Sector: Retain

Existing building are a fantastic record of human endeavour displaying the patina of time and something valuable financially, historically and aesthetically; this is where understanding how to work with a building to bring out its essence and preserve where possible the best qualities is an important skill. There are many levels of historical building from none designated heritage asset up to scheduled ancient monument – we have worked across this spectrum from Roman Wall to Grade I listed interiors and all in between.

Grimes Graves Neolithic Mine

Grimes Graves is the UK’s largest known Neolithic flint mine. Set in Norfolk’s Breckland Heath, it’s a rare site where visitors can descend into a 4,500-year-old mine. The new building over Pit 1 improves access, interpretation, and long-term preservation of this internationally significant site.

The structure had to meet strict constraints. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The building could not touch the existing concrete slab or impact the protected landscape.

Our solution is a circular timber pavilion that ‘floats’ above the pit. A gently sloped ramp wraps around it, offering inclusive access and a sense of descent through time. Dates from the site’s history are inscribed on the structure, enhancing the interpretive experience. At its centre, a glazed oculus draws natural light into the pit below.

The interior offers interpretation, digital projections, and a place to prepare for the physical descent. For those unable to access the mine, a virtual tour provides a meaningful alternative.

The design uses natural, low-carbon materials including timber and zinc. The structure is demountable and designed for longevity. It requires no heating and minimal lighting. Bats still access the pit freely, while the building protects it from weather and erosion.

Community engagement shaped the project throughout. 23 organisations and community groups were involved through consultations, events, and volunteer programmes. The site now hosts storytelling clubs, learning activities, and inclusive visitor experiences.

Grimes Graves has become a cultural, social, and ecological asset. It welcomes more visitors, supports the local economy, and preserves one of Britain’s most remarkable prehistoric sites.

Link to Grimes Graves

Awards

Structural Timber Awards - Retail and Leisure Project of the Year
Civic Trust - Civic Trust Commendation
IStructE NW - Most Sustainable Project
Building Awards - Small Project of the Year Highly Commended

Whitburn Coastal Conservation Centre

Whitburn Coastal Conservation Centre, a collaboration between National Trust and Seascapes, is sited adjacent to Souter Lighthouse, Whitburn, South Tyneside.

The centre acts as a gateway to The Leas coastline. It also enables community organisations and groups to use the space as a hub for the conservation work and nature programming activities. This in turn helping to raise awareness of North East coastal conservation issues

WCCC is located on an extremely complex site. Complexities include it is a Greenbelt; in the curtilage of a Grade 2* listed lighthouse; on top of an infilled quarry; ground gases; an ordnance hazardous area (on a historic firing range); located directly over a huge historic drainage pipe as part of the quarry works. Due to the nature of bird conservation work had to be adjacent to the bird netting area on the hill.

The design complements the 'heavy' lighthouse, grounded to the rock, with a lightweight 'floating' structure merging from the landscape. It features framed views of the lighthouse and large open views of the coast. The building almost wears the Trust's mission for the centre as a jacket: Exposed timber panel structure internally with 100% recycled plastic tiles from construction waste externally, illustrating how materials can be reused and not end up polluting our coasts and seas.

Planning was complex but achieved due to the exceptional circumstances of the project, the design, and its community use. The building is built with a monocoque CLT structure. The panels are the structure of the wall and roof, and become the internal finish. This is both low in embodied carbon and quick to construct in this harsh environment. Externally the CLT is wrapped in insulation and cladded in 100% recycled tiles made from plastic waste from the building industry. There is a sedum enhancing biodiversity with PVs which help run the air source heat pumps and MVHR.

The client was ambitious in their brief and the building had to met this ambition and be a hub for the community. The centre is regionally significant for the work National Trust and their partners do there. It is also internationally significant in the work the bird ringers do by contributing data on the local and migratory bird population. This goes to an international data base of birds so conservationists around the world can access this information.

National Trust have used this project as a pilot project for their sustainability matrix. This was in order to test the matrix and this project against their criteria. These findings used to hone their matrix for use on future National Trust projects. WCCC has been a success for both the client, the community and the design team and achieved EPC A-rating.

Link to Pretty Plastic

Friar House Apartment Hotel

Friar House is an excellent example of pre-Grainger Newcastle and has seen various transformations since construction in the 1700’s from the Town Recorders main residence to an industrial factory.

The large Georgian town house was in a poor state of disrepair when we took on the project to restore the grade II listed building and convert into a boutique hotel. Roomzzz Newcastle is an award winning which can now be enjoyed now by all. There are 14 suites over the five floors including a penthouse suite with mezzanine floor in the roof space. Proportions of key spaces have been retained employing “Manhattan Lofts” style subdivision to create different moods within original proportioned spaces.

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

Awards

Newcastle Lord Mayors Awards – Conservation Award
RIBA North East - Emerging Practice of the Year
RIBA North East - Conservation Project of the Year
RIBA North East - Building Award
RICS North East - Tourism & Leisure Commendation

Mount Grace Priory Cafe

MawsonKerr were commissioned to design and deliver a cafe within the grounds of Mount Grace Priory in order to increase visitors numbers, the sites offer and to enhance an underused area of the site. Mount Grace Priory is the most complete surviving Carthusian Monastery in Britain dating back to the 14^th Century including a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Grade I & II* Listed buildings.

The café was part of an overall masterplan for the redevelopment of the gardens designed by Chris Beardshaw (Gardens World). Mount Grace Priory cafe reaches out into the landscape and becomes part of the interpretation of the site whilst increasing dwell time and visitor experience. We worked closely with Chris and the team in the integration of the café within the landscape.

From the outset the project has been envisioned as a contemporary building which is respectful to the context. The design refers to traditional wood working techniques, vernacular forms and traditional materials evidenced in the Monument. The oak screen ‘reaches’ out into the landscape and the double pitched form mounted on the oak screen refers to the crossing of thresholds – the boundary walls of the monk’s cloister with the repeating pitches of the monk’s cell’s beyond.

In such a sensitive historic and environmental context, the specification of the materials has to be carefully and creatively considered. The Oak screen was manufactured from unused 30-year-old oak boards. The boards were being stored at an English Heritage Store at Helmsley, North Yorkshire minimising the use of new hardwoods. Slate material for the roof and external walls was sourced from a reclaimed stock of local slate, this was selected as the material requires very low levels of maintenance and can be easily repaired or replaced when required.

Awards

North York Moors National Park – Best Non Residential Building
RIBA Yorkshire - Shortlisted
RICS Yorkshire – Tourism & Leisure Shortlisted

Greystone Grange House

Situated in the countryside of Stockton–on–Tees, the client required a full refurbishment of their existing home - Greystone Grange. The brief described a respectful low energy family dwelling for the future incorporating a contemporary extension to the rear on both ground and first floors. Our architectural approach is sensitive, building on the existing palette of materials but using a brick with a modern twist. The elongated profile brick provides a contemporary feel and amplifies the linear form.

Connection with the garden was also important. Large openings created throughout the design encouraging connectivity between inside and out. Internally, on the ground floor, large open plan living spaces were created to bring family and friends together. Whilst on the first floor, bedrooms are spread out to give each family member their own space. To the north east, a connected annex hosts quarters for the clients parents, future proofing the home for intergenerational living.

Creating a more sustainable home was also close to the clients and our hearts. Retaining the existing house this is retrofitted with thick cavity insulation and high performance windows. Meanwhile, the new rear extension uses highly insulated pre-assembled timber frame cassettes, coupled with a quality air tight layer and mechanical ventilation heat recovery system throughout to reduce heating demand, improve air quality and comfort. The rear canopy was designed with thermal comfort in mind. Providing solar shading when the sun is at its highest and hottest whilst letting sunlight deep into the plan in early and late parts of the day to passively heat the home. Greystone Grange illustrates how a deep home refurbishment can give a completely fresh lease of life to an existing house.

Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy – HICSA

Situated next to the Stadium of Light and utilising a disused engine shed the Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA) is a ground-breaking facility that will educate, train and upskill local people to create innovative factory-built new homes. The building is a partnership between Sunderland City Council, Education Partnership North East (EPNE) and the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education (MOBIE). It includes a purposed built new build facility connected to the Existing engine shed. Designed and delivered by MawsonKerr HICSA is an education facility that is both innovate and sustainable.

‘Sunderland people are known internationally for their ability to make things – from ships in bygone years to cars today. We now have an opportunity to be a global leader when it comes to modern methods of construction (MMC), if we put in place the right infrastructure to deliver more highly-skilled people. The Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy will create opportunities for the people of Sunderland, and for the city itself. To carve out a new industry and to build homes that will allow it to grow its reputation as a place to live, work and play.’

Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council

HICSA will create a place in which young people develop exciting new skills, which will not only create opportunities for them, but will advance the agenda of the city when it comes to building homes using modern methods of construction that are faster to construct and deliver exemplary quality and energy efficiency standards that, ultimately, provide more flexible, modern homes that respond to the changing ways in which people are living.

Ellen Thinnesen, chief executive of EPNE, which comprises Sunderland College

This is a truly innovative project and we’re really proud to be playing a part in it – particularly because of the boost it will deliver to my home city. There is a huge opportunity for Sunderland to play a leading role in defining how homes of the future look and, through HICSA, to develop an ecosystem that will allow people from the city to build them too.

George Clarke Architect, Presenter, Founder MOBIE

Sacred Heart High School Auditorium

The existing auditorium space at Sacred Heart High School had become dated with a combination of poor sight lines and limited capacity leading them to our services in reimagining this space.

Following an initial appraisal we established the re-raking of the seating would serve a double benefit in also creating a new space underneath the auditorium where a new outward looking staff and assembly facility could be located for Sacred Heart High School. The auditorium is also intended for touring theatre companies including the RSC, the facilities have been developed to give this flexibility as well as providing a new dance / theatre teaching space during everyday use to maximise the impact of the works.

We developed a simple stripped back palette of natural materials and earthy colours with the school to give a calming feel and inspiring for the young performers. The staff area opens out to give expansive views of the wooded estate the school sits in.

The build was completed in the live school environment on the first floor space including substantial alterations to the existing concrete structure over six months.

Awards

Newcastle Lord Mayors Award - Small Project Award

Framwell House

Framwell House is the first new build office in Durham City Centre for 10 years. It provides 1250sqm of high quality office space in the heart of the city. The building has been carefully sited on the sloping site allowing it to be more sympathetic to the conservation area. This includes the neighbouring Green Belt area and terraced housing. Taking cues from the industrial and rail heritage of the surrounding site, the building is clad in brick and corrugated panels. Using materials which are normally reserved for agricultural and industrial applications, the cutting-edge design and excellent craftsmanship makes for an excellence finished article. The design looked to reuse whatever materials we could from the existing building including the retaining walls, bricks and drainage.

"Hanro and its partner on this project Impec could not be more delighted with the outcome. The quality of the finished building, the commercial letting, and return were far more than client expectations."
Duncan Barrie, The Hanro Group

Internally the craftsmanship and high-quality detailing/finish continues throughout with exposed steel structure and services. The open plan offices are large light filled spaces with floor to ceiling windows providing expansive views of the city and Cathedral. As well as views the windows provide natural cross ventilation for the wellbeing of the user through ventilation panels. The office building is bedded into the surrounding landscape with an eco-friendly approach to car parking using permeable surfaces and water collection.

The building is occupied by Durham's Probation Service who had strict design requirements which were interpreted to ensure these worked with the ethos of the building in terms of retaining the wellbeing aspects and servicing strategies.

Awards

LABC Northern - Best Non Residential New Build

Beamish Football Centre

Beamish Football Centre is an redevelopment of the clubhouse in Stanley. Situated in county Durham the existing clubhouse was no longer fit for purpose and required a new centre to provide the club a more suitable home for their future ambitions.

Anna and Carl Marshall, who run Stanley Events, are addressing an immediate need in an area. They are transforming a community asset into a state-of-the-art centre of excellence for education and sport. The Centre is already used for football and fitness training, skills development and socialising. Their dream is to create a community hub for education and skills development. A centre for coaching excellence where footballers of all ability develop their love of the game and provide an asset that will revitalise sport in County Durham and attract others from across the region to learn, play and enjoy themselves.

“We dared to dream big and we know there are businesses and individuals who will be inspired by our vision for Beamish Football Centre. We are creating an incredible sporting and education venue. Not only to help people today, but to continue inspiring generations for years to come.”

- Carl Marshall, Client

Our design utilises much of the existing building to reduce the carbon footprint. For example the ground floor being largely retained and a new, small brick extension introduced the north and west seamlessly tied in. Furthermore, the first floor is replaced which was formerly a pitched roof space with limited footprint. A lightweight illuminated polycarbonate intervention is now introduced to this floor. Featuring a new kitchen, servery and function room with dual aspect terrace onto the surrounding pitches.

Sustainability was at the forefront of the proposals ethos, with the existing building not only reused but retrofitted to increase performance. Alongside a fabric first approach to new build elements, coupled with a natural ventilation strategy to reduce heating and cooling demands throughout.

Furthermore the new façade has an intelligent LED lighting system. This can be colour changed to light each elevation in a different colour as required.

Bigg Market, Newcastle

Putting the heart back into the Bigg Market, the clients brief for the regeneration of Newcastle's historic centre - a joint venture by Newcastle City Council and NE1 returning the fortunes of a run down but yet much loved central market square synonymous with all who know Newcastle.

Infamous as part of Newcastle's legendary nightlife, this core of the city had become neglected. Many of the historic building facades needing urgent work ahead of the original detail being lost forever. The key historic centre of Newcastle went under a major facelift as part of a Townscape Heritage Initiative funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with MawsonKerr as lead consultant and architects.

The project has involved 12 of the surrounding buildings on Bigg Market, Cloth Market and Groat Market along with the public realm and iconic Victorian Gentlemen's WC. Over a 5 year period the buildings were individually repaired using historic conservation techniques and involving various crafts people. The project placed conservation as the agent of change to facilitate the regeneration of the Bigg Market Newcastle. The market place itself had a more extensive redesign in collaboration with landscape architects Southern Green. The design created has various plateaus on the sloped market square to allow a cafe culture to thrive and bring a day time offering to compliment the night time one. A unique space at the bottom of the Bigg Market is the former Gentlemen's WC. This space was transformed with new roof, sympathetic to the original, and now a popular cocktail bar - what else would it be...

As part of the £3.2 million budget NE1 are organising various events and workshops to celebrate the enhancement of the area.

Awards

Constructing Excellence - National Award for Conservation & Regeneration
Newcastle Lord Mayors Award – Transformational Frontage
RICS North East – Heritage Shortlisted

“The Bigg Market Project is fast becoming an exemplar model of heritage led regeneration and conservation. The success of this project is testament to the collaborative approach taken by the project partners and the unwavering commitment to quality”.

Alex Slack

Client and Head of Special Projects - NE1

“The success of the Bigg Market regeneration is evident for all to see, everything that has been achieved to date reflects the commitment, dedication and professionalism of the team leading the project. Newcastle’s historic heart is critical to the success of the wider city transformation plans and sets the very high bar for us to continue to deliver to”

Tom Warburton

Interim Chief Executive, Newcastle City Council

At completion in 2022, the Bigg Market is a vibrant, inclusive space, celebrated by artists, residents and the business community. It is now a viable space for investment, enjoyment and activity. Newcastle has it's historic heart back and beating louder than ever. At the time of writing, the additional investment (over and above the project costs) in the area has surpassed £17 million pounds, creating over 350 jobs along the way.

The Public Realm has been redeveloped and has demonstrated it's viability as a flexible public space. The strategy of giving it a new purpose and character while being sympathetic to the heritage is there for all to see. It has hosted Public Events and heralded the return of the much-loved markets, it has further enabled resident businesses outside space to trade and change the image of the Bigg Market from purely evening offering to a European public square.

During the development phase, 15 buildings were identified as at risk and in need of attention, 12 of these have now been restored directly through the project with a further 8 properties in the locale carrying out improvement works. At the time of writing, the additional investment (over and above the project costs) in the area has surpassed £17 million pounds, creating over 350 jobs along the way.

The project has demonstrated a best-in-class approach with it's professional team, drawing on the skills of surveyors, architects, archaeologists, conservationists and other specialists. This has been echoed by the client testimonials received.

The project has been cited as an exemplar in several academic papers and was recently published on the Government's High Street Task Force website HERE.

Rectory Road

Located in Gosforth Conservation Area in Newcastle our Rectory Road contemporary extension to an early twentieth century semi detached house enables the young family modern, flexible living spaces. The composition reflects the roofline and pitch of the existing and allows for a lower eaves adjacent to the neighbour, interlocking the existing house without dominating it. Large openings to the ground and first floor bring the garden into the house, and a raised terrace allows a continuous connection between interior and exterior living areas.

The contrasting finish to the extension gives clear delineation between old and new and is bold contemporary extension clad in dark stained timber throughout aided by the crisp detailing to the window openings and outline of the extension.

Birdoswald Roman Fort

Birdoswald Roman Fort is part of Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade II listed (Courtyard Buildings). The Cumbrian site is run by English Heritage with the existing visitor centre providing interpretation displays for the Roman Fort as well as a new café, retail, education space and accommodation. On an elevated site the building benefits from expansive views across Northumberland and Cumbria.

This project looked at an overall masterplan and refurbishment/new build options for the centre including visitor flow and experience.

A key aspect to the project was the spatial assessment of the current and proposed and the ‘jigsaw puzzle’ that needed to be solved to appropriately accommodate all functions to maximise the visitor experience and allow for an efficient running of the site. The design involved both refurbishment and a new build contemporary glazed link.

We have worked closely with the project team to develop and scheme which we be an exemplar family experience and their flagship family site on the Wall.

Awards

RICS North West Leisure and Tourism Award