Category: News

We are pleased to announce our sponsorship of the Scottish Civic Trust Conference 2015 – Housing in Scotland: Learning from the Past, Building for the Future. The event is being held on 24^th November in Linlithgow Burgh Halls.

Graham Ross, Partner at Austin-Smith:Lord said “Given our track record in residential and urban regeneration projects throughout Scotland we take a keen interest in the ongoing national debate with respect to housing. It’s a wide ranging and highly topical issue that encompasses strategic planning, sustainable place-making, low-carbon construction, housing affordability and tenure.

“In recognition of the significance of the ongoing housing debate it is timely that the Scottish Civic Trust has decided to dedicate its annual conference to the topic. Austin-Smith:Lord are delighted to support and sponsor the event. We look forward to engaging in wide-ranging discussions at the conference with a diverse array of delegates from across the country.”

To find out more about the event, or to book a place, follow this link:
https://www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk/events/sct-conference-2015-housing-in-scotland/

To view some of Austin-Smith:Lord’s work in the residential sector, follow this link:
https://www.austinsmithlord.com/our-work/sectors/residential/

Scotland’s first Outdoor Museum has been shortlisted in the prestigious, international FX Awards in the ‘museum and exhibition space’ category.

The Outdoor Museum is a key component of the recently completed Helensburgh Town Centre Public Realm project. The Museum was designed as a collaboration between Austin-Smith:Lord and artists WAVEparticle.

Located in Helensburgh’s civic heart, Colquhoun Square, the Outdoor Museum concept emerged in direct response to extensive community consultation undertaken as part of the town centre regeneration project. There was a clear public desire for a ‘town museum’ to celebrate the rich community and social history of Helensburgh.

Local dialogue, expertise and input was at the heart of the project. A series of lively, convivial community days enabled local people to gather together stories and artefacts about the town that are surprising and revealing; entertaining and stimulating, educational and informative.

Redefining traffic management bollards in the public realm design as Outdoor Museum ‘plinths’ showcases the artefacts and artworks and ensures the exhibits are accessible and integrated into the street scene. The project is particularly an opportunity to record the untold stories- gems of history and heritage.

WAVEparticle Lead Artist, Peter McCaughey, said: “We are delighted that Helensburgh’s Outdoor Museum has made the shortlist for such a notable award, despite stiff competition from around the globe.  We imagined Scotland’s first Outdoor Museum as a place where local treasures could be permanently on display alongside objects of national significance and newly commissioned artworks, reflecting both the big history of the town and the smaller stories that make up our world.  We envisaged this museum with a collection open to the elements, where the wind and rain and sun and touch of hand make their own contribution to the collection as it grows over the years.”

Graham Ross, Project Partner at Austin-Smith:Lord, said: “The Outdoor Museum is a beautifully simple way to reveal Helensburgh’s rich history and collective memory through the fusion of art, artefacts and public space. The Museum is located in Helensburgh’s principal civic square and captures some aspects of its celebrated and hidden history. The Museum has been curated in liaison with the local community and enriched by unique, site specific artwork. The Museum is extendable and it’s hoped that it grows incrementally over time to tell the unfolding story of Helensburgh.”

Further information is available at https://outdoor-museum.com

The shortlisted projects are available on the FW Awards website: https://www.designcurial.com/news/the-fx-shortlist-2015-4681472/2

The winner will be announced on the 25^th November in London.

Austin-Smith:Lord has been appointed by Wales’ leading Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, to undertake a feasibility study on Newport’s Great Central Hall.

Built in 1904, this once thriving cultural venue fell into decline after its last public performance in the 1960s by the Halle orchestra and has remained vacant ever since. Despite this, the Hall still has great potential to be used as a cultural and performing arts space and Sinfonia Cymru, in partnership with Newport City Council and the owners of the building, are looking to restore the once iconic venue to use as a new home for the progressive orchestra.

The feasibility study, to be undertaken by Austin-Smith:Lord and its team of supporting consultants, will ascertain the cost and opportunity of the creation of a mixed use arts and cultural development which will once again breathe life into the building and become the heart of the Cultural Quarter in the City.

Austin-Smith:Lord has opened a new studio in London. Located in Shoreditch, the new studio enables Austin-Smith:Lord to collaborate with new and existing clients on emerging opportunities in London, elsewhere in the UK and beyond.

Managing Partner Neil Chapman commented. “New projects and an increasing level of enquiries in London has meant that now is the time to open a new London studio.“

The London studio will be managed by Associate Architect, Tope Balogun, and provides the multi-disciplinary service available in each of Austin-Smith:Lord’s studios, including: architecture; interior design; urban design; landscape architecture and conservation.

Current work in London includes a prestigious project at Kew Gardens for the Historic Royal Palaces.

Please contact Joanna Harris at Real PR (07884 187 404) with any press queries.

The Moray Council have approved and published the Central Elgin Regeneration: Public Design Charrette report outlining an ambitious vision for the Cathedral City supported by a development framework and prioritised action plan focussed on delivering town centre regeneration.

The Moray Council, on behalf of the Moray Economic Partnership and with funding support from Scottish Government, sponsored the Charrette which was led by Austin-Smith:Lord with regeneration consultants Douglas Wheeler Associates Ltd, property experts Ryden, Transport Planning Ltd, and arts collective WAVEparticle.

The aim of the Charrette, undertaken over five days in March 2015, was to engage local residents, businesses and stakeholders in planning the future of Central Elgin. More than 300 people were involved in fifteen different events to help shape their community and develop an array of realistic, but transformational, projects to revitalise the historic centre, rejuvenate Cooper Park (the largest in Moray) and redefine the role for Lossie Green following the completion of the town’s flood defences.

Prior to, and during, the Charrette secondary school pupils and Moray College students participated in various interactive workshops and events facilitated by Peter McCaughey, Director of WAVEparticle. Local businesses, Elgin BID and local landowners and developers participated in thematic, focussed sessions targeting economic development and regeneration in central Elgin. As a result the Council have committed to funding a Development Officer tasked with bringing vacant and underused properties back in to use on the High Street.

Graham Ross, Partner, who led the Charrette team said, “the Central Elgin Charrette demonstrated the benefit of collaborative working between the local authorities, community and businesses. The challenges Elgin faces are common to many towns in Scotland, but the solutions are unique. Elgin has some fantastic assets as a legacy of its rich history, the presence of the College, some forward thinking businesses and many passionate and committed members of the community capable of helping drive the rejuvenation of the town. Hopefully the findings of the Charrette helps optimise the benefit of these assets and focuses efforts to secure funding to progress change in the short, medium and longer-term.”

The Charrette report can be viewed at the following link: https://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file100757.pdf 

We are delighted to announce three new Associates within the Practice – Colin Miller and Catherine Cosgrove in Glasgow, and Kal Gill-Faci in Liverpool.

Kal joined us in 2003 and has worked on a range of conservation, cultural, commercial and transport projects including Leeds City Museum, Stockport College, and currently Teesside University Teaching and Conference Centre.  She led the development of the Practice’s Knowledge Base Intranet and has also recently taken on a QA role within the Liverpool studio, ensuring that all procedures are implemented from project inception to delivery.

Catherine joined Austin-Smith:Lord in 2006 and has a specific expertise in Sustainable Design. She is a Certified European Passivhaus designer and EcoHomes Assessor, and is continually developing practical, applicable methods of introducing sustainable best practice into all aspects of Austin-Smith: Lord work. Her current projects include the Low Carbon Teaching Building for South Lanarkshire College, the first BREEAM Outstanding building in the UK under the 2014 New Construction version of BREEAM.

Colin also joined the Practice in 2006 and has since been involved in a variety of projects in various sectors. He was Project Architect of the Girvan Community Hospital project, taking responsibility for client liaison and quality assurance. Colin has continued to work on numerous healthcare projects throughout Scotland, most recently several projects at St. John’s Hospital, Livingston for NHS Lothian. Colin is currently Project Architect on the refurbishment of the Ayr Gaiety Theatre and has been involved in recent town centre regeneration design charrettes in Brechin and Elgin.

We would like to congratulate Kal, Catherine and Colin, and wish them continued success with Austin-Smith:Lord.

You can view their individual profiles at the following links:

https://www.austinsmithlord.com/our-people/kal-gill-faci/

https://www.austinsmithlord.com/our-people/catherine-cosgrove/

https://www.austinsmithlord.com/our-people/colin-miller/

Helensburgh’s principal town square, seaside esplanade and main streets within the town’s famous grid layout have undergone a major public realm and traffic management enhancement.

Helensburgh’s new town centre public realm, designed by Austin-Smith:Lord, was officially opened on Saturday 20^th June in Colquhoun Square. The ambitious £7m public realm project is part of Argyll & Bute Council’s CHORD initiative seeking to deliver wider economic regeneration benefits.

Colquhoun Square, adjacent streets and the esplanade have been sensitively transformed, offering a whole new experience for both residents and visitors. Colquhoun Square has been re-imagined as the  “civic heart” of the town which includes a plaza capable of supporting significant community events.

The Square also incorporates a new ‘Outdoor Museum’ that showcases, with new artwork, aspects of the town’s rich history. The redesigned Square also provides increased amenity space, seating and planting and supports an emerging “café culture” in the town.

The newly widened pavements provide better access to local shops and improved links between the sea-front and the town centre. Local businesses are reporting they are already seeing the benefits of the scheme, with the council receiving positive feedback on the high quality of the finish and the improved, inclusive accessibility.

The work supports the aims and priorities of the Scottish Government for Town Centre Regeneration and sustainable economic regeneration through improvements to the quality of the environment.

From the outset, Austin-Smith:Lord’s team carried out a significant level of engagement with the community and stakeholders. A range of consultation and engagement techniques were employed over a twenty-month period which directly informed the preparation of design proposals.

One outcome from the community consultation was the creation of the ‘Outdoor Museum’. The local community was keen to have a new museum space in Helensburgh Town Centre. Bollards required to control traffic movement have become “museum plinths” to display artifacts and artwork thus delivering the outdoor museum reflecting Helensburgh’s history.

Councillor Gary Mulvaney, chair of the local area committee, welcomed the completion of the work, saying: “I’m delighted with the quality of the work – the town centre looks fantastic….The project has seen a significant investment which will, I am sure, provide real, long lasting and tangible benefits to local people and businesses. We are already seeing significant private sector investment in the town and are hoping to use this project as a springboard to further growth.”

Graham Ross, Project Partner at Austin-Smith:Lord noted: “Helensburgh is one of the finest examples of a planned town in the UK. It was an immense challenge to be asked to redefine the principal public spaces of the historic, seaside town centre. Over the last five years we have sought to address the issues in collaboration with our project team colleagues, the Council and the local community with whom we engaged with to create a streetscape that emulates the ambition of the original town plan.

“It was a rare privilege to be asked to design a new civic square, principal streets and a waterfront esplanade in such a location; one that demanded a sensitive design response to create public realm that encourages street life and a convivial, vibrant town centre. Early feedback is encouraging and the provision of high quality public realm, enriched by place-specific artwork that reveal the town’s story, should help to mark the next chapter in the regeneration of Helensburgh.”

Austin-Smith:Lord led the team which included O’Connor Sutton Cronin (Engineering Consultants), Robinson Low Francis (Cost Consultants), Transport Planning (Traffic Management Consultants), WAVEparticle (Artwork Design) and Maclay Civil Engineering (Main Contractor).

Many congratulations to Cardiff Studio Director, Ashley Davies, who has achieved RIBA Accredited Conservation Architect status.

The accreditation highlights Ashley’s ability to demonstrate depth of understanding of conservation practice, principles and philosophy.

Ashley’s recent conservation projects include the transformation of the grade II* listed Merthyr Tydfil Victorian Old Town Hall into an Arts Centre, the restoration of the grade II* listed part Tudor / part Jacobean Llanyrafon Manor into a visitor centre, the grade II* listed Georgian Gothic Revival Lower Lodge Gateway into a community facility and the restoration and transformation of a grade II listed Edwardian Queen Anne Revival Courthouse in Swansea into student accommodation and offices.

North Ayrshire Council’s largest ever affordable housing development, designed by Austin-Smith:Lord, has been officially opened by the Provost of North Ayrshire Joan Sturgeon.

The housing has been developed in Vineburgh, Irvine, on the site of former John Galt primary school, delivering 80 new homes including general needs, amenity standard, and properties suitable for wheelchair users. The project was commissioned via the OGC Framework and Project Managers Faithful + Gould and was delivered in conjunction with Will Rudd Davidson, NBM, Cruden and Armour Construction Consultants.

The designs include a series of homezones that link into the existing path network within the neighbourhood, maximising site permeability. The designs were developed on the basis of a visual brief that won a Scottish Award for Quality in Planning.

Local residents were invited to participate in a number of public consultations at key stages, with feedback received informing the final design. The enhanced specification supports independent living, reduces energy bills, and has achieved BREEAM’s ‘EcoHomes – Very Good’ accreditation for sustainable buildings.

“This is first time we have worked with Austin-Smith:Lord on a new build project. At John Galt, they have created a site specific design that successfully incorporated all of our aspirations for the development. This is reflected by the positive feedback we have received from the new tenants”. (Trudi Fitzsimmons, Principal Officer, Strategy – North Ayrshire Council)

Image Credit: John Keachie Photography

We are delighted to confirm our sponsorship of the ‘Development of the Year’ at the Insider Wales Property Awards to be held in Cardiff next month.

Austin-Smith:Lord and our guests will join co-sponsors Geldards Law Firm, Julian Hodge Bank, Principality and the RICS, at what will no doubt be a sold out event.

Partner and Cardiff Studio Principal Martin Roe commented “The reintroduction of the Property Awards is a welcome reflection of an improving property market, showcasing some of the most exciting and high quality developments in Wales. As former winners of Practice of the Year, we are thrilled to be sponsoring this key event in the property calendar once again.”