Heritage.
Re-imagining the past through contextually sensitive design.
As a multidisciplinary practice, one of our specialisms is working with listed and heritage properties. Our in-house architectural, interior design and landscape design teams share the same design vision and work side-by-side together on the journey.
We have a strong portfolio of heritage led projects from which we have developed an informed approach to retention and preservation, while repurposing and reinventing existing structures. Making sensitive, imaginative and economic use of our existing built heritage is at the core of our sustainable thinking, requiring rigorous and thoughtful analysis.
A new chapter for Wadworth Brewery.
Wadworth Brewery in Devizes has been a family run business for 147 years. The existing brewery is Grade II listed and is an integral part of the culture and heritage of Devizes.
For our Brewery Wharf masterplan we embraced the history and local context within our designs. We incorporated key design features from the Wadworth Brewery and reimagined them within our proposal. Form, scale, materiality, and detailing work in harmony to create a vibrant and exciting neighbourhood, with carefully designed and positioned buildings which embody the site’s heritage, including a material palette of red brick and white mortar that reflects the local character.
The Grand Hotel.
Working with this iconic seafront hotel in Brighton, we developed an extensive interior proposal for the design and full refurbishment of the hotel’s existing 201 guest rooms, bedroom corridors, main staircase, and underutilised basement space. This would enable the hotel to provide high quality facilities, with the focus on overall guest experience and securing The Grand as a destination for current and future guests.
In the basement we looked to provide additional facilities for staff and hotel guests, including main kitchens, workshops, 200 seat cellar restaurant and options for a spa and pool. The large high ceiling areas with existing pillars and exposed bricks allocated for general dining spaces which benefit from an open and social feel, creating a space which acts not only as guest dining but as a destination restaurant.
Rooftop dining in a historic London hotel.
As part of a wider feasibility study, we explored several opportunities to optimise the asset value of this Grade II listed London hotel. Working within the tight constraints of the site and heritage listings we had to ensure any proposal had minimal impact on the external views and sat comfortably within the surrounding context.
To significantly enhance their fine dining facilities, we designed a new stepped back rooftop extension with a 360° Skybar offering stunning views of the surrounding city, parkland, and river Thames. The proposal had to seamlessly integrate with the current layout and circulation within the hotel. Limiting the addition to one storey ensured it remained no higher than the neighbouring buildings and minimised the visual impact from the street.
Contemporary offices in a listed farmstead.
At Old Yard in the Buckinghamshire countryside, we have looked to convert a listed agricultural barn into a collection of smaller contemporary offices. The overall L-shaped layout of the barn is to be retained with latter unsympathetic additions removed to return the building to its original form.
New energy efficient windows and doors will be situated in existing building openings, retaining the original character of the barn, whilst sensitively adapting the elevations to ensure they are suitable for the proposed use. The interiors are designed to be modern, yet respectful to their context, accentuating key features of the original architectural form.
Refreshing a 16th century watermill.
Working alongside a Grade II listed Mill, we proposed a sensitive 200 seat restaurant extension to replace the existing temporary dining facilities. Our proposal looked to create a practical circulation route between the existing spaces and a new dining facility, whilst preserving and emphasising the existing architectural features of the mill.
The creation of a glazed colonnade to the front façade of the mill meant there was minimal impact on the existing built fabric. The design emulated the existing features of the brick and timber listed buildings through materiality and form whilst remaining clearly distinct as a contemporary addition.
