Abbey Place - HUB Group

Abbey Wood is a landmark new development of apartments, commercial space and public realm in the London Borough of Greenwich.

Albany Riverside

Redevelopment of an exceptional riverside site for high-quality, sustainable housing.

Appleby Blue Almshouse

A modern Almshouse for a more connected community.

 

Older persons’ social housing initiative comprising of 57 extra-care homes with shared facilities like a cookery school kitchen, communal dining spaces, meeting rooms, craft areas, and communal gardens with raised beds for allotment style food production.

 

Founded and overseen by the United St Saviour's charity, Appleby Blue in Southwark stands out as a modern Almshouse, a testament to community-focused architecture.

In the pursuit of an environmentally sensitive and responsive building, Appleby Blue set a target of a 35% improvement in carbon emissions compared to the 2013 Building Regulations. 

Passive measures include optimisation of the building’s fabric to ensure excellent thermal performance; project layout and orientation for acoustics and daylighting; and thermal mass for cooling.

In response to the site being immediately adjacent to the busy A2206, the building is arranged around a central communal courtyard garden. A main 5-storey block located to the North creates a visual and acoustic shield to the garden, while a lower 2-storey building located to the south ensures the garden and the main block received adequate sunlight all year around. Daylight intake from south-facing façades was enhanced whilst implementing solar shading to protect against overheating. 

The building is designed to be naturally ventilated with the glazed facade throughout the corridors acting as tempered winter gardens that open to become external in the summer, and where people can sit and chat in comfort.  The building’s concrete frame provides passive cooling in warmer weather and at night to regulate temperatures. In public areas, automatically controlled ventilation is employed.

Complementary to these strategies, efficient building and renewable technologies were incorporated. This involved user-friendly local controls to prevent energy waste, and a smart lighting system linked to occupancy and daylight levels in relevant communal areas. 

Initially specified with a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system, the project demonstrated adaptability over its 10-year duration by transitioning to more efficient technologies, such as photovoltaic panels. 

Appleby Blue signifies a decade-long dedication to sustainable living and community engagement, with a nurturing environment where residents can age gracefully and remain integral to their community.

Battersea Arts Centre

We have been working over a number years on a rolling programme to upgrade the services, enhance the technical infrastructure and improve the thermal performance of the Grade II*-listed 6000m² Battersea Arts Centre, formerly Battersea Town Hall. 

Bishop's Palace House - Kingston Riverside

Bishop’s Palace House was formerly a drab 1970s brown brick car park and shopping centre in Kingston upon Thames’ Old Town Conservation Area on the bank of the river, next to the town’s Grade II-listed bridge.

Bridge Theatre

The Bridge Theatre is London's first new commercial theatre of scale for four decades. The 900-seat auditorium is the flagship home of the London Theatre Company, with Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr, who led 12 years of artistic and commercial success at the National Theatre, at its helm.

Bush Theatre

This long-running project with the Bush Theatre has achieved gradual improvements to the building over 6 years, and Phase 2 continues the integration of new with existing services.

Chichester Festival Theatre

The iconic, Grade II* Listed Chichester Festival Theatre was designed by Powell and Moya and opened in 1962. Based on Tyronne Guthrie’s Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, it boasted the first modern ‘thrust’ stage auditorium in the country. Over the past fifty years it has been a hugely successful and influential centre for the performing arts and has been extended on a number of occasions to address changing demands, leading to a dilution of the original design.

Command of the Oceans at the Historic Dockyard Chatham

New Build and Refurbishment in a Heritage Context

 

4.5-hectare heritage public realm and new Discovery Centre for the Grade I-listed Chatham Dockyard. The project achieved major environmental improvements by eliminating heating in large areas and upgrading thermal insulation and building services systems. 2017 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist.

 

This multi-award-winning project at The Historic Dockyard Chatham preserved key Scheduled Ancient Monuments and the 18th-century HMS Namur timbers. It introduced world-class galleries, interpretation spaces, visitor facilities, a 4.5-hectare heritage public realm, and a Discovery Centre to highlight the dockyard's significance during the age of sail.

This multi-award-winning project at The Historic Dockyard Chatham preserved key Scheduled Ancient Monuments and the 18th-century HMS Namur timbers. It introduced world-class galleries, interpretation spaces, visitor facilities, a 4.5-hectare heritage public realm, and a Discovery Centre to highlight the dockyard's significance during the age of sail.Skelly & Couch provided full mechanical, electrical, public health, and environmental design for the project. Significant energy savings—both carbon and financial—were achieved, crucial to the long-term sustainability of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust’s strategy. These were realised through enhanced thermal insulation and upgraded building services.

From the outset, the design prioritised environmental conditions to preserve the ship's timbers. The specialist advised maintaining them in their existing condition (as floor joists beneath the floor) without heating or ventilation. To address the thermal and latent loads from visitors, Skelly & Couch developed a natural ventilation strategy.

Undercutting the old timber north and south doors by 50mm allowed cross-ventilation and ensured adequate fresh air. Provisions were made for a future fan installation in the store beneath the link bridge adjacent to the undercroft, to accommodate potential temperature and moisture fluctuations. While the bays above and adjacent to the Namur undercroft are heated, many bays in the mast house and mould loft remain unheated.

Another challenge was concealing containment routes while ensuring future service access would not damage the timbers. For instance, positioning smoke detectors required planning to place supports without disrupting the exhibit.To minimise waste, a proportion of existing cast iron radiators and coolie light fittings were refurbished and reused wherever possible.

The project successfully combined heritage preservation with sustainability, achieving both carbon and financial benefits while safeguarding its historical significance.

 

Awards

2016 – Civic Trust Conservation Award Regional Finalist.

2016 – Offsite Construction Awards Finalist.

2017 – RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlisted.

2017 – RIBA National Award Winner.

2017 – RIBA South East Regional Award Winner.

2017 – RIBA South East Conservation Award Winner.

2017 – RIBA South East Building  of the Year Winner.

2017 – Kent Design & Development Award Winner.

2017 – AABC Conservation Civic Trust Awards Finalist.

2018 – Civic Trust Award Winner.

2018 – RICS South East Best Tourism and Leisure Award Winner.

2018 – RICS Best Project Winner.

 

See BBC feature and video 

Watch a 360 degree interactive video of Command of the Oceans.

 
 

Covent Garden Opera Terrace Restaurant

The project involved the sensitive upgrade of an existing restaurant facility on Covent Garden’s famed Opera Terrace within the historic Grade II*-listed Market Building.

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