Our replacement dwelling in Welwyn starts on site later this month.
The scheme draws heavily on the best, historic Arts & Crafts properties in the area, and includes a two storey house, annexe and garage.
The specifications focus on high quality, natural materials and robust, considered detailing.
CGA is partnering with local building firm Bridgeman Construction. Further updates to follow.
CGA was appointed by The National Trust and Canal & River Trust to develop designs to breathe new life into the Grade II* Roundhouse, a unique survivor of Birmingham’s industrial heyday. Through extensive consultation, we developed mixed-use proposals focusing on community engagement, interpretation, commercial use, urban exploration and a food offer.
We secured consent for a scheme which included radical interventions, designed to give the building an ‘outward face’ and to offer an open invitation to the surrounding, local communities and the city beyond.
We lost out to a larger practice on the delivery phase, but commend Burrell Foley Fischer for a job well done! We visited recently and it is fantastic to see the building being used and enjoyed, and to see how closely the bold interventions reflect our original intent. The projecting frameless oriel, above is absolutely as we had imagined it.
A fabulous example of living heritage, community engagement and the creative, multifunctional use of a heritage asset. The two Trusts should be commended for their vision and commitment.
Works are nearing completion at this grade II listed house, set within an area of outstanding natural beauty overlooking the Deben River Estuary. Following construction in 1933 the property remained in the ownership of the architect Hilda Mason and her sister for their own use until her death in 1955. Hilda Mason is noteworthy as one of only seven women architects who designed listed buildings between WWI and WWII. The house has undertaken a full retrofit including new external insulation, double glazed windows and a series of contemporary extensions providing modern living areas which unlock unique views across the landscape.
Amazing progress is being made at our Calverley Old Hall project with the Landmark Trust.
The 12 months defects period for the reroofing phase is nearing an end with the final inspection due next Monday.
Phase 2 has been on site since last June & is scheduled for completion at the end of January 2024.
Here are some photos of the ongoing work to repair and refurbish the property.
The SPAB scholars & fellows joined us during the last site visit which was a good opportunity to discuss the philosophy of repairs.
Works at our Burnham Rise project are picking up a pace now the that building structure is watertight. The distinctive standing seam gable roofs are now complete allowing internal works to progress.
We look forward to the highly bespoke interiors progressing over the coming months.
Photographs by Grocott & Murfitt.
Cowper Griffith Architects have recently submitted proposals to convert a former care home into a boutique hotel and restaurant. The host building dates from the 1880’s and is a decorative brick and stone building set in a generous parkland.
The proposals include a new orangery to the rear and a 2-storey wing to create additional accommodation with views across the rolling landscape.
The proposal will restore and enhance the distinct characteristics of the former Victorian manor house and its parkland landscape providing high quality sustainable hotel facilities, and improving the current setting, gardens, access and parking provision.
This new family home replaces an inefficient 1970s house, in a North Norfolk village setting.
Our client carried out much of the work himself alongside his regular job. An amazing achievement.
The house has a free-flowing ground floor, fully glazed to face the wonderful gardens.
A simple, rectangular timber-clad first floor sits on top, cantilevering out to limit ground floor solar gain.
Flint and red brick help connect the house to context.
The house is super insulated and airtight, with negligible running costs, and secured consent under delegated powers.
This new, CGA designed contemporary art gallery in central Cambridge is tucked away down a narrow lane, in the former yard behind a barber’s shop in a Victorian villa.
The new building plays with industrial forms; a sawtooth zinc roof sitting over simple, textured brick elevations and an exposed, internal timber roof structure.
Smaller timber and brick elements connect the gallery space to the rear of the Victorian house, which has been opened up internally, providing further generous and characterful accommodation.
The gallery happily co-exists with the retained barber shop to the street frontage.
The building was commissioned by a local patron of the arts and the occupants, ‘AKA Contemporary’, offer a range of stunning works across assorted media. They also support a non-profit, ‘Arts & Minds’, a Cambridge based arts and mental health charity.
This new five bedroom house in rural Uttlesford was consented just before Christmas. In design terms, it seeks to reinterpret the defining forms, materials and details of the best, local houses.
To the street, it has a linear form with small, randomly placed openings and a jettied first floor. To the rear, it opens up to the landscape, with dramatic glazing and contemporary dormer windows.
Its multi-level plan responds to site topography and creates spatial interest.
Feature brickwork to the street elevation reimagines the local tradition of geometric, lime pargeting.
We look forward to collaborating with the project team to deliver this low energy ‘forever home’ for our clients.
Cowper Griffith Architects have recently secured a planning permission for extensions and alterations for a family home in a Cambridge city conservation area.
The project received much scrutiny by planners, the conservation team, and local residents given its relevance to the local Conservation Area context and the requirements to preserve the original Arts & Crafts character. With the help of a Planning Consultant and the support of the Planning Officer, the project has been given the green light for development in a successful Planning Committee Meeting.
In response to client’s brief, CGA’s proposal brings the existing house in line with contemporary family living standards while also celebrating and enhancing the original Arts & Crafts character. Proposals include thermal upgrade to the existing building fabric and utilisation of latest low-carbon technologies.
The new Southern extension houses an integrated garage under a ‘cat-slide’ roof, replacing the modern garage on the Southern boundary and staying faithful to the Arts & Crafts appearance of the front house elevation. The rear extension with a flat green roof, secluded from the street view, houses a contemporary open-plan living area overlooking a private garden. The contemporary extension is distinctive from the original part of the dwelling.
The presented image is an early conceptual sketch of the proposals.