Author: will_mwsnkrr

Friar House

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Friar House Apartment Hotel
Location : Newcastle City Centre
Sectors: Leisure, Conservation

Friar House is an excellent example of pre-Grainger Newcastle and has seen various transformations since it was built in the 1700’s.

The large Georgian town house was in a poor state of disrepair when we took on the project of returning the grade II listed building into Roomzzz Newcastle, an award winning boutique apartment hotel which can now be enjoyed by the general public.

The numerous original features are highlighted in a building employing all the modern trappings hotel guests would expect with all the detail of a restoration project.

Conservation Project of the Year – RIBA Northeast
Conservation Project of the Year – Newcastle Lord Mayors Award
Highly Commended – RICS Award

Sessay Community Hub

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Sessay Community Hub
Location : Sessay, North Yorkshire
Sectors: Leisure, Community, Competition

Ran as an international design competition by the RIBA, Sessay Parish Council requested designs for a new village hall providing a new focus for the village and the thriving sporting groups.

Our design consolidated the programme of facilities into three main volumes with strong vernacular resonances and connected with a lightweight canopy providing shelter from the nearby carpark to the circulation hub.

The building is home to a library, community hall, venue space, changing to accommodate two cricket matches simultaneously and the bowling club facilities among other requirements. We felt it was important that each part of the programme functioned without compromise with volume and orientation to reflect this whilst also taking into account the impressive views of the nearby Kilburn White Horse.

Our resultant design was long listed in the RIBA competition.

Hindley Hall

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Hindley Hall
Location : Tynedale
Sectors: Residential, Sustainability
Will Mawson Project Architect at Napper Architects

The brief was to create an ultra modern home within a period countryside rural residence. The residence has been designed and specified to a high level of quality which also includes a full size snooker table, saunas and private meditation room.

Within the large old property we introduced energy efficient elements such as a ground source heat pump utilizing the large front lawn for the associated heat source.

Malmo Quay Masterplan

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Malmo Quay Masterplan
Location : Ouseburn, Newcastle
Sectors: Masterplan, Residential, Leisure

We were invited by urban developers Igloo to submit a design proposal for the Malmo Quay where the Ouseburn meets Newcastle Quayside as part of a design competition.

Working with the Urbed masterplan strategy our proposal described the external community space as the generator of the resulting plots which housed the cycle hub, restaurant and live/work units. The view from the Freetrade Pub was a key design driver in the massing with urban space created on the roof of the restaurant to keep the view from becoming cluttered.

The cycle hub building has a dynamic but light structural form to reflect the function it houses and also giving a landmark to this amazing site on the Tyne River.

 

The Great Fen Visitor Centre

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Location: Great Fen

Sectors: Cultural, Sustainability, Competition

In collaboration with landscape architects OOBE we created this vision of the Great Fen Visitor Centre which was long listed as part of an RIBA competition.

Working with the existing ecological heritage, the historical grain of field drains and hedgerows was reinforced to form a network of pathways and interventions forming the masterplan in which the centre is sited. Drawing inspiration from the vernacular of historical pump houses and chimneys, the living tower gives the visitor an observation deck, a focal point and an understanding of the macro and micro biodiversity.

Visitors are encouraged to follow their senses as they experience the Fen habitats through a network of waterways, paths and boardwalks branching out from the Visitors Centre into the extraordinary landscape.

Stewart Park Visitors Centre

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Visitors Centre at Stewart Park
Location : Stewart Park, Middlesbrough
Sectors: Heritage, Sustainability, Retail, Education
Dan Kerr Project Architect at Napper Architects

Part of a £6million (HLF funded) restoration works to the park and the historic buildings within the grounds of the Stewart Park, Captain Cooks birthplace, this timber framed visitors centre provides tourist information, retail, and an education centre.

The Centre is a contemporary intervention providing tactile architecture which is sympathetic and respectful to its context of surrounding Grade II listed buildings

Utilising renewable technologies and construction techniques such as photovoltaics, heat pumps, rainwater harvesting & super insulation the centre continues the tradition of Sir Henry Bolckow in embracing cutting edge technologies of its time. The centre itself is part of the visitors experience and is used as a teaching tool with visual displays of energy and resource production, collection, and usage within the building.

Salford Meadows Bridge

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Salford Meadows RIBA Bridge Competition
Location: Salford
Sectors: Infrastructure, Competition

Required to span from the busy A6 to historic Peel Park in Salford our entry to the RIBA Salford Meadows Bridge Competition draws on the rich history of the Cotton Mills in the surrounding area.

Designed in collaboration with structural engineers Shed, the Bridge has two pylons formed in corten steel creating a focal element with the deck hanging via a dynamic cable weave reminiscent of the large industrial looms.

Permaculture Centre

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Permaculture Café and Retail
Location : Hexham, Northumberland
Sectors: Heritage, Retail

This design is part of a wider holistic project to provide a Permaculture Centre within the Hexham area where produce is grown by the community through a community vocational training programme and sold to the community on site and in local outlets such as the café in central Hexham. The design utilises an underused area of the Priory Courtyard as part of the refurbishments to the Grade I listed buildings

Ullswater

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Ullswater Yacht Club
Location: Ullswater, Cumbria
Sectors: Leisure, Sustainability

In the tranquil surroundings of the Lake District the design of a new yacht club required a considered response. Our design is a series on simple connected forms based on the boathouse found elsewhere around the lakes.

The materials and techniques used the local surroundings which give sustainable benefits and contextual connection.

Lluanda

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Luanda Affordable Housing
Location: Luanda, Angola
Sectors: Residential, Sustainable

This project looked at the abject poverty in the outskirt of the Angolan capital where many thousands of families arrive to seeking a living. The project looked at construction techniques and the way in which the home works in this part of the world.

Constructed from adobe bricks with lightweight roof, the curved form is derived from the vernacular round houses found throughout western Africa. A prefabricated kitchen and bathroom pod provides ease of construction and the voids between the neighbouring buildings create personal garden and entrance spaces.

Mowbray Apartments

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Mowbray Park Apartments
Location: Sunderland
Sectors: Residential, Commercial, Heritage
Will Mawson Project Architect at Napper Architects

As part of the larger regeneration of Mowbray Park, in the centre of Sunderland, Mowbray apartments was the final piece of the jig saw to redevelop. Originally the Palantine Hotel the existing building stands on a prominent corner of the park. This development incorporates a mix of ultra contemporary residential units wrapping round the retained element of the hotel. The original building has been sympathetically remodelled with a restaurant to the ground floor and basement.

The multi award winning project has 39 apartments of varying size and includes a large semi public atrium connecting all the apartments with a landscaped garden at the base and bridge links to the feature lift.

Teesside University Building

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Darlington Campus Building
Location : Darlington, County Durham
Sectors: Education
Will Mawson Designer at Napper Architects

The brief from Teesside University was to provide them an iconic teaching facility to be the catalyst of their new campus. The 4000sqm building has a strong public presence being located adjacent to the east coast mainline; the University were acutely aware the importance of this vista and wanted an advert for their institution.

With the historical context of the railways previously on the site, visually strong straight lines have been employed to create a striking building. The service spine down the centre organises and separates the building into its two different facades. Splashes of bold colour have been incorporated against the backdrop of understated solid materials which gives the monumental rigidity a playful edge. The concept design has been well received by the people of Darlington and is now a new landmark on the horizon.