection of national importance.

The ambition of the Council is to save, restore and reimagine the Winter Gardens at the heart of Great Yarmouth’s regeneration, as a year-round visitor attraction that makes the most of the unique building, its seafront location and its horticultural heritage.

With the project among only 12 shortlisted nationally to apply to the Heritage Horizons Awards scheme, the Council is undertaking a survey to find out more about what residents and visitors want to see and there.

https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/winter-gardens

Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens

Music and Theatre for All - concept for a series of new Covid-safe performance spaces

Concept for a flexible Covid-safe performance space constructed using adapted shipping containers to create a series of simple flexible installations around the country, helping to get the arts back in touch with the communities they serve. As normality returns and traditional venues revive, the HIVEs will be a legacy for the communices they have served through the Pandemic.

HIVE installations are flexible and can be erected within existing structures or within landscape / urban settings: their role is simple – to allow the talent and enthusiasm within the sector to re-connect with their community when everyone needs it most.

Developing the HIVE has been a pro-bono research project in collaboration with Tom Guthrie of Music and Theatre for All, with cost advice from Focus.

Concept for a HIVE in a public space

Concept for a HIVE in an industrial space

Concept for a HIVE outdoors

Tom and Alexander discuss the HIVE at 49:19

Hurstpierpoint College shortlisted for Wood Award and Structural Timber Award

Our performing arts centre at Hurstpierpoint College has been shortlisted for the Wood Award 2020 and the Structural Timber Awards - Education Project of the Year. Many thanks to all involved with the project, not least the College.

Cranfield University

The Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) is being built at Cranfield University and will spearhead the UK’s research into digital aviation technology.

The frame has appeared…

The building takes shape…

Early concept sketch

Depot Lewes shortlisted for South Downs National Park Design Awards

The Depot Lewes has been shortlisted in the non-residential category of the South Downs National Park Design Awards. The awards were launched earlier this year to celebrate innovative and inspirational projects that have made a standout contribution to the landscape, heritage, built environment and local communities of the National Park. It has also been included in the People’s Choice Award, which will be decided by public vote.

The Depot is a new three-screen community cinema, designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, on the site of the modest but much loved existing warehouse of the old Harvey’s brewery depot in Lewes. The three screens have been discreetly inserted within the saved brick shell, with the major design move being to attach a new glazed extension with the depot structure fully visible as the historic backdrop to the new box office, café bar, restaurant and film education and training facilities. Reflecting the historic site layout of orchards and meadows, the former tarmacked service yard is landscaped to provide a new public realm.

The ‘People’s Choice’ award gives communities in and around the National Park the opportunity to vote for a design project that honours and enhances the landscape of the South Downs National Park whilst also meeting the highest standards in sustainability. Details on how to vote for the Depot can be found here:

https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning/south-downs-national-park-design-award/peoples-choice-2019/

Campbeltown Picture House has been shortlisted in the 25th Birthday National Lottery Awards.

Campbeltown Picture House has been shortlisted in the 25th Birthday National Lottery Awards. The Awards is the annual search to find the UK's favourite Lottery-funded projects and to celebrate the ordinary people doing extraordinary things with National Lottery funding. This year, the Awards reflect their 25-year legacy, celebrating projects and people who have benefitted from National Lottery funding over the last quarter of a century.

Photograph: Keith Hunter Photography

Campbeltown Picture House has the joint accolade of being one of Europe’s few surviving atmospheric cinemas and one of Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinemas still in operation. The conservation project restored the art nouveau exterior and the historic main auditorium to its 1930s design and provided a new state of the art second screen, café, education room and other facilities.

Lucy Casot, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland  said, “To see this much-loved Picture House as magnificent as it was the day it opened over 100 years ago is a delight. With the help of National Lottery funding, history and 21st century design have come together to create an incredible cultural centre for the local community.”

The winners will be decided by a public vote and will receive a £10,000 cash prize and appear on a BBC One awards show in November. Further details and how to vote can be found at https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/projects/view/campbeltown-picture-house?context=vote

The New Bury Theatre Hurst wins Sussex Heritage Trust Award

The New Bury Theatre at Hurst, designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, has won a Sussex Heritage Trust Award in the Public & Community Category.  2019 is the 21st year of the awards, which are designed to recognise and reward the highest quality conservation, restoration and good design of newly built projects while encouraging the use of traditional skills and crafts.

Hurst is a thriving, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils from age 4 to 18 years, situated within a 140-acre campus, on the borders of the South Downs National Park, close to the village of Hurstpierpoint in West Sussex. The new Performing Arts Centre, delivered on time and on budget in the autumn of 2018, provides the College with a flexible, 370-seat, courtyard theatre that responds to a number of different formats to suit drama, dance, music theatre and musical performances. 

Theatre buildings are generally characterised by a distinct ‘front’ and ‘back’ (denoting front-of-house and back-of-house) creating a compositional arrangement that is often uneven when approached from different directions. At Hurst, we were presented with a challenging site located towards the rear of the historic campus. BFF’s solution was to reorder the College’s masterplan so that the ‘front’, faces towards the College’s main entrance rather than the large parking areas at the rear.

The new PAC can also be viewed from all directions and so the building’s composition is expressed with the central mass of the auditorium rising in the middle, with four columnar roof vents punctuating the roof ridge, and the ancillary spaces wrapped as a secondary layer around the outside.

The transparent outlook of the glazed foyer spaces is designed to present an inviting aspect when seen from the main College Buildings across the intervening open green space. Currently, the practice room wing of the adjacent Music School partly masks this approach but as the College’s masterplan is implemented this aspect will be opened up putting the new PAC in its proper context.

The building has a low environmental impact in its construction and operation. In construction, cross-laminated timber (CLT) has been used as its main structural component, which has a significant carbon reduction over conventional construction materials such as steel and concrete. The thermal performance of the building fabric is excellent due to the high levels of insulation and air tightness.

The brief was to provide the school with a flexible courtyard theatre that could adapt to a number of different stage formats. The Design Team developed the designs in close collaboration with the School’s technical team to get the balance right between educational and professional facilities and technical installations.  The professional design of the theatre has raised the aspiration of the pupils and transformed the standard of performance through being on a ‘proper’ stage.  Primarily designed for intimate drama performances, the space can also be used for music and assembly.

Merritt Centre, Sherborne Girls shortlisted for Structural Timber Awards

The new Merritt Centre at Sherborne Girls has been shortlisted for the Education Project of the Year in the 2019 Structural Timer Awards.

The building, designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, is a new music school with a recital hall, and a generous, central foyer area to link music, drama and art and provide a rendezvous space at the heart of the school. The tall mass of the new Merritt Centre ‘sits low’ at the physical heart of the school grounds on a site that slopes southwards and is seen as an object in the landscape with its various volumes hinting at the spaces and activities inside. Sympathetic in form and context, the new arts building is a contemporary addition to the School campus and relates to existing forms, scales and materials.

Image courtesy of Sherborne Girls

The new recital hall with seating for 300+ audience members is the largest volume in the performing arts building and the school overall. The music school, which wraps around three sides of the hall, consists of classrooms, studios, practice rooms, recording studios and a study library with the fourth side of the building accommodating public foyers which serve the recital hall and music school on both levels.

Image courtesy of Sherborne Girls

The building is highly insulated with a concrete substructure and CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) superstructure offering a quick, efficient method of construction. The vast majority of the building is naturally ventilated with potential for utilising geothermal energy linked to a central heating plant. Solar gain is controlled through carefully specified glazing and the implementation of brise soleils and pergolas to provide natural shading. 

Image courtesy of Sherborne Girls

The Structural Timber Awards have also shortlisted Morgan Sindall as Contractor of the Year for The Merritt Centre.

Dyslexia Creates 2019

The British Dyslexia Association working in collaboration with the V&A and the Academy of Contemporary Music are launching Dyslexia Creates 2019, the start of a campaign to celebrate the creative contribution dyslexia makes and to redefine the way society sees dyslexia.

Aidan Ridyard, a Principal at Burrell Foley Fischer, will be participating in the launch event, on Thursday 26 September at the V&A South Kensington. The conference will showcase how and why dyslexics are consistently at the fore of creative sectors, and look at how, as our understanding of dyslexia grows, we can change the way society and organisations view dyslexia and embrace its potential.

The event will open with a welcome from V&A Director Tristram Hunt, followed by presentations and panel discussions. Drawing on his own experience of dyslexia Aidan will be contributing to a session entitled “Why organisations that are embracing dyslexic creative thinking are seeing a competitive advantage” together with Kainne Clements, Executive Chairman, Academy of Contemporary Music and Metropolis Studios.

Other highlights will include “New theory on why dyslexia evolved, completely reimagining the role of dyslexia in organisations” by Helen Taylor, Cambridge University and “The creative power of dyslexia and how do dyslexics think differently” by actress Lauren McCrostie and choreographers and documentary makers Elizabeth Pick and Charlotte Edmonds

Helen Boden, CEO, British Dyslexia Association, said: “It’s long been known anecdotally, and now research is confirming, that dyslexics have strong creative minds. They can easily assimilate complex and nuanced information, they are hardwired to challenge what is known and explore new ideas. Dyslexia Creates 2019 is the moment for us to celebrate the massive creative contribution dyslexics are making now and explore how organisations capitalise on this talent in the future. We’re excited to be teaming up with leading creative organisations V&A and Academy of Contemporary Music to make this event happen.”