Our Christmas card to all our clients this year (like last year) is an investment in a charity project. This year we’ve chosen solar powered water supply, rainwater harvesting and emergency shelters from the Oxfam Unwrapped service.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all at Axis Design.
Architecture Week 2007 is a good time to announce one of our latest commissions to develop an environmentally sound refurbishment proposal for terrace properties in Stoke-on-Trent. Continuing our explorations into solar passive architecture, the design delivers robust, replicable solutions to both the improvement of the fabric, the quality of the living space and the thermal performance.
Here’s a copy of our winning presentation and a fly-by model of the exterior showing the 2 storey spaces proposed as replacements to the standard usually outrigger found on Victorian terrace housing. The submission was completed in collaboration with Staffordshire Housing Association and Brown & Clowes for Renew North Staffordshire and Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council.
Welcome to Architecture Week 2007! Once again Axis Design will be taking part in Open Practice day in Birmingham and welcoming visitors to the office to talk to us about our work.
The topic this year is How Green Is Our Space? and we’ll have plenty to talk about after another year of successful project developments that continue to tackle housing sustainability. Come and see our ongoing work on innovative housing in Stourbridge, talk to us about the passive solar architecture spaces we’re designing in collaboration with Hockerton Housing Project, give us your thoughts on our latest commission to design ‘eco-terrace’ refurbishments to properties in Stoke-on-Trent.
Details can also be found at the official Architecture Week web site and you can still download the specially made podcast and Google Earth route from last year to help you find the office on foot!
One of our latest projects has just been granted planning approval by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. The design responds to tight site constraints and a brief calling for an exemplar, environmentally friendly scheme.
Carefully orientated to make the most of the south-east and south-west sun, the saw-tooth layout and innovative roof plan create an animated, interesting street scene.
A full set of images* can be seen here: Queens Road, Stourbridge
* the images shown are taken from the initial 3D modelling work - the wind turbines shown were subsequently removed due to concern about cost and their likely poor performance in an urban area
A full copy of the design and access statement is available as a PDF: Saw-tooth housing
Street elevations are also available: Street elevations 1
Click on the following image to see ‘fly-by’ animation:
This project was developed in collaboration with Kier Homes and Black Country Housing Association.
We’re delighted to report that our entry for the Euroclad competition has been awarded a commendation. This was the last collaboration between Tony and Rob before Tony’s untimely death, so it seems particularly fitting that it might achieve an award.
Rob will be in London attending the awards ceremony on October 19th.
It’s with great sadness that we must report the news that one of the founding partners died last month after several weeks of ill health. A memorial service was held at Highbury Hall in Birmingham where family and friends paid tribute to the lasting impression that he had with anyone he met.
We’ve set up a page to record the speeches given and the tributes sent to the office:
http://axisdesigncollective.com/tonygoodall
Thank you to all those who attended. We’re sure you’ll all agree that it was much more than your average memorial service, but then Tony was much more than your average man.
Here’s an annotated walk to the office for tomorrow’s ‘Open Practice’ day. Download a copy of Google Earth and use it to open this file: Birmingham-ArchWeekWalk.kmz
Update:
We’ve added the audio guide to the office to complement the map:
Podcast Episode 2 - ArchWeekWalk and an ArchWeekAnecdote.
Upload to your mp3 player and follow the directions.
See you tomorrow today!
The images linked to the Google Earth file are here: ArchWeekWalk flickr set.
A summary document outlining the work completed in Blurton and Normacot using online consultation techniques is now available. We will make some computers available for people to explore the sites during their visit on ‘Open Practice’ day.
Click here to download the PDF document.
Here’s an excerpt from the document:
By including the use of the internet we were able to increase the numbers of consultations, ensure that the process was as transparent as possible and provide another opportunity for hard to reach groups to view the proposals. Although the level of computer ownership in the area is unknown, our view is that as the cost of computer hardware continues to tumble it is incumbent on us to begin to explore online consultation techniques.
