Going to WATER: Resilience & Innovation for the Built Environment was a great evening surrounded by like-minded people.
The UK’s first Amphibious House has won a Gold Award in the Architecture category at the 2014 London Design Awards. The trophy will be presented to the BACA architects team responsible for the project at a ceremony to be held at the Truman Brewery in London next week. The London Design Awards celebrate those who produce excellent design works.
To see the winning project, please visit the LDA website by clicking here.
The UK’s first Amphibious House has won a Gold Award in the Architecture category at the 2014 London Design Awards.
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12:30 Thursday 4th December, 12:30 Friday 5th December
Visitors to the Flood Defence Expo will be able to try out flood-mitigation methods in a masterplanning workshop led by BACA, pioneers of the award-winning LifE (Long-Term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments) Project.
As with real life, the challenge is to create a masterplan that fits all the playing pieces on the plan whilst maintaining a sense of community and ensuring it is safe. No prior experience or specific expertise is necessary and it is hoped that teams will include a broad range of people such as planners, highways and environment officers, consultants, developers and local interest groups.
At the end of the workshop, teams will be invited to present their plan, then compare and contrast against other teams. A small open debate will follow to discuss the challenges presented by the Planning Scenario and how these tools are transferrable to other sites in the UK.
The Flood Expo has attracted some of the most forward-thinking minds in the flooding world. To attend the Flood Defence & Prevention Expo go to www.flooddefenceexpo.co.uk to register for your free ticket and show guide.
Visitors to the Flood Defence Expo will be able to try out flood-mitigation methods in a masterplanning workshop led by BACA.
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Following the transmission of the Amphibious House on C4’s Grand Designs and the subsequent number of enquiries into where people can catch BACA architects speaking and lecturing at events, a diary of forthcoming engagements has been created.
A list of current speaking engagements is included below, with further details to follow as each event approaches: RIBA Masterclass: Floating Houses and Flood Resistant Homes 25th November 2014 Richard Coutts will be one of the leading experts discussing climate change and how to build to reduce the damage caused by flooding. Tickets are available to be bought by clicking here.
Resilience 14 – BRE Watford 26th November 2014 The Britain Under Water seminar will highlight the latest thinking on flood issues and examine ways to incentivise flood-resilient behaviour, insurance, flood-resilient construction, and what can be learned from other countries. Robert Barker will be presenting the new Flood Resilient Property Handbook, produced by BACA, BRE and Aquobex for Defra. For more information, please click here.
Flood Defence Expo 4th-5th December 2014 Three BACA representatives will be speaking at the Conference, a problem solving and solutions exhibition featuring many of the world’s leading flood prevention companies as exhibitors, alongside an extensive seminar and workshop schedule highlighting new, cost-effective ways to prevent and manage floods. Robert Barker – Aquatecture – Flood-proof cities and water place-making Richard Coutts – LifE Initiatives – Designing for Climate Change and Flood-risk Riccardo Pellizzon – Future Housing – Amphibious, Elevated and Flood-Resilient Designs BACA will be hosting a live workshop each lunchtime, to masterplan in flood-risk areas using the award-winning Blue Infrastructure Toolkit. BACA will also be hosting a stand at the event if you wish to talk to one of their experts at the show. To book a free ticket to the event at Excel in London, please click here.
Vision London 2nd-3rd June 2015 Vision is a new annual event for communities to discuss, debate and showcase the latest innovations and developments in architecture, design and the built environment. Richard Coutts will be talking in the Innovations in Architecture and Design stream about the Amphibious House and other water-related projects.
ICAADE – Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering 26th-29th August 2015, Bangkok, Thailand we will be a keynote speaker at the first International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering.
Following the transmission of the Amphibious House on C4’s Grand Designs and the subsequent number of enquiries into where people can catch BACA architects speaking and lecturing at events, a diary of forthcoming engagements has been created.
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The Climate Adaptive Neighbourhoods (CAN) Project has received a commendation in the 2014 RIBA President's Awards for Research. Funded by the Technology Strategy Board, the project progressed BACA’s LifE (Long Term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments) Project, itself a winner of a 2009 President’s Medal for Research. The CAN project is a holistic design initiative to climate adaptive domestic buildings in flood-prone areas.
No overall winner was announced in the Award for Outstanding Practice-led Research, however the judges felt the BACA research deserved recognition: “This detailed analysis of the East Norwich housing that was a case study in the practice’s LifE Project research resulted in findings that are pertinent and applicable to future developments on flood-prone sites. The judges felt this excellent research worthy of a commendation.”
The Climate Adaptive Neighbourhoods (CAN) Project has received a commendation in the 2014 RIBA President's Awards for Research.
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One of BACA's directors spent a recent afternoon delivering a presentation to visiting Chinese officials at the request of the Town and Country Planning Association. The twenty delegates from the Guangzhou local authorities, including the Vice-mayor of Ghuangzhou, who were in London to discuss riverside environment planning and protection. The TCPA invited BACA to share the Practice’s specialist expertise and experiences with the visitors, relating to planning and designing with water.
Robert presented and discussed some of BACA’s high-profile research and projects, including the MIPIM award-winning Eiland Veur Lent, Holland’s most ambitious Room for the River Project; a proposal for the future of Shanghai, designed to work with water, from the Practice’s forthcoming book, Aquatecture, to be published by RIBA in the New Year; and the award-winning LifE Project (Long Term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments).
One of BACA's directors spent a recent afternoon delivering a presentation to visiting Chinese officials at the request of the Town and Country Planning Association.
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October saw the anticipated debut of the UK’s first Amphibious House, designed by BACA, on C4’s Grand Designs show. The family home on the banks of the River Thames, that rises in its dock to float in the event of a flood, is a major breakthrough for British architects and engineers who have been searching for a solution to mitigate flood-risk.
Highlights of the show included the successful passing of the float test and the site under water during last winter’s terrible national flooding.
With this winter approaching and the potential for the first flood on the site of the newly-built house, it may not be long before the Amphibious House rises to the occasion.
October saw the anticipated debut of the UK’s first Amphibious House, designed by BACA, on C4’s Grand Designs show.
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Work has begun on-site for a high-end home in an attractive area in north of England. The five-bedroom residence will combine energy-saving technology with top-of-the-range luxury living. The four-storey home, featuring a sizeable basement, will include a home cinema, games room, dressing room and jacuzzi in its 7,000sqft of living space.
Clad in Ashlar stone and designed to meet CfSH Level 4, this opulent home will boast high-performance double-glazing, natural ventilation, under floor heating and Photovoltaic solar slates. The landscaped garden includes stone and lawned stepped terraces, reminiscent of an amphitheatre, with an attractive water feature cascading down its centre.
Work has begun on-site for a high-end home in an attractive area in north of England.
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Work has begun on-site for a modern five-bedroom family home in picturesque West Devon.
Located on an old farmyard overlooking Dartmoor National Park, the edgy home is designed to sit in harmony with the landscape and the surviving outhouses. The original granary will be completely refurbished to become part of the accommodation, accessed via a covered glass walkway from the main kitchen.
Natural materials will be employed, with an emphasis on local stone to soften the modern form and create sympathy with the granary, and combine with extensive highly insulated glass that will allow generous natural lighting and fantastic views across the stunning countryside. An innovative Sustainable Drainage System will not only enable effective rainwater collection and harvesting, channeling the water down a stepped promenade under the walkway between the house and the granary, but also create a feature rainwater pond.
Work has begun on-site for a modern five-bedroom family home in picturesque West Devon.
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BACA’s Brook Street flood-resilient home is close to completion and will be ready to welcome it’s family-owners in time for Christmas.
The main structure has been completed with finishing touches to the interior and landscape now underway.
The elevated building, located in an historic Oxfordshire village, is situated next to a brook that can flood during periods of heavy rain. During a flood, water is conveyed underneath the house, yet in dry periods its elevated nature means the house appears to float above the surrounding wildflower meadow. The sculpted landscape enables water storage and provides a gradual warning of an approaching flood.
The family home is low in profile and simple in form with a nod to converted barns in the area; the series of interlocking buildings, clad in timber, glass and steel, provide open-plan living space that also manages to maintain the intimacy of separate rooms.
BACA’s Brook Street flood-resilient home is close to completion and will be ready to welcome it’s family-owners in time for Christmas.
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The Architecture Review ‘Water & Architecture’ video series has now gone live to coincide with the debates coming up at the Old Royal Naval College. It is good to see and hear the issues and opportunities being seriously discussed.
Watch the Architecture & Water documentary Part 1: A river runs through it
The Architecture Review ‘Water & Architecture’ video series has now gone live to coincide with the debates coming up at the Old Royal Naval College.
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Clients, colleagues and friends came together to celebrate BACA’s 10th Birthday this October.
The party was a double celebration, with guests enjoying popcorn along with the canapes and wine as they watched the debut screening of the BACA-designed Amphibious House on C4s Grand Designs.
The party was hosted at Director Robert Barker’s fabulous Forest Mews Home, recently nominated for further awards for its design and innovative use of materials. BACA would like to thank everyone who could make it on the night and has been a part of making the company the success it is today. We look forward to the next exciting decade.
Clients, colleagues and friends came together to celebrate BACA’s 10th Birthday this October.
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The Practice is delighted to have been asked to present to a group of visiting Chinese officials on Monday the 27th of October at the Town and Country Planning Association. The twenty Chinese delegates, largely from Guangzhou’s Zengcheng District, are local government officials working in the areas of water, planning, land resources and environmental bureaus.
The presentation will focus on the Practice’s specialist expertise of designing with water. BACA projects that will be discussed include:
The Practice is delighted to have been asked to present to a group of visiting Chinese officials on Monday the 27th of October at the Town and Country Planning Association.
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We are pleased to announce that the practice has been shortlisted for One off house Architect of the Year – sponsored by Duravit.
Ours feature new homes this year include Serenity House (an ambitious passivehaus for lottery winners), The Amphibious House, Forest Mews and Brook Street.
We are pleased to announce that the practice has been shortlisted for One off house Architect of the Year.
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The impressive hardback book, by Lisa Baker, showcases some of the best in innovative designs that demonstrate different approaches to dealing with water as an architectural element.
BACA’s The Crown floating village with WaterStudio, floating racetrack concept and Amphibious House are all impressively presented with illustrations and accompanying explanations.
The timing of the book’s release coincides perfectly with the appearance of the Amphibious House on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show at 21:00 on Wednesday the 15th of October 2014.
Built on Water is available for purchase via the following link
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/episode-guide
Three water-related projects from BACA feature in a stunning new book, ‘Built on Water’, that has just been published by Braun.
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The Amphibious House will be unveiled for the first time at 21:00 on Wednesday the 15th October on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show this week. It has been a challenging design and even more challenging build.
What an amazing project to work on. We are pleased to see it nearing completion.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/episode-guide
The Amphibious House will be unveiled for the first time at 21:00 on Wednesday the 15th October on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show this week.
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November’s issue of Grand Designs Magazine is on the shelves now, featuring the story of the UK’s first Amphibious House, designed by BACA architects.
The article tells the clients’ story from planning through to construction of the special amphibious design and recalls the floods of 2014 which held up construction.
The success of the design of the house, as well as its pioneering flood-resilient nature, is captured in the stunning photography accompanying the article.
This forward-thinking project will hopefully form the benchmark for other amphibious properties around the country as people seek to protect their homes from flooding.
Further details can be found on p61-67 of November’s Grand Designs Magazine.
November’s issue of Grand Designs Magazine is on the shelves now, featuring the story of the UK’s first Amphibious House, designed by BACA architects.
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Presented with the seemingly simple proposition of designing a house that was streamlined, soft and luxurious like their cars, the client challenged London-based BACA architects to create a substantial new home that followed the same philosophy.
Detailed designs and working drawings for Serenity in Nottinghamshire are now fully developed and the project is ready for the important tender stage, the formal process of issuing plans to pre-qualified building contractors to gather competitive quotes for the construction work.
Designed using state-of-the-art computer modeling software and rethinking conventional approaches and tools used in environmental housing design today, the result is an exuberant property that stretches the boundaries of design, structure, and environmental thinking. It also reconciles a difficult combination: a home that is low in energy use but high in aesthetic aspiration and luxurious qualities.
Serenity delivers a reconstruction of formal and private rooms set in wings typical of large 18th century houses, but reconstructed within a continual loop around a central sunken courtyard and garden. Achieving the Passivhaus energy standard was extremely demanding for an organic form with high energy and water demands, such as a cinema room and swimming pool.
Replacing the drawing room, parlour, ballroom and smoking room of yesteryear are a state-of-the-art home cinema, games room, acoustic music pod, grotto swimming pool, home gym and connected office, all seamlessly wired to incorporate the latest digital technology, security surveillance equipment and triple A-rated appliances.
A sweeping roof appears to float above the undulating building, enclosing four wings, or hubs including a formal entertaining hub, a family hub, games hub and an annex. The ceramic tiled roof is perhaps the most striking feature and also provides shading, privacy and screening; it also harnesses enough solar energy to generate the majority of renewable power required to run the property.
The house is designed to create a seamless flow of activity, with the grand entrance hall cascading down to the kitchen, which flows in to the family living room and on through the orangery and pool house. The central courtyard creates a protected outdoor formal garden and the free-flowing plan, stepping inside and outside, will enable contained entertaining and also informal family leisure.
Designer, BACA architects, best known for innovative water-based architecture (“aquatecture”), has woven water through the scheme. Rainwater is collected in a reflecting pool at the centre of the house before cascading to create a gentle but dramatic waterfall or ‘water curtain’ in the courtyard whenever it rains, and providing a soft refreshing mist during drier periods. This fascinating outdoor feature also has a very practical application, helping to reduce run-off water and provide cooling for the house.
Serenity is uncompromising luxury, underpinned by sustainability; it borrows from history, preserves those elements that work, evolves others that don’t and frames it unapologetically in the 21st Century – one might suggest the true spirit of the English Century House in the 21st Century.
Presented with the seemingly simple proposition of designing a house that was streamlined, soft and luxurious like their cars.
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The exquisite design for the mesh facades of forest mews are completed. Now the architecture of the landscape is taking shape in this lovingly crafted urban oasis.
The exquisite design for the mesh facades of forest mews are completed. Now the architecture of the landscape is taking shape in this lovingly crafted urban oasis.
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