DfS Project Published in ICE Civil Engineering Journal

Further to our post in November 2016 regarding gcp's support on this project, please find attached the updated version.

“Design for Health Task Group

gcp have been invited to be part of a body of industry experts advising the Constructing Excellence, Construction Clients Group. gcp will be working alongside organisations including Safety in Design, Mace, HSE, Land Securities, Imperial College, Jaguar Landrover, Skanska and others.

The CCG Health and Safety Group have recognised that Clients and Designers can do more to put health at the forefront of their considerations and have recommended the establishment of a task group to move this forward. The purpose of this Group is to equip clients with what they need to specify to achieve the highest standards for Health & Safety during decision making and design, by setting clear expectations to the industry.
”
— gcp blog post, November 2016

Join our team! Wanted: Part-time Administrative Assistant

We are looking for a responsible Administrative Assistant to perform a variety of administrative and clerical tasks, providing general office administration and support.

Part-time: 10am – 2pm, 3 or 4 days per week. Up to £17,500 (pro rata, per annum), fixed term maternity cover.

Closing date: 26 April 2017. All successful candidates will be contacted by 4 May 2017 to arrange an interview. Interviews week commencing 8 May. Please contact Natalie Lock on mail@gcparch.co.uk to request further information or an application form.

 

CV’s alone will not be accepted. No agencies please.

J3 up for placemaking award!

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Urbanism Award Logo

The ground breaking J3 housing led mixed use development on the edge of Bristol has made the shortlist for the prestigious Academy of Urbanism Awards 2018. J3 has been shortlisted in The Great Neighbourhood category alongside some truly internationally recognised schemes such as the Byker Wall in Newcastle, The Barbican in London and Park Hill flats in Sheffield. Look out for the announcement of the finalists to be made on April 26th and final awards to be made at the Awards Ceremony on 8th November in London.

J3 is a partnership scheme between the principal partners, Knightstone Housing Association and Bristol City Council. gcp acted as the catalyst for the scheme, bring the development forwarded by brokering the partnership between the founding partners and devising a delivery mechanism that could cope with the complex funding cocktail required.

Throwback Thursday: West Street, Bedminster

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“The West Street project began in 2010, as a collaboration with Knightstone Housing Association and gcp Chartered Architects. The scheme trained homeless ex-service personnel to build a community, gain new skills and qualifications and meet like-minded people. The Homes and Communities Agency provided £660,000 of funding to help kick-start the project, which features 14 homes for social rent. ”
— Community Self Build Agency, Projects

Handing over at Cotford St Luke, Taunton

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Handing over at Cotford St Luke, Taunton; the first tenants cut the ribbon on their new homes.

Tenants cutting the ribbon to their new homes in Coltford St Luke

gcp worked with South Western Housing Society and Kier Living to design and deliver 28 affordable homes on this sensitive site. The opening was attended by Local and Parish Councillors and SWHS Board Members.

Feedback on the design was very positive. Particular features commented on were: spacious design, positive relationships to neighbouring properties and integration into the structure and character of Cotford.

Sidford Road (Torpoint) gets AECB Silver standard certification

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AECB Silver Standard Award received for Torpoint Housing in Bristol

Our Torpoint project for Knightstone Housing has now been certified to meet the AECB Silver standard.  This low energy building standard uses PassivHaus methodology and overall energy targets with a some flexibility on airtightness to make the standard more accessible.  We would recommend AECB Silver to clients as a really useful first step in the learning process towards delivering PassivHaus levels of energy efficiency.

Achieving the standard on this project was particularly challenging due to the complex building section – necessary on the steeply sloping site – so congratulations should also go to Kier Living for their persistence and hard work in achieving an airtightness of 1.1 ac/hr.

More information on the project is available at the Low Energy Building Database.

Colin Powell speaking @ Low Carbon Business Breakfast

Colin Powell of gcp is speaking at the following event next week !

 

Low Carbon Business Breakfast - Lessons in Domestic Efficiency

 

7:45 am – 10:30 am, Tuesday 21st February 2017, the Future Economy Centre, Bristol

 

Domestic housing presents a potential opportunity for national CO2 savings of 20% and currently accounts for 30% of all energy use, but housing stock contains almost infinite variations. What has been learnt from past measures, what is being utilised currently and where is domestic efficiency heading?

 

Book your space here

Successful pre-completion air-testing

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Successful pre-completion air-testing today at our Stoke Bishop low energy project; achieving 0.68 air change per hour - well below our EnerPHit target of 1.0.

Another success for the Nudura ICF construction method and the care taken installing gcp’s carefully considered air tightness detailing.

Air Testing at Church Road

Air Testing at Church Road

Planning Approval for New Self-Build PassivHaus

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Architects image of Passivhaus in Dundry

gcp have obtained planning approval from North Somerset Council for a new home in the village of Dundry to the south of Bristol.  Located in green-belt, the project will replace an existing house that was very cold and draughty in the exposed location, with an extra-snug and energy efficient PassivHaus.

gcp’s in-house PassivHaus designer Colin Powell, has modelled the energy performance and optimised the design to enable the client to achieve a certifiable building on completion. We are now working with the client on construction design to ensure the home will be easy and efficient for the self-build team to construct to meet the exacting PassivHaus standards.

Wanted: Architects + Part 2 Architectural Trainees

gcp would be pleased to receive applications for minimum 4 days per week or full time employment from part 2 qualified architectural trainees or fully qualified architects. 

Experience of designing multiple unit schemes in the affordable housing and open market sectors and experience of revit would be desirable. 

Keenness to design and have direct client contact as well as the enthusiasm to run small teams will be important.

Rates of pay will be subject to circumstances and experience. 

In the first instance, please e mail jeremy.pilling@gcparch.co.uk with a cv and examples of some recent work.

No agencies please.

Brandon House Revived

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The High Rise Towerblock was reclad to improve thermal efficiency, reduce heating bills and extend the life of the building.

Before: Brandon House was experiencing problems with structural movement and suffering from poorinsulation leading to condensation, mould and water ingress.

Photo Credits to Alumasc. Read their blog on Brandon House here.

Certified for AECB CarbonLite Retrofit

gcp director Colin Powell was among the first group of students undertaking (and passing) the new AECB CarbonLite Retrofit training course developed to deliver robust low energy retrofit solutions for existing buildings.

AECB CarbonLite includes detailed understanding of the moisture risks in existing building retrofits and the particular requirements for servicing in existing buildings. With this qualification Colin will be able to certify projects under the AECB CarbonLite scheme.

Planning Success! – gcp obtain detailed planning approval for affordable homes for Mark Community Land Trust

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Mark Community Housing

gcp have been working closely with Mark Community Land Trust and South Western Housing Society to develop a project of 12 homes which will provide affordable housing for local people in the village of Mark in the Somerset Levels. Like many rural villages homes in Mark are unaffordable for young families and people who are in low-waged rural employment. This makes it hard for people with family or work connections to find homes and stay in the village. Following a housing need survey that showed that there was a significant number of people who wanted to live in Mark but were priced out of the housing market, a group of local volunteers set up a Community Land Trust to find a solution. After a long process of testing sites and finding a willing landowner the CLT found a site and employed gcp to develop design and planning proposals.

 

Following a period of community engagement and consultation gcp finalised a design that delivers an attractive contemporary appearance, with a mix of homes including bungalows, houses and apartments, that will meet a broad range of needs and will provide high quality, energy efficient homes for the village. The project was submitted to Sedgemoor District Council for Planning Approval and at a full planning committee meeting this week received the support of all councillors (with one abstention).

 

This is great news for the village and we look forward to starting the construction stage in the new year, working with EG Carter Construction to deliver the new homes for the beginning of 2018.

Completion: Waste Transfer Depot, Gossington

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Tercon Ltd have just completed a new domestic waste transfer station for Stroud District Council at Gossington.  The project involved the construction of a new 1,200m2 high bay sorting area with a single storey office facility.  An existing transport workshop on the site has also been refurbished as well as the completion of an extensive external works package.  gcp chartered Architects supported Tercon Ltd through the construction phase of the project which is due to be open for business in the new year.

Gossington Waste Transfer Depot

Gossington Waste Transfer Depot