GSS to help remodel new Academy

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1 Issue No. 30 Published by GSSArchitecture Spring 2011 GSS to help remodel new Academy Major refurbishment for Durham University A multi-million pound office refurbishment has been designed by GSSArchitecture for Durham University. The two-storey Mountjoy Building is currently undergoing further major remodelling to give the building a completely new lease of life. The first phase has recently been completed and handed over to the client, whilst the remainder of the project is due to be completed this August. The works include the removal of internal walls, updated landscaping and creation of a large contemporary glazed entrance. GSS partner Tom Lyons in the atrium at Malcolm Arnold Academy. GSS has been appointed by contractor Willmott Dixon to work on the internal refurbishment and partial remodelling of the Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northampton. There will also be significant external works. The project is being undertaken for Northamptonshire County Council. Formerly known as Unity College, the original academy was designed by another architectural practice. One of the problems was that the new atrium became too hot in summer and too cold in the winter, explained GSS partner-in-charge Tom Lyons. The works will include installing a mezzanine floor and pods in the atrium, together with a number of other internal alterations to enhance the learning experience. Two of the redundant buildings of the former college, the old swimming pool and the Pearson building, are due to be demolished and replaced with landscaped areas. The total value of the contract is approximately 5.5 million, and this will include a substantial enhancement to the academy s ICT facilities. GSS is also working with Willmott Dixon on the new 28 million Kettering Science Academy as well as the Buccleuch Academy. Tom Lyons explained, We are acting as their design advisors, working with their architects and helping to develop the design, ensuring it meets all the necessary criteria. Part of the new open plan office accommodation at Durham University s Mountjoy Building. One of the design features is a series of attractive meeting pods. GSS partner Jonathan Hunter said, The client is delighted with the open plan facilities which have been designed to promote communication between people and provide organisational flexibility. The majority of the University s administrative departments have been spread over the City of Durham. Now we can bring them all together and both save time and allow the university to increase efficiency. GSS has substantial experience in the refurbishment and remodelling of older buildings, said Jonathan. And providing the structure of the building is sound this can provide a much better alternative than simply demolishing it and building a new one from scratch. All in all, it can provide an extremely cost effective solution, and this is something that both the public and private sectors are increasingly taking on board. From the Editor This is the 30th issue of GSS Review, and our first issue was produced ten years ago, in Then we had just our two offices in Northamptonshire and a total strength of around 45 people. Now we have two further offices in Bristol and Yorkshire and a total strength of around 70. It has been a very successful ten years. We now effectively cover the whole of England and Wales, and in the past year we have had projects in no fewer than twenty different counties, stretching from Cumbria to Essex and from Durham to Devon. In this newsletter we can only cover a relatively small sample of our work, but hopefully it represents a good cross-section. And, of course, if you have any potential future projects in mind we should be delighted to hear from you. Our website, is regularly updated, and we have now changed it so that you can download our various brochures with just one click. Our website also contains full details of our practice and our partners. If you haven t seen it recently do please pay it a visit. Finally, I d like to say a big thank-you to Bernie Freeman, who recently celebrated 25 years working with our practice. Bernie has been a key member of our administration team, and currently looks after our IT services. We are very grateful for all she has done. David Allsop

2 New English department for Leicester school This spacious corridor provides a link between two buildings. A wheelchair lift provides disabled access. This area provides links to classrooms and offices as well as flexible learning space. The entrance to the new English department. Team leader and partner Jonathan Hunter. The latest phase of a multi-million pound redevelopment has been completed at the Beauchamp College, Oadby, which is on the outskirts of Leicester. The new 1.2 million English department designed by GSS provides 11 classrooms in addition to a flexible learning space linked to a first floor roof terrace which can be used for drama as well as poetry readings. There is also a media suite complete with an editing and recording studio. The project involved extensive remodelling in conjunction with a top-hat extension at first floor level to provide improved facilities. GSS team leader Jonathan Hunter explained, The real success of the project is in opening up the previous narrow and oppressive circulation routes to provide engaging and flexible spaces which can be used for student breakout and informal group work. It is the kind of thinking that we will increasingly see within the education sector as budgets are squeezed and we need to think laterally about making the best use of existing facilities through remodelling and refurbishment. The first phase was completed in September 2010 with the final phase completed on programme in April. GSS designs education research centre A major new education research centre Learnspace has been designed by GSS. The new centre is being funded by Partnership for Schools. GSS partner-in-charge Tom Lyons explained, The centre will be situated in a former industrial building in Corby, and will provide a model project that will illustrate how these types of building can be converted into a variety of learning spaces. This will be particularly relevant to Free Schools and academies. Most importantly, this will provide a unique opportunity for serious education research, and when it is operating the centre will have a full-time research team from Northamptonshire County Council. The building will provide a range of internal and external spaces, said Tom, Practical experiments can then take place with different environments, layouts and equipment. Local schools will be invited to come and use it. The illustration shows how Learnspace will look. The new research centre will be made available to educationalists, building contractors, manufacturers of school equipment, and other interested professionals. The main contractor is Willmott Dixon, and the project is due to be completed by the autumn of this year.

3 An elevation of some of the key worker housing. GSS team leader Sally Hewins discusses the plans with GSS partner Mark Stevens. The site plan for the new housing. Construction of a new 8 million housing scheme in Somerset is due to start in June. The project, which has been designed for the Yarlington Housing Group, will help to regenerate a site which is close to Yeovil District Hospital, and will provide accommodation for key workers at the hospital as well as affordable housing for the general public. There will be two blocks of apartments provided for hospital staff, and these will incorporate 69 individual high quality en-suite bedrooms with shared kitchen facilities. This accommodation will be managed by the Yarlington Housing Group on behalf of Yeovil District Hospital. 8m key worker housing gets the go-ahead in Somerset In addition there will be 59 separate affordable homes comprising five four-bedroom houses, 22 three-bedroom houses, 22 two-bedroom houses and 10 two-bedroom apartments. GSS architect and partner-in-charge Michael Magri said, We were delighted to have been appointed by the Yarlington Housing Group to undertake this important housing project. It has provided a number of challenges, not least of which is the sloping ground on which the homes will be built, as well as a number of mature trees which need to be retained. We have worked very closely with the local planning authorities and with civil and structural engineers A K S Ward to find an attractive and effective solution. Sally Hewins, who is the GSS team leader, explained, The site was previously home to a number of old precast reinforced concrete houses which had outlived their usefulness. At the same time it is near to local services and the District Hospital, making it an ideal location for key worker accommodation. The main contractor is Mansell Construction Services Ltd, to whom GSSArchitecture has been novated. The project is due to be completed by the summer of New school theatre is ready in Oakham A new theatre building designed by GSS for Brooke Priory School in Oakham has been completed. The two-storey multi-functional theatre is to the side of Oakham School s extensive playing fields, which are also used by Brooke Priory. The design is in harmony with the single-storey school buildings whilst the entrance to the theatre makes an impressive statement. The upper level of the theatre building has sustainable cedar cladding, complementing the full height glass wall wrapping round the eastern elevation. The building has been designed to be fully inclusive with a lift to the first floor, where there is a music room and a space for design technology. On the ground floor new changing rooms have been incorporated. These have external doors, enabling their use by children who are undertaking outdoor activities on the playing fields. The new facilities have been welcomed by Sport England. Prior to work starting on the theatre the existing nursery building was refurbished and extended to provide enhanced facilities. These include a secure courtyard play area which is bounded on one side by the new theatre. The total value of the project is just over one million pounds. The partner-in-charge was architect David Allsop. Associate Chris Chapman headed the design team, while associate Phil Morgan was responsible for project management and quantity surveying. Pictured (l-r) outside the new theatre are GSS partner David Allsop, Susan Allan and Head Teacher Bee Bell of Brooke Priory School, and GSS team leader Chris Chapman.

4 6m Luton Children s Centre is nearly ready Floodlighting delights parishioners GSS project architect Paul Harkin at the new Marsh Farm Children s Centre. One of the largest Children s Centres to be built in this country has had its main structure completed and will be ready for the start of the autumn term. The 6 million project in Luton has been designed by GSS and will house substantial child-focused clinical care facilities for the whole town. It replaces an existing Sure Start Children s Centre which has been housed in temporary accommodation. Partner-in-charge Tom Lyons explained, The Marsh Farm Children s Centre for Excellence is next to Lea Manor High School in the north of the town, and shares some of the facilities such as a sensory garden. The new centre provides an important regeneration boost to the area. There is a 65-place nursery and day care facilities, with indoor and outdoor play areas. A two storey element provides a home for local healthcare and social service professionals. There are also several clinical rooms, along with some counselling and occupational therapy facilities. The GSS design team included project architect Paul Harkin and architectural technologist Amanda Burns. The client was Wates Construction Ltd on behalf of the Local Education & Community Partnership, which comes under the umbrella of Luton Borough Council. GSS has recently completed four more Children s Centres in Northamptonshire at Rushden, Roade, Oundle and Bugbrooke. All were completed on schedule and within budget. Pictured from left to right are church council members Bill Featherstone, Katie Nelson, and David Cox. GSS architect and partner Will Assheton is on the right of the picture. Members of the church council of St Giles Church in Desborough have been celebrating their new floodlighting, which has illuminated the tower of the beautiful 13th century building and transformed the night sky. St Giles Church is shared by both Anglicans and Methodists. Church council member Bill Featherstone said, Ours is the oldest Anglican and Methodist partnership in the country, over 40 years old, and the symbol of that partnership is the church steeple. So the new floodlighting scheme is very appropriate. The installation of the floodlighting has been managed by GSSArchitecture, with partner-in-charge Will Assheton working closely with the church council and lighting engineers E7 Contracting Ltd, which is based in Earls Barton. We have had to work very closely with the planning department of Kettering Borough Council to ensure that everything was satisfactory, and met all their requirements, said Will. The new church floodlighting makes a real difference to Desborough, and everyone seems to be delighted with the result. GSS has worked at numerous churches in the region on a wide variety of conservation and other building projects. David becomes Architects President David Allsop, who has been a partner at GSSArchitecture since 1985, has been elected President of the Northamptonshire Society of Architects. A former Chairman of the East Midlands RIBA, as well as a former member of the RIBA Council, David said, I was delighted to be elected to this important post, and I aim to make our voice heard on important architectural matters that affect the county. David (pictured) has designed a number of important buildings in Northamptonshire including the campus restaurant at the University of Northampton. This won a national Civic Trust Award, while a concept model of the project was displayed at the Royal Academy s Summer Exhibition. Other buildings he has designed for the university include the Leather Conservation Centre, the Cottesbrooke Building, the Senate and the multimillion pound refurbishment and remodelling of the Newton Building the Grade-II listed former Kingsley Park Middle School in St George s Avenue, Northampton. This is now the university s School of Science and Technology. Other important buildings in Northamptonshire include major new production facilities and warehousing for Weetabix, Laxton Junior School at Oundle, The Masque theatre at Barton Seagrave, Brooke Weston Academy s library, a new nursery at Rothwell and the Indoor Cricket Centre at the County Ground. Among the many projects that David has designed elsewhere in the country is the renowned library at Oakham School, as well as a number of projects for universities at Oxford, Leicester, Reading, Cranfield and Durham, where David s work includes Josephine Butler College, the first new college to be built at Durham University since the 1970s.

5 Commercial development boosts Northampton A new UK headquarters and warehouse for Tennant UK has been handed over at Gladstone Road on the Kings Heath Industrial Estate in Northampton. GSS were novated as architects to Stepnell Ltd, the main contractors, while GSS s quantity surveyors acted as Employers Agents for Broadley Properties Ltd, the site developer. The site in Gladstone Road dates from the 1960 s, and in order to make way for the development some older buildings have been demolished. These are being replaced with three separate warehouse units and associated two-storey office accommodation. GSS partner-in-charge Will Assheton explained, The 1.75 million scheme is being constructed in three phases, and the headquarters and warehouse for Tennant UK marks the end of the first phase. It is an important redevelopment, and will give a considerable boost to the area. By setting back the buildings it has been possible to allow space for lorries to turn round on site as well providing extra off-road parking. Elsewhere, GSS is working with Marlin Land on a number of schemes in both the Greater London area and in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, where planning consent has been obtained for a new discount store. At Hanworth Trading Estate in the London Borough of Hounslow, work is shortly due to start on site on a 5 million commercial redevelopment scheme which will provide a 50,000 square feet DIY unit for Selco with seven associated speculative smaller units. GSS s client is Sisk Marlin Developments Ltd. The entrance to the new HQ of Tennant UK. There is room for commercial vehicles outside the warehouse. Parking spaces are provided outside the offices. Climb raises nearly 3,000 for Leeds Children s Charity Presenting the cheque to the Leeds Children s Charity. Standing on the left is Verlie McCann, while at the back (l-r) are GSSArchitecture members Ben Asbury, John Edwards, Heather Murgatroyd, Jonathan Hunter and James Elliott. Nearly three thousand pounds has been raised for Leeds Children s Charity following a sponsored hill climb by a team from GSSArchitecture. GSS partner Jonathan Hunter, who manages the Harrogate office, explained, We managed to put quite a team together to undertake the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge this year, and we were joined by colleagues and friends from our other offices in Bristol and Northamptonshire. It was a really enjoyable if somewhat tiring event, as it meant climbing Ingleborough, Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside in one day. However, we gained a lot of satisfaction by knowing that the sponsorship that we raised was going to such a good cause. Leeds Children s Charity, which is over 100 years old, provides vulnerable and underprivileged children with the opportunity for a week s holiday at their purposebuilt activity centre in beautiful Silverdale, which is near Morecombe in Lancashire. Each year, over 350 children benefit. The cheque for 2,781 was presented on May 3rd to Verlie McCann, Chairman and Project Manager for the Leeds Children s Charity, at Leeds Station, as a group of children were about to set off on their journey to Silverdale. We were delighted to receive the donation, said Verlie, As it means so much to the children. The team from GSSArchitecture at the top of Pen-y-Ghent.

6 Supporting the Big Society 15m student housing starts in Oxford While there has been much recent debate in the media about the Big Society, GSSArchitecture has been actively involved in pro bono work for many years, including through ProHelp. This is a UK network of over 600 professionals GSS has been appointed by Wates to undertake the design of a new primary school in Luton on behalf of Luton Borough Council. Construction has started on a new 6 million swimming pool and sports facility at Stamford School in Lincolnshire. The Far Cotton Community Centre in Northampton one of GSS s many ProHelp projects. providing advice and support free of charge to community and voluntary organisations in their local area. Last year, ProHelp supported over 2,200 community groups, including schools, voluntary organisations and community groups, with an estimated 1.4m of free professional advice. GSS were joint founder members of ProHelp in Northamptonshire, and have since helped many charitable and community organisations get their projects off the ground, including helping them to get funding. In Bristol, where GSS has been a member of ProHelp for several years, partner Mark Stevens is now its extremely active Chairman. In Yorkshire, one of the first things that GSS did after opening its new office was to join ProHelp and provide help and advice to local community projects. But GSS s community support goes far beyond ProHelp. There have been numerous fund-raising events for charities which have raised thousands of pounds, and work opportunities have been provided for many young people. GSS s partners and staff have also taken many leading roles in local community organisations. Our contribution to the community is something of which GSS can be rightly proud. News in brief Current conservation projects include St Mark s Church at Bilton, Warwickshire, where work is due to start on a porch extension to provide additional facilities. Planning permission is also due to be sought for work to the main roof at Kelmarsh Hall, near Market Harborough. A new energy centre designed by GSS has been completed for Cranfield University. A new village hall is on the verge of completion at Great Oakley near Corby. It will feature a large multi-purpose hall, a meeting room, kitchen, toilets and lots of storage space for the various user groups. Construction has started on a new dining hall extension at Kimbolton School, near Huntingdon. GSS has designed internal alterations for a medical practice in Crick, Northamptonshire. GSS has been appointed to undertake masterplans for schools in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Berkshire. Construction of a new café designed by GSS has started on site at Leicester University. GSS is undertaking the design for system build remedial works at a number of schools in Northamptonshire. GSS has been appointed to design a major extension and refurbishment at a private residence near Amersham in Buckinghamshire. A student accommodation scheme designed by GSS for Oxford Brookes University has started on site. The 15 million scheme is at the Harcourt Hill campus on the outskirts of Oxford, and will provide accommodation for 346 students in two large blocks. There are individual en-suite rooms with shared well-equipped kitchens. Both buildings will feature sustainable green roofs. To mark the start of construction Oxford Brookes Vice Chancellor Janet Beer laid a special stone on 10th May. She is pictured with (l-r) Gillian Almond of OBU, GSS partner Michael Magri, OBU Director of Estates Ian King and far right GSS partner Mark Stevens. GSS wins a Big Tick award GSSArchitecture has been awarded a national Big Tick award. These are the leading awards for responsible business practice in the UK and are run by Business in the Community. The award was presented at a dinner in Bristol on the 7th June. In addition to winning the award, which recognises GSS s investment in their school Work Experience/Work Inspiration programme, GSS has also been shortlisted for the Award for Excellence which is given to the organisation that has shown innovation, creativity and a sustained commitment to responsible business best practice. The overall winner will be announced at the Albert Hall on 5th July GSS Partner Mark Stevens, who manages our Bristol office, said, We are delighted to have won this national award, which recognises the effort and investment the practice has put in to developing what we believe to be a unique work experience programme for students. We aim to give young people from all backgrounds a real insight into what is involved in an architectural practice. Last year, GSS offered 34 work experience placements to students from a number of different schools across the country. GSSARCHITECTURE Chartered Architects Project Managers Cost Managers Partners David A Allsop BA DipArch RIBA William F Assheton BA(Hons) BArch RIBA Ian S Bray BSc(Hons) MRICS Brian L Gotch BSc FRICS Jonathan D Hunter BA(Hons) ArchTech MCIAT MCIOB FFB Thomas G Lyons BA DipArch DipAP RIBA Michael A Magri BA(Hons) DipArch RIBA Mark Stevens BSc(Hons) CEnv FRICS FFB MCMI Consultant John F Davis FRICS Offices 35 Headlands Kettering Northamptonshire NN15 7ES T: Eden Office Park 73 Macrae Road Ham Green Bristol BS20 0DD T: Spencer Parade Northampton Northamptonshire NN1 5AA T: Associates Chris Chapman MCIAT ACIOB John R Dutton RIBA Sally A Hewins MCIAT Glenn Mathew MCIAT ACIOB Philip M Morgan BSc(Hons) MRICS Paul M Vega BSc(Hons) FCIOB CEnv Practice Administrator Mary Lally BA(Hons) FIPA The Tower Studio Fourth Avenue Hornbeam Park Harrogate HG2 8QT T: gss@gotch.co.uk Designed by Watson Design Associates