Category: News

On the 5th – 15th September Cardiff will host the OISTAT World Stage Design Congress. Held only every four years, World Stage Design is a celebration of international performance design from the world of theatre, opera and dance. This will be the first time it has ever been held in the UK.

As part of the Congress, on the 8th and 9th September, Austin-Smith:Lord Director Rob Firman will host a tour around five of the most significant theatres in South Wales for up to 40 of the world’s leading theatre architects, scenographers and technicians.

The tour will visit the following theatres:

• Park and Dare in Treorchy which was originally paid for by salary sacrafice by mineworkers of the local colliery 100 years ago
• The only Grade I Listed theatre in Wales, Craig-Y-Nos, built by opera diva Adelina Patti to entertain her house guests at her Castle in the Swansea valley
• Ffwrnes in Llanelli, the newest theatre in South Wales which opened in 2013
• The Palace Theatre in Swansea which is the most at risk theatre building in Wales
• The Wales Millennium Centre which opened 10 years ago and is home to eight of Wales’ leading arts organisations and the world-class Donald Gordon Theatre.

On the 9th September Rob will present a seminar on the state of the theatre estate in South Wales and highlight the best of Welsh theatre buildings from the last 150 years at the Architecture Day.

www.wsd2013.com

Roseisle Distillery, designed by Austin-Smith:Lord, has been awarded Renewable Energy Project of the Year at the 2013 BusinessGreen Leaders Awards.

The distillery, designed and built for Diageo, is the first new major distillery to be built in Scotland for 30 years and was designed specifically with sustainability in mind. It uses cutting edge technology to produce 11 million litres of whisky a year and has made substantial contributions towards reducing Diageo’s carbon footprint and increasing the company’s use of renewable energy sources.

Roseisle is the first malt whisky distillery to generate renewable energy from its co-products making its environmental impact significantly lower than a distillery of an equivalent size. It has an onsite bioenergy and effluent treatment facility and overall 50% of the distillery’s energy consumption is made up from renewable sources processed in the onsite bioenergy plant.

The distillery uses a combination of environmental technologies that was unprecedented in distilling, such as biomass boilers to raise steam from the spent grains, and waste water treatment by anaerobic digestion and membrane filtration.

The project’s other awards include the RICS Scotland Award for Sustainability Project of the Year, RICS Scotland Award for Overall Project of the Year, Scottish Design Award (Commercial Project Category) and a Saltire Award Commendation in the Civil Engineering Category.

Calman Cancer Support Centre has been presented with the 2013 National Lottery Award for Best Heritage Project. The Centre received more public votes than its six fellow finalists, including world famous landmarks the Cutty Sark and the Giant’s Causeway.

The building (formerly Gartnavel Royal Hospital Chapel) 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.

Actor Ricky Tomlinson surprised staff, patients and volunteers to present the award. Ricky said: “Looking at this building today, it’s difficult to imagine that it was close to ruin a few years ago. It’s fantastic that the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust has restored it and turned it into a sanctuary where cancer patients can take time to relax, away from the pressures of their daily lives. This heritage project is not only about preserving the past but also helping people now and looking to the future.

“More than one in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime which is why the work of charities such as Cancer Support Scotland is so important. Gartnavel Chapel – Cancer Support Centre is a brilliant success story and I am delighted it has been recognised as the nation’s favourite heritage project in the National Lottery Awards. National Lottery players should be proud that their money is supporting incredible projects like this.”

Colin Graham, Chief Executive of Cancer Support Scotland said “We are delighted our building has won this National Lottery Award for heritage. It just goes to show what can be done to turn a derelict building into the perfect home for Cancer Support Scotland.”

Mr Graham went on to say “This award means so much to so many people. However, credit must go to Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and Austin-Smith:Lord for their expertise in turning this building into a beautiful cancer centre for patients, families and carers to attend.”

As architects leading the conservation and transformation of the Gartnavel Royal Chapel for GBPT to form the Calman Cancer Centre, 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.

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 the planning and designing coming to fruition in such a delightful and enjoyable building result. 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.”

Liverpool Central Library has picked up another award at the North-West Regional Construction Awards. It has been awarded Regional Project of the Year fo the Liverpool region.

The “Viva Havana!” themed evening was attended by Partners Alistair Sunderland and Chris Pritchett and Client Joyce Little of Liverpool City Council.

Two Austin-Smith:Lord projects, the Calman Cancer Care Centre and the University of Edinburgh Noreen & Kenneth Murray Library, have been nominated for a 2013 Scottish Design Award.

The Calman Cancer Care Centre (formerly Gartnavel Royal Hospital Chapel) has been carefully conserved by the Austin-Smith:Lord team and adapted into a flagship therapy centre for the provision of free counselling and complementary therapies for cancer outpatients. The centre was recently presented with the Gold Award at the Friends of Glasgow West awards ceremony, and has been shortlisted for the 2013 RICS Scotland Awards in the Building Conservation category.

The new build University of Edinburgh Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library was recently awarded a High Commendation at the Low Carbon Building Awards. The library acts as a social hub on the King’s Building Campus and provides enhanced teaching and study environments for the college of Science and Engineering.

We look forward to hearing the results of the Scottish Design Awards at the ceremony on 30^th May.

Image Shown: Calman Cancer Care Centre

Hamilton Bus Station, in South Lanarkshire has been officially opened.

The new £5.5m interchange, designed for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and South Lanarkshire Council (SLC), provides a much improved passenger experience and an upgraded facility for the local community and the 3 million passengers who use the station annually.

The development included creation of new drive in/reverse out bus apron, fully covered bus stance shelters, new operations building with passenger lounge, ticket office, staff and passenger toilets, crew lounge facilities and a new retail unit, the rerouting of the nearby road network and the reconfiguration of the existing car park.

Glazed canopies provide shelter to the newly created concourse connecting the town centre to the bus and train stations. Illuminated signage is provided at strategic locations to assist customer wayfinding. The extensive use of glass to the building frontage creates passenger waiting areas that are comfortable, light and spacious. Feedback has been positive from passengers, bus operators and our clients.

Image courtesy of Redshift Photography.

Base2stay picked up a commendation at the Civic Trust Awards. The Client, Robert Nadler, said “Congratulations and thank you to all involved and responsible, who had a hand in this achievement.”

Join FACT in celebrating 10 years since the FACT building opened on Wood Street in Liverpool with a family fun day full of party games, birthday cake and arty activities throughout the building.

Celebrations include:

FACT is hacking into the traditional party game to give it a technological twist, so whether it is pass the parcel or pin the tail on the donkey expect the unexpected. Games will be developed by FACT’s young people’s group Freehand.

Artist Will Nash returns to his popular artwork Noisy Table, an interactive ping pong table that makes sounds as people play. The day is host to the final match of our Battle of the Bands ping pong tournament which has seen bands like Afternaut an All We Are compete for the table tennis crown. Liverpool music legends Clinic return to DJ and are premiering a new song using sounds recorded during the tournament.

Artist Ross Dalziel is creating interactive installations including a bouncy castle that responds to people with lights and sound.

Children have been asked to design a special birthday cake for FACT inspired their experiences in the building. The winner will be turned into a real cake and unveiled on the day. For more details visit FACT’s website at https://www.facebook.com/PicturehouseatFACT

Picturehouse at FACT will be showing visitor’s favourite films after an online shout out for suggestions. To add to the list visit: https://www.facebook.com/PicturehouseatFACT

The day will provide a last chance to see Winter Sparks, a light and sound show featuring electric sparks, dramatic charges from Tesla coils and the mysteries of the Wilberforce pendulum.

The landmark FACT building opened on 23 February 2003 marking a major milestone in Liverpool’s cultural renaissance. Designed by architects Austin Smith Lord, the award-winning £10m development was the city’s first purpose-built cultural project for over 60 years and remains a vibrant flagship in the redevelopment of the Ropewalks area of Liverpool. Housing purpose-built gallery spaces and an independent cinema, FACT has welcomed over three million people through its doors and become a crucial part of Liverpool’s cultural life.

The recently completed Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library at the University of Edinburgh’s King’s Buildings campus has been award high commendation at this year’s Low Carbon Building Awards organised by Carbon Trust Scotland. Austin-Smith:Lord’s design incorporates many resource efficient design measures including maximising natural ventilation, glare controlled natural lighting, high thermal insulation, surplus energy from the existing campus CHP and incorporates enhanced biodiversity with a green roof.

Project Partner Graham Ross said, ‘The University, design team and contractors are delighted to have received national recognition for the Library’s low carbon design. The project fuses a resource efficient design ethos with contemporary learning and teaching environments that meet the University’s objectives and have received positive feedback from end users. The University is at the vanguard of commissioning low carbon buildings and the Library project demonstrates the project team shared that ambition and worked collaboratively to deliver a successful outcome.’

Paul Wedgwood, manager, Carbon Trust Scotland, said the Library and other award winners “displayed fantastic results that should be held up as exemplary case studies of best practice to show how a building can become more energy efficient, benefitting both the environment and the organisations’ bottom line. They not only embody low carbon design principles, but also deliver reduced energy demand and emissions, sustainability and a high quality of occupant experience”