full brochure 2011

Cheltenham Hereford London

Award Winning practice with established reputation for innovative design.

BeechcroftWood Award 06

The Team

RRA Architects in partnership has a consultant team that is a formidable force both in terms of commercial reality and historic buildings expertise. Clients choosing RRA Architects benefit from in house skills covering not only architectural practice skills but also project management and procurement, environmental and sustainable design, planning knowledge and services, interior specification and fit out, graphic and brand management and urban design knowledge.

RRA Architects team has built its reputation on producing first class design solutions across a spectrum of building sectors including; residential, eco-design, ecclesiastical, conservation, retail, hospitality, corporate, educational, urban design, public realm and health care projects. RRA Architects embrace a muilt-disciplinary team, working seamlessly with Planning Consultants, Engineers, Interior Designers and Graphic Designers in order to obtain the very best results for both their clients and the cities in which they work.

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What we offer

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Retail/Commercial RRA undertake commissions within all commercial sectors. Projects to date include large and small scale city centre retail / commercial projects to retail / office parks. We undertake projects all over the UK.

Residential Development Projects span from dense urban housing to small rural housing development. Affordable housing, sustainability issues and community led negotiation are all strategies we undertake to secure successful projects on behalf of our clients.

Private Housing

To date RRA has carried out many private housing projects from contemporary new build to more traditional schemes. Our designs are recognised nationally. We were awarded a woodaward in 2006 and have been filmed for Grand Designs by Kevin McCloud and Channel Four in 2006.

Conservation/Ecclesiastical RRA has a large portfolio of church and conservation projects all over the UK. All Saints Hereford achieving for the practice an RIBA award for Architecture in 1998. This project is held as a national benchmark in terms of church re-ordering. It continues to be visited, quoted and copied – a mark of the projects success.

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About the Company

RRA Architects was formed in 1986 and has developed a reputation as a highly innovative architectural practice. It has built its reputation on pro-ducing first class design solutions across a spectrum of building sectors in-cluding; residential, retail, mixed use development, eco-design, corporate, hotels, ecclesiastical, conservation, educational and health care.

RRA Architects currently has office locations in Hereford, Cheltenham and London and our staff are drawn from a number of skill areas with a breadth of experience and expertise in a wide range of building types. Our work has received a number of national accolades, namely the prestigious RIBA Award together with the Civic Trust Award, The Wood-Awards, the Genius and Industry Award, top 25 Grand Designs project of all time and a 5 Star Guest Accommodation of the Year by the AA.

Sustainability

‘At the level of the urban; sustainability is more than simply recycling materials, it should be about finding innovative new uses for redundant old buildings.’

At RRA Architects we recognise the importance of sustainable architecture and have established a specialist in-house group. This has a degree of input into all projects through a sustainability database, specific advice to designers and the design review process.

RRA Architects are not looking to turn every project into an experiment in sustainable construction, rather to be able to advise our clients and our designers of the emerging legislation, current design options and best technology practice in the area of sustainability and eco-design.

Vision

In terms of their physical presence RRA Architects have formed an unrivalled project understanding of conservation and contemporary design work, that has a national reach, a broad level of expertise and a large portfolio of successfully delivered project types.

It is RRA Architects experience that projects are able to revitalise not just buildings, but have the capacity to aid regeneration of whole urban areas. The practice believes that projects should seek to capture and maximise benefits for the people of the area through inclusion, sympathetic re-programming of space and first class architectural intervention.

Our Aproach

RRA Architects believe in working in close collaboration with the client in order to ascertain the ambitions for the project. Each project is treated individually and tailored to suit the clients need. RRA Architects offers specific specialist services as well as a full design service as appropriate to the requirements of the brief.

RRA believes that one solution rarely fits all; therefore our architecture is not defined by a pre-determined house style but rather by an approach that embraces diversity, allows individual expression and ensures that design solutions are environmentally responsive and are appropriate to context, brief, culture and climate.

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Private Housing

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Hillcott Barn Filmed for Grand Designs in 2004/05. ‘take and isolated hilltop barn, add some crispy edged modern steel and glass, and three hundred years of history and you have the rich ingredient in which to create a mouth watering contemporary barn conversion” Kevin McCloud.

Beechcroft A private house extension taking a modest budget and dormer bungalow transforming it into a exemplary project. Beechcroft was awarded a woodward in 2006.

Dukes Barn The longest barn in Wales. This conversion transformed a redundant derelict barn into a contemporary house. Modern and old technologies sit in very easy dialogue.

PH04 Ellis House A self build housing project, incorporating a transformation of an existing cottage adding a subtle yet beautiful render vernacular looking to both solids and voids – sublime.

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PH01Hillcott Barn

Hillcott barn an old Herefordshire threshing stone barn located in the village of Hope Mansell near the forest of Dean featured on Channel Four’s Grand Designs series in April 2006. The project started filming in 2004. The barn located on a vantage point of a steep hill adjacent to open farmland and woodland was a raw canvas unspoilt by progress. The construction of the roof was in rustic timber using elm for the trusses and rubble stone with lime pointing and lime washing to the walls, the roof was in blue riven slates.

As a threshing barn the structure had narrow arrow slit windows to provide natural ventilation to the stored grain and two large openings opposite each other to facilitate the threshing of the wheat. The structure was all about wind and shelter using the high vantage point to great benefit.

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The designs employed expert conservation techniques that have been developed by RRA Architects over many years. A radical plan to facilitate phased construction and off site manufacture was adopted principally as a cost saving measure. The aim was to retain quality and reduce on site time to keep construction costs to a minimum. The crux of the issue was, it needed expert project management skills to tailor precise on-site construction with off-site manufacture, around an old barn that was knarled and not level.

Despite all the professional advice the client took the decision to self project manage the build and as a result the project was fraught with difficulty. The end result was, an over spend, three contractors, a compromised design, a learning curve for all and a good programme for television.

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PH02Beechcroft

The house occupies a site that was originally developed in the 1950’s, the wider site would have formed the extensive grounds of Fownhope Court. An impressive gentleman’s house, complete with a lake, a waterfall, water sluice to regulate the lake height, mature trees, rhododendrons and other spectacular estate planting. Alas this has long since gone having been built upon in the 1950’s. The mature trees remain and are as impressive as ever, dominating the skyline.

The current house has an 80ft tall ‘Hornbeam’ in the garden that forms the focus of the new extension to the house. The clients brief and architectural intention for the new extension is to continue in the 1950’s idiom and ensure that the massing and scale of the proposal works with the existing building grain and does not dominate the site.

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Through extensive use of a natural wood-finish the design was successful in being short listed within the annual Wood Awards for 2006. This project was judged on the same platform as other projects by; Nick Grimshaw, Glen Howels, and Sir Michael Hopkins.

The massing of the proposed building is such, that a glazed link is introduced between the existing house and the extension. This is an architectural device, that breaks up the scale of the building so that it ties in with the adjoining structure much more satisfactorily by not crowding the existing facade. It has a pitched roof expressed in a single play membrane a high quality material that weathers very well and is well suited in a conservation area. The walls to the proposed extension are expressed in the manner of the original 1950’s building i.e.: a parapet is still maintained at the front and rear of the property.

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C/E03Dukes Barn

Located in Monmouthshire the project consisted of careful conservation and conversion of a derelict barn to provide a family weekend retreat. Using contemporary materials and conservation repair the end result is a project of national success. Wales continues to promote this project through CADW who produce a brochure highlighting Dukes barn as a fine example of good design and conservation combined.

Dukes barn explores the concept of old materials and new materials side by side. This juxtaposition of new and old works well as it is possible to celebrate old technology and new contemporary technology. The added advantage is it is possible to make better use of space. This is best highlighted by the insertion of an en-suite bathroom in the apex of the roof.

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C/E04Ellis House

Located near Ledbury in Bosbury the Ellis House is an exemplary self build project. The Ellis’s experienced at self build, wanted a contemporary project evoking the former Firs Cottage that occupied the site.

With spectacular views of the Malvern Hills the scheme design maximises the scenery to best effect. As a result the design uses corner glazing and dramatic picture windows as its detail. All openings puncture the soft white rendered façade as an essay in solids and voids. The internal layout places the circulation and staircase at the centre of the house so that the daily life and internal communication is homely and practical allowing the entire house to be revealed from its centre.

The build incorporates contemporary technologies hidden away behind clean lines keeping the pure and serene look. The ice white feel ensures the crispy edged detailing runs throughout the entire building so the house really is an inside outside experience that has a timeless quality just like the Malvern Hills farmed within view.

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Residential Development

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Greyfriars A 46 unit housing development incorporating sustainability principles and affordable housing right in the heart of the historic core of Hereford. On the banks of the river Wye this project embodies flood defence technology and ecological sensitivity.

Gwynne Street A mixed use housing and retail development project. Working with local vernacular, art deco style and grade one listed heritage in close proximity.

Tanyard A 14 unit speculative housing scheme devel-oped with the support of English Heritage. Local vernacular and view corridors to the Bromyard Downs are embodied within the project. Completed 2005

RD04 Rhosgoch A small speculative housing development scheme in Wales. Utilising render and timber technologies providing a contemporary housing project elevated on the edge of a golf course. Completed 2007

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RD01Greyfriars Gate

RRA Architects is inspired by great buildings and great cities and we are extremely lucky to have both at Greyfriar’s Gate, Hereford. This brochure outlines our ambitious sustainability plans for the development of Greyfriar’s Gate and the green routes given back to the city. We have used an innovative design for this brochure, in tribute to the sites previous existence.

This is just the start and it is our intention that the renaissance of this important city centre site will create a magnificent place to live, have a home office and engage. RRA Architects believes that Greyfriars Gate is a fitting landmark for the city of Hereford. The building balances the concrete mass of the 1950’s Greyfriars Bridge to the east and the street scene and domestic scale to the north and west.

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RD02Gwynne Street Housing

The site being a brown field site was complicated due to archaeology issues, being near to the Cathedral and was also difficult to progress due to site access via a medieval street pattern.

The project was developed in conjunction with the local authority incorporating a new build affordable housing block and speculative town housing with river side views. The scheme successfully weaves the historic core with the retail street and retains all the key architectural features. The site currently awaits a developer to take the scheme forward to realise the design. The design brings to Hereford City the first scheme that is about high density apartment living above the shop floor.

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RD03Tanyard Housing

RRA Architects were approached by a housing developer to look at a large part of the town of Bromyard to develop a housing development and a careful conservation repair of 3 historic buildings located on the site. The scheme whilst traditional and conservative in its aesthetic is a success in terms of negotiating a sympathetic material palette and existing street scape within Bromyard. English Heritage celebrate this project as it maintained important views from the city towards Bromyard Downs. The end result is a project that is fully let and sold within weeks of completion. RRA Architects ensured that the complexity of onsite work was managed on behalf of our client to carefully discharge planning conditions with the on site and technical constraints of a city sewer main and archaeology of ancient burial.

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Two brand new build dwellings were designed for a developer client in Wales. Less traditional looking but still reflects local architecture. The massing of the proposed building is traditional (pitched roof), and uses high quality materials. The internal layout suites contemporary living - large glazed openings to the south provide enough daylight and heat gain during the year, open plan living enables flexibility and appears to all potential buyers.

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Conservation/Ecclesiastical

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Water.shed RRA launched the watershed as a community event space in 2006. The project captures the context of Hereford cathedral and river and the tree lined park. The project achieved a conservation area award in 2007. It is now the RRA headquarters office in Hereford.

Ford Abbey A former abbey farm building carefully restored creating a AA 5 star awarded hotel complex. Modern contemporary hotel facilities sit in happy unison with ancient listed building fabric.

Waterworks Museum A scheduled ancient monument housing a fine water works museum facility. The new visitor centre attracted heritage lottery and English heritage funds in 2004. RRA’s design has transformed the building. Allowing the museum to be placed as one of the worlds finest water industry heritage museums.

Gwynne Warehouse A conversion project taking a derelict brick warehouse that floods, turning it into a contemporary business conference centre. Lime technology was reintroduced to the project to accommodate flooding events. New dynamic structure was used to support ancient fabric.

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All Saint’s, Hereford RRA were awarded an RIBA award for the Architecture in 1998 for All Saints Church Reordering. This project is held as a national benchmark. It continues to be visited, quoted and copied – a mark of the projects continuing success.

St John’s, Birmingham Located within the diverse ethnic community of Ladywood this project galvanised the church and wider community around the arts. The building is now a flexible event space that accommodates large and small secular and worship events. The project was awarded the Industry and genius award in 2005.

St Lawrence’s, Reading A city centre medieval church building that has become a dynamic youth project. In the words of Lord Boateng “ This is a buzzing building designed to make a difference to the young people who will give it life”

Dukes Barn The longest barn in Wales. This conversion transformed a redundant derelict barn into a contemporary house. Modern and old technologies sit in very easy dialogue.

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RRA Architects developed the brief, converting a grade II listed riverside warehouse, which floods regularly, into a stunning event space, conference centre and exhibition space. The scheme illustrates a radical approach to flood defence and was short listed for the RIBA regional awards in 2006.

The building is designed to use solar gain via a glazed upper storey. Excess heat is naturally vented via open-able roof lights within the apex of the building. The ground floor is raked to allow flood water to be easily drained from the building and all electric and power services are connected top down so that this does not provide hazard within a flood & can remain operational during a flood situation.

The old warehouse comprising three stonewalls received a new steel and glass structure to create a new floor above. The quadra-stemmed steel structure is influenced by the adjacent tree forms surrounding the building. To walk on the first floor of this building is to walk in the tree canopy above the adjacent green park of the ‘Bishop’s Meadow’. The Watershed now forms the headquarters building for RRA Architects - to arrange a visit contact [email protected]

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C/E02Ford Abbey

RRA Architects commission and principle intention throughout this project was to ensure the proper development of a hotel brand and fit-out measured with the conservation of the Grade II Listed farmhouse and barns complex. The principle of the design approach has been the careful conservation and repair of important heritage and the combination of all the contemporary service and fit-out demands for a 5 star hotel.

We developed a hotel format and room strategy that allowed the hotel brand to flourish. Wherever possible, the design of the individual spaces takes into account the natural “grain” of the buildings and a sympathetic location of the various new elements within that format.

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Conservation and heritage planning was at the forefront of thinking and recognition of individual character of each building has been carried through not only within conservation repair but also into the suitability of the new uses proposed, again wherever possible, the new uses have been located in the individual buildings which are best able to accommodate them.

The careful negotiation of hotelier needs and listed building status demanded a pro-active approach to project management. This project used video conferencing and on site video recording as a method of communicating to the client team. The success of this project is clear to see and is confirmed as the project has achieved for our client the prestigious 5 star AA award.

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C/E03Waterworks Museum

The existing museum building consists of a pumping station which is a scheduled ancient monument. The desire was to expand the museum collection and sort out the pedestrian flow around the site and facilities for the retail shop and toilets. The project received lottery funding under the heritage Lottery scheme and RRA were instrumental in driving the process through a hurdle of planning issues and grant criteria. The resultant project is an industrial design built under design and build in order to ensure a fixed price for a client body that had zero funds and was entirely grant aided.

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C/E04Gwynne Warehouse

The careful conservation and repair of important heritage and the combination of all the contemporary service and fit-out demands for this facility is captured superbly within Gwynne Warehouse. The listed structure was partially derelict and required extensive timber work repairs and rebuild. The strategy was to use contemporary detail where historic material had rotted away. The result is a stunning contemporary space with heritage carefully woven in.

The building is also unique in that it floods annually. This problem was factored into the fabric strategy for the building. Services and function are all serviced from above. The ground floor is capable of being hydrated without detriment. The facility can return to full use within hours of a flood event.

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C/E05All Saint’s Hereford

RRA Architects are the appointed Quinquennial Architect for this medieval church spanning over 20 years. The extent of necessary repairs to the fabric of this building demanded an on going wider innovative use. RRA Architects innovated in collaboration with English Heritage. The result is a café, a loo, a vestry, parish office and other facilities within the historic interior, which was the first project of its kind in the UK.

The project has received National Awards for design and is the church re-ordering benchmark. It is now visited, quoted, referenced and copied proving the real success of the project.

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C/E06St John’s Birmingham

Prior to the redevelopment, St. John’s was in poor condition due to the ravages of time and the lack of attention. There was an urgent need to restore the interiors and conserve the fabric. The community arts project transformed the church into an Arts centre. This was achieved through sensitive conservation of the fabric and innovative insertion of programmed ‘pods.’

The project has been judged to be a success by many, including the congregation and by those who now use the church from within the local community. It is often quoted as a example of ‘good practice’ of church re-ordering, both in terms of its particularly well thought out flexible space design but also in terms of how a church can engage with its parish at a secular and liturgical level. The project won the Bdi Industry & Genius Award 2005 presented by Kevin McCloud.

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C/E07St Lawrences Reading

Reading is a favourite place for young people and the area around St Laurence Church is particularly popular at night for teenagers. The church project was designed to allow the building to engage with its parish and to regain its’place in society as a mission church. It is being tremendously successful. Once the building was a dwindling congregation of eleven people, with no means to raise funds for fabric repair. Following engagement by the Bishop of London and Rev Chris Russell the project is now a great success.

The church is engaging authentically in the lives of the young people and is now a successful modern facility that is having a profound impact on the youth of the town and is a project that is re-imagining what Church means for a whole new generation. The building now hosts live hip hop events and large Church gatherings on one flexible even space.

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C/E08Dukes Barn

Through extensive use of a natural wood finish the design was successful in being short listed within the annual wood awards for 2006. This project was on the same platform as other projects by Nick Grimshaw, Glen Howels and Sir Michael Hopkins.

The massing of the proposed building is such, that a glazed link is introduced between the existing house and the extension. This is an architectural device, that breaks up the scale of the building so that it ties in with the adjoining structure much more satisfactorily by not crowding the existing facade. It has a pitched roof expressed in a single play membrane a high quality material that weathers very well and is well suited in a conservation area. The walls to the proposed extension are expressed in the manner of the original 1950’s building i.e.: a parapet is still maintained at the front and rear of the property.

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Retail/Commercial

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R/C04 Saxtys Bar Wine Bar, Bistro and Nightclub. Project included base build, structural alterations, fit out and brand identity development. RRA also provided graphics and brand realignment. Completed 2007

Bills Cafe A small budget with a big impression. Taking an organic retail food project for an independent restauranteur, turning a jaded building into a dynamic insertion within the high street..

Water.shed RRA launched the watershed as a community event space in 2006. The project captures the context of Hereford cathedral and river and the tree lined park. The project achieved a conservation area award in 2007.

Evesham.com A computer manufacturing plant, shop and headquarters office facility rolled into one. RRA transformed an existing computer company operation ensuring that the architecture responded the growth potential during the technology boom of the late 1990’s. It is both modern and sustainable in terms of working environment and energy use.

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R/C01Evesham.com

Evesham.com (formerly Evesham Micros) is Britain’s leading independent computer manufacture. They design and sell hardware, software and the necessary technical backup for complete systems. Some 300 new systems leave its factory every day and in 1998 its turnover exceeded £57 million. It has grown at 25 percent per year since its foundation in 1983 and now employs over 400 people.

The new headquarters replaces three out dated buildings in Evesham. After winning an ideas competition RRA Architects were appointed to develop the project with Evesham.com. The practice then proceeded to commission an audit of Evesham.com’s existing operation, which allowed it to establish a relationship with the client, rewrite the brief and redesign the building. Building work started in 1997 and was completed in August 1998 with a hybrid design/build management contract.

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“It is much to the architect’s credit that he has produced a building which, despite tortuous procurement procedures, retains the strength of its part and the delight of its details. Evesham.com has already commissioned a second phase which will enlarge the warehouse and add a further block of offices, extruding the section southwards.” Architect’s Journal 1999.

The essence of the project design is it has facilitated the company’s growth through the accommodation of a system build that allows flexibility to add additional accommodation without disruption to the core business.

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C/E01Water.shed

RRA Architects developed the brief, converting a grade II listed riverside warehouse, which floods regularly, into an stunning event space, conference centre and exhibition space. The scheme illustrating a radical approach to flood defence was short listed for the RIBA regional awards 2006.

RRA also developed the brand identity for Watershed Ltd to promote the new company as Hereford’s premier events space. The building is designed to use the benefit of solar gain via a glazed upper storey. Excess heat is naturally vented via open-able roof lights within the apex of the building. The ground floor is raked to allow flood water to be easily drained from the building and all electric and power services are connected top down so that the cabling does not provide hazard within the flood & can remain operational during a flood situation.

The old warehouse comprising three stonewalls received a new steel and glass structure to create a new floor above. The quadra-stemmed steel structure is influenced by the adjacent tree forms surrounding the building. To walk on the first floor of this building is to walk in the tree canopy above the adjacent green park of the ‘Bishop’s Meadow’.

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R/C03Bills Cafe

Bills café consisted of a low budget project in the order of £45k. The project consisted of a refit of an existing restaurant within the historic core of the city of Hereford. The brand identity for Bills was developed by RRA-Saturate and the furniture designed and specified under the full fit-out contract. Many of the existing items were reused following refinishing. Through careful management of the on site process cost economy was carried forward into the final build. This project proved that good design can be achieved on a low budget.

The bar servery was developed in full consultation with the bar top supplier delivering for the client a fitness for purpose that was tailor made for Bills product and service requirements. The design was about striping back the years of fit out that did not sit well with the original structure to reveal the core shell of the building. Through a simple palette of materials and colour the end result was a clean crisp look to the restaurant, which transferred the same feeling and emotion through to the food on offer.

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R/C04Saxtys Bar

Saxtys is a family run business within the historic core of the city of Hereford. The well established business occupies a listed building which in need of careful repair and rebuild. The client worked in collaboration with the build teams to ensure fit out and interior works were phased with construction to limit the down time of the business operation during the build.

The restaurant, wine bar and club needed modernizing to meet with contemporary fashions within the retail leisure industry. The entire project was completed in a tight time schedule and the project accommodated design changes right up to the last minute.

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RRA looked to several options for the site that would allow careful repair of the listed building together with improvement to the operation of the business. The end result is about light; daylight to provide for the restaurant, coloured light for mood setting and dynamic graphic panels and video art for the club scene.

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Evesham.com

www.rra-arch.com

contact usHereford T 01432 278707 E [email protected] The Watershed 14 Wye Street Hereford HR2 7RB Cheltenham T 01242269374 E [email protected] 12 Montpellier Arcade Cheltenaham GL50 1SU London T 0207 377 5458 E [email protected] 26 Fournier Street London E1 6QE

full brochure 2011

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