Pioneering £8.6m regeneration of the Horniman Museum and Gardens in Forest Hill, south-east London, designed to highlight the climate emergency.

A new marine conservation hub based at the Whitburn Coastal Park in Sunderland.

Luxury hotel, spa and golf club with a bold and sustainable vision.

Bespoke refurbishment of the Grade II* Listed Matfen Hall Hotel to become a five-star destination including kitchen relocation, fire and life safety upgrades, plant room modifications, and most notably enclosing the open courtyards into an event space at the heart of the hotel.  Highlights include the well-coordinated, hidden services throughout. 

Following new ownership in 2020, Matfen Hall underwent a major refurbishment. The initial masterplan covered the hotel, golf course, and spa ensuring power, heat, and water supply, along with the integration of suitable technologies. 

The project’s timeline was accelerated due to the COVID-19 closure, requiring efficiency and coordination across overlapping planning and execution stages. The refurbishment then unfolded in four phases to keep the hotel operational. This included upgrading the fire safety systems, the complex relocation of a commercial kitchen to the basement, appropriate control of the heating system, full refurbishment of bedrooms and bathrooms and the enclosure of the upper and lower courtyards.

The newly developed courtyard features a bar, dining space, and breakout areas, designed to maintain an outdoor feel with natural ventilation achieved through passive vents with temp and CO2 sensors. Careful specification of the glass roof and the thermal mass of the building prevent overheating. A nearby stone stairwell, with high-level openings, serves as a thermal store that pre-cools the air before it enters the courtyard, ensuring a comfortable environment during the summer months.

Enclosing the courtyard made the existing basement oil boilers unusable. They were replaced with heat exchangers connected to an energy center via district heating pipes routed under the building, which provide renewable heat sources.

Hidden services were seamlessly integrated throughout, including underfloor heating, embedded lighting, and concealed plumbing, accentuating the elegance of the spaces. 

Matfen Hall’s refurbishment successfully integrates sustainable practices and cutting-edge technologies, revitalising its luxury offerings and enhancing operational efficiency while preserving its historic charm.

An Exceptional Theatre Transformation for Multi-award-winning Production.

London’s Grade II-listed Playhouse Theatre was reconfigured from a proscenium-arch auditorium into a spectacular in-the-round venue, with additional rooms in the upper circle level. Completed in record time for the multi-award-winning Cabaret, it recreated the Kit Kat Club's intimate atmosphere, transporting audiences to 1930s Berlin.

The project involved securing listed building consent, obtaining planning approval, and reconfiguring the entire auditorium—all within 9 months. Navigating the existing services and live safety systems within the limited timeframe was challenging. Engineering judgement was crucial for discerning and prioritising key requirements, addressing critical issues, and ensuring successful project completion while meeting regulatory compliance.

Listed original ductwork, a rare feature, required detailed surveying to effectively reuse it. All other services were adapted or renewed and located in the basement.

In a theatre-in-the-round, the audience surrounds the stage, creating an immersive and dynamic experience. This configuration demands inventive staging for clear views from all seats, impacting infrastructure and service distribution. New raked seating led to changes in the lighting and validation of the existing ventilation and smoke ventilation systems.

LED lighting replaced halogen bulbs throughout. Ventilation and cooling in the basement dressing rooms and bar were upgraded to a new MVHR system with occupancy controls, replacing a continuously operational system. These interventions significantly reduced energy consumption.

A new entrance corridor, designed to evoke a night club atmosphere, required attention to health and safety, including concealing valves and pipework.

The transformation and exceptional turnaround at the Playhouse Theatre, stands as a testament to the team's dedication and spirit. This effort culminated in the production of Cabaret, winning no fewer than seven Olivier Awards in 2022.

‘Eddie Redmayne may be the star — and he’s mesmerisingly good too — but he really shares top billing with the venue itself.’
Clive Davis, The Times

Nominated for Theatre Building of the Year in The Stage Awards 2023. 

2023 Civic Trust Award Winner (Pro-Tem Award).* Civic Trust Pro-Tem Awards recognise temporary structures and installations that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment.

2023 RIBA London Architecture Award Winner. The RIBA judges commented: "The Kit Kat Club is a great example of how critical, light-touch interventions can transform an existing building. The key aspect of sustainability was in relation to the consideration given to the demountability of the new interventions. In addition, materials were salvaged and reused where possible, including the timber for the main set from original flooring, as well as some of the loose furniture." See the full citation: https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/regional-awards-2023-london-north-carmody-groarke-kit-kat-club-playhouse-theatre-culture-entertainment

2023 RIBA National Award Winner.

A new annex for Grade II*-listed theatre and the redevelopment of its back of house

A new-build six-storey extension and major reworking of the back of house to the world-famous Grade II*-listed theatre in London’s Waterloo. Highlights include an innovative natural ventilation system facilitated by thermal modelling. Rated BREEAM Excellent.

The Old Vic Theatre is located on Waterloo Road in London. New back-of-house facilities will be situated next to the theatre, replacing a former commercial restaurant. The project aims to meet the client’s budget while delivering a bespoke, highly sustainable solution through excellent design and construction standards. The new annex will feature a triple-height street café, script library, writers' room, learning centre, green room, and rooftop event space.

The site remains comfortable in summer due to passive strategies such as thermal mass, secure nighttime cooling, shading, and natural ventilation.

Key project features include a natural ventilation system that mitigates noise and pollution from the busy road, using a fully sealed front façade. To compensate for the timber structure’s limited thermal mass, the system draws air from the top of the stairwell, cooling it via the staircase's thermal mass. In warm weather, the cooled air flows into lower areas and rises to exit through a solar chimney. The process is driven by heat from occupants and solar gain through the glazed front façade as well as carefully detailed roof cowls to maximise the cooling benefit of the prevailing wind. Stairwell glazing at each floor enhances daylight and visual connectivity.

A low-temperature hot water system, including domestic hot water, is powered by rooftop air-source heat pumps. 

The project has also remodelled the existing back-of-house areas with a relocation of the stage door, improved dressing room and office facilities and a rooftop air handling unit (AHU) supplying fresh, tempered air to the rehearsal room, supplied via an air source heat pump.

The Old Vic Theatre sets a new standard for sustainable design in historic buildings by implementing innovative passive strategies along with energy-efficient systems, creating an enhanced environment for performers and visitors alike and securing its legacy for generations to come.

Skelly & Couch are part of the winning multidisciplinary team led by Hopkins Architects which has beaten four other contenders in a RIBA competition to develop Twickenham Riverside. 

The Grade I-listed Theatre Royal Drury Lane, owned and managed by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres and built originally in 1812, is set to regain its status as the prime venue for musical theatre in London. 

New creative and exhibition space for Life Science Centre in Newcastle.

Winner of Regional Theatre of the Year at The Stage 2021 Awards, Grade II-listed Theatr Clwyd is one of Wales’ major cultural assets and is undergoing a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ £35m redevelopment.

At the gateway to Watford Business Park, the flagship development of a highly sustainable series of refurbished buildings will serve as a catalyst for regeneration of the local area and beyond.