Design plans for a four star luxury, boutique hotel in Milton Keynes are now underway, following successful planning permission. The 250-bed hotel will be located on Marlborough Gate and it will include conference and meeting room services, a gym, spa and pool facilities, as well as a rooftop restaurant that
Award-winning UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has recently completed an extensive £16.2m rebuilding and remodelling of UCL’s renowned Faculty of Laws facilities in Camden, London. The works connected the University’s past with its future, fully integrating a Grade II listed building, Bentham House, with a neighbouring mid-20th
The winner of this year’s AJ Small Projects is Wrong House by Matheson Whiteley, a project that includes the construction of a wedge-shaped extension to a semi-detached Victorian townhouse in Hackney, east London, at just £93,000. The practice will receive £2,500 for the award. Now in its 23rd year running,
Leeds City Council has approved Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ plans for a £350 million South Bank scheme, which includes the construction of the city’s tallest tower. The plans also cover two office blocks, providing 26,100 m² of commercial and shopping space, together with an extra 103,900 m² of offices, retail,
Haig Housing has drafted the former service veterans to the charity’s biggest new build development in the UK since the 1950s. The 68-home development, located in Morden, aims to help with the issue of the affordable housing shortage faced by the nation’s ex-service men and women. “This is the first
Design plans for a four star luxury, boutique hotel in Milton Keynes are now underway, following successful planning permission. The 250-bed hotel will be located on Marlborough Gate and it will include conference and meeting room services, a gym, spa and pool facilities, as well as a rooftop restaurant that will offer fantastic views over central Milton Keynes. Designed by pHp Architects, the scheme will feature an eye-catching design that will create the illusion of the sun on the east side of the hotel off Midsummer Boulevard. “We are delighted to receive the green light for the Milton Keynes hotel development. Our emphasis is on quality and the entire building design team have certainly delivered above and beyond that in their plans,” said Mark Stuart, managing director at Hotel La Tour, the owners of the development. “Hotel La Tour Milton Keynes will fill a much needed luxury services gap within the area and bring life and connectivity to it. It will also create approximately 200 new jobs as we recruit and develop local talent.” The next stage of design planning has already started for Couch Perry Wilkes (CPW), the engineers providing the mechanical, engineering and plumbing expertise, as well as the BREEAM assessor role. The other companies part of the project are Gleeds, pHp Architects and Scott, White and Hookins Structural & Civil Engineers and Sharps Redmore Acoustics. “We are busy developing client specific solutions to ensure that the guests and staff have the best possible experience when visiting and working in the hotel. We are therefore working with specialist designers for interior design, audio visual, spa specialists and artists working on commissions within the development,” explained Matt Wrate, director at CPW. The cost and project management services for the project are provided by international property and construction consultancy Gleeds.
Award-winning UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has recently completed an extensive £16.2m rebuilding and remodelling of UCL’s renowned Faculty of Laws facilities in Camden, London. The works connected the University’s past with its future, fully integrating a Grade II listed building, Bentham House, with a neighbouring mid-20th century building, Hillel House which housed the Gideon Schreier and Graduate Wings, within the predominantly Georgian conservation area. The adjacent building was significantly remodelled including a major extension at the rear and a completely new exterior façade with Portland stone, complementing UCL Laws original historic home. With a growing UCL student and Faculty body, Gilbert-Ash delivered a high-quality, technically advanced, bright space, reflecting modern methods of learning. Working closely with leading architects Levitt Bernstein, the development also comprises a central social hub, state-of-the-art research facilities and cutting-edge office and teaching areas. The two buildings are now linked across all levels, with floor-to-ceiling windows, maximising the natural light and a new spacious atrium improving the student and Faculty experience. The development incorporates sustainability features, including a bio-diverse roof with photovoltaic arrays. Rodney Coalter, Project Manager, Gilbert-Ash, commented, “Working closely with UCL, Levitt Bernstein and the whole redevelopment supply chain, we are really pleased with the high-end teaching facility that has been created. It enhances the learning environment and experience for both students and faculty, as well as visitors and alumni. Recognising the renowned reputation of UCL, the redevelopment also aims to build on the traditions and character of the University whilst providing an extended, modern space for continued ambitious learning and socialising.” Professor Piet Eeckhout, Dean, UCL Laws said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have the pleasure to welcome the Faculty back home to Bentham House. UCL Laws has, at long last, a home fit for our world-leading research, teaching and social enterprise. The project has given the Faculty more than a building: it’s given us an inspiring environment in which our whole community can come together.” Professor Dame Hazel Genn, UCL Project Sponsor said, “At the very core of the vision for redeveloping Bentham House has always been how the building will support, inspire and motivate the world-class teaching and thriving research culture within UCL Laws. “The highly creative plans for the building have seamlessly married the much-loved traditional spaces with bright, modern facilities, giving our Faculty a home that reflects and respects its heritage, while also supporting and driving its forward-thinking, global agenda.” The UCL Faculty of Laws development is part of a larger scheme, Transforming UCL, the largest capital programme in the university’s history. It will see substantial investment of over £1.2 billion over a 10-year period to refurbish and develop some of UCL’s most iconic buildings whilst also bringing forward new world class buildings to enable continued growth. Highly detailed design, advanced logistical planning and development goes into every Gilbert-Ash project, with the team skilled in delivering the finest quality projects in the UK and globally. For more information on Gilbert-Ash visit www.gilbert-ash.com
The winner of this year’s AJ Small Projects is Wrong House by Matheson Whiteley, a project that includes the construction of a wedge-shaped extension to a semi-detached Victorian townhouse in Hackney, east London, at just £93,000. The practice will receive £2,500 for the award. Now in its 23rd year running, the event is a celebration of innovative projects built on a budget of less than £250,000. The jury praised the winning scheme for its ‘humility and restraint’ and the great contribution it made to a London street. Other highly commended schemes were Baxendale’s Riverside Solidarity and the PEER Gallery and Pocket Park by Trevor Home Architects. In addition, the People’s Choice award, voted by 1,700 people, was won by Matt + Fiona’s Made in Oakfield in Hull. “We’re so shocked to win, particularly because it’s such a strong and varied field. There is so much quality in the different schemes and I’m glad the judges recognised we had squeezed some quality out of our situation,” said Matheson Whiteley, director at Donald Matheson. Out of the 200 entries, 20 projects were shortlisted and then presented to the judging panel in Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ offices on Tottenham Street, London. Among the other finalists were a photography studio, woodland classrooms and a kindergarten in Fiji. Part of the judging panel were Takero Shimazaki, director of Takero Shimazaki Architects; last year’s winner Kate Darby, principal of Kate Darby Architects; Lendlease’s Jonathan Emery; AJ sustainability editor Hattie Hartman and was chaired by AJ architecture editor Rob Wilson. Past winners include Doma Architects in 2016, Carmody Groarke in 2015, Haworth Tompkins in 2010 and HawkinsBrown in 2000. All shortlisted AJ Small Projects schemes are part of an exhibition at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ offices that will remain open until the 17th of May from 9am to 5.30pm, from Monday to Friday.
Leeds City Council has approved Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ plans for a £350 million South Bank scheme, which includes the construction of the city’s tallest tower. The plans also cover two office blocks, providing 26,100 m² of commercial and shopping space, together with an extra 103,900 m² of offices, retail, leisure, hotel, health, education and community uses, parking and up to 750 new homes in buildings ranging in height from five to 40 storeys towards the rear of the development. The project is developed by Commercial Estates Group (CEG). “It has been a pleasure to work with CEG, the wider team and the City over the past few years in developing a project that will be key to the regeneration of historic Holbeck and the future transformation of the city centre as a whole,” said Alex Whitbread, Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. FCBS’s 40-storey Globe Waterside residential tower is expected to be taller than Leeds’s current tallest building, 32-storey Bridgewater Place Tower, as well as BDP’s 33-storey mixed-use tower proposed for the western gateway to the city centre. “This derelict site is an important core in the west of the city, an area which has suffered from neglect over a number of years. This is set to change,” said David Hodgson, head of strategic development north for CEG David Hodgson. “At the heart of the South Bank regeneration area, our proposals will deliver the same attention to detail and quality as we are delivering at our award-winning Kirkstall Forge development. This will be an exciting mixed-use strategic development of a critical mass and international standard, revitalising the area and reconnecting local communities to the city,” he continued. CEG has also developed the £400 million Kirkstall Forge masterplan to the west of the city centre, which will provide 1,050 new homes, 28, 000 m2 of office space and 9,300 m2 of leisure and retail space once it is completed.
Haig Housing has drafted the former service veterans to the charity’s biggest new build development in the UK since the 1950s. The 68-home development, located in Morden, aims to help with the issue of the affordable housing shortage faced by the nation’s ex-service men and women. “This is the first brick in our largest single building programme since the fifties. It marks a significant point in a concerted period of construction that will add 68 new homes to our Morden estate,” said James Richardson, chief executive of Haig Housing. Contractor United Living pledged to employ local veterans during the construction and residents Pauline Burroughs and Charles Glover joined them at an official ceremony to mark the start of the construction work. Mrs Burroughs has lived as a Haig resident in Morden for 46 years while Mr Glover’s son has just recently passed out of AFC Harrogate and is following his father’s footsteps into the army. To mark this occasion, the contractor brought a commemorative trowel, which will go on display throughout the development. “Rhodes Moorhouse Court is a prestigious development and we’re extremely proud to be constructing these new homes in partnership with Haig Housing. United Living brings plenty of expertise in delivering projects like this, having previously delivered construction training for ex-military personnel on projects and building sites across the country. We see this as another very worthy cause and we’re now in the process of accelerating efforts to recruit more ex-service personnel to help deliver this project,” said Stuart Laird, chief operating officer at United Living. Each property on the new build will be made available for rent for former service personnel. Haig Housing receives around 1,000 applications for housing each year, of which it can help one in seven applicants. As the waiting lists keep growing, securing affordable accommodation for veterans and their families becomes extremely difficult. Starting with June 2019, the mix of properties, from one bedroom apartments to four bedroom houses, will be available for social rent. The scheme is part funded by the Veterans’ Accommodation Fund, which also provided funding for Haig Housing to expand into Colchester, Aldershot and Scotland.
