Entrances and Threshold: Image showing close-up 3-dimensional composition of the entrance to our 20-home scheme for @brickbybrickldn . The semi-circular balconies compliment the arched entrances and are staggered in plan on the east-facing elevation to allow a better coverage of south-facing aspect and sunlight to the balconies at the lower level. #councilhomes #affordablehomes #conviviality #hayhurstandco #newhomes #brickbybrick #londonarchitecture #archedwindows #curvedbalcony #socialhousing #brickbybrick #brickbuilding #brick

Entrances and Thresholds: Extracts of elevations showing the two approaches to our 20-home scheme for @brickbybrickldn . The arched windows to the stairwell are a nod to some of London’s pioneering turn-of-the century social housing that saw generous well-lit, airy and convivial shared circulation spaces. The brick arch to the entrance canopy at ground floor denotes the point of entry and visually balances the blocks north-facing flank wall. #councilhomes #affordablehomes #conviviality #hayhurstandco #newhomes #brickbybrick #londonarchitecture #archedwindows #curvedbalcony #socialhousing #brickbybrick #brickbuildings #brick

In the press: Nice little piece in today’s @architectsjournal about the two housing schemes that we have recently submitted for planning for @brickbybrickldn on @yourcroydon. Keeping good company with @gortscott @marydugganarc @archio_ltd @ruffarchitects @threefold_architects @denizen_works @sw_arch @pitmantozer @stitch_architects @maearchitects #newhousing #councilhousing #affordablehomes #hayhurstandco #londonarchitecture

In planning: Our proposal for 20 affordable homes on a garage site in Thornton Heath for @brickbybrickldn has been submitted for planning. The new 4-storey building at Atlanta Court will form the third side and an active front to an existing shared space. Drawing reference from the English tradition of early, turn-of-the-century social housing, the entrance and circulation areas are embellished with large, elongated arched openings of the common stair to the new block. The semi-circular motif is continued through to the projecting curved balconies to the upper-floor homes that are staggered in plan to reduce the impact of shadow from upper balconies. #councilhomes #affordablehomes #conviviality #hayhurstandco #newhomes #brickbybrick #londonarchitecture #archedwindows #curvedbalcony

Publication: The Association for Learning Environments is publishing a booklet on the ‘Westminster Design Day’ workshop that Director Jonathan Nicholls did last March. The sketches were a collaboration with educators (former teachers) and specialist designers (Ecophon, OECD designers, and furniture) for a ‘future focussed’ learning environment – for a primary school.

The key principles of the spaces that we identified were;
1. Enabling Environments; spaces that allow a collaborative approach to teaching.
2. Supportive Spaces; a variety of spaces that can be used flexibly to support different learning practices.
3. Enjoyable Spaces; spaces that pupils and staff enjoy being in.
4. Learning Landscapes; external environments that appeal to all pupils and provide a positive backdrop for learning.
We considered how different activities and teaching practices could be flexibly applied across the spaces. We looked at furniture layouts, following the OECD principles of; presentation, group, individual and team teaching. This method of testing the plans provoked group discussion on how a typical cellular classroom space no longer needs to exist in a primary school and how year bases can teach across a range of varied spaces, rather than having formal set areas for fixed whole class sizes.
The space we workshopped, provides a variety of types of space of differing sizes; the formal room to accommodate groups of pupils at tables, the large 60 pupil group at an amphitheatre-style seat, the practical space with a sink, multiple break-out spaces with good connections to the outside that can accommodate different numbers of learners on bean-bags or sofas and intimate spaces where 1:1 focused learning with a teacher can take place, well acoustically separated from the other spaces. This ‘future learning environment’ convincingly achieves our manifestos aims and fits within the BB103 floor areas that were defined in the design brief.

#schooldesign #learningenvironments #londonarchitecture #workshop #designworkshop #hayhurstandco

A breath of fresh air for the weekend: Grain House is a remodelled and extended Victorian home in the de Beauvoir Conservation Area in Hackney, north London. Completed last year, the house connects original and new living spaces via a 2-storey sunken courtyard that creates a visual link from the entrance, through to new family spaces and on to the garden. The project will be published on our website next week! Photo: @kilianosullivan #hayhurstandco #grainhouse #hackney #houseextension #londonarchitecture #displayart

In the press: Nick is quoted in today’s @architectsjournal discussing the impact of the lockdown on small architectural practices. #architectsatwork #architectsjournal #hayhurstandco

Something for the (long) weekend: Current work-in-progress drawings showing tone and material studies for a 150m2 extension to a 3-storey, Grade-II listed mill in Bedfordshire. The original mill dates from the late 18th century, was significantly expanded in the 19th century before reducing in scale and becoming redundant by the 1960s. It was converted to residential use in the 1980s. Sitting directly over the water, our proposal is conceived as a series of new collaged elevations and forms set amongst the existing building, outbuildings and perimeter walls. #designinprogress #architecturalcollage #mill #houseonwater

New commission: a room with a view. We have just been appointed by a photographer to refurbish a 3-storey, Grade II listed house in Hampstead for her and her family. Located close to the Heath, the property includes an outbuilding at the rear of the garden that will be redeveloped to form a new studio. #newcommission #houseextension #hayhurstandco

Working from home: The first floor space at Garden House is a studio, exhibition space and fitting room for the leather making duo @whitakermalem. The design for the first floor includes desks for sewing machine and computer work with picture-windows placed low down in the roof slope to provide framed views of the trees and greenery in the back gardens of adjacent homes. #wfh #gardenhouse #hayhurstandco #studiospace #londonarchitecture #hackney