Collective Works

With a little help from government policy, Are boomers they key to the retrofit revolution? Joe Scragg reflects on a generation who have revolution in their blood, and the desire and means to make their homes comfortable and energy efficient. They could just use a little help from the policy makers to enable them. Thanks to Ben Flatman and Building Design. for sharing. If you are thinking about retrofitting your home, let's talk about making that a reality. https://lnkd.in/dVYPNVXd

"In the winter, my sisters and I would burrow into snowbanks to build snow forts, clear ice rinks on the local pond, and leave snowmen to stand guard. We’d then retreat into our timber clapboard house to drink hot chocolate by the wood stove." Xanthe Wilkins passed her part 3 earlier this year, gaining the highest score in her cohort, and picking up the Ross Jamieson Memorial Prize along the way. Her Personal Development Appraisal ( PDA) was particularly praised, and one of her assessors Dipa Joshi described it as “a delight to read”. We agree. Here we wanted to share her reflections on how her early experiences growing up in Newfoundland have influenced not only her choice of career, but also her strong community and environmental ethos. https://lnkd.in/eB7Pcius

What does a Green Home look like? Looking through the shortlisted projects in the Homebuilding & Renovating Show Magazine Awards, is a fascinating appraisal of what is happening in domestic architecture at the moment. It embraces all aspects of self build, renovation and architect designed homes in a way that seems in line with what our residential streets look like. So it was fantastic to see our North London #retrofit, Mid Terrace Dream being highly commended in the Best Green Home category, sponsored by Internorm UK. But it was also fantastic to see how 'green' the homes were across the categories. Retrofit and low carbon design, coupled with natural materials and projects that are a positive addition to the existing buildings they extend were the norm in these awards. A 'green' home isn't obvious from the outside, but from the inside, it is likely to be more comfortable, and created with thought and attention to detail. We are proud for Mid Terrace Dream to be named as an exemplar green home. Collective Works are London based architects working across sectors to create beautiful and responsible architecture. If you have a potential project that you would like to discuss, we look forward to hearing from you.

Six things that would make a home retrofit easier and more affordable for every homeowner, accelerating retrofit in this country. As the AJ Retrofit Awards open again for the next cycle, we reflected on what would make retrofit accessible for more people, so that schemes like our Mid Terrace Dream - which Siri Zanelli and Joe Scragg presented in the 2024 awards would be less extraordinary! 🎓 Make it easier to understand 💰 Reduce VAT on refurbishment, repair and maintenance, in line with new build 📉 Part Z : Regulate embodied carbon 🌉 Bridging the green skills gap in construction 🛒 Better availability of grants for retrofit products and green technologies 🔌 Greater adoption of green technology and low carbon materials will contribute to lowering their cost. click through to our blog for more detail. https://lnkd.in/ew8iAFGG

At its most basic, the #PrincipalDesigner role is about compliance. Khuzema Hussain shares some thoughts on how an architect - with their training in coordination, user needs, and construction - can offer much more to a project in their fulfilment of the PD role. Collective Works has taken training on the legislation changes and on designing with safety in mind. We have assisted the NHS, hospitality clients and a UK yoga franchise with their projects. We have not only fulfulled the PD duty, but offered additional design assistance including advice during construction. Get in touch if you are looking for help from a Principal Designer. https://lnkd.in/eNGfDekr

Great day at the inaugural Property Week ESG Edge Conference and Awards in London! Alasdair Ben Dixon and Jenny Gnadl joined discussions on the evolving ESG landscape in real estate, emphasising both opportunities and the mounting compliance challenges. With Alasdair up for two awards, they were encouraged by industry insights, BUT left questioning if ESG’s momentum is sustainable, especially given recent critiques. While we are motivated to keep pushing the boundaries in sustainable property management, some argue that ESG needs a sharper edge if it’s to drive real impact. Particularly good talks from Marylis Ramos / Savills Earth Advisory, Cathy Myatt / Chancerygate, Arun Thaneja / Winvic Construction Ltd, Linda Thiel / White Arkitekter, Tom Jordan / Barr Gazetas, Ness Scott / Greencore Homes, Alan Carter / The Land Trust, Jessica Pilz / Fiera Capital

Health is the state of being free from illness or injury. But being ‘healthy’ is about much more. We teamed up with our friends at Avanti Architects for a joint CPD session to talk about #healthcare architecture. We took the opportunity to share projects that connect traditional healthcare settings with the communities they serve. The projects demonstrate how a healthcentre can provide so much more than a GP surgery. The themes for the day were colocation and engagement, with sustainability, future flexibility and connection to community as underlying commitments to deliver projects that are relevant, long life and fit for purpose. Alasdair Ben Dixon from Collective Works presented three social prescribing projects as well as our scheme for The Quiet Room at North Middlesex Hospital. Adrian Miles and Andrew McKeown from Avanti Architects reciprocated with four healthcare projects that bring together services that can improve community health. Social prescribing can help reduce the load on GPs by 20% by treating the source of issues before symptoms become medical. Flourish, the social prescribing hub at Victoria Health Centre, colocates charities within an existing community health centre. GPs are then able to refer patients with broader societal health needs via a link worker to charities such as CAB, Mind, etc, who can advise, support and help to mitigate the issues that are leading to poor health, resulting in preventative healthcare.   Grove Wellbeing Centre in Belfast, by Avanti Architects colocates complementary leisure, health and education services. The swimming pool and leisure centre, library and health centre are all accessed from one central entrance and atrium, as a focal point for the community. Together, these services can improve community health - promoting fitness and movement, community groups, education as well as physical health. With change however, often comes resistance. Engagement is key to the success of any public or healthcare project, from stakeholders to end users. When we started working on the Social Prescribing projects, we took our design toolkit of colour, biophilia and furniture. However, having now delivered the three schemes, our big takeaway is that the most important tools we brought to these healthcare schemes as a design team were the ability to listen, engage across a wide user group and have the tenacity to take the projects over the line. Engagement at the Portadown Health and Care Centre in County Armagh emphasised core design work for Avanti Architects. Key to making visits to the Healthcentre as stress free and easy as possible were ensuring that the centre was easy – and intuitive – to navigate, naturally lit, with views out, and that the acoustics were calm. Healthcare starts in the community. Expert input – from patients and professionals alike – is vital to the success of every kind of healthcare space.

Thanks Carys Rowlands, couldn't agree more 💚 #GlobalEthicsDay

In this months' Health Estate Journal, Alasdair Ben Dixon reflects on the role and value of the architect in designing successful social prescribing hubs. This summer, Ashfield Community Hub opened in Kirkby, Nottinghamshire, providing an accessible space for community groups and social prescribing link workers to operate our of. It was one of the final projects in an NHS Property Services Ltd pilot of 100 social prescribing projects Reusing a former canteen in the Ashfield Health Centre we engaged with stakeholders and service providers from the outset and designed with specific users in mind. Creating a welcoming space where people would feel comfortable was an important factor for the long term success of the project. Read more about the engagement and how it shaped how the community hub looks and feels, to support the important services offered there. https://lnkd.in/e6zuYgb4

Would you vote for a terraced house? Our North London Retrofit – Mid Terrace Dream – has been shortlisted for the Homebuilding & Renovating Show Awards 2024 in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times. It’s on a strong shortlist that gives an insight into some of the fantastic residential renovations that are being done at the moment. They have launched a 'People's Choice' award, to allow you to decide. But what makes our project special? ⭐ It's green: This retrofit went right back to the bones of the house to make sure that it is ready for the future. It is high performance, and low carbon, and generates more electricity in a year than it uses. ⭐ It has personality: From the bold red terracotta render to the natural materials used inside – reflecting our clients’ Mediterranean and Scandinavian heritage ⭐  It's bright: The characterful saw tooth extension and loft conversion bring daylight into the whole house ⭐ Our clients love it: This ordinary, run down terrace has been transformed to a *dream home* for our clients and their new family. Our client wanted a sun filled, warm and spacious home to fill with family and friends – and they were just as ambitious in terms of sustainability. Their dream home would be great for them personally, and just as good for the planet. It is one of 14.3million homes in the UK that need to be retrofitted to bring them up to environmental standards and shows how a normal house like this can become both responsible and beautiful. Take a look for yourself, and vote here. Mid Terrace Dream is no.8. https://lnkd.in/e_tG72S The winners of each category, as well as the readers choice will be announced in the December edition of Housebuilding and Rennovation magazine, out on 1 November.