6 NEWS SOCIAL HOUSING
Green light for Smethwick social housing scheme
Stephen George + Partners (SGP) has started construction of a new 24 dwelling social housing scheme on the site of a demolished pub in Smethwick, West Midlands.
Designing a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments and two and three-bedroom houses, SGP worked closely with developer Build Fifty5 Living, contractor Tricas Construction and Citizen Housing to create what the architects described as “an attractive group of affordable rental tenure homes that responded to local needs and fitted well within the site and its context.” Close to the local shopping centre and adjacent to two major bus routes, as well as being within walking distance of the train station into Birmingham, the “highly sustainable site was ideal for residential units,” said SGP. SGP's design “adopts a broadly traditional approach, with a new, modern, aesthetic, which will give the area an uplift.” The architects added: “Simplicity is key to settling the development into its
SGP Thimblemill Road, Smethwick
surroundings, and stripped back palettes in terms of both colours and materials.” The buildings feature red brick and off white render, with slate grey pitched tiled roofs and subtle grey windows and rainwater goods.
SGP collaborated with Build Fifty5 Living on a design that worked with the site’s “challenging topography,” creating a three-storey block on the lower part with two-storey houses stepped into the rising ground behind. The frontages face outwards, continuing
the existing residential built form, set back, but creating an “active and attractive street experience.”
Key consultants were brought into design discussions early in the process, including contractor Tricas Construction who “added significantly to the team's ability to develop buildable options, particularly in balancing a tight budget with the need for a good quality end product,” said SGP. The new development will be owned and managed by Citizen, a major provider of social housing in the West Midlands.
HLM/Llewelyn Davies forms Employee Ownership Trust PRACTICE NEWS
HLM Architects, which encompasses practice Llewelyn Davies, has announced it has transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), which will house all of the company’s shares. HLM Architects chair Richard O’Neil
commented: “Our practice has a special culture fostering our heritage and focusing on our future. So, it is a natural progression in transferring ownership for the benefit of the people who are committed to our success – our staff.” He added: “The trust enables everyone
to play an even bigger role in shaping the future of our practice and share in our collective success. Our employee
ownership is far more than just a business model. It’s about creating a place where we can continue to channel ideas, be truly innovative and find solutions to ensure that we don’t just do well, but that we also do good – for the benefit of each other, our clients and the communities we work with, as well as our environment.” Steve Featherstone, director of
Llewelyn Davies, said: “Over the last few decades, we have been on a remarkable journey that now comes together as part of our evolution to an employee-owned trust, which will provide a platform for further growth and development. This
people-centric approach is a natural next step that is exciting to see, and will no doubt result in a stronger, more resilient practice built around teamwork.” Last year, HLM Architects were
crowned the ‘Architecture Practice of the Year’ at the Building Awards 2020, and named the AJ100 ‘Employer of the Year.’ Llewelyn Davies has more than six decades of experience and in 2020 was successfully appointed lead architect for the ‘Our Hospital’ project in Jersey. It also recently scooped the ‘International African and Arabia Best Public Service Architecture Award’ for New Terminal West, Aeroport d’Alger in Algiers.
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
ADF APRIL 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
