Latest BACA News:

This weekend, the Landscape Institute’s AGM in Norwich will be accompanied by a series of inspiring talks exploring the pivotal role that water has in its purer landscape form: rivers. A group of expert speakers will be sharing their experiences in dealing with rivers in various design fields and disciplines at The River Is Everywhere event.

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Robert Barker of BACA will be discussing the practice’s designs for The Deal Ground in East Norwich, recently granted planning permission. The BACA-led consortium of designers had to consider the site’s numerous constraints, not least the issues of flood-risk, ecology and access. He will joined by Jenny Mant of The River Restoration Centre, Eoghan Sheils of SheilsFlynn and Richard Haine of Frog Environmental.

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Following the seminar, Eoghan Sheils will guide a walk along the River Wensum. If you would like to attend the event, please follow the link HERE to book tickets.

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BACA’s submission proposes a high-tech mixed-use and cultural hub @ Soar Island, inspired by the former use – Flour Mills. The ‘mill wheels’ become the modern wheels of industry in this high tech hub and provide form to the pavilions, with a new cafe, a centre for start up businesses and residential flats interspersed into a vibrant waterside island setting.

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United by the flows of movement through the site, the holistic strategy for the island builds on existing linkages that weave through the site to create unique settings for a variety of activities that become destinations in their own right.

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Water is a key feature, with a waterside plaza, amphitheatre, canal boat moorings, revolving cafe cantilevered over the water and best of all, a innovative ‘horizontal water wheel’ – a unique feature.

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A big thank you to everyone who attended BACA’s Green Sky Thinking event, Treasuring/Taming the Thames, hosted by the Creekside Educational Centre in Deptford. The themes for this year’s Open City Green Sky Thinking Week, Green Infrastructure, Social Sustainability and Intelligent Design, saw a number of interesting topics explained.

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Richard Coutts and Robert Barker expounded on BACA’s Amphibious House design and the latest designs for further can-float homes currently in the pipeline. The proposed Thames Tideway Tunnel was discussed, and Bettina Kabutz of Creekside described the value of the Centre’s work and the local ecology.

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Thanks also to RIBA Publishing, who brought along some of their latest titles, along with a preview of the practice’s forthcoming book, Aquatecture. Group discussions on potential solutions to issues of designing with water in cities were very interesting, as were the views on how the next phase of Creekside’s expansion, in development with BACA, should proceed. Thanks again to all, and we look forward to next year’s event.

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We are pleased to invite you to a Green Sky Thinking event on the 21st of April, 18:30 – 20:30, at the Creekside Discovery Centre, Deptford.

The National Environment Research Council’s RCUK Water Showcase, 'Water in Future Cities', will take place at The Crystal, London on the 30th of June 2015. The event will bring together policymakers, businesses and researchers to explore five distinctive visions for these cities of the future: Green Food & Garden Cityscapes, Flood-proof Cities, Smart Homes & City Networks, Cities & the Underworld and Community Transition Cities.

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BACA Director, Robert Barker, will be running a workshop on Flood-proof cities with Dr. Jim Wharfe, one of the parallel workshops on Business of Water in Cities that will explore possible routes to realise these visions by:

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• Discovering the latest knowledge on infrastructure planning and business models.
• Finding out about finance and funding available for innovation.
• Selecting innovative water services or products for national competition.
• Exploring water interdependencies.

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The Research Councils UK -sponsored event will facilitate dialogue and collaborations between researchers and research users in industry, government and third sector.

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At the national Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Conference, the Department for Local Government (DCLG) announced that the new Building Regulations were to be rubber-stamped by the Queen this week, coming into effect shortly afterwards. The move is part of the Coalition Government’s implementation of deregulation that will see the Code for Sustainable Homes, amongst others, absorbed into the Statutory Instrument of Building Regulations.

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Invited to speak at the conference, BACA Director, Richard Coutts, observed: “What is clear from the Q&A session is there has been some restructuring, and from DCLG’s own comments, the new documents will take a bit of getting used to – in fact, they suggest reading the glossary first to understand the new definitions and terms so that guidance laid out in the documents makes full sense.  The long-term objective is to provide a single, more simplified reference point for the building industry, which DCLG are reporting could save the construction industry up to £100million a year.”

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During the conference, the Practice discussed the need to incorporate flood-resilient guidance and Buildings Regulations for floating domestic structures that are currently absent – perhaps in a new Part W or a subsection within the current statutory instrument.

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Talks by LABC’s Rob Burridge (Warranty) highlighted some points to reduce latent defects in buildings for Designers, Engineers and Inspectors, with Richard Twine’s review of the new standards serving as a good wake-up call for the new changes that will arrive this April.

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In celebration of World Water Day 2015, BACA’s Andrew Scrace will be speaking at the Roca London Gallery. Organised by the We Are Water Foundation and supported by Roca and the Landscape Institute, the evening aims to raise awareness about water, weather and the importance of good design.

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The first United Nations General Assembly’s World Water Day took place in 1993, to celebrate water and make a difference for members of the global population who suffer from water-related issues. In the twenty-two years since then, awareness of the vital importance of water to civilization has been brought into sharp focus.

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To discuss 2015’s theme of ‘Water and Sustainable Development’, Andrew will be joined by Sue Illman, Managing Director of Illman Young Landscape Design. Drawing on BACA’s expert knowledge and award-winning research, the LifE Project, along with examples of the Practice’s pioneering designs, including the UK’s first Amphibious House , ideas will be shared on how we can work with water when designing homes and public spaces, and how future designers can be inspired.

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- World Water Day 2015 Trailer

- BACA architects’ forthcoming book ‘Aquatecture‘, RIBA Publishing

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Event Address/Contact:

Roca London Gallery

Station Court,

Townmead Road,

London,

SW6 2PY

020 7610 9503

info.londongallery@roca.net

@RocaLONGallery

Nearest station: Imperial Wharf

Plans for a new mews development are underway in South East London. The new houses will replace a series of dilapidated commercial buildings with a low-energy mixed-use scheme. Building on the success of the award-winning Forest Mews, the houses will be set around a shared central courtyard in a gentile form of co-housing. Each house will contain a small private courtyard garden that will open onto a generous shared space that can be used for children’s play, parties, outdoor cinemas, barbecues, and other shared activities. The scheme will include live/work units to provide activity along the street front throughout the day. It will also involve minimal car parking, supplemented by car-club spaces.

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The buildings have been carefully sculpted to maximise light between and over the houses into the courtyard, as well as creating south-facing roofs for solar panels. The front block is sculpted to create a contemporary form that also provides continuity in the street line. The two-storey roof of the front block provides accommodation at the 2nd and 3rd floors at the same time as reducing the visual massing. The whole scheme creates a playful and sculptural interpretation of the mews typology, combined with a form of shared living, much needed in the densely populated capital.

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Planning has been secured for a new development of eight houses on a highly complex site in Fulham. Like a 3D architectural game of Tetris, BACA has managed to find an optimal solution that not only relocates an existing sub-station, but also manages to accommodate eight generous houses with ample outside amenity space and natural daylight through out.

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The smart plan works by locating the main open plan living space below ground level, with lightwells at one end and huge pavements at the other. The central courtyard is raised above the basements to create a shared amenity space, also reducing the height of the surrounding buildings to only two-storeys. The main private amenity space for each dwelling is located at first floor, in a slot between each building. These allow sunlight between the units deep into the courtyard to create a light-filled space, despite the density of the surroundings.

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The buildings will be of brick construction with curved zinc roofs that drop down to the boundaries to improve the outlook for neighbouring residents, without compromising the quality of the space inside.

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The development will commence on site later in 2015 with the aim to be completed in early 2017.

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Following BACA’s award for Masterplanning at MIPIM, the Practice was approached to create a landmark development in a coastal resort town in Belgium, as part of a wider regeneration scheme. The scheme incorporates a new plaza in front of the existing station and public route leading through to the local market. The development was formed from a series of ‘L-shaped’ blocks to provide a high density of accommodation close to the street level, and space between tall blocks, allowing sunlight into the public realm.

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The project includes a hotel and nightclub along the railway line, and supermarket, retail and office units at ground and first floor with residential apartments above.

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An interactive BIM model was used to explore options quickly. Extensive studies were carried out to test the impact of different massing on light to the surrounding areas. The apartment towers are orientated to allow sunlight into the public square, only creating shade across the railway line, car-park and main road.

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Robert Barker will be speaking on the 5th of March at Ecobuild 2015 as the exhibition returns to the Excel Centre, London. As part of the Concrete Centre’s seminar programme that runs throughout the show, Robert will be talking about Building for Flood-resilience with a panel of experts discussing Urban Resilience to Flooding. Visitors to the show can catch the seminar on The Concrete Centre’s stand N7096 with the Concrete and Masonry Pavilion.

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To attend the seminar, please register for EcoBuild and go to stand N7096 for 12pm.

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Lunchtime Learning – Toolbox Talks on the latest Topics

12:00 – Urban Resilience to Flooding, chaired by Andrew Minson

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Building for flood-resilience – Robert Barker, BACA architects

Sustainable Urban Drainage: The new regime – Bronwyn Buntine, Kent County Council

Concrete block permeable paving: the essentials – Tara Urding, Formpave

Case Study: Next Retail and permeable concrete – Clare Masters, Careys & Craig Burgess, Lafarge Tarmac

BACA buildings have been honoured in one-off housing awards in 2014. The fantastic Forest Mews , designed by BACA Director Robert and architect wife Jessica Barker, has been up for and won numerous awards since completion this year.

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The UK’s debut Amphibious House has already scooped a Gold Medal  in the Architecture category in the 2014 London Design Awards.  LDA CEO and Founder Mark Bergin praised the calibre of nominations as outstanding.

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London Design Award, Architecture - Amphibious House

Green Dot Awards - Forest Mews

Brick Awards Winner - Forest Mews

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Forest Mews nominations/finalist: Grand Designs Home of the Year 2014 Finalist, New London Awards Shortlist, NFA Cool Wall Award (Olsen Doors and Windows), Blueprint Awards 2014.

The latest book from BACA architects, Aquatecture, will be published by RIBA in the spring of 2015. Co-authored by Robert Barker and Richard Coutts, Aquatecture looks to the past and the future as it explores the importance of designing for water in flood-risk areas, in order to best prepare us to adapt to the uncertainties of future climate change.

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2014 saw the release of the splendid Built on Water book from Braun, showcasing some of the best approaches to dealing with water in architecture. Three BACA projects, The Crown floating village with Water Studio, Amphibious House and floating racetrack concept are each beautifully featured in this impressive hardback book by Lisa Barker.

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To order copies of either publication, please click on the links above.

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The UK’s first Amphibious House has been making waves since being featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show. This unique, BACA-designed home has attracted widespread attention and has already been won a Gold Award in the 2014 London Design Awards.

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An amphibious house is one that rests on the ground on fixed foundations but rises up within its dock to be buoyed by the water in the event of a flood. The float test will be performed soon and with the coming flood season approaching, many eyes will be watching to see if the Amphibious House’s special capabilities will be needed so soon.

The masterplanning and research elements of the Practice were recognised in two major awards in 2014. Part of the Dutch ‘Room for the River’ programme, the Eiland Veur Lent ‘island retreat’ project in Nijmegen, Holland, was awarded the MIPIM Future Projects Award for Regeneration and Masterplanning in Cannes in the Spring.

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In the recent RIBA President's Medals, the Climate Adaptive Neighbourhoods (CAN) Project was awarded a commendation for Research for its holistic design approach to adapting domestic buildings in flood-prone areas.

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ICAADE2015, the first international conference on amphibious architecture, design and construction, takes place in Bangkok, Thailand between the 26th and 29th of August 2015. BACA is on the steering committee and Director Robert Barker will be a keynote speaker at this important new event.

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The conference will provide a forum for the presentation, discussion and sharing of research, and knowledge and field experience governing all relevant aspects of amphibious architecture, design and construction. The conference aims to promote interaction among academics, researchers and other professionals involved in planning, architecture, design and construction in order to further the development of an international learning community around this emerging topic.

Thank you to everyone who made it down to the BACA stand or participated in the Planning for LifE workshops at the Flood Defence and Prevention Expo last week. The event, at which Richard Coutts, Robert Barker and Riccardo Pellizzon delivered talks, was a great success and is set to become a key fixture for any professional with an interest in flooding prevention.  

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Visitors were able to  try their hand at masterplanning with water in mind in a BACA workshop to create a safe masterplan that also maintained a sense of community.  The Expo attracted some of the most forward-thinking minds in the flooding world and the Practice looks forward to being involved again in future conferences.

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Robert Pattison collected a Gold Award at the London Design Awards 2014 presentation ceremony on the 9th of December. The Amphibious House won the award last month in the Architecture category. The awards celebrate the courage of those who commission and create excellent designs.

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Founder & CEO Mark Bergin said of the awards,”The calibre of nominations in this, our first London program, has been outstanding with participation from world renowned design studios and brands.  Across 30 categories we’ve awarded 57 winners.”