Case Studies

We have attempted to give some idea of our methodology, our way of working, but often examples make it feel more real than just describing it in the abstract. So, here are a few recent projects...

	East Parade, York The clients had already developed design ideas with another architect and gained planning permission, but came to us to carry out the detail design and give proper consideration to energy and lighting issues. We worked through a number of variations on the original design, negotiating a new planning consent, and working with the builder to ensure the completed house performed as it should in terms of insulation, airtightness etc.
	St.Paul's Terrace, York We worked with the client to design an important extension to a small house; important because it greatly changed the living accommodation and took up almost half of an already small rear yard. The completed extension is much-loved and draws the enclosed outside space into the living area of the house.
	Boundary Close, York A scheme of eight houses for York Housing Association. The client was very keen to ensure low running costs for the tenants, and so the design of the houses embodied Passivhaus principles in the use of very high standards of insulation and airtightness, with heat-reclaim ventilation and solar collectors supplementing careful glazing design to make the most of the sun.
	Fieldside Place, York An earlier scheme of 22 houses and bungalows for York Housing Association, designed with the benefit of participation of energy specialists from Leeds Metropolitan University. Sunspaces to the front (south) elevations linked living rooms to the gardens and provided useful solar gains, while whole-house ventilation and insulation beyond Building Regulations requirements kept the houses comfortable all year. With a tight site, front gardens were designed to open onto a safe street and encourage children to play together.
	The Ark in the Park, York The project involved working with the Friends of Rowntree Park to design a replacement for an inadequate pavilion in a flood-prone park. The solution was an amphibious building which literally rose above the flooding problem.
	We worked through the process of developing a sound brief (to enable fundraising) and quickly producing plausible illustrations of how the building would look in context. These helped local people visualise the project and also helped ensure it got planning consent, despite being in a sensitive location.
	Author's studio, York A tiny extension in the back yard of a terraced house, to provide a studio for an author, together with sleeping space for guests or occasional escape, and a sheltered terrace linking it to an improved kitchen. The geometry worked with sightlines and the desire to reduce overshading of neighbours, and resulted in a very non-rectangular, contemporary, timber-clad box. The client now has planning consent, and just needs the money...
	Office Conversion, Huddersfield We have worked with creative practice Heads Together a number of times over the years, so when they moved into new offices in a converted church, they came to us to help them visualise how the vast, bare space would look when new floors were inserted into it. We set it all up as a 3D computer model and explored different layouts and lighting arrangements with them.
	Sheds'n'studio, Copmanthorpe One that got away - proposals for adapting existing outbuildings on the extensive plot of a house, in order to provide workshop space, covered storage and a studio/bolt-hole. It never got built, but it would have been fun...
	Stamford Bridge Village Hall Work with the village hall committee to look at ways of rejuvinating a slightly "tired" building. We explored ways of making use of as much as possible of the existing structure, but using new interventions and energy-efficiency improvements (such as external insulation and new cladding) to combine improved useability and circulation with a more contemporary appearance.