We are delighted to announce that Anna Blamire-Brown and Oliver Goddard have both achieved Certified Passive House Designer status, bolstering our longstanding commitment to sustainability.

Anna joined Austin-Smith:Lord in 2019 and is based in our Bristol studio. In the time since her Masters, she has delivered prominent education and residential projects with an emphasis on sustainable design.

Oliver joined the practice earlier in 2020. Based in our Glasgow studio, he has a passion for sustainable design and in 2015 was nominated by Building as one of the top 50 rising stars of sustainability.

Our congratulations go to both of them, and we look forward to seeing these skills put to use in our forthcoming projects.

Passive House Institute profile pages:

Anna Blamire-Brown
Oliver Goddard

We are delighted to announce that Matthew Dyer has been promoted to Head of Conservation for Austin-Smith:Lord, and becomes an Associate of the practice.

Matthew joined Austin-Smith:Lord in 2018 and is based in our Bristol studio. An accredited conservation architect, he has worked on conservation and regeneration projects across sectors, for public and third sector clients. His expertise in the conservation of historic building fabric extends to stonework, brickwork and timber repairs and internal decoration as well as introduction of sensitive interventions in historic settings.

Prior to joining Austin-Smith:Lord Matthew developed repair strategies for major projects including the revitalisation of the former Central Police Station, Hong Kong, St. George’s Hall, Liverpool and a major research project into the causes of deterioration of the dalle de verre lantern at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

“I am delighted to hear the news of my promotion to Head of Conservation and am grateful to Austin-Smith:Lord for entrusting me with this position. Since joining Austin-Smith:Lord two years ago, I have been given the opportunity to work on some of the UK’s most diverse historic sites such as Old College in Aberystwyth, the General Register House in Edinburgh and Newport Transporter Bridge.

 “Austin-Smith:Lord has an incredible conservation portfolio, including the Great Pagoda at Kew, Llanelly House in Carmarthenshire and the Bluecoat in Liverpool. I look forward to building on this legacy with colleagues and securing our built heritage for future generations.”
Matthew Dyer, Head of Conservation, Austin-Smith:Lord

We are delighted to announce that Tope Balogun has been promoted to Director of Austin-Smith:Lord.

Tope joined Austin-Smith:Lord in 2008, progressing to Associate in 2015 and leads our London studio and Residential Sector. He is a key member of our design team and the breadth and depth of his portfolio ensures the knowledge and experience essential for success.

His projects include a ground breaking development at Loudoun Square which innovatively combines affordable housing, healthcare, local retail and community use, delivered through innovative public sector partnerships and the National College for Nuclear (Southern Hub) at Bridgwater and Taunton College.

“I am delighted to have been appointed as a Director and look forward to my growing role in an organisation steeped in such a rich seam of history. I will continue working with our Creative Collective to improve the quality of our work and service delivery to our clients and collaborators with a particular focus on leading the Residential Sector.”
Tope Balogun, Director, Austin-Smith:Lord

We are delighted to announce Graham Ross as Austin-Smith: Lord’s new Chief Executive.

Working through these strange and difficult times has really focused our attention on our core beliefs and company culture. At the heart of this is always putting people first. So, keeping this central tenet intact and looking at new ways to nurture it for the future, we have taken the opportunity to redefine how we work and restructure the business around this goal. Leading us in this fresh endeavour, we are delighted to announce that Graham Ross will take on the new role for the practice of Chief Executive.

Graham joined the practice in 1998, and became a Partner in 2010. Graham has led many of our projects in urban regeneration, arts and culture, housing, transportation and education.

“It is a great honour to be asked to be Austin-Smith:Lord’s new Chief Executive. I’ve been immensely proud of the way our talented multi-disciplinary team, located across the UK, have worked together as One Studio throughout the Covid pandemic to progress some amazing projects for great clients. That team spirit, collective resilience, commitment to design quality, knowledge sharing and professionalism stand us in good stead for the future.

“I look forward to being inspired by the collective creativity and knowledge of colleagues, clients and communities as we explore how best to design sustainable and healthy buildings and landscapes that enhance quality of life and respect our planet, people and places.” Graham Ross, Chief Executive

The new purpose designed Mental Health Facilities, which include therapeutic courtyards and gardens, on the Stobhill Hospital campus in north Glasgow, have been handed over to the NHS. The gardens, and wider landscape setting for the new facility, were designed by Austin-Smith:Lord to assist in the treatment of mental health patients at Stobhill.

Austin-Smith:Lord were appointed by hub West Scotland for their partner, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, in November 2016 as landscape architects for the new Stobhill Mental Health Facility. The scope included the delivery of design proposals for the external spaces (courtyards & gardens) for the new Acute Admission Unit (AAU) and Hospital Based Complex Clinical Care Unit (CCC). The building was designed by Keppie Design, and features internal patient courtyards, as a central part of the wider therapeutic facilities on site. The project was constructed by BAM Construction.

Siobhan Vernon, Director of Landscape at Austin-Smith:Lord said, “The patient gardens and courtyards were developed to provide high quality external spaces to encourage outdoor physical activity, create a sense of calm, a place for relaxation and provide seasonal interest. The spaces were designed in close collaboration with the client’s clinical staff, to ensure the outdoor spaces could support and enhance the therapeutic care. The gardens provide a practical environment whilst avoiding the appearance of a clinical setting.

“The design of the gardens and courtyards take cognisance of how they can be enjoyed by the range of patient users. This may be through passive benefit, providing visual interest from within the building’s day spaces or bedrooms or active benefit through encouraging use of the outdoor spaces to enjoy fresh air, daylight or engage with a range of activities. External space has also been provided for the staff.”

The landscape design included consideration of the building’s setting within the Stobhill Campus context and the proximity of the development to listed buildings and the notable landmark B-listed Water Tower.

Note to Editors

Austin-Smith:Lord Ltd. is a multi-disciplinary design practice that provides landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, masterplanning, conservation, planning, sustainability design and interior design services to a wide client base throughout the UK.

Stobhill Acute Mental Health Wards was delivered in partnership with hub West Scotland, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). The building was designed by Keppie Design, and main contractors were BAM Construction. Engineers were Baker Hicks and RSP. The project delivers a high quality facility that will enhance the quality of health and social care services in the Glasgow area.

The purpose of the unit will be to provide acute inpatient mental health care, including an assessment and admission function, to a large part of the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde catchment area as a component of the Board’s overall mental health services strategy.

We are excited to announce that Austin-Smith:Lord have moved to a new location in Glasgow City Centre.

Having spent the previous 13 years at 296 St Vincent Street, this building is sadly soon to be demolished to make way for a new hotel.

We have great memories of our old office however, in what is now our 22^nd year in Glasgow, we see this new location as the start of another chapter in our history.  We are really looking forward to working from the new studio space which, being on the top floor, has fantastic natural light and great views out over the surrounding skyline.

Unfortunately we don’t have the opportunity, just yet, of hosting an opening party but look forward to welcoming you there in hopefully the not too distant future.

Our new address is 25, Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 6NL.

Images courtesy of Worksmart

For the second year running Austin-Smith:Lord and MVRDV have been announced winners of the Scottish Design Award in the Masterplanning category.

The (Y)our St Enoch, (Y)our Central and (Y)our Blythswood District Regeneration Frameworks (DRFs), led by Austin-Smith:Lord in collaboration with leading international architects and urbanists MVRDV, was announced the winner of the 2020 Award in an online ceremony. Our congratulations go to everyone involved.

The Frameworks were prepared for Glasgow City Council as part of the (Y)our City Centre project in collaboration with thousands of contributors through public participation and engagement with stakeholders. They outline a vision for four of the nine districts identified in the City Centre Strategy. These evidence-based DRFs outline a vision, priorities, projects and policies supported by a detailed and practical action plan to transform each of these Districts of Glasgow over the next ten years and beyond.

The DRFs encourage the repopulation of the central Glasgow to create compact, mixed-use, walkable ‘20 minute neighbouroods’. The DRFs envisage the transformation of the Clyde as part of a River Park visitor destination to create a gathering place for Glaswegians connecting communities along and across the River. This would be part of greening the city centre to enhance the quality of the environment and adapt streets and spaces to climate change. The DRFs also proposes reducing severance caused by the M8 motorway by improving walking, wheeling and cycling routes, and integrated public transport, to and through the city centre. The DRFs promote retrofitting and reuse of vacant or under-occupied buildings, with a focus on restoring and maintaining Glasgow’s immense built heritage and reactivating the city’s great streets and spaces.

These three latest DRFs followed on from the Broomielaw DRF, also prepared by the Austin-Smith:Lord / MVRDV team, that was the first of these DRFs to be approved earlier in 2019 and was recognised with a Scottish Design Award last year. Austin-Smith:Lord have subsequently been appointed by Glasgow City Council to prepare the next four District Regeneration Frameworks for Cowcaddens, Townhead, the Learning Quarter and the Merchant City. These are due to completion in 2022.

Winy Maas, Co-Founder of MVRDV said, “This award helps to develop the initiative for a much more vivid, open, collaborative and experimental city. We need this especially in these days of sanitary measurements where a green, optimism and energy are needed. And where energetic cities guide Europe into a collaborative future.”

Graham Ross, Executive Director of Austin-Smith:Lord said, “We’re delighted that all four (Y)our City Centre District Regeneration Frameworks we’ve completed to date have been recognised with Scottish Design Awards. More importantly we’re heartened that the ambition and ideas captured in the DRFs, and developed in collaboration with city centre communities, are helping influence future regeneration activity and improve quality of life in these important areas of central Glasgow. As the city seeks to develop distinctive local solutions to the urgent global issues of our age it is apparent that the DRFs provide a resilient framework and action plan which will assist in anticipating climate change adaptation, enabling post-Covid renewal and enhancing quality of life for all.”   

The full DRF team included:

Glasgow City Council: Client
Austin-Smith:Lord: Local Designer, Lead Consultant,
MVRDV: Lead Designer, Urban Strategy
Space Syntax: Connectivity, Spatial Economics
Ryden: Property Market Consultants
Douglas Wheeler Associates: Socio-economic Regeneration Consultants
Urban Tide: Smart City Consultants
WAVEParticle: Community Animation, Engagement
Gerry Grams: Strategic City Design Adviser
Arup: Engineering Advice
Gardiner & Theobald: Cost Consultants

Austin-Smith:Lord are delighted to be selected to provide architectural and landscape design services across multiple regions of the UK through this important new Professional Services Framework. The high calibre of consultants selected confirms the rigour of the selection process from over 400 applicants.

We are particularly pleased with the emphasis placed upon delivering tangible community benefits and the focus it has on our core sectors of Education and Healthcare. The framework enables public sector clients to secure our services through Direct Award or Further Competition over the next 4 years.

https://www.procurepartnerships.co.uk/the-procure-partnerships-framework-professional-services-agreement-launches/

Glasgow City Council has launched a consultation on the future of the Cowcaddens, Learning Quarter, Merchant City, and Townhead districts in the city centre.

The council recently appointed a team to help prepare ambitious regeneration action plans for these four districts, and the project team have launched a website and Freephone line to help engage with as many people as possible in the coming months.  These distinctive city centre areas will each have a District Regeneration Framework (DRF) to guide their future development.

A DRF is a 10-year regeneration planning framework and action plan, and each DRF will guide the city centre’s physical, social and economic regeneration. The DRFs support both Glasgow’s City Development Plan and the City Centre Strategy.

The yourcitycentre2020.commonplace.is/ website invites contributors to share comments and ideas about how to improve these four districts in future.  The consultation will give the opportunity to share thoughts on how these districts feel now and ideas about how they could and should be improved.

The consultation team especially want to hear views on how it can be made easier to get around the city centre; how streets and open spaces can be improved; and hear thoughts on housing and places to work and learn, and on the mix of activities required to create a thriving, active city centre in the future. The city centre plays a key role for Glasgow as a whole as well as the surrounding region beyond it, so thoughts on connectivity are also welcome.

As well as the website, a Freephone number will go live in July and August and will be staffed by the project team on specific dates. This will give those without online access the chance to share their ideas.

The Freephone line is 0800 1583973. This can be called at the following dates/times: Thursday 2 July, noon – 2pm, 5 – 7pm, Saturday 4 July, 10am – noon. Other dates will be made available in due course.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The district regeneration frameworks for the city centre will play a key role in creating a city centre fit to meet the challenges now in front of us. By taking part in this consultation, everyone with a stake in these four neighbourhoods can join with the council and our expert project team can help shape a city centre that is sustainable, attractive and liveable.”

Graham Ross, architect and urban planner at Austin-Smith:Lord – part of the project team – said: “To ensure future action plans for these districts are relevant and effective we need to develop distinctive, local solutions with the people who know the place best. We’re looking for ideas, big and small, to improve the quality of life for everyone who lives, works, learns or visits here. It’s vital that we tap in to local wisdom and knowledge so we can capture the essence of the issues needing attention and set a positive agenda for regeneration and recovery the next ten years. We want anyone passionate about Glasgow to share ideas about how to enhance our everyday experiences of these districts, and help set future ambitions that will enable Glasgow to thrive as a great European city.”

The city centre is one of Glasgow’s most important assets. Glasgow City Council’s City Centre Strategy identifies nine Districts and a series of Avenues – the latter funded by the Glasgow City Region City Deal – as the basis of planning and delivering sustainable regeneration across the city centre. Good progress has been made with the first five District Regeneration Frameworks (DRFs) published, and design work for the first two ‘blocks’ of Avenues is progressing, following the construction of the Sauchiehall Street ‘Avenue’ pilot.

The five city centre DRFs already adopted promote an ambitious future vision that includes a River Park along the Clyde, increased city centre living with enhanced community facilities and improvement to walking, cycling and public transport networks to create healthy, sustainable connections between communities and opportunities. The (Y)our Broomielaw DRF secured a Scottish Design Award in 2019.

For further information, go to citycentrestrategy@glasgow.gov.uk

We are delighted to have been appointed by Abellio ScotRail as Lead Design Consultant for the delivery phase of the £8m redevelopment of Aberdeen Station.

Austin-Smith:Lord were originally appointed as part of the design team in January 2017 to provide pre-construction architectural services. The scope of work developed from previous studies by Abellio ScotRail’s team and extended to include the design of new accommodation for LNER and Abellio ScotRail. The need to enhance the existing station and create a more conspicuous and fitting entrance for arrival and departure in Scotland’s 3^rd largest city was also identified during the design process and will include new signage and feature lighting.

The project also includes:

• A Glazed pod for 1^st class and the new sleeper service passengers to be inserted within the concourse area at first floor level with waiting, toilet & shower facilities.
• Reconfiguration of existing Station retail units with glazed extensions to the concourse frontage to provide enhanced facilities for passengers and station users.
• Conversion of existing ticket office and 1^st class lounge to create additional retail space with active frontage directly onto Union Square.
• Refurbishment of the 2 storey North Corner building for commercial lease including repairs to the building envelope to safeguard the fabric of this A-listed property.
• Re-provision of ticket office into reconfigured accommodation within the listed sandstone pavilion building centrally and conveniently located in the concourse.
• Upgrade of existing station concourse area.
• Creation of new accommodation for station maintenance, train care and station staff.
• Remodelling of existing station accommodation to provide enhanced welfare facilities for station staff, train crews and LNER.
• Reconfiguration of taxi rank area to integrate cycle storage, hostile vehicle mitigation, improved taxi waiting areas and enhancement to finishes and lighting to improve the passenger appearance.

The design process required close collaboration with Abellio ScotRail in consultation with Network Rail, Aberdeen City Council Planning and Building Control, specialist suppliers and the local accessibility panel.

A phasing strategy was devised by the design team and Abellio ScotRail during the pre-tender stage and is subsequently being developed by the contractor Morrison Construction to allow the station to remain operational with a safe environment for staff, station users and passengers provided during construction.

Contractors will begin work on the site when it is safe to do so, following the current Coronavirus pandemic. The project will be completed in stages, with work on the station redevelopment expected to take around one year to complete. Given that the project was conceived pre Covid-19, the delivery methodology therefore is currently being adapted to comply with Scottish Government guidelines.

Kirsty Devlin, ScotRail Head of Projects, said “The redevelopment of Aberdeen station will see significant enhancements in retail, improved access to the station, a new ticket office, and new first-class lounge.

“The investment we are making in the North East – in the redevelopment of Aberdeen station, the Aberdeen to Inverness improvement programme, and in Inter7City trains connecting Scotland’s seven cities – means it’s an exciting time for this part of the country.”

Austin-Smith:Lord’s Project Director/Lead Designer, Andrew McCafferty said “Having worked on the project since January 2017, we are delighted that it has received funding. We have enjoyed collaborating with Abellio ScotRail during the design process to develop a solution that will enhance the quality of environment for station users and improve the passenger experience to and from Scotland’s 3^rd largest city. In collaboration with our sub consultants Fairhurst and SVM, we look forward to working with Morrison Construction during the delivery phase.”