The Bluecoat, Liverpool
The Bluecoat is the earliest surviving building in Liverpool city centre and the oldest arts space of its kind in the United Kingdom. Built in 1717 as a school for poor children, it became an arts centre in 1911, and hosted the first ever UK exhibition outside of London featuring works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and Van Gogh.
Austin-Smith:Lord’s brief was to reposition the arts centre as the city’s new creative hub, restoring the historic fabric of the Grade I listed building, improving access and adding a new wing for an art gallery and multi-purpose performance space in time for the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008.
The new garden at the Bluecoat has opened the area up and is now used by all who visit. It is a social space, full of life.
Alastair Upton – Chief Executive, The Bluecoat
My god, but this is good
Opening words of the first review of the redevelopment of The Bluecoat, RIBA Journal, Editor
LOCATION: LIVERPOOL
CLIENT: THE BLUECOAT
VALUE: £12.5M
COMPLETION: 2008
SERVICE: ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS, MASTERPLANNING, URBAN DESIGN, LANDSCAPE
SECTOR: ARTS & CULTURE
CONTRACTOR: KIER NORTH WEST
LANDSCAPE: AUSTIN-SMITH:LORD
STRUCTURES: TECHNIKER
SERVICES: ERNEST GRIFFITHS
COST CONSULTANT: GLEEDS
AWARDS:
2008 RIBA AWARD
2008 LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY AWARDS: SPORT, LEISURE, CULTURAL AND BEST LIVERPOOL BUILDING
-
AYRSHIRE HOSPICEDesign of a supportive palliative care environment for those in Ayrshire with life-limiting illness -
-
SUNNYSIDE HOUSE, BRIDGENDDesign of a supportive palliative care environment for those in Ayrshire with life-limiting illness
-
SUNNYSIDE WELLNESS VILLAGEIntegrating Wellness into the design of this sustainable, mixed-use development
-
LIVERPOOL CENTRAL LIBRARY"It’s like going to meet your gran and finding she’s turned into Beyoncé’
-
-
STORE STREET MANCHESTERHomeTHE BLUECOAT, LIVERPOOL (LANDSCAPE)Store Street Manchester Construction of this elegant, crystalline 35-storey tower and its companion seven-storey block would make a dramatic statement about Manchester’s economic and environmental renewal. We achieved planning permission for the development, which will create 384 apartments and 2,000m2 of commercial space in the former industrial hinterland around Piccadilly Station. Both buildings will be wrapped in sheer glass skins that allow each apartment to enjoy a fully glazed timber-clad balcony. This buffer space provides tempered natural ventilation and reduces heat gains and losses – simple, low-technology, passive measures that reduce the carbon footprint of the development. LOCATION: MANCHESTERCLIENT: TIME AND TIDE LTDVALUE: £50M COMPLETION: PLANNING 2007 SERVICE: ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE SECTOR: RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE: AUSTIN-SMITH:LORD STRUCTURES: WSP SERVICES: FABER MAUNSELL (AECOM) COST CONSULTANT: THOMAS & ADAMSON DATASHEET
-
NISSI BEACH VILLAS, CYPRUSHomeTHE BLUECOAT, LIVERPOOL (LANDSCAPE)Nissi Beach Villas Cyprus Austin-Smith:Lord designed a number of high specification villas for Fastro Developments and SolTerra on the last beach-fronted site in Ayia Napa. Located to the East end of Nissi Beach the site has stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea. As the brief called for exclusive properties, privacy was central to the development of the designs. The decision was made at the start of the project to organise each plot around a pool and sheltered gardens, with an essentially L-shaped floor plan, the orientation of which was established through solar studies to achieve maximum daylight for the private external spaces as well as the main outlook from the principal reception and bedrooms. The villa forms a protective barrier for the private external space, with its external façade evolving into a thick curved concrete wall, reflecting traditional local structures and forming a distinctive street presence. LOCATION: CYPRUSCLIENT: FASTRO DEVELOPMENTSVALUE: NOT DISCLOSED SERVICE: ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS, LANDSCAPE SECTOR: RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE: AUSTIN-SMITH:LORD DATASHEET
