Posted in Infrastructure, media, tagged 2012, Architecture, education design, energy from waste, Infrastructure, London, sewage, waste, water on September 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Pudding Mill Lane features in the latest edition of Concrete Quarterly:
“There is no doubt that this is a more modest building than many in the Olympic park, but it demonstrates that function is no enemy of form, and that in the right hands, even the most uninspiring of facilities can be accomplished with a little architectural pizazz.”
Click here to read the article as a PDF. Alternatively you can read the entire issue online - http://www.concretecentre.com/PDF/CQAutumn2011.pdf
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 2012, Architecture, education design, energy from waste, Infrastructure, London, sewage, waste, water on September 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Pudding Mill Lane has made the final 3 projects shortlisted for the Infrastructure Project of the Year category in the Builder and Engineer Awards 2011! To read the full list of nominations click here.
This nomination builds on our 2011 success with Pudding Mill – the New London Architecture Award and the CEEQUAL Outstanding Acheivement Award.
Pudding Mill is just one of a number of award winning Infrastructure projects designed by John Lyall Architects – click here to find out more!
Posted in Our Work, tagged 2012, Architecture, education design, energy from waste, Infrastructure, London, sewage, waste, water on July 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
John Lyall Architects went on an office field trip to the Olympic Park last week – partly to see some of our new infrastructure buildings on and around the site, partly to discuss the rest of the Olympic architecture… and partly just to enjoy a glass of wine and catch up with one another!
We took in the sights of three of our pumping stations: Pudding Mill Lane, Old Ford Water Treatment Plant, and Old ford Pumping Station, and walking along The Greenway we also saw The Viewtube, The Orbit Tower, the Olympic Stadium, and then retired to nearby Formans for some excellent smoked salmon!
Click here to see our pumping stations on and around the Olympic site on a map. To see more of our award winning Infrastructure projects - Click here
Posted in Architects4Education, Education, Research, tagged a4e, Academies, Architects4Education, BSF, education, education architecture, education design, Impact of Recession on Design Quality, Impact of Recession on School Design, James review, Recession, Research, school architects, school design on May 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
SCHOOL RESEARCH
Architects4education have always been keen that their accumulated knowledge on the design of education premises should be shared with clients and other designers to improve the quality of the school estate.
One of our principles, Dr Chris French, has carried out several research projects into various aspects of school design over the last 15 years and many of the lessons learned are very relevant to the present climate of school capital funding and procurement.
A summary of these lessons was presented to the April 2011 meeting of the RIBA Schools Client Forum:
This presentation summarises a collection of research undertaken by Dr French over a number of years.
The complete research papers are available by clicking on the following links:
An appraisal of various design aspects of new and extended primary schools in Essex built between 1973 and 1993.
The investigation method included a review of primary school design literature and County Council archives, interviews with Officers concerned with the design and operation of primary schools, visits to schools, analysis of user comment by questionnaire, and investigative essays.
The appraisal contains three parts:- part one – a review of primary education since 1973; part two – strategic aspects of primary school design, including, planning, constructional systems, aesthetics, environmental design, engineering services, interior and exterior design;
Volume 2 contains the third part of the design appraisal – detailed requirements of today’s primary school room by room; plus conclusions promulgating lessons for the future.
Executive summary of a review of recent small scale prefabrication projects at Eastern Region schools.
A short PowerPoint presentation summarising the above research.
For more on Architects4Education please see http://architects4education.co.uk/
To read more about Dr Chris French, please click here.
Posted in Architects4Education, Education, Exhibitions, media, Our Work, tagged Architects, Architects4Education, Architecture, BSEC, BSEC2011, BSF, design, education, education architecture, education design, Free Schools, Gove, Nursery School, school, school architects, school design, secondary school, Special Needs School on February 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
John Lyall was interviewed by Local Government News at BSEC, and discussed the future of building schools in the UK:
John Lyall:
“Its a myth that good design costs too much money – it doesnt.”
“BSF was overweighed with bureaucracy – thats where the money has gone – Mr Gove – not on Architects Fees! “
“Its not all bad news. People are talking about prefabricated schools – handled right thats not a bad thing, and certainly starting to work for some primary schools… Whether that will work for more complex schools such as secondary schools i don’t know… the architects, contractors, and teachers and school heads will increasingly demand better design. “
“CABE 10 point design criteria has also helped improve design quality…”
“BSF brought architects and contractors together, and we mustn’t lose that…”
“architects must do more research with contractors – what makes good design and what makes good value – not just cutting costs by cutting area… and we don’t want to go back to the mistakes of the past…”
Click here to see more Local Government News videos from BSEC
John Lyall Architects are a founding practice in the consortium Architects4Education – consisting of three award winning practices who have come together to work collaboratively in the field of education design.
Click here to find out more about Architects4Education.
Posted in Architects4Education, media, Our Work, tagged Academies, Architects, Architecture, BSEC, BSF, education, education architecture, education design, Gove, James review, Nursery School, primary school, school, school architects, school design, schools, secondary school, SEN, Special Needs School on February 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Inspite of the doom and gloom about the new government’s schools programme, I am optimistic that we can still achieve great new schools, and brilliantly transformed existing schools.”
John Lyall writing in this weeks Building magazine – a timely piece: at BSEC many people were talking about design quality, flat pack schools, and the role of architects in the future of school design…
Click here to open the article as a pdf
Posted in Architects4Education, Conferences, tagged a4e, Academies, Architect, Architects, Architects4Education, Architecture, BSF, collaboration, design, design review, education, education architecture, education design, peer review, primary school, refurbishment in education, school, secondary school on January 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week the three practices of Architects4Education came together for one of our regular peer review sessions, to discuss our recently completed projects, and to talk about what we have currently on the drawing board. This unique collaborative approach allows us to share our experiences of best practice, and to review our designs to take on a ‘second opinion’ – ensuring that our clients get the best possible quality design.
In the following (3 minute) video John Lyall introduces a few video clips from the evening:
We are passionate about schools achieving the best possible quality in school design, and an evening like this allows us to discuss in depth the lessons that we have learned in our wide experience of schools work to date. Architects rarely get this opportunity – the closest one often gets is reading about a new school in the architectural press, or of course visiting a completed school. Both of these methods miss so many of the rich lessons a design team learns during the design process – the decisions made; the views of the teachers, school head and local community; the options not progressed - and the reasons why – and many more.
This video gives just a flavour of the projects discussed – we also talked about several more confidential projects – including a new primary school for Barking in East London, and our work as Client Design Advisor for Northamptonshire Academies – which could not be included online – but which also helped to further our collective knowledge.
The evening was also a great opportunity to get together and share a glass of wine!
——————- more information: ————————
Posted in Architects4Education, Conferences, Education, Exhibitions, Our Work, tagged Architecture, BSEC, BSEC2011, education, education architecture, education design, Free Schools, Nursery School, primary school, school, school architects, school design, secondary school, SEN on December 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
How to move on without the support of organisations like BECTA and CABE
John Lyall will be speaking on day one of the upcoming BSEC conference:
How can we make sure that we build new or refurbish educational spaces to high standards and lower cost, without the support of key organisations which may no longer exist? Practical tips and suggestions will be discussed.
The Conference runs from 23-24th February 2011, at Londons Excel exhibition centre. For more details of the day one lineup click here.
John will be joined by John Jenner of Greenhill Jenner Architects – fellow practice in our education-specific consortium Architects4Education
We exhibited at last years BSEC, and found it a great way to meet new people in education, and discuss how Architects4Education work collaboratively to design great education buildings. Looking forward to February!
Posted in media, Education, Architects4Education, tagged Architecture, Architects, design, school design, school architects, education architecture, education design, education, BSF, Academies, Architect, Building Schools for the Future, Nursery School, Free Schools, SEN, Special Needs School, secondary school, Independent Schools on September 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
“These are exciting times for independent schools and improved facilities are the perfect way to attract new pupils and parents”
An A4E advertorial piece in the Autumn/Winter 2010 edition of Schoolhouse Magazine:
Click here to view this article as a pdf.
See http:// http://www.architects4education.co.uk/ for more details about how we work, or click here to see the latest A4E brochure.
Posted in Conferences, Education, Exhibitions, Our Work, tagged Academies, Architect, Architecture, BSF, design, education architecture, education design, Nursery School, refurbishment in education, school architects, school design, SEN, Special Needs School on September 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Architects4Education will be exhibiting at next weeks Remodelling Education Conference in Manchester, on 13th and 14th September.
Come along to stand number 9 to see what we do!
The conference is a dedicated platform for discussing reuse and refurbishment in existing education spaces. Given the current economic climate the conference is perfectly timed, and we look forward to engaging in the debate! Architects4Education have a wide range of experience in refurbishing schools, as well as building new.
Northbury School is a good example of adding to an existing school, which in July this year was “Highly Commended” by the British Council for School Environments in the category of Best School Extension, Refurbishment or Remodel. Click here to go to the A4E website for more information.
Northbury School designed by Greenhill Jenner
To view the new Architects4Education brochure see our earlier blog post.
