the final four
Four design schemes were shortlisted by the judging panel.
Submission 7 - Ramboll Whitbybird
Ramboll Whitbybird are a leader in integrated engineering design. Founded in 1983, it provides a full range of engineering services required for the design of buildings, bridges and infrastructure, and received a Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2006.
The firm tackles projects from all sectors, ranging in value from £0.2m to over £750m. With a history of continuous growth and innovative, award-winning solutions.
Our solutions contribute towards better living and working conditions for people and the sustainable development of society.
We have over 6,500 staff working across a network of 116 Nordic and UK offices, with a further 24 offices in other European countries and the rest of the world.
Our engineers are passionate about engineering and design. All our employees have the opportunity to work with the industry’s top client and the opportunity of working in any of our worldwide offices. This allows our engineers the chance to explore other disciplines and establish specialist knowledge.
The scheme has developed with the collaboration of 172architects, an evolving architectural practice who have a strong desire to improve the environment for the human need for space by imaginative design solutions to fulfil the clients requirements and needs. Research into sustainable and prefabricated designs opportunities are key foundations for the practice. Every scheme should be given the chance to explore developments in technology to enhance the spaces we all use in our every day lives.
Submission 14 - David Grindley Architects
David Grindley Architects is a family run practice originally set up in 1992. In additional to David, key design personnel include Robert, Emma and Paul Grindley, The practice operates from a purpose designed studio office in Milton Keynes.
The Studio was awarded first prize in the Live-Work Category of RIBA Ibstock Downland Prize 2007 and the practice’s design for Headington Baptist Church in Oxford was shortlisted in this years ACE/RIBA Award for Religious Architecture. In addition to these awards the practice has recently completed a Post 16 building for Walton High School. This design exploits the use of cross laminated timber panel construction, first used on the practices own studio, to produce a sustainable building to meet the council’s recent Sustainable Design Policy. The practice also featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs with ‘Cloud 8’ a contemporary, stressed ply roofed house in the Chilterns. Current projects include designs for the National Bowl, a major redevelopment of the concert venue in Milton Keynes.
The practice approach to design looks beyond just fulfilling formal requirements. We consider that a successful design relies upon the strength of its relationships and connections; the interactions between people and place. Architecture can play an important role by exploring ways of revealing and strengthening these subtle relationships. Our aim is to develop an architecture of multiple connections between the visual, physical and atmospheric characteristics of a site.
Submission 51 - Ellis Williams Architects
Ellis Williams architects is an established architecture practice with offices in Warrington, London and Berlin and a combined staff of 98 and an annual fee turnover in 2006 of £6m. We offer the full range of services from feasibility and concept studies to post contract services.
We work across all sectors and recognise that each one requires very different responses to the process. Our staff bring together years of experience, commercial expertise and inspired design, to instil confidence and realise economic sense.
We are experienced in navigating the many procurement routes and assisting in securing appropriate funding. We also project manage schemes from inception to completion
Many things are important to us: our clients, excellent design, doing what we said we’d do and enjoying it. With every project it is the process of architecture that we embrace. Getting this right means not only designing an efficient building that works for all users and stakeholders, but one that looks good too. We know that projects need consistency and clients need reliability. That is why the team you meet at the start of the project is the team who finishes the building. It is for these reasons that clients return to us time and again.
Our current portfolio includes a variety of commercial, education, leisure and sports and arts projects throughout the country.
We continually appraise our position and the way we work. We learn from ongoing projects and seek to improve our service, delivering architectural solutions, which fulfil the design brief and are cost effective and give pleasure to the building users.
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Comment on submission 51 (iii)
Submission 69 - Berman Guedes Stretton
Berman Guedes Stretton was formed in 1996 from the amalgamation of two Oxford practices, Berman Guedes Partnership and Roger Stretton Architects and has offices in Oxford and London. Alan Berman and Roger Stretton studied at Cambridge and Oxford respectively and are supported by colleagues who previously worked for Hopkins Architects, Penoyre & Prasad and Edward Cullinan’s offices who share their regard for inventiveness and clarity in their work.
The practice combines creativity with a rational logic and they see themselves as architects facing challenges head on with a desire for simplicity and rigour. Work to date has been complimented for its understanding of materials and for the sensitive integration of contemporary design into historic contexts. This has been recognised through competition success, particularly at many of Oxford’s historic colleges, as well as recent RIBA prizes.
The practice has worked with a wide range of prestigious clients and has particular expertise in research and educational buildings, having worked for a number of years with the Universities of Warwick, Oxford, Birmingham and Imperial College, London. Considerable expertise has been gained in working with existing buildings where their character is always recognized without compromising the integrity of the new.
