More award success

Last Friday I was in Edinburgh to receive another award for the shop front works in Cockemrouth. Of the 52 short listed national and international projects (whittled down from 306) Red Raven Design was one of the winners of the prestigious Civic Trust Award for 'Community Recognition'.

Civic Trust Awards Managing Director, Malcolm Hankey said: “The Civic Trust Awards celebrate not only design excellence, but also the relationship between structures, places, the environment and communities. Winning projects have demonstrated architectural excellence whilst offering cultural, social or economic benefit to the local community. We are delighted to bring the 2012 Civic Trust Awards Ceremony to Edinburgh and would like to take this opportunity to thank the City of Edinburgh Council for their support. The event attracted hundreds of leading architects and built environment professionals to the historic city for a wonderful evening of celebration.”


Bryson's one of the winning shop fronts designed by me!

Winner: Restoration of a Georgian Building in an Urban Setting

I'm very pleased to be able to post that this Monday at Christies in London I received on behalf of the Cockermouth Civic Trust from The Georgian Group an award for winner of "Restoration of a Georgian Building in an Urban Setting".

The award was in recognition of all the improvements to Cockermouth shop fronts since the floods. 15 shops so far have gone through major improvements as part of the grant aided scheme with the majority of them designed by me!

A small selection of some of the shops designed by Red Raven.....

Arts Centre Feasibility Study

Earlier this year I was asked to carry out a feasibility study for an arts centre, it's still in the early stages and I can't reveal who the client is or where the site is located but I can show a visualisation of the proposal.

The proposal extends an existing building with a single storey addition which will house a large function room, entrance foyer/display space and small cafe. The scheme attempts to link the existing domestic type building with the landscape and create a more welcoming functional space.

Nearly the last shop

Despite my quiet blog things continue to be ongoing with improvements to Cockermouth Main Street. The latest completed shop to add to the long list of shops Red Raven has designed since the floods is Bryson's, the bakers.

Prior to the floods of 2009 Bryon's where based on the other side of Main Street nearer to Market Place. Moving to the old Blockbuster shop gave them the chance to make more of the passing bus stop trade.

The job was more than just a shop front enhancement as the whole building has been gutted and its layout changed to improve both the shop and the flat above. The previously centrally located staircase has been moved to the side so that the shop and flat above are no longer cut in half and have their own idependent entrance. The result is, even if I do say so myself, much better.


The new Bryson's Shop on Main Street, Cockermouth


As it was prior to the works.

Strolling4Shoes - shop number 2

The New Shop at 35 Main Street


How it used to look


The success of Strolling4Shoes re-modelled shop at 29 Main Street has been so successful that they have now moved to new larger and more prominent premises on the corner of Main Street and Station Street.

I'm pleased to say it's yet another re-vamped shop I can add to my list (...and there are still more to come!).

2 more new shop fronts

The improvements to Cockermouth town centre continue with the restoration of 2 shop fronts to Market Place - that's 5 completed by me so far and another 3 still to come.


Before


...and after

29 new homes – 10 social rented and 19 family homes for sale

Last week after almost a year of negotiation with the planners a scheme for 29 houses, including relocated and extended tennis courts was submitted to the authorities.

The scheme is, to say the least, a little controversial but then these things tend to be as everyone wants new housing but not in their backyard.

The existing site sits on the edge of Cockermouth adjacent to the Cockermouth Rugby Club. Part of the site is occupied by 3 sub-standard tennis courts and a pot-holed unfinished car park. These facilities are to be moved to the south eastern edge of the site and undergo some major improvements. An additional mini-tennis court is also proposed that is hoped will encourage a younger generation’s enthusiasm for tennis.

By moving and upgrading the existing courts and car park space for 29 new houses is created, 10 of which are for the social rental market and are likely to be adopted by an appropriate RSL. The remaining 19 houses are for sale on the open market.

There is a mixture of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses with the larger houses spread over 3 stories. These larger houses have been designed with roof top and first floor terraces to provide better more integrated access to external space and take advantage of the views towards Scotland and the Fells.

3 New Shop Fronts

Designing traditional shop fronts is a bit of a departure from normal as I usually advocate more contemporary design. But any good designer will explain it is the medium that directs what is the most appropriate response. And in this case the small Georgian and Victorian fronted buildings that make up Cockermouth town centre are more appropriately dressed up as they where originally intended.

So far I’ve completed three new replacement shop fronts with another 3 on site at the moment. The first two shop fronts to be completed were Strolling4Shoes and Lee’s Takeaway. Lloyds TSB came a few months later and was as a response to the corporate image driven restoration Lloyds TSB had only just completed. After lengthy negotiation they agreed to my design and implemented it faithfully. I’m sure I made no friends in the process but it is fair to say that Lloyds TSB were far more flexible than I imagined and responded positively to the will of the people - they should be recognised for doing so.


Strolling4Shoes - before


Strolling4Shoes - after


Lee's Takeaway - before


Lee's Takeaway - after


Lloyds TSB - before


Lloyds TSB - after

Things have certainly changed since the floods and Cockermouth is well on the way to being a better town than it was before. http://redravendesign.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html

UPDATE: Hall Court, Tallentire - almost complete.

The 4 cottages at Hall Court in Tallentire are now nearing completion and this short post is an update on the last update.

Interesting in buying one? Then contact Cumbrian Properties

A better town following the floods

Wearing my Civic Trust hat I’ve been rather busy promoting the potential opportunities for improvement to the built environment the floods of the 19th November have provided. The effort has been somewhat more time consuming than I’d anticipated but to miss the chance of a lifetime to dramatically improve the architectural heritage of Cockermouth would be inexcusable.

The task to enthuse and bring together all parties from businesses to statutory authorities is not an easy one but it has been achieved and everyone involved is of the same mind I am – Cockermouth can and will be a better place.

The stage we are at now has moved from a desire to the first stages of actually achieving the goals set. Red Raven has been commissioned to replace the existing shop front of 29 Main Street improving the presence for Strolling4Shoes when they return in early spring, and probably the most criticised shop front – that of Mills - is to be replaced with something a lot more in keeping. RR is not involved in the design but through the Civic Trust I am one of the consultees involved through the planning process. Other shops are also in the process of contemplating replacing their not-so-great street presence.

This is all obviously not cheap but the efforts of the committee/team (chaired by me!) have managed to secure some grant aid which can be used to top up insurance claims and allow something better to be built. I hope we can secure more money and help and to that end the regeneration committee made up of councillors, planners, building control officers, local architects, the Chamber of Trade etc have had several successful meetings with those that, if cannot directly contribute, can influence those that can. At the risk of being accused of name dropping (and also giving a laugh to those that know me) Prince Charles is one of those who is involved along with advisors with post-Katrina experience and some other influential individuals.

All in all things look good for the future.

An exhibition of shop fronts new, old, possibles and proposed is to open on 21st December (2-6.00pm) for local businesses and then to the public from 22nd at Christ Church, South Street.

Award winning scheme

Sharp Images UK

Middle Farm, Tallentire, a development of 4 energy efficient houses first blogged in the entry ‘House For Sale' has won an award. Allerdale LABC presented the developer, Jadaal Ltd, with the Built in Quality award in recognition of excellent design and build quality in the Multiple Housing criteria on Thursday 23rd April 2009.

The previous blog entry mentioned that the houses are now for sale and I’m pleased to report they have all now sold which is recognition alone in times like these.

It’s good to be recognised and even better to have good design that uses modern building techniques recognised. To save a little time as I’m such a busy man below is the press release which gives a little more background along with some new photos.

Jadaal Ltd Wins Allerdale LABC Built In Quality Award For Multiple Housing Scheme.
Middle Farm, Tallentire, Cockermouth, Cumbria (27 April 2009) – Allerdale LABC bi-annual Built in Quality award is given to Jadaal Ltd in recognition of the excellent build and design quality of 4 energy efficient timber framed houses. The scheme now goes forward to the Northern regional heats.

The four houses designed by Red Raven Design Ltd (Cockermouth) are built forming a courtyard arrangement adjacent to a Grade II listed property. The traditional Cumbrian aesthetic is contrasted with the airy spacious open plan interiors split over two levels. Despite the traditional appearance the houses are built using a bespoke factory constructed timber frame kit to Red Raven’s design. The SupaWall system by Maple Timber Frame Ltd consists of 190mm of polyurethane insulation easily beating the required insulation levels 3 times over with U-values of only 0.113W/m2K . This level of energy efficiency negates the need for central heating requiring only a heat exchange unit fitted to a whole-house ventilation system to provide all the houses heating needs.

Despite the use of bespoke contemporary design, innovative construction systems and high levels of insulation the scheme was quicker and easier to build than a comparative scheme built traditionally achieving only the minimal statutory energy efficiencies required by law.

The scheme commended by Allerdale LABC as “excellent” in terms of design and build quality sets new standards for all small scale speculative development.

From Computer to Reality

Almost 3 years ago I posted an entry about an unexpected planning approval (Unexpected Planning Approval) - that project is now virtually complete. The timber framed building built using Maple Timber Frame’s Ecopack system was erected and finished by the owner client. All that’s left is a little bit of landscaping and fitting of the correct downpipes and it will look just like my original visualizations!