Stoke house retrofit shortlisted for award

23 St Luke Street has been shortlisted for Domestic Retrofit Project of the Year in the Retro Expo Awards. Nearly 100 entries were received and the judges were extremely impressed with the high quality across the board. The Awards will be presented at an evening reception on Wednesday 31 October at Retro Expo. More info on our website.

Two years later: Review of Lewisham self-build scheme

Project review visit at Beechmont Close, two years after completion - the project designed with and for 12 young people from the housing list, who trained in building skills at college and worked on site with the contractor for the whole construction period. The place is in beautiful condition, confirming all our hopes about the young people's feelings of ownership for the place, and the guys who do the regular maintenance have been giving it 'gold' - see picture. Of the young people, one has gone on to qualify and work as a bricklayer, and nearly all are in work although one sadly lost his flat as a result of being involved in the riots last year, which I was very sorry to hear. 

The contractor - Enterprise - site foreman is still in touch with the young people on a regular basis, and the experience has been a boost to his career development too. Overall a real inspiration!

Fran

West Hendon in Architecture Today

Read the on line article here.

ATA completes first houses at West Hendon

Family houses designed by Anne Thorne Architects LLP for client Barratt Metropolitan LLP are the first to be completed on the large West Hendon regeneration scheme, which is a partnership project between Metropolitan Housing Partnership, Barratt Homes and the London Borough of Barnet.

The eight houses on the pilot scheme - a terrace on Sorrel Mead and a semi- detached pair on Cool Oak Lane, are off the West Hendon Broadway and a 10-minute walk from theWelsh Harp reservoir, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Popular memory recalls sailing and boating on the reservoir and the triangular geometry of gables and bay windows on the houses are a visual play on that history. The houses are a mixture of two and three storey for 5-7 persons.

ATA in the triodos magazine

An article about ATA in the beautifully produced The Colour of Money, Triodos Bank's quarterly publication.
As Zana pointed out this issue is all about food so it's quite nice to have some fine sustainable architecture thrown in!
Triodos is a global pioneer of sustainable banking whose mission is to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change. It's worth checking them and their clients out.
You can read the article here.

photographing the pilot houses at West Hendon

The Pilot scheme for the West Hendon Regeneration designed by ATA for clients Barratt Metropolitan LLP is nearing completion and families are moving into the houses next week. A delightful day was spent in the company of architectural photographer Ioana Marinescu talking to her about spaces and capturing the site in the beautiful winter light. We can't wait to see the result.

ATA shortlisted for Hackney co-housing project

ATA is one of the five practices shortlisted to design proposals for the Hackney Co-housing Project. HCP in partnership with Hanover Housing Association are looking at a site to build 15 new homes ranging from one-bedroom flats to four bedroom family houses, a common house and other shared facilities such as vegetable gardens, bike shed and kids play area.

Inside Housing Discusses the Realities of Retrofit Roll-Out

There's been so much interest in our Retrofit for the Future projects which is fantastic as reducing CO2 emissions and increasing comfort and fuel security in our existing housing stock is a prescient issue.

Inside Housing focused this week on some of the pragmatic issues, and the issue of the sheer numbers of dwellings that need to be improved.

Read Full Article Here...

Passivhaus and Retro-fit Scheme Submitted for Planning

ATA have submitted Passivhaus and retro-fit scheme to Dan Leno house in the conservation area for Planning

ATA have submitted their new housing scheme following the consultations with the local residents in the conservation area.
The scheme includes three new-build houses and sustainable, low carbon refurbishment & retrofit to existing adjoined terrace houses that will create 5 new flats.   Dan Leno (1860–1904) an English music hall comedian lived in one of the houses. There is a blue plaque.
The Existing street comprises a number of styles of architecture from mid 19th Century to 21st Century. The variety of houses in different floor heights and window lines, mainly in blocks of four, gives the street an interesting, varied appearance and rhythm. The new buildings respect the qualities of craftsmanship and human scale. ATA have maximised the thermal performance in the new houses to provide good quality on the inside as well.

West Hendon Pilot on Site...

ATA's terrace of six houses and a pair of semi detached houses are in the middle of construction as part of the first new buildings in the regeneration of West Hendon, with Metropolitan Housing Trust & Barratt Homes.

The houses respond to the natural slope down to the Welsh Harp Reservoir, the south facing orientation, potential views towards the water, and opportunities for use of solar energy.  Together these suggested the asymmetrical pitched roofs, stepped gables and bay windows, which give each house its own identity.

Sustainable construction and services are at the heart of our strategy; well insulated walls, roof and floors which perform well over building regulation requirements, sustainably sourced timber and timber products, including high performance timber windows,  whole house ventilation, low water use fittings and duel flush WCs, rainwater collection for garden and external use, condensing low NOX emissions boilers, low energy use light fittings.  High levels of insulation and solar thermal water heating will mean reduced utilities bills to residents.

Edwardian Terrace Retrofit BD Article published

Amanda Birch has written a great article in Building Design magazine on our Retrofit for the Future project for Metropolitan Housing Trust. ATA modeled the existing house using the Passivhaus Planning Package that enabled us to design and retrofit high levels of insulation and air-tightness to dramatically reduce the energy consumption of the building for heating, giving 80% reduction in the buildings carbon emissions.

Read full article here...

Stoke Retrofit Open Day Presentation

Great turn out at the open day held at St Luke St for our Retrofit for the Future project for Sanctuary Housing, which shows the level of interest in the realities and challenges of retrofitting our existing housing stock.

Presentations from contractor's Seddon, and Fran and Jennie from ATA gave all present a great insight and overview into all aspects of the project from design to completion on site.

Click here to view ATA's presentation of how we designed to reduce the CO2 emissions at St Luke St by over 80% using Passivhaus Enerphit approach

Passivhaus Retrofit Open Day at St Luke St

ATA submit Lambeth Passivhaus Scheme for Planning

ATA have submitted their latest passivhaus scheme for planning approval. The scheme, located within a conservation area, includes three new-build four-bed family houses to passivhaus standard, that will be timber-frame construction.

The houses knit together an existing Victorian Terrace in Lambeth, that has been vacant since being bomb damaged during WW2. The scheme also carries out a major sustainable, low carbon refurbishment & retrofit to existing adjoined terrace houses  that will create 5 new flats.

Fran Bradshaw's Blog on Creativity & Housing (& Hemp!)

I went over to Belfast this week to join the PLACE (N Ireland Architecture Centre) Conference series on Creativity and Innovation in the Northern Ireland Construction Industry, and present a couple of ATA projects. 

The theme - Creativity and Housing - was illustrated by some fascinating schemes. I got to stay in one of them, a new Hemp Cottage in County Down by Rachel Bevan Architects, which was built using temporary shuttering, in lifts each about 800mm high. The hemp is mixed with lime and tamped just enough to keep it together and not enough to lose its insulating qualities, achieving a flexible solid wall construction which is uniform with no joints. The result is a very stable internal temperature and indoor air quality, and a delightful place to stay.

Hemp Cottage

Stoke-On-Trent Retrofit on Site!

ATA's 'Retrofit for the Future' project for an existing terrace house for Sanctuary Housing began on site on September 27th.  

We are using Passivhaus principles and components, concentrating on a 'Fabric First' approach to dramatically reduce the energy demand and CO2 emissions for this hard-to-heat terrace house in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent.

Solar thermal water heating is provided, along with passivhaus certified heat recovery ventilation. These works will result in an 80% reduction in the existing house's energy demand and carbon emissions.

The project is to be monitored for 2 years by the energy saving trust on completion, and we hope to evidence that the tenants will enjoy a comfortable and warm , draught-free internal environment with vastly reduced energy bills.

Follow the project blog here

Fran to speak at 'Creativity & Housing' conference

Fran Bradshaw of ATA is to speak at the 'Creativity & Housing in Northern Ireland' conference in Belfast on Wednesday 10th November, organised by PLACE - The Architecture and Built Environment Centre for Northern Ireland.

The conference will explore best practice housing examples from the UK and elsewhere, showcasing creativity and innovation, and Fran will be talking about ATA's innovative natural materials approach to low energy and passivhaus retrofits, and our award-winning Bateman Mews social housing scheme.

PLACE Website

Sustainable Housing Awards 2010 Finalist

Anne Thorne Architect's have been nominated as finalists in the 'Sustainable Social Housing Design Consultancy of the Year' at the Sustainable Housing Awards 2010!

The nomination highlights ATA's ground-breaking work in this sector for projects such as Angela Carter Close, Bateman Mews, Tulse Hill, Boatemah Walk, and Retrofit for the Future projects.

Sustainable Housing Awards 2010

Hawthorn Road Retrofit for the Future on site...!

ATA's Natural Materials Retrofit for the Future project is well underway on site with contractors Sandwood Design & Build.

All the structural works are now complete, and the majority of wood-fibre party-wall insulation has been installed and had it's first coat of lime plaster. The external walls are to internally lined with sheepswool insulation. These are all hygroscopic 'breathable' materials to deal naturally with fabric and internal moisture vapour.

The mechanical heat recovery ventilation and solar thermal kit are next to go in.

The contractor's are taking fantastic care over our air-tight detailing, and the tenants are busy choosing paint colours for when they move in.

Read more on our project blog by UCL here......

Fran to Talk at Launch Institute of Sustainability

Fran Bradshaw of ATA spoke at the launch of Institute of Sustainability's new FLASH programme at the RIBA today. The FLASH programme aims to help London-based SME's working in the construction industry to lead the move towards a low carbon economy through sustainable development and retrofit projects, such as Retrofit for the Future, that ATA are involved with.

The aim of FLASH is to create networks that can disseminate and share information to help SME's take advantage of the commercial opportunities in gearing up for future low carbon retrofit programmes.

http://www.instituteforsustainability.co.uk/flash.html