Date: Monday 12 March 2012
Time: Drinks from 6.30pm, talk from 7 to 8pm Venue: The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ
Speakers: The Glass-House Community Led Design, Kent Architecture Centre and MADE Tickets: £5 / £3 for students & concessions, inc. a glass of wine
Booking: www.eventelephant.com/eveningtalkneighbourhoodplanningforsustainabledevelopment

This is the third in a series of Architecture Centre Network talks exploring community engagement in the built environment.

Sophia de Sousa, Chief Executive of The Glass-House Community Led Design will focus on ‘Can community led design enhance sustainability?’ With the emerging Localism Act, there are both new opportunities and challenges for community engagement and leadership in planned development and regeneration. She will explore how community led design and planning can support locally informed, inclusive and creative steps toward a more sustainable built environment.

Robert Offord, Planner & Urban Designer, Kent Architecture Centre will present on ‘Partnering Perspectives – the role of local people and professionals in delivering neighbourhood design’.

Calling on the centre’s experience of working with local communities Robert will explain how the managed use of high level professional expertise can get the best from local volunteer and community resources.  Exploring how pairing the two outlooks and approaches can enhance each other and lead to high quality, locally responsive design/planning solutions.  He will illustrate the benefits of this approach with reference to current projects with Design Council Cabe and local communities across the South East.

David Tittle, Chief Executive of MADE will explain MADE’s approach to working with communities under the banner of ‘raising aspirations for people and place’. He will describe some projects they are currently delivering with support from Design Council CABE, the Skills Funding Agency and Locality.

Sophia joined The Glass-House in June 2005, and led the transformation from what was an Architecture Foundation project to an independent national charity. As Chief Executive, Sophia works to ensure that community participation and leadership in physical regeneration is not a token gesture, but a valuable means of informing good, sustainable design that benefits local people and that will lead to the long-term improvement of neighbourhoods. Sophia is an advocate of cross sector partnerships and believes them essential to the success of regeneration and of community empowerment.

Robert joined Kent Architecture Centre in 2006 as a Design Adviser, having worked in local government in London. He has particular expertise in setting up local design support initiatives and leading workshop facilitation as well as delivering design training.  Robert is also responsible for managing the South East Design Panel. In addition to this, Robert works on the centre’s design and regeneration projects. Robert is an accredited Spaceshaper facilitator and has a particular interest in the social and cultural aspects of placemaking and using creative planning and design interventions to help foster robust, people-friendly places.

MADE is dedicated to improving the quality of our towns, cities and villages in the West Midlands. As Chief Executive, David has overall responsibility for MADE’s programmes, people and finances. David has been involved in community engagement in the built environment since working for the Civic Trust from 2001 to 2003.  He later founded R99, a company specialising in urban design training and community engagement. He has worked for MADE for four years. He is a committee member of the Coventry Society, trustee of a local building preservation trust and a trustee of Civic Voice. He is a fellow of the RSA.

Further information: www.architecturecentre.net – Ends – Notes to Editors
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Please contact: Gwen Collingridge Head of Communications and Development, Architecture Centre Network
020 7253 5199 mail@architecturecentre.net
www.architecturecentre.net

Debate: engage further What do you think about community engagement with the built environment? What are your experiences of neighbourhood planning? Read about how architecture centres are addressing some of these issues, and contribute your thoughts and comments: www.architecturecentre.net/docs/debate/projects About The Glass-House Community Led Design:

The Glass-House Community Led Design is a national charity that works to help people make better neighbourhoods, homes, buildings and spaces. We believe in the power of community led design to transform places and to bring positive and lasting change for all. We enable local people to contribute to the design and planning process, leading to delightful places and spaces that work for everyone.

The Glass-House provides independent advice, training and hands-on project support to communities and professionals working together to improve their neighbourhoods, homes, buildings and spaces. We also work collaboratively to capture and share the valuable experiences of communities and professionals working on the ground, in order to encourage and support better ways of working and to influence policy that empowers local people and values a high standard of design.
Find out more at www.theglasshouse.org.uk About Kent Architecture Centre: Kent Architecture Centre is a not-for-profit, skilled and agile social enterprise that assists in place-making and provides design support, bringing the value of good design to as many people as possible, always acting in the public interest.
We do this through a committed team of full-time built environment professionals, complemented by a multi-disciplinary practitioner network drawn from across the UK and Europe. We make these skills available to support local delivery across the south east of England, carefully configuring our services to meet the needs of local people, local planning authorities and organisations developing land in those communities. We are independent, objective, expert and flexible.

Find out more at www.architecturecentre.org About MADE:
MADE is an organisation dedicated to improving the quality of our towns, cities and villages. We believe that a high quality built environment is essential for economic prosperity and wellbeing.

Our vision for the West Midlands is that our leaders, public sector officers, professionals, developers and residents understand the importance of place and work together to ensure that every change in the built environment contributes positively to creating better places. We want to preserve the best and transform the worst. We want everyone to feel proud of the places where they live, work and play.

Find out more at www.made.org.uk About Architecture Centre Network:
Architecture Centre Network is the development and advocacy organisation for 20+ architecture and built environment centres in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We nurture innovation and good practice by facilitating knowledge sharing
We broker, develop and deliver projects and consultancy with a wide range of stakeholders including government.

We advocate for the unique role that architecture and built environment centres can play in improving public engagement with, and the quality of, architecture and the public realm
We create resources and events to enable architecture centres, and Architecture Centre Network, to promote and maintain excellence

Find out more at www.architecturecentre.net

An award-winning Newcastle architect company is celebrating a new contract to work on a new multi-million pound project.

Ryder Architecture has been appointed by Carillion Construction Limited to the £24.3m Stockton Batched Academies project.

Stockton Borough Council is acting as the delivery authority for this batch of academies which comprises North Shore Health Academy and Thornaby Academy in Stockton Borough as well as Freebrough Academy in Redcar & Cleveland. Ryder’s role is to provide design services from inception to completion across all three projects.

Ryder was selected for the role after a pre-ITT phase reduced the 12 original bidders down to two. The winning team was selected upon the quality of design and value for money as well as demonstrating the ability to deliver. The buildings will be developed under the Academies Framework – Design and Build Contracts.

The largest of the three academies, the £17.8m North Shore Health Academy (NSHA), is the only NHS sponsored academy in the country. Occupying a site of some 8.2ha, it will accommodate 1050 students over 9200sqm and incorporates a world class ‘myplace’ youth facility, which will benefit from £4.5m support from the Big Lottery Fund.

The two and three storey accommodation is built around a double-height heart space. Ryder was keen to develop a building which projected an appropriate image for the main academy as well as an individual look and feel for myplace, the first time such a facility will be included on a school site to provide vocational training for 16-19 year olds with a construction workshop, hair and beauty section and all weather sports pitches.

Speaking about Ryder’s appointment, director, Richard Wise, said: “The design brief asks for a solution which demonstrates affordability, is of a high quality and uses innovative design features to enable the delivery of its dual function purposes.

“We have extensive experience of designing educational environments which significantly enhance capacity for learning whilst raising aspirations. We are confident that our design not only satisfies the brief but goes beyond its requirements.”

Stockton Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Ann McCoy, added:
“We are delighted with the proposed designs and look forward to working closely with all three academies and seeing construction get underway.

“All three projects will create facilities which will help young people access an education they can be proud of and realise their aspirations and ambitions.

“The investment in the academies will also improve the lifestyles of young people, their families and the wider Tees Valley community.”

A planning application was submitted for NSHA on 24 November. The scheme is scheduled to reach financial close on 10 February 2012, with start immediately thereafter and completion anticipated in April 2013.

Thornaby Academy, valued at £5.5m will benefit from refurbishment of its main buildings with the development of a BETA Centre (Business and Enterprise Thornaby Academy). The Academy will provide space for teaching 750 students as well as 40 post-16 students. Freebrough Academy is to get a new £1m post-16 centre based around business and enterprise for 100 students on the existing site.

With approval of both schemes expected mid-January, planning applications will be submitted at the end of January with start on site anticipated at the end of March.

Other members of the professional team are Atkins – structural, SES and Inviron – mechanical and electrical engineering and TGP – landscape consultants.

(UPM Tilhill, South Wales, 05 January 2012 ) -Bedwellty House and Park in South Wales has been returned to its former glory thanks to a three-year, £6 million restoration project.

Working for John Weaver Contractors and also with architects Austin-Smith:Lord, UPM Tilhill was the main landscape contractor for the site which was where Aneurin Bevan, founder of the National Health Service, started his political career.

Bedwellty House is a listed, Regency villa in the town of Tredegar in South Wales. It is surrounded by a historic garden that was established in the early 19th century for the Master of Tredegar Iron Works. Bedwellty House and Park are intimately linked with the early social history of Industrial Wales. Its relevance continued when the house and park were given to the people of Tredegar in 1901 and consequently housed the town council. The site became a centre of the labour movement in Wales and Britain.

Funded mainly by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the initial restoration activity by UPM Tilhill involved remedial work to the park’s trees. Many of the trees had to be completely removed because of their very poor condition and neglect over the years and surgery work was carried out on others. Within the park there are a number of significant Grade II listed structures including the icehouse, the bandstand, the boundary stone, the war memorial and the world-famous Great Exhibition block of coal – 15 tonnes hewn in a single block. All these help to attract visitors to the park, in addition to other historically important features such as the long shelter, kitchen garden, fishponds, grotto and cast-iron fountain.

Sadly all these features were overgrown and none of the original planting had survived. The project Architect Sophie Teague, from Austin-Smith:Lord, developed a new scheme to reflect the park’s original design. By making reference to old photographs and drawings, the new planting scheme carried out by UPM Tilhill has helped return the park to its former glory. UPM Tilhill Contract Manager Chris Williams said: “We are very proud to have worked with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, John Weaver Contractors and Austin-Smith:Lord, to help bring a nationally important site back to life on behalf of the people of Tredegar and Blaenau Gwent.”

The restored Bedwellty House and Park is already attracting large numbers of visitors who now enjoy being able to walk through the 26 acres of parkland. The buildings and park in Tredegar have been transformed into a hub for the local community and are set to become a major tourist destination in the Heads of the Valleys. Until recently the house had been used by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council but, under Austin-Smith:Lord’s proposals, it has been transformed into a heritage asset, a Registry office and an elegant visitor attraction.

The culmination of the restoration work comes more than eight years after the idea was proposed thanks to Blaenau Gwent officers Dave Watkins, Leisure Services Manager, and Frank Olding, the borough’s Heritage Officer. Established more than 60 years ago, UPM Tilhill is a national company operating from a network of offices throughout the UK, with a turnover in excess of £100 million.

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In view of forecaster’s predictions that the Siberian conditions we’ve suffered in recent winters are likely to be a lasting trend, have you checked that your home is winter proofed? With fascias (the horizontal band below the roofline which the guttering attaches to) and soffits (the underside of the fascia) being high up, it’s easy to miss signs of rot and damp until it’s too late. Prepare for the Arctic blast, prevent catastrophe and replace your fascias and soffits NOW.

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Entrance doors are the main focal point to any home or building’s exterior so ensuring that the design and style suits its architecture is really important for Sunfold Systems’ customers.

Sunfold Systems has enhanced its own front door styles from strictly modern and contemporary to include something to suit a more traditional and classical taste. The new Classic traditional front door range with solid aluminium panel detail and glazing options has the exact same benefits as the modern Adeco range so is only different in style and not quality. All front doors within these ranges are manufactured with double sided attachment panels which house a high insulating core; energy efficient insulated glazing; aluminium sheeting for extra security as well as acoustic protection.

As well as the new Classic range, the folding door specialist, has also added further door sets to our Adeco contemporary models. The new Liseo front door which is available in five different sleek designs also comes with the option to include groove design detail on the interior of the door as well as exterior. Sunfold front doors are custom-made to the client’s exact requirements as either replacement front doors or new property doors and meets exact specifications which includes opening dimensions, finishes, glazing options, door handles and high security locking features.

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Folding door specialist Sunfold Systems has started the first leg of its door and window installation at the new ultra energy efficient show house being built by Kingspan Potton in St Neots. The show house which has been designed as a contemporary barn will exceed the requirements for level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH), an initiative which was launched to ensure that all new homes constructed in England & Wales can be described as zero-carbon by 2016. The show house will demonstrate the key ways to achieve this by meeting the sustainability requirements of a new home measured against nine design categories include energy & CO2 emissions, pollution and waste.

Project manager Brent Ackerman commented on the project: “The aim is to make the property as thermally efficient and air tight as possible in order to achieve the credits required for the Code for Sustainable Homes. The roof is now finished, solar panels have been installed and we’re about to start on the brickwork cladding and further insulation throughout the property. Drylining specialists are about to begin fixing the plaster-boarding throughout the house which is a big job, but once finished, we will really be able to see the spacious interior of this barn style home.” The show house provides Sunfold with another location for customers to view and test a selection of its thermally efficient window and door products along with the opportunity to meet with potential clients at both appointments and at dedicated open weekends for the public. Products on show include the SFCW composite window system which has excellent U-values available in double and triple glazing; a four panel thermally broken aluminium folding sliding system, the SFK70 as well as a mid-range version the SFK20:20 with three panels; an Antelli front door with a high insulating core and a number of internal complete bespoke manufactured door sets both hinged and sliding and designed to reduce heat loss.

The windows have already been fully installed as part of the first fix and once brickwork cladding has been applied external door installation will begin. Internal door sets will be fitted towards the end of the project ready for completion early next year, 2012. Official launch will take place at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show at the end of March where Sunfold Systems will also be exhibiting.

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