Category: News

Liverpool Central Library is among 12 buildings in the North West that have been shortlisted for RIBA Regional (Royal Institute of British Architects) Awards in 2014, from a total of 33 buildings entered in the region.

Andrew Ruffler, Regional Director of RIBA North West, welcomed the news:

“Once again the North West region has produced an incredibly strong and varied shortlist of buildings and practices. The regional jury had an extremely difficult task this year, particularly as the North West had the highest amount of projects of value £20m+ outside of London, so it is encouraging that regional practices and smaller schemes have also been recognised by the jury.”

All shortlisted buildings will be assessed by a regional jury with the winners of an RIBA Regional Award announced on the evening of Thursday 17 April from 7pm at ‘OH ME OH MY’ in Liverpool. Regional winners will also be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced at a London event in June.

The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later in the year.

On Friday 28^th February two of Austin-Smith:Lord’s recently completed conservation projects will each receive a visit from The Prince of Wales.

His Royal Highness will be visiting the Grade I Listed Llanelly House in Carmarthenshire in the morning, where he will tour the building and meet the restoration team including Austin-Smith:Lord’s Project Director and Conservation Architect, Sophie Teague Davies. The early 18^th Century Georgian House has recently been transformed from a derelict building into a Genealogy Centre and since opening has received rave visitor reviews.

During the afternoon His Royal Highness will visit the newly named Grade II* Listed Redhouse in Merthyr Tydfil to celebrate the restoration of what was originally the Old Town Hall. The Prince of Wales will receive a guided tour of the building from Austin-Smith:Lord’s Project Architect, Ashley Davies. Redhouse, which is due to open to the public on St David’s Day, has been transformed into a landmark building which will host a variety of arts offerings including visual and performing arts and film.

Austin-Smith:Lord’s latest development for Ayrshire Housing has been officially opened by Helen Moonie, the Provost of South Ayrshire.

The 13 properties at Burns Wynd, Maybole, are staggered to reflect their hillside topography opening out views toward the Southern Uplands. They consist of nine two-bedroom and four three-bedroom homes, each designed to accommodate a range of needs through features such as downstairs bathrooms.

Speaking at the launch Helen Moonie said: “I’m delighted with this the latest partnership between the Council, the Scottish Government and Ayrshire Housing. The houses have been carefully designed to meet the needs of the tenants and with energy efficiency in mind. The architects Austin-Smith:Lord and the builder Ashleigh (Scotland) have done an excellent job”.

Jim Whiston, Ayrshire Housing’s Director said “We’ve been a regular client of A-S:L for over 10 years. At Burns Wynd, they have once again created a site specific design which belies the tight cost limits that we work to. Best of all though, the tenants are delighted with their new homes”.

Austin-Smith:Lord has been appointed by Bristol City Council and Bristol Building Preservation Trust to undertake the Concept and Developed Design (leading to an HLF Stage II bid submission) for the Grade II* Listed Lower Lodge Gatehouse in Bristol.

The historic building, which is currently covered in a protective shroud, was originally constructed in 1805 in the Gothic Revival style.  It used to be the main gateway to the Grade I Listed Ashton Court Mansion, however it is now un-used, derelict and on the Buildings at Risk Register. Once restored, it will become a Community provision accommodating the Public and the adjacent Ashton Park School.

Austin-Smith:Lord’s redesign of Bridgegate in Irvine, Ayrshire was officially unveiled on the 29^th November 2013. This marks the completion of a £2.2m public realm project to transform the town centre following a design competition in 2010.

Over the last 18 months the historic heart of the former New Town has been completely rejuvenated, with natural stone public realm, artworks and streetscape improvements being part of a wider £10m regeneration programme by Irvine Bay Regeneration Company and North Ayrshire Council.

Austin-Smith:Lord worked closely with artists WAVE and lighting specialists dpa to incorporate public art and feature lighting into the redesign of Bridgegate. Land Engineering were main contractors, O’Connor Sutton Cronin were engineers and Neilson Partnership were cost consultants.

The project features the 9m high Trinity Mirror sculpture that reflects the stunning neo-Gothic Trinity Church and reveals inscriptions on an anamorphic projection around its base. This artwork, coupled with a timeline, reveal aspects of the town’s long, interesting history and its identity developed in discussion with the townsfolk.

Former Trinity Church bells, landform artworks and programmed feature lighting further enrich the experience and setting of the Bridgegate. The space is highly flexible and has immediately hosted farmers and Christmas markets, drawing people to the town centre.

Siobhan Vernon, Austin-Smith:Lord’s lead landscape architect on the project said:

‘We’re delighted at the very positive response to our design for Bridgegate.

“The completed scheme is faithful to our original concepts in the design competition. It redefines Bridgegate as an urban piazza, opening up connections to the landmark Trinity Church and bringing together the new and historic aspects of Irvine town centre.

“The integration of public art and feature lighting into the new streetscape enriches the space and celebrates the town.

“The project has been enhanced through collaboration between the local community, the project partners, design team and artists. The quality of the workmanship is befitting such an important project and a credit to the contractors.”

Local MSP and Housing and Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess carried out the official launch of the project which is expected to bring a boost to the economy, attracting new retailers and increasing footfall to the area. Margaret Burgess, MSP said:

“I am delighted to see the successful completion of this outstanding project. Local people have been directly involved in the transformation, commenting on ideas and helping to shape the public art which is a central element of the refurbishment. Their involvement is core to the success of this regeneration project, which is about providing new opportunities for local people.”

Liverpool Central Library has been ranked #1 of 124 attractions in Liverpool. With 142 reviews, 115 of which are Excellent, the Library is proving to be a “Fantastic” tourist destination.

See link below to TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186337-d215392-Reviews-Liverpool_Central_Library-Liverpool_Merseyside_England.html

 

Liverpool Central Library is the winner of Best Technical Innovation award.

The challenge the project team faced was the difficulty of marrying the new build extension to the existing grade 2 listed building of 1850.  This threw up competing technical issues around access, fire safety and preservation of the historic facade.

Close working relationships were developed to find solutions to the various problems thrown up by the constraints and various specialist consultants were employed to deal with issues such as fire safety and disabled access requirements.

Link to LABC website and Daily Post Article:

https://www.labc.uk.com/best-technical-innovation-2013

https://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpools-central-library-wins-building-6330198#.UpCSe5Rh4Ls.email

The Calman Cancer Support Centre has been awarded the Conservation Design Award at the Glasgow Institute of Architects annual members’ dinner.

The category B listed building (formerly Gartnavel Royal Hospital Chapel), designed in 1905 by J.J. Burnet, has been carefully conserved by the Austin-Smith:Lord team in Glasgow and adapted into a flagship therapy centre for the provision of free counselling and complementary therapies for cancer outpatients.

Austin-Smith:Lord LLP have been delighted to be associated with the project which has been such a success thanks to the efforts of a considerable number of people over the last seven years or so, not least Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, Morham & Brotchie, Addison Consulting and FLN Consulting.

Head of Conservation at Austin-Smith:Lord, David Millar, said ‘We started work on the options appraisal in 2006 with GBPT and it is so rewarding to now see all the planning and design work coming to fruition in such a delightful and enjoyable building. A derelict building now gives such hope, support and inspiration for a new generation. Well done to all the individuals who had a hand in this success story.”

This adds to the Centre’s growing list of awards, including the 2013 National Lottery Award for Heritage, and the 2012 Friends of Glasgow West Gold Award.

The Carmelite Monastery won the prestigious Architects Choice International award last night (14 November) at the Brick Development Awards.

The event was attended by Partner, Maggie Mullan and Director, Mike Yates.

Completed in 2013, the design is a modern interpretation of the monastic tradition. Silence and light articulates the architecture which is calm, ordered and uplifting.

In 2004 the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre won the CLAW Best Building in Wales Award, so here is our second CLAW Award –  this time a Commendation Award for Llanyrafon Manor.

CLAW stands for Consortium of Local Authorities in Wales, so all Local Authority led projects throughout Wales are eligible.

The award categories are just two – Building of the Year and Commendation Award.  There were a total of 10 entries this year.

The Client has commented “As you we had a good team on the project and I know it was a tremendous ‘team’ effort that achieved this result.”