Skelly & Couch has worked closely with developer Vastint UK and architects Citizens Design Bureau to deliver The Talent House, a new home for both East London Dance and music organisation UD at Sugar House Island, Stratford.

Innovative Dairy Research Laboratory in Scotland, designed to be carbon neutral in construction and operation.

Nestled in the scenic landscape of rural Northumberland, Walwick Hall is a Grade II-listed country hotel located in a one hundred acre Georgian estate. The site is situated within the World Heritage Site Hadrian’s Wall Buffer Zone, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The original 40-year-old Polka Theatre in Wimbledon was the first UK theatre venue dedicated exclusively to children. This project features a refurbishment of the theatre with an added extension to the rear of the building led by Foster Wilson Size Architects.

The 559m² New Temple Complex by James Gorst Architects demonstrates an exemplar approach to passive design and long-term sustainability.

Situated within an 11.5-hectare estate in the South Downs National Park, the New Temple Complex is a multi-faith space comprising of healing chapels, a library, a multi-use lecture room, a kitchen and a visitor’s entrance foyer; all linked via an internal cloister. The temple holds symbolic elements reflecting the spiritual beliefs of the White Eagle Lodge and it occupies the same sacred spot as its 1970s predecessor. The building is completely framed in timber with clay brickwork encased in chalk lime mortar, all natural materials found in the immediate surroundings, encouraging a connection with the landscape.

The building’s environmental strategy is rooted in passive design principles, prioritising energy efficiency during the initial design phase. This approach includes low fabric heat loss, enhanced daylighting, and natural ventilation, forming the basis for the subsequent integration of low-carbon and renewable technologies.

The building fabric incorporates high-performance glazing exceeding conventional insulation standards, thereby effectively minimising heat loss. The New Temple's shallow, single-storey structure maximises daylight, reducing the need for artificial lighting. Nestled away from noise and pollution, the temple enjoys the benefits of natural ventilation, further aided by high-level actuators strategically placed in the temple's clerestory.

Innovative sustainability features include a sub-floor ventilation system operational in high occupancy areas. This system uses the thermal mass of a labyrinth to provide tempered air in winter and free cooling in summer.

Overcoming challenges posed by the absence of natural gas infrastructure and the availability of only single-phase power, the project successfully procured a small low-carbon ground source heat pump meeting the needs of the entire building. Buried in the landscape, this technology extracts low-temperature energy from the ground, producing higher temperatures that serve underfloor heating throughout the temple. Pre-existing photovoltaic panels were repurposed and relocated to an open area on-site, partially powering the heat pump and providing the building with low-carbon electricity.

The New Temple Complex stands as a timeless space for contemplation and community, seamlessly blending spirituality, simple architecture, and sustainable design. Its harmonious integration with the surroundings embodies both peace and environmental stewardship.

In Numbers

On-site energy generation 4,550 kWh/yr
Heating and hot water load 19.73 kWh/m²/yr
Total energy load 42.60 kWh/m²/yr
Carbon emissions (all) 25.9 kgCO₂/m²

Services

Electrical and Lighting
Heating
Ventilation
Acoustics

Awards

RIBA National Award 2024
RIBA South Awards – South Award Winner 2024
RIBA South Awards – Building of the Year Winner 2024
RIBA South Awards –  Sustainability Award Winner 2024
RIBA South Awards – Project Architect of the Year Winner 2024
Civic Trust Awards  – The National Panel Special Award Winner 2024
Civic Trust Awards  – The Special Award for Sustainability 2024
AJ Architecture Awards – Winners 2023
Wood Awards – Winners 2023

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The existing 5th floor costume workshop department at the Grade II*-listed National Theatre is undergoing a full refurbishment to meet up-to-date compliance requirements and better meet the needs of the costume workshop users.

Garden Science Hub with Public Exhibition, Garden Science Hub with Public Exhibition, Members Library and Archive Space.

A 4,700m² hilltop building, featuring a roof terrace at the highest point of celebrated gardens within a significant Green Belt landscape, includes advanced research labs, libraries, and classrooms. Future-proof services for the building, gardens and the wider infrastructure were provided.

The RHS Hilltop development is the UK's first dedicated centre for horticultural and environmental science, featuring research labs, exhibition spaces, libraries, classrooms, an herbarium, and a café.

Skelly & Couch provided energy modelling, environmental design, and daylight and overheating analysis, drawing on experience from projects at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Wakehurst Place. Working closely with garden designers, they created a climate-resilient, future-proof infrastructure for the Hilltop gardens and wider site.

The building’s design maximises natural light and ventilation through rooflights, while exposed thermal mass supports passive cooling, and high-specification glazing minimises summer overheating. A sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) integrates ponds, infiltration trenches, basins, and swales into the landscape, with possible links to an irrigation storage pond.

To mitigate noise from the nearby A3 road, the herbarium archive is enclosed by thick walls, stabilising temperatures, while ground-coupled air ducts and hygroscopic materials further manage humidity, ensuring optimal conditions.

Active design measures further enhance the building’s sustainability, cooling draws on the site's irrigation system, using river and borehole water; and energy-saving features include photovoltaic cells offsetting 10% of the building's carbon emissions, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and coordinated power supplies to minimise voltage drop.

Beyond delivering MEP and sustainability services for the new building, Skelly & Couch also designed MEP, SUDs and drainage systems for the surrounding gardens and the wider infrastructure masterplan.  The building form created three primary gardens— The Health and Wellbeing Garden (designed by Matt Keightley), The Wildlife Garden and The World Food Garden (both designed by Ann-Marie Powell) —along with smaller teaching and convening spaces.

RHS Wisley creates a sustainable hub for research, education, and community, with a harmonious integration of the building and landscape.

Awards

2021 – Guildford Design Award Winner Public Realm.

2021 – Guildford Design Award Winner Public Realm.

2022 – WAN Awards – Civic Institutes and Community Space Bronze.

2022 – AJ Architecture Award Finalist – Civic projects.

2023 – Civic Trust Award Regional Finalist.

2023 – Selwyn Goldsmith Award Finalist.

2023 – RIBA South East Award Winner.

An AJ Architecture Awards 2022 finalist in the Civic Projects category. A Regional Finalist for both a 2023 Civic Trust Award and a Selwyn Goldsmith Award for Universal Design. Winner of a 2023 RIBA South East Award. See the judges' citation: https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/regional-awards-2023-south-east-wilkinsoneyre-rhs-hilltop-culture-entertainment

High House Artists' Studios is a new-build development of affordable artists' studios as part of High House Production Park in Purfleet, Essex.

Building on the resounding success of UP Projects’ pilot Floating Cinema 2011 project, Morris + Company won the Open Architecture Competition to design the next phase of the acclaimed venture, conceived to offer a permanent lifespan on the water.

The project is a conversion of a large, leaky 1960s warehouse into a calm and light-filled south London studio/workshop/gallery/office space for the ceramics artist and writer Edmund De Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes.