The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh conservation project now complete
Austin-Smith:Lord were appointed by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh to refurbish the four upper storeys of their category B listed property at 21 Hill Place in Edinburgh. Prominently positioned on the corner of Nicolson Street, facing Nicolson Square, 21 Hill Place is one of the key buildings on this major thoroughfare.
Designed by Thomas P Marwick in 1897-8, the building was one of many the leading architect and past president of the RIAS worked on for the National Bank of Scotland, although the building at 21 Hill Place is one of the few surviving buildings that he was responsible for designing in its entirety.
The Bank occupied the basement and ground floor of the building while the upper floors contained the Edinburgh premises of Skerry’s College, which played a major role in the first half of the 20th Century in training people for the Civil Service, Post Office and Custom and Excise service.
The ground and basement of the building are now occupied by the Royal Bank of Scotland and the conservation accredited architects at Austin-Smith:Lord have refurbished the upper top floors for use as administration offices by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Catherine Cosgrove, Associate in our Glasgow studio commented: “It is an interesting building for a number of reasons not least the fact that it was home to Skerry’s College.
“Founded by George Edward Skerry in 1878, Skerry’s College was established to help candidates for the Civil Service, Post Office or Custom and Excise prepare for the entrance exam and was the first of its type in the country.
“Overall, 21 Hill Place was in good condition, with many original features such as ornate fireplace surrounds and panelled doors surviving internally. We retained these features within the room reconfigurations and carefully routed new services into the building to provide modern office interior finishes fit for its new purpose. The external red sandstone masonry was carefully inspected and selective indenting undertaken together with decorative finials refixed using stainless steel dowels and lime mortar bedding”.
Our conservation architects carefully considered the integration of services within the existing fabric of the building, selecting routes carefully to minimise the levels of interventions to avoid any major loss of historic fabric. A new lift was also incorporated into the design set out and positioned to slot between existing steel beams within the floors identified on archive drawings by the team. The overall effect has been very well received by the RCSEd staff who are now using their modern working environment skilfully set within the listed building.
Prof. Winy Maas, a founding Director of MVRDV, Rotterdam based architects and urbanists, gave a public lecture in Glasgow on Tuesday 7th February 2016.
Over 400 people attended the event in the St. Vincent Street Church; a masterpiece designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.
MVRDV and Austin-Smith:Lord, supported by a multidisciplinary team, have recently been commissioned by Glasgow City Council to develop with stakeholders and local communities, Regeneration Frameworks for four districts within the City Centre. Entitled (Y)our City Centre this project is progressing throughout 2017.
In this lecture, organised and introduced by Graham Ross and David Millar of Austin-Smith:Lord, Winy Maas outlines MVRDV’s design philosophy. He outlines how to create an intimate city, how to build a boutique made of glass bricks, how to stack Dutch landscapes and how to advance research in nano-technology that might one day replace concrete as a construction material. In conclusion parallels are drawn with Glasgow and the (Y)our City Centre project.
A public exhibition, featuring the initial design concepts for the transformation of Perth City Hall, is now on display. The exhibition features the designs created by Austin-Smith:Lord and MVRDV, one of the five teams shortlisted to revitalise the City Hall.
The concepts can be viewed in the Civic Hall within the Council buildings at 2 High Street, Perth from 12 noon on 12 June. The exhibition will then be open 10am-7pm on weekdays and 10am – 4pm at weekends until 24 June. Images from the exhibition will also be displayed at the back of City Hall opposite St John’s Kirk, and can be viewed online. Members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the designs.
Following the successful architect being confirmed, the development of the detailed plans and applications for planning consent and listed building consent will take place, with construction works due to begin in 2019.
The project forms part of Perth’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021. Perth and Kinross Council are looking to bring the building back into public use and create an international cultural destination for permanent and temporary exhibits. The revitalised building will deliver accessible community and creative learning spaces for locals, and serve as a new cultural destination for visitors to the city.
Graham Ross, Partner and Glasgow Studio Principal at Austin-Smith:Lord said “Perth City Hall should become Perth’s Living Room. A place for culture and community to congregate; where Perth extends a welcome to all and showcases itself to the world, and visa versa. We keep the best of the original building and redefine it as a dynamic Art Mixer. And we create a panoramic civic roof garden to give the city an incredible public space like no other”
Winy Maas, Founding Partner and Director at MVRDV said “We love the historic old building of Perth City Hall and our design proposal, together with Austin-Smith:Lord, will create a hall of mirrors that reflects the panoramic routes around the Art Mixer within the main hall. We will also add a public roof garden with panoramic views of the city. The building becomes a welcoming, new central hub for Perth. Perth City Hall is brought back to life!”
Blue Peter competition engages young people with the past and inspires architects of the future
Blue Peter has launched an exciting design competition inviting viewers to design a dragon for the Great Pagoda at Kew, one of the most important conservation projects within the UK, if not Europe.
Conservation architects at Austin-Smith:Lord have been working with Historic Royal Palaces on the fascinating two year project to restore the famous Great Pagoda in the Royal Botanic Gardens to its 18th century splendour.
A major element of the project is the reintroduction of the eighty decorative dragons missing from the 50 metre high structure for over two hundred years.
Designed at the height of the eighteenth century craze for Chinoiserie, the eye-catching dragons festooning each of the ten storeys of the Pagoda were the talk of the town for twenty years before disappearing, some say in payment for the Prince Regent’s gambling debts.
All of the new dragons will be based on a similar design with one very special exception: one dragon will be designed by a lucky Blue Peter viewer.
Viewers aged between 6 and 15 years have between now and Thursday 25 May to enter the competition by creating a brand new dragon design for the Great Pagoda.
Entrants will have to think creatively to design a dragon, give it a name and a super power.
The winning design will then be fabricated into a full scale dragon which will be on show on the Great Pagoda for all to see for a full year after the iconic attraction reopens in Spring 2018.
John Barnes, Conservation and Learning Director, Historic Royal Palaces says: “We’re hoping that lots of budding designers will get involved with the restoration of the Great Pagoda because of this exciting competition. As the people who look after some of the most important buildings in Britain we hope that it will inspire the next generation, who will be the ones caring for the Palaces in the future.”
David Millar, Director and Head of Conservation at Austin-Smith:Lord, adds: “This is a wonderful, once in a lifetime opportunity for young people aspiring to become an architect or pursue a career in design. The Great Pagoda is an exceptionally important building, which is today recognised as a masterpiece of 18th century English architecture and one of the jewels in the crown of Georgian London. It also promises to be a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to seeing some amazing mythical creatures as the young people fire their imagination!”
Cressida Cowell, judge and author “How To Train Your Dragon” says: “I’m delighted to be a judge for this competition. When I was nine I won a national writing competition and it made me realise for the first time that I could be a writer. It was incredibly inspiring! I can’t wait to see the dragon designs with the aim of inspiring a new generation into the design and creative industries.”
Ewan Vinnicombe, Editor of Blue Peter concludes: “Blue Peter is excited to be part of this landmark restoration giving viewers the once in a lifetime opportunity to design a feature on an historic royal building. I know the viewers will be very creative as always.”
The (Y)our City Centre project team has launched the (Y)our Ideas map. This allows anyone with an interest in Glasgow to help map the challenges and opportunities for positive change in the next 10 years for the Broomielaw, St Enoch, Central and Blythswood districts of Glasgow. We ask you to visit https://yourcitycentre.commonplace.is/and have your say on what needs to be done and why.
This mapping forms part of the ongoing (Y)our City Centre project. A team led by MVRDV and Austin-Smith:Lord, supported by Space Syntax and a multidisciplinary team, has been commissioned by Glasgow City Council to embark on the development of District Regeneration Frameworks for the four districts of Glasgow City Centre. With your help, these Regeneration Frameworks will look to create a clear urban structure that can fully realise Glasgow’s economic, cultural and social potential.
Austin-Smith:Lord / MVRDV team shortlisted for Perth City Hall
We are delighted to be named as one of five teams shortlisted for the redesign of Perth City Hall.
Austin-Smith:Lord and MVRDV are collaborating together with Perth-based Fergus Purdie Architects to create initial design concepts to breathe new life into this historic B-Listed building.
Perth and Kinross Council are looking to bring the building back into public use and create an international cultural destination for permanent and temporary exhibits. The revitalised building will deliver accessible community and creative learning spaces for locals, and serve as a new cultural destination for visitors to the city.
The project forms part of Perth’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021.
Graham Ross, Partner and Glasgow studio principal at Austin-Smith:Lord said “our team are thrilled to be shortlisted for this exciting project. Extending our longstanding collaboration with internationally renowned architects MVRDV of Rotterdam, with whom we are preparing the (Y)our City Centre masterplans for Glasgow City Council, will bring an added dimension to the project. Redefining Perth City Hall as an innovative and contemporary cultural space presents a significant opportunity for the City to create a world-renowned destination that will benefit the local community and raise Perth’s international profile.
“Drawing upon our vast experience of delivering high quality contemporary arts and culture projects within sensitive historic environments we are anticipating an exciting challenge to fuse Perth’s past, understand its present and outline what is possible for City Hall in the future. If selected we would combine our in-house expertise in architecture, conservation, streetscape design and urban planning to work collaboratively with people in Perth to create a distinctive vision for their City Hall.”
To view Austin-Smith:Lord’s Arts and Culture projects click here.
Austin-Smith:Lord LLP is a leading multi-disciplinary design practice that provides architecture, urban design, masterplanning, conservation architecture, landscape architecture, planning advice and sustainability design services to a wide client base throughout the UK. Our Practice has been active in the Arts and Culture sector for decades, with successful projects including Bluecoats Arts Centre (for Liverpool European City of Culture), Helensburgh Outdoor Museum, Liverpool Central
Library, Airdrie Town Hall, Paisley Town Hall, Ayr Gaiety Theatre auditorium conservation and re-fit, Bedwellty House, International Slavery Museum Liverpool, Merthyr Tydfil Arts Centre, Llanelly House, People’s History Museum Manchester, Shrewsbury Museum, FACT, Museum of Science and Industry Manchester, and Leeds City Museum.
Many of these project are multi award-winning, and most involve refurbishment and/or extension to important and cherished historic buildings in our society. Our accredited conservation architects are currently working on innovative repair solutions for the 18th century Chinese Pagoda at Kew Gardens in London, having recently completed a conservation project at the Tower of London. Meanwhile, our Culture team have recently been commissioned to undertake our second major project for Birmingham Royal Ballet, and have also been appointed as architects for Shakespeare North in Prescot working in partnership with Nick Helm Architects. Further details of Austin-Smith:Lord’s extensive Arts + Culture experience is available here (LINK)
Austin-Smith:Lord have recently been commissioned by Glasgow City Council working in collaboration with MVRDV on the rethinking and planning the regeneration of four key districts in Glasgow City centre.
MVRDV are internationally renowned architects and urbanists who have received widespread acclaim for their unique approach to design solutions. These have resulted in a range of buildings types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Built projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.
Current projects include the proposed 15,000m2 Art Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen – a new collection building for the city of Rotterdam set to store more than 145,000 art and design objects and the soon-to-be-completed Skygarden a floating (green) overpass transformation in central Seoul with 254 species of trees, shrubs and flowers.
We’re delighted to have been appointed to design a new facility in Swansea for autistic children and their families.
Orbis Group, which is one of the UK’s leading providers of services for people living with autism, has recently purchased Dan-y-Coed House in West Cross from Swansea Council and intends to transform it into a state-of-the-art facility providing education and care for up to 30 children and young people in a school and residential home.
The building was previously run by Swansea Council as an educational, conference and activity facility.
The purchase of Dan-y-Coed House marks Orbis Group’s most ambitious project to date, with the property set to bring in an estimated 100 new jobs to the area.
Work has begun on the refurbishment and the service will open in 2018.
Victoria Slater of Austin-Smith:Lord says: “There are many considerations in designing for children with Autistic Spectrum Condition to provide a sensory environment which does not overload and distress children with ASC. We are working with the team at Orbis to develop a set of design guidelines and we are also researching current best practice standards based on recent research.
“The aim of this project is to deliver a high quality building and landscape that will allow both pupils and residents to thrive without impeding or disrupting their education and everyday life.”
Mike Currier, CEO of Orbis Group adds: “At Orbis Group we work diligently to ensure that every child under our care has access to a socially valued and fulfilling life, irrespective of the complexity of their condition, and we are proud to be able to provide our service users with truly outstanding facilities that meet their needs.
“In order for our expert staff to provide the highest level of specialist education, care, and clinical support, it’s crucial to create an environment that caters to the complex requirements associated with autism. We are confident that the team at Austin-Smith:Lord will support us in transforming Dan-y-Coed House into a top-quality school and residential service for children and young people with autism.”
Murtaza Rizvi Named Joint Chair of RIBA South West
Murtaza Rizvi, Architect at Austin-Smith:Lord’s Bristol studio, and Camellia Kelly from O’Leary Goss Architects have recently accepted the joint role of Chair of the South West branch of the RIBA for the next year.
As part of the new role, Murtaza will play a strategic part in advancing membership experience for the region and helping to achieve set objectives for RIBA in the South West, supporting Jon Watkins who is the RIBA Regional Director of the branch.
RIBA’s South West branch hosts a calendar of events and initiatives throughout the year for its membership as well as acting as a critical voice on behalf of the profession on key agenda’s such as Bristol’s recent plans to update their supplementary planning guidance on tall buildings and building at higher densities. Alongside other commitments as a result of becoming joint Chair, Murtaza will join the RIBA Local Members Forum in Hull this June with other regional Chairs to share insights and ideas to drive forward local objectives.
Murtaza commented on his new position:
“I am delighted to be elected Co-chair for RIBA Bristol & Bath Branch for the coming year and excited to be part of such a passionate architectural community.
Bristol is an exciting place to be with a strong cultural identity. I am looking forward to working together to increase the visibility of the RIBA, engage with key strategies and objectives and undertake initiatives though the Bristol and Bath Branch that support and represent the local community.
Together we have the opportunity to shape our city and work with developers and institutions within the public and private sector to continue to make Bristol a wonderful place to live, work and enjoy.”
Jon Watkins, RIBA South West Regional Director commented:
“On behalf of the regional RIBA, I am delighted that Murtaza and Camellia have taken on the exciting role of chairing the RIBA Bristol & Bath branch – the largest in the South West. At such an exciting time for Bristol as the Sunday Times Best Place to live in the UK, and for the wider region through the West of England devolution deal, there is much for the RIBA to get involved with and support over the coming year.”
Congratulations, Murtaza and Camellia from the whole team at Austin-Smith:Lord.
Extended University of Liverpool School of Management Opens
Due to its success and strong reputation, the Management School at the University of Liverpool is attracting increasing numbers of students and has increased its capacity to allow additional students to attend.
Austin-Smith:Lord developed a design to achieve this through reorganising and extending the existing facilities.
The new design aims to embrace modern methods of teaching in a state of the art facility that encourages collaborative and social learning. The accommodation also includes a case pit for debate and discussion and a trading floor.
Lead architect, Adam Sunderland of Austin-Smith:Lord commented: The University of Liverpool has a distinguished architectural history. The best buildings on the campus are confident expressions of their age. The pieces form a coherent whole by respecting the context. The vision for the new extension as the third component in the evolution of the Management School is to modernise, raise the profile and rebrand to meet market expectations.”
The new extension, which is a highly sustainable, BREEAM Very Good building, is set back from the street, behind a formal landscaped zone, consistent with the character of the campus. A green wall has been incorporated into the south west corner of the building at ground floor level to create a south facing courtyard.
The pavilion extension is linked by a double height glass box to the existing building. The scale and proportions of the cladding module pick up on the grain and verticality of the existing building. The cladding is subdivided vertically into floor zones and accommodation zones. Joints are staggered between the zones and windows are placed as required in the accommodation zone.
Larger volumes such as the atrium are expressed by spanning windows across two accommodation zones and the floor zone, which in these areas, is set back from the glazing.
This structured and flexible approach enables the fenestration pattern to be determined by the needs of the spaces animating the simple pavilion form.
Austin-Smith:Lord join drive to encourage female students into Architecture and Construction on International Women’s Day
In the 2017 Women in Architecture Survey, 60% of women said they did not believe the building industry has fully accepted their authority as architects and the same percentage said that having children had a detrimental effect on their career trajectory. If we turn our focus to young women, a recent study commissioned by Redrow revealed that just 16% of young women questioned said a career in construction was a possibility for them.
These are alarming statistics and as a practice we are committed to raising awareness of the wide ranging opportunities within the industry and to ensuring absolute equality of progression and reward. Women at Austin-Smith:Lord make up 37% of the workforce which is higher than the industry average reported in RIBA’s 2016 Benchmarking report and we are pleased to see this ratio increasing year on year.
Indeed, within the practice we are experiencing something of a natural equalisation in gender ratio through recruitment and progression based very simply upon talent and merit which, in isolation, is very encouraging. Only last night we attended an international awards evening for the construction industry but, whilst the achievements of the schemes on show were admirable, the under-representation of women was equally shocking and a stark reminder of how much is still to be done.
Today we celebrate diversity at our practice and are pleased to be contributing to Bouygues’s International Women’s Day Careers Fair for Girls in Pembrokeshire alongside Morganstone, Gleeds, WRW, Pembrokeshire County Council and Pembroke College.
The event, set up by Bouygues and in partnership with BITC Cymru, is being held throughout the day (8th March) at the Bridge innovation Centre in Pembrokeshire and is providing female students aged 14-19 with the opportunity to learn more about the different career options available to them in construction as well as to hear from different key note speakers across a programme of seminars throughout the day covering topics including gender equality and the pay gap.
Members of the Austin-Smith:Lord Cardiff team, Emily Harper Part II Architectural Assistant and Efa Lois Thomas Part I Architectural Assistant, are attending the day with an information stall to share knowledge with the students about the routes into architecture as a career.
Emily and Efa at the Bouygues careers fair
Having reflected on how she might support young women to consider a career in architecture Efa Lois shares the story of how she found her way into architecture.
“I’m really excited to be attending Bouygues career fair as I am hopeful I can spread the word to young women about the fantastic benefits and rewards they can expect from working in the industry. When I was very young, I used to make my parents print off sheets upon sheets of fashion design templates, and I filled folders with my designs. I think the idea of applying design and aesthetics to clothing and accessories really appealed to me, even at an early age, but I was also fascinated by physics and the science of what surrounded me. When I discovered Architecture, I found that it included elements of all my interests, and more!”
Not long ago, Efa won the National Eisteddfod Architecture Scholarship 2016, the University of Liverpool John Ranking Sketch Scheme prize, presented a slot in the Royal Society of Architects in Wales’ Annual Conference 2016, and has recently submitted an article for Touchstone Architecture Magazine.
Emily shares how more about how she discovered her passion for Architecture. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was at school, I just chose subjects I enjoyed which included Art, Maths and Psychology. It wasn’t until I had to make a decision about university courses that I realised I had inadvertently set myself up for Architecture. It was the only thing that made sense; it satiated both my creative and my practical side all at once. Nothing else would do and I enjoyed my degree exceptionally.
“Throughout my degree I grew more confident in my ideas, took more risks in my projects, read more, drew more, learnt new skills, found work experience, took interest in things I never thought were relevant and realised that Architecture covers everything, I could direct it anyway I wanted. It is an all-encompassing subject and design isn’t even half of it.”
To find out more about today’s career fair we spoke to Danielle Aberg, Community Engagement Officer from Bouygues; “We set up this event to expose, inspire and engage young women in the vast opportunities available to them in the STEM and construction sector. Currently women make up just 13% of the STEM industry and 0.2% of the trade industry which we’re working to support increases in.
Danielle continued; “We want to not only educate the students visiting today about their career options but also help them understand gender equality and the pay gap, engaging them in the politics and debate surrounding International Women’s Day. We’ve had fantastic feedback from teachers today already telling us that the students weren’t sure what to expect and whether it would be right for them but after just a few hours are now seeing how there are so many options within the sector that are exciting them for the future!”
We also caught up with Antonia John from Morganstone; “A recent CITB study reported that the Welsh construction sector is set to grow up to a third faster than the rest of the UK over the period between now and 2021 and there are targets in place to have women represented in the industry with a 1 in 4 ratio by that time. These are big goals and we are here to help young women see the opportunities available to them and inspire them to take action toward a rewarding career in construction in an environment where equal opportunities are prevalent. I think it’s been a fantastic day so far and we’re very pleased to be involved.”
Claire Grace from Gleeds told us; “We’re here to share the different routes available towards a career in construction as well as help the students understand more about the different stages of construction. So many young people typically perceive construction as design and trade only so it’s good to be here to expose other areas like pre-construction, on-site work and the endless jobs available in the sector.”
Claire continued; “Gender equality is important to us at Gleeds and we’re proud that Nicola Jones, one of our Project Managers, is Chair of the Women In Property South Wales branch helping to enhance the profile of women in construction and property in Wales.”
Lastly, Louise Button from Chwarae Teg said; “As an organisation we support women right across Wales to progress into leadership and management roles. Construction is still a heavily male dominated industry so we’re here today to not only support young women in learning more about the sector but also to encourage businesses to attract, retain and progress female talent in their businesses. We’ve had an excellent day with the girls sharing the women that inspire them the most, it’s been great to see so many of them mention their mum while others answered with celebrities and symbols of political movement like Emma Watson, Adele, Malalala, J.K Rowling and Rosa Parks.”
Milford Haven School students were pleased to have taken part in our quiz that showed them they have all the necessary skills to one day become an architect.
We’d love to hear what your business has been doing to support International Women’s Day. Please tweet us @AustinSmithLord including the hashtag #InternationalWomensDay to share your stories.
