donald insall associates review 2014
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
RIBA/RSAW Welsh Building of the Year 2014Copper Kingdom Visitor CentreAmlwch, Anglesey
Photography: Dewi Glyn Jones
Our Copper Kingdom Visitor Centre, on the historic Amlwch quayside, has added the RSAW/RIBA Welsh Building of the Year award 2014 to its National Eisteddfod Plaque of Merit.
This striking modern building has been ingeniously integrated into the old ‘copper bins’ where ore mined from Parys Mountain was tipped ready for export by sea.
The building’s design is inspired by copper mining and tells the story of Amlwch’s old port with seamlessly integrated interpretation in a series of exciting spaces.
The project was funded with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cadw, the European Regional Development Fund and the Welsh Assembly.
1
I hope you enjoy reading this Donald Insall Associates Review 2014, which illustrates the extraordinary range of skills, enthusiasm and commitment of our full team. Academically rigorous research, insightful analysis and a clear expression of the ‘art of the possible’ informs our creative and award-winning work in the historic environment.
It is always a surprise to me that so many fellow architects ask us to guide them through the intricacies of managing change in listed buildings and sensitive sites. We enjoy our partnerships - the Hotel Cafe Royal is an excellent example - but we also successfully provide full design and project management services from within our organisation.
Projects range from our striking and sympathetic interventions, such as the award-winning Copper
Kingdom, through to major works at the Palace of Westminster and Chester Cathedral, where you will have to look hard to see that we have been there at all.
Maximising the potential of listed private houses, in town and country, has always been a major thread of our work, but one that we mainly have to keep between ourselves and our clients. We are happy though to show you our work at London’s ‘hottest’ venue, the Chiltern Firehouse, and our core conservation and repair work for important churches and the National Trust.
It is a joy for me to share with you the work of our remarkable team over the last year. There is much more on our new website and you can follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you wish to know more, please do contact me via email at [email protected].
byTony Barton, Chairman
ContentsForeword ................................................. 1Historic London interior reborn ...........................2A new chapter for the next generation ................6The curious Choir-stalls ......................................8Revival of a Gothic eyecatcher .........................10Historic Buildings Consultancy .........................12Visitors reach new heights at Cathedral ........... 14From Fire Station to Society Pages ..................15News in Brief ....................................................16
Foreword
Editor: Fiona RaleySub Editor: Beverley HinksCopyright: 2014 Donald Insall AssociatesAll images © Donald Insall Associates except where indicated otherwise
Cove
r imag
e: T
he H
elica
l Stai
r, For
mer C
ounty
Fire
Offic
e, Re
gent
Stre
et, Lo
ndon
© M
orley
von S
ternb
erg
3
Extensive conservation works to the Café Royal, now integrated within a distinguished hotel, have given one of London’s best known interiors a new life.
The re-development and restoration of the Café Royal is a key element in the continuing renewal and redevelopment of Regent Street, which itself has been based upon and guided by our Conservation Management Plan, written in 2002 for the Crown Estate.
Quadrant 1 on the Crown Estate is defined as three buildings; Building One is the Former County Fire Office, Building Two is the former Oddenino’s Hotel and Building Three, the Cafe Royal. The Quadrant has been developed by the Alrov Group as a new 5 star hotel, which incorporates these three buildings in the new Hotel Café Royal. The works commenced on site in 2009 and were completed in December 2013.
The current building is the second development on the site replacing the earlier 1865 buildings. The façade dates from 1923-28 and was designed by Reginald Blomfield, with the adjacent Former County Fire Office by Ernest Newton. The interiors were by various architects including Henry Tanner.
The original Café Royal was opened in 1865 by the expatriate Burgundian Daniel Nicholas Thevnon, who Anglicized his name as Daniel Nicols. It was the most successful of the French restaurants in late 19th-century London and took its form and style from the Brasseries of the Grand Boulevards in Paris. The name was suggested by Thevnon’s son-in-law Georges Pigache - an ardent admirer of the Emperor Napoleon - who designed the Café Royal’s emblem showing the French imperial crown and the letter N, for both Nicols and Napoleon.
continues overleaf...
Historic London interior rebornHotel Café Royal, Regent Street, London
Opposite page: The entrance hall on completion. Insertion of the 1960’s concrete floor dividing the space caused the loss of all original fabric above the impost, which has been reinstated as part of this project. Image © Morley von Sternberg
Left: View of Entrance Hall 1927 (Image courtesy of Architectural Press Archive/RIBA Library Photographs Collection, ref: 24713)
4
Hotel Cafe Royal, Regent Street, London
...from overleaf nearly lost skill of composition enrichment. These historic interiors demonstrate the intangible nature of cultural significance, where it is the design of the rooms that holds the significance – related to artists, writers and members of Bohemian society who frequented the Cafe Royal in the later 19th and early 20th century.
Fabric from the original 1865 Café Royal (as seen in the paintings depicting the famous Grill Room by artists such as William Orpen, Charles Ginner and Laura Knight) was discovered to have been re-used in the 1928 building. Our research and understanding together with reference to historic record photographs and the forensic research of paint analysis and painting conservation, provided a much greater appreciation of original ‘lost fabric’ and informed our designs.
As Historic Buildings Architect working closely with David Chipperfield Architects (as the lead architect for the new interventions), we led the alteration, repairs and refurbishment of the significant spaces. These historic rooms remained in situ whilst the adjacent areas were redeveloped behind the original façade.
The conservation work enabled new interventions to be made to suit their role in this new hotel, including the requirements for environmental comfort and control. The Tudor, Celestine, Club and Empire Suites are now bedrooms and the Domino, Grill and Ten Rooms are now restaurants.
The work included repair and refurbishment of ceiling paintings and stained glass, and alterations and repair of joinery, mosaic, gilding, fibrous plaster and – significantly – the now
5
Above: The Grill Room on completionLeft: The reinstated Entrance Hall mezzanine with original balustrade relocated to its original positionImages © Morley von Sternberg
6
A new chapter for the next generationMadresfield Court, Worcestershire
The main range showing replacement stone tracery to parapets Image © Ray Main/Todhunter Earle
7
Madresfield Court was to have given sanctuary to the Royal Family had the Nazis invaded Britain in the Second World War. A Grade I listed moated house, it has been the seat of a single family since the Middle Ages. We were pleased to assist the family, within the Austin Newport team, bring about major improvements to meet the needs of the next generation. Our focused alterations and improvements enabled new bathrooms, kitchen and guest suites. Essential fabric repairs and alterations were completed, under our direction and in parallel with interior design works by Todhunter Earle. These included removal of collapsed stone tracery parapets and roof drainage improvements. We also integrated new services into the historic fabric, including a new biomass-fuelled heating installation.
Detail showing sensitive repairs to stone tracery parapets
8
The curious Choir-stallsChurch of St Mary, Nantwich
9
The choir-stalls at Grade I listed St Mary’s Church in Nantwich are of international importance as part of an elite group exhibiting medieval high art at its best.
The stalls line the north and south sides of the Chancel, and each is formed by ten elaborately canopied niches. The canopies and back panels are contemporary with the main phase of construction of St Mary’s (1280-1390) and the misericords are believed to date from the early or mid-15th century. The underside of each misericord and the supports for the arm rests are carved with individual designs, showing humorous or grotesque depictions of everyday, mythical or religious themes. The book rests are more recent, mainly 19th century.
We were appointed to advise on the best way of protecting these beautiful choir stalls, which were suffering the effects of cumulative repairs
and a suspected live beetle infestation in the supporting timbers at low level.
We considered many different approaches to repair and conservation before arriving at a set of key principles to inform our approach, which has ensured the long term survival and authenticity of the Medieval canopies, misericords and 19th-century book rests. We have retained as much surviving fabric as possible, addressed damaging past repairs and retained and revealed the integrity of the original design. The repairs also revealed further mysteries as it became clear that yellow, red and a little green colouring survived in nooks and crannies. The original decorative scheme must however remain elusive for now. We simply hope that the stalls will be enjoyed and appreciated more fully by the many visitors and worshippers at St Mary’s and we are pleased to have made a contribution to the history of these beautiful stalls.
Left: View of St Mary’s Chancel with its elaborate Medieval choir-stallsAbove: Detail of the carving to the canopies following restoration by John NethercottImages © Andy Marshall
Sanderson Miller designed the Gothic Tower as an eye-catcher, visible from the Saloon of Wimpole Hall. Miller’s plan was realised some 25 years later, when Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown remodelled the parkland in the 1760s, and was finally completed in 1772. In the early 19th century, Humphrey Repton recommended that the Folly be ‘made more useful’ by carrying out interior alterations that provided living quarters for the gamekeeper. By 2005, the structure had become so fragile that it was inaccessible to Wimpole Park’s many visitors. Now, thanks to funding from DEFRA’s Higher Level Stewardship scheme administered by Natural England, and the National Trust, work is underway to conserve this attractive ruin.
We are providing architectural services for repairs to the Tower – the largest conservation project at Wimpole this year – that will stabilise the structure and allow visitors to walk around its exterior once again.
Our work includes detailed inspections for the repair of the wall tops and soft clunch facing stone, and archival research to inform the reinstatement of lost elements. This has afforded us the opportunity to remake the Tower’s crenellations, windows, doors and the rear staircase. Other recording work has included graffiti that date from 1772, and wallpaper analysis.
If you want to see the conservation works in progress, the National Trust’s free ‘Scaffold Tour’ offers access to viewing platforms from where you can enjoy high level views of the Hall and parkland.
Revival of aGothic eyecatcher
Wimpole Gothic Tower, Cambridgeshire
11
12
Historic Buildings ConsultancyOur work around London
Silvertown is located in the Royal Victoria Docks, to the east of the City of London. The docks were laid out in 1850, together with the Pontoon Dock to the south in c1855, to the designs of the engineer George P Bidder. The Pontoon Dock survives, though greatly altered with only one of its eight original pontoon berths unfilled.
The Silvertown site contains one Grade II listed building - Silo D - a grain silo dating from around 1920. The other buildings on the site are locally-listed by Newham Council and include four industrial buildings dating from c1905, 1933, 1953 and 1954. These buildings form a complex which lies on the south side of the dock, adjacent to the Pontoon Dock, and includes the Millennium Mills and the neighbouring Rank’s Premier Mill. These are the only survivors of a number of large-scale grain mills constructed at Silvertown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Millennium Mills complex was partially rebuilt and extended by engineers L G Mouchel Ltd, whilst the c1905 Rank’s Mill may be tentatively attributed to Gelder and Kitchen of Hull.
We are working for First Base Ltd to provide historic area advice and to assist in planning negotiations for the development of a masterplan for the site. We assessed the historical and architectural significance of the site and buildings and produced an Historic Environment Report. Our advice has also guided the proposals to alter and extend the former flour mills and to convert them to mixed use.
Silvertown
1950s aerial view of Millennium Mills, Royal Victoria Docks© Port of London Authority Archive
Millennium Mills in 2014
13
We provided Historic Buildings consultancy and advice to John Pawson, architect for the new Design Museum. The project involved major alterations to the 1962 Grade II* former Commonwealth Institute Building in Kensington designed by Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall
The New Design Museum
Image by Alex Morris,courtesy John Pawson © New Design Museum
and Partners. Our services also included preparing a Conservation Management Plan to guide the extensive changes in the building.
14
Visitors reach new heights at CathedralThe ‘Cathedral at Height’ visitor attraction, Chester
We were appointed by the Dean and Chapter to take on the detailed design and implementation of a project to enable public access to a high level tour of the cathedral. This was to be the first time visitors could visit any part of the cathedral above ground level, and the intention was to open up as many previously unseen areas as possible.
New balustrades, viewing platforms, lighting, staircases, handrails and interpretation have
been knitted into the ancient fabric of the building. The result is a fascinating tour, during which visitors see the inner workings of the building, breathtaking views of the interior from new vantage points, and distant views from the roof-top.
This complicated project presented very real challenges for the design team and the contractor but these were overcome to deliver the project on time and on budget.
Clockwise from above: New balustrade in Clerestory Gallery; Visitors’ view of the Quire © Valerie Hammill; View from Cathedral tower to Chester and North Wales
15
Chiltern FirehouseThe Manchester Square Fire Station was built in 1888 as one of a number of new fire stations opened by the Metropolitan Board of Works in the late 19th century. Following an extended period of redundancy, the fire station has recently been remodelled as a high-end boutique hotel with a hugely popular and successful restaurant in the former engine room. Our historic building appraisal identified key features of significance, and we were appointed as conservation architect to reinstate the decorative gothic stonework façade to the engine room, which had been removed and replaced with a plain concrete front during the 1960s. Other works included the conservation and repair of brick and decorative stonework, and advising on the design and detailing of new matching features.
From Fire Station to Society PagesManchester Square Fire Station, London
Above: The designs for the new stone frontage were based on a number of sources including the original small-scale architect’s drawings, historic photographs and other examples of gothic shafts and mouldings including those at Liverpool Street Station and the former Islington fire stationLeft: The 1960s concrete frontage
16
A number of our projects have starred in film and television productions this year. At the Houses of Parliament, television crews were recording the works we supervised over the summer recess, and BBC Music’s ‘God Only Knows’ was filmed in the derelict 19th-century theatre at
Lights, camera, action!Alexandra Palace, where we worked last year to secure the remains of the ceiling from collapsing.
The recent television drama, ‘Our Zoo’, which tells the fascinating story of how George Mottershead (played by Lee Ingleby, left) established Chester Zoo, has a double resonance for us at Donald Insall Associates. We have obtained planning permission and listed building consent to improve the facilities at Oakfield House, the historic house at the centre of the zoo.
The drama was actually filmed at another of our projects, Walton Hall in Warrington, whilst we were on site building a new extension for Warrington Council. As the extension was coming out of the ground at the north elevation, the BBC were filming around the south front, complete with GRP garden walls and plastic ivy. The TV version of the first Chester Zoo, complete with real animals, appeared on the lawn almost overnight. Our patient contractors, Parkinson, managed to keep quiet and out of shot during filming.
As we adapt the buildings we work on to strengthen their future, so too our team continues to evolve. We are fortunate to attract some of the most talented and skilled individuals in the field, and our strong family ethos nurtures and develops their professional expertise.
We welcome Francis Maude and Robin Dhar to the Board as Directors, with Fiona Raley and Patrick Duerden being promoted to Associate Director.
There have been promotions to Associate level for Aliza Ross, Ayaka Takaki, Helen Ensor and Joanne Fisher. Erica Bomphrey has joined as HR Manager and Beverley Hinks has been promoted as our Communications Manager.
A full list of our team is available on our websiteAbove: (l-r) Aliza Ross, Ayaka Takaki, Francis MaudeBelow: (l-r) Helen Ensor, Joanne Fisher, Robin Dhar
Congratulations
Latest AwardsMountain Biking Centre, Antur Stiniog: Best Community Building
Copper Kingdom, Amlwch: RSAW/RIBA Welsh Building of the Year
The PORTICO Project for Chester City Walls: RTPI/IHBC Award for Conservation North West Construction Industry Awards: Winner of Heritage Award
News in Brief
17
We were commissioned to help develop plans for a new and unique mountain biking facility near Blaenau Ffestiniog. We worked closely with Communities First volunteers to discuss and develop the brief within the context of this designated Green Town. After considering various options, including extending the existing facilities, we agreed that a new, exciting addition to the site was the preferred way forward.
The site is set within Llechwedd Quarry and the building is inspired by, and built entirely from, its industrial setting. Slate waste from the nearby heap was reclaimed and used for the wall cladding, sub structure, and landscaping; and all excavated material is re-distributed to create the
cycle tracks. The centre now sports world class mountain biking tracks, and hopes to inspire social and economic improvement in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Designed to BREEAM Excellent standards, the project was delivered using a Design and Build contract. To reduce running costs and minimise environmental impact the building is designed to be assisted by solar gain and a ‘grey water’ recycling system. The complex includes café facilities, a shop and workshop area, wash-rooms and showers, together with an accessible roof area and events spaces.
Photography: Andy Marshall
Best Community Building LABC Awards 2014: North Wales RegionMountain Biking CentreBlaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales
www.insall-architects.co.uk
Donald Insall Associates
London12 Devonshire StreetLondon W1G 7AB0207 245 [email protected]
Bath1 Harington PlaceBath BA1 1HF01225 [email protected]
Belfast9-11 Corporation SquareBelfast BT1 3AJ028 9024 [email protected]
Cambridge48 Sidney StreetCambridge CB2 3HX01223 [email protected]
ChesterBridgegate House, 5 Bridge PlaceChester CH1 1SA01244 [email protected]
ConwyY Becws, Pool LaneConwy LL32 8PZ01492 [email protected]
Shrewsbury5 Swan Hill CourtShrewsbury SY1 1NP01743 [email protected]
Trinidad and Tobago8 Carlos Street, Woodbrook W1Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago+1 868 625 [email protected]
Autumn 2014
@insallarch