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(UPDATED APRIL 2010) |
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UPDATES ON RECENT PROJECTS |
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| NEW BUILD - Commercial Bee/Honey Farm, Southleigh, Devon- APPLICATION APPROVED |
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| This proposal to create the first purpose designed and built commercial bee farm in the country for the past 20 years on 19 hectares (46.6 acres) of land in Devon. |
| Construction works started 4th January 2010 and are progressing well as can be seen from the photos below |
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| WORKS IN PROGRESS - 09/02/10 |
WORKS IN PROGRESS 15/03/10 |
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Steel framed structure of Building 2
(honey production building) |
Showing steel columns of Building 3 to
the right of Building 2 |
Building 2 to the left with cladding and windows |
Building 3 with roof formed |
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| WORKS IN PROGRESS 19/04/10 |
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The project comprises three buildings, each of 24m x 12m, together with an 'agricultural workers dwelling'. All told, the enterprise will initially be the third largest in Devon, consisting of 480 on and off site beehives, producing 12 tonnes of honey, 300kg of pollen and 1 ton of beeswax.
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| CAD DRAWING OF SITE SHOWING 3 HONEY FARM BUILDINGS, ACCESS DRIVE AND 'AGRICULTURAL WORKERS DWELLING' |
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AERIAL PHOTOMONTAGE OF SITE |
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| Update on construction of "Art in Architecture" project for Colyton Youth and Community Centre: |
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In the majority of instances the art in architecture is that of the design of the building itself being the art form. However, in many instances this can prove expensive and unsuitable where the circumstances dictate a very simple cost-effective structure. Nevertheless, with a little imagination there is the opportunity to utilise a very plain rectangular building as a blank canvas. |
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We were provided with an opportunity of this nature when designing the new building that will serve as a pre-school, scouts and youth centre in Colyton, Devon. |
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ELEVATION TOWARDS PLAYING FIELD |
ELEVATION VIEWED FROM TOWN |
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Practical design considerations included: very low window sill heights for toddlers and varying sill heights for other age groups, positions of entrance and exit doors and a simple economic form of construction. The resulting sketch design was influenced by Kandinski and Mondrian.
Hopefully this should provide a building that is interesting, intriguing, welcoming and above all, despite its simple form, have an individual identity projecting the uses of the building by the youngsters. Construction is now underway (see photos below) |
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| INTERIOR OF YOUTH/COMMUNITY CENTRE |
ELEVATION FROM PLAYING FIELD |
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FRONT ELEVATION |
ROAD ELEVATION |
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| The Pre-school group facility on the first floor opened Monday 19th April 2010 |
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| Conversion of Redundant Farm Buildings: |
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Conversion of 19th century Estate Farm buildings in Dorset, together with 122 acres of pasture, arable land and extensive woodlands for a new business project for a Hong Kong based client who is seeking to establish a European base. |
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Recession |
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In the current financial climate, one of the options for mitigating the effects of a recession is that, when there are freehold premises, of seeking planning permissions for additional or alternative uses to uplift property value.
During the last recession in the 1990's, this practice was instructed by the South West Regional Debt Recovery Unit of a major high street bank, to seek planning consents where it had been necessary to foreclose on properties.
Ideally this situation is best avoided, wherever possible, through taking action at an early stage; even as a precautionary measure in the event of a significant downturn in the economy and as a result a businesses turnover. |
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Progress of Grade II listed Barn Conversion
'Hoppin's Barns' consists of a range of 2-storey barns arranged in a U-shape about a large courtyard. These date back from the 'high-farming' period 1840 - 1870. These beautifully built barns constructed of cob walls with brick quoins under a slate roof, had been redundant for a number of years. Whilst they were structurally sound, they were very much in need of restoration or adaptation to a use which would help preserve their future; in this case 'live to work' units. This necessitated sympathetic design, both to preserve and enhance the character of the buildings, and balancing this with adaptation to bring the buildings up to current habitable standards. |
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WORKS IN PROGRESS - EXTERIOR OF UNITA - 28/11/09 |
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INTERIOR OF THRESHING BARN - TRADITIONAL COB BRICKS ARE STACKED BY WALL |
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