BoonBrown welcomes RIBA President Simon Allford to Brixton!

24/07/2023

News

Our London Studio team (with a few colleagues from our southwest studio too!) had the pleasure of welcoming inspirational architect and RIBA president, Simon Allford to Brixton last week.

Simon is a co-founder and director of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), current RIBA President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Architectural Foundation.

We kicked off the visit with a tour of the studio, which currently houses our London Festival of Architecture exhibition and a selection of project boards which showcase our work. From competition entries to technical delivery, we were able to discuss some of the highlights and challenges across the breadth of our projects, as well as broader conversations including ambitions for the practice. This was followed by an enthusiastic Q and A with the studio team.

Discussions covered topics such as architectural education, communication and reflection within the design process, and flexibility within built design. Our key takeaways include:

“Make the profession respect itself”

With a constant race to the bottom, we should be promoting good fees for good work and not underrating our worth.

“Create a feedback loop”

Communication is key – we often aren’t learning what we could from those around us, so find ways to reflect on past designs and teach others.

 “Understand the real brief”

Architecture is not just for foreseeable uses and today’s client. Design structures which can flex and change over time, building in tolerance and adaptability so use can change.

“Make the profession more accessible and affordable, so it reflects society today”

Educate and share within the local community, promoting architecture and design, supporting alternative methods to qualification for a more diverse pool of emerging architects.


Re-imagining Brixton | Collaborations

10/07/2023

News

We are thrilled to share this fantastic short film produced by You See Media…giving a glimpse of our Re-Imagining Brixton Exhibition, which was part of this year’s London Festival of Architecture, with its focus on Brixton and based on the notional theme ‘in common’.

Through our own art and explorations, we have discovered more about Brixton ourselves, while opening our studio to the local community has been a wonderful, uplifting experience too.

We have enjoyed the opportunity to forge new connections with local people, charities, businesses and schools, as well as reinforcing existing relationships. We are always looking for more ways to engage and support the local community and look forward to continuing to develop these old and new associations.

A great example of this, was our project ‘Re-Generational’, which was an experimental collaboration between BoonBrown and South Bank University Technical College (UTC). Working with the school, we designed and printed a 3D model of central Brixton and chose five sites that could be re-imagined, with architectural interventions designed by the students. Although quite a challenge, the students were very inventive; using sketching and digital modelling to produce building and furniture designs, which were all printed in 3D. Through this, we discovered interesting emerging themes, focused on renewable technologies and a desire for more public ‘dwell’ space.

We’d love to thank all our partners who supported us in the creation of the exhibition, including South Bank UTC, Lawrence Barraclough at You See Media, support and promotion from the LDN Collective, and of course our wonderful guests, who attended our launch event and subsequent exhibition.

Due to the positive response we’ve had and continuing popularity, the exhibition has been extended for a few more days, so please do come down and check it out!


Elephant Park Tour with LDN Collective

26/06/2023

News

Thank you to You See Media who made this fantastic film about Elephant Park in collaboration with the LDN Collective.

Architectural Director Abigail Baggley and non-exec Director Ed Watson make observations about the successes in architectural detailing, and discuss how the development has anchored itself within the community, creating a really exciting bustling working and living hub within Elephant and Castle.

For those who don’t know, Elephant Park is a residential-led mixed-use regeneration scheme creating 3,000 homes, 6,000 jobs, 50 shops, restaurants and cafes, with 1,200 trees (170 of which, were there already!)


Re-imagining Brixton Goes Live!

22/06/2023

News

This week at BoonBrown we are delighted to unveil our Re-imagining Brixton Exhibition, which is part of the London Festival of Architecture!

Our exhibition explores Brixton’s cultural heritage and vibrancy, re-imagined as Common Land (this year’s festival theme), through our exhibition and façade installation. We’ll investigate an alternative Brixton, exploring the possibilities through visualisations and the re-elevation of our studio building.

Our exhibition is split into the following parts:-

 

A Brixton Colours Show | An art installation fixed to our studio’s façade symbolising Brixton vibrancy.

 

Brixton Mural Tour | Grab your free map so you can take self-guided tour of Brixton, exploring the historical and influential murals which reflect the cultural and political past and present.

 

Common Land Conception | A series of boards which will exhibit visualisations in the form of sketches, drawings and renders conveying what Brixton could look like if reinvented as common land.

 

 

Re-Generational | An experimental collaboration between BoonBrown and students from Southbank UTC, looking for opportunities for potential change in the familiar urban setting of Brixton’s key roads and node points.

 

 

The BoonBrown Experience | Take a deeper look into who we are and what we do at BoonBrown.

 

We kicked off our exhibition with a launch party hosted on the evening of the 20th June, with the exhibition open to the public for the remainder of the week.

Please come on down and check out our work – to do so, book your tickets here:

https://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/event/re-imagining-brixton-exhibition/

We look forward to seeing you!

 

📸 Image credits to the fabulous You See Media, our friends at the LDN Collective!


Planning permission secured for 67 apartments

30/11/2022

News

BoonBrown are delighted to announce that alongside clients Allerton, we have now secured planning permission for 67 apartments across three blocks on the Cherry Tree Pub site in Peterborough.

Our application was recommended for approval by the Planning Officer, and later approved under delegated powers without going to Planning Committee.

The team really enjoyed evolving this design, which included some challenging constraints, such as retention and the sensitive conversion and extension of the locally listed Cherry Tree Pub. The site also offered an opportunity to bridge between larger five story apartments to the east, and two story housing to the west, allowing for the creation of hybrid typologies with front facing gables and flat roofs.


BoonBrown appointed on Chelsea Embankment Gardens

17/10/2022

News

BoonBrown Landscape Architects are extremely excited to be working alongside the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the Chelsea Steering Group and Chelsea Physic Garden to develop and enhance the Chelsea Embankment Gardens.

Our vision for the gardens centres around visually uniting the two spaces, through the use of repetition in planting types between the sites, using naturalistic, drought-tolerant planting – creating a strong design language between the gardens. Swathes of bulbs and informal blocks of planting, alongside multi-stemmed ornamental trees will provide visual screening, whilst enlivening the spaces with colour and seasonal interest.

We have aspirations to obtain funding to restore the Dante Gabriel Rossetti fountain back to its former glory as a working drinking fountain and as a bid to cut the use of single-use plastics – encouraging people to fill up their bottles at the fountain. Further enhancements to the statues within the gardens will include the provision of formal yew hedging as a framing device and as a nod to historic Tudor parterres, whilst solar-powered up-lighting will also serve to enhance their setting.

As an homage to Elizabeth I, a black mulberry tree will be planted within the gardens, as an historical link to the mulberry trees said to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth I at King Henry VIII’s Manor House (now occupied by No.s 19-26 Cheyne Walk). In honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II, a tulip tree will also be planted in her memory.

Planting beds are to undergo arboricultural works to enhance the health and longevity of existing tree stock, whilst infill woodland planting will break up the current gaps in planting, injecting colour, structure and seasonal interest within the existing beds. Our team of Chartered Landscape Architects have chosen plant species for their ornamental qualities, drought-tolerance and biodiversity value, with input and guidance from Chelsea Physic Garden. Further ecological measures will be introduced in the form of ornate ‘bug hotels’, the design of which is to be guided through the input of local school children and will provide a mini nature trail within the gardens. With ecological guidance, potential locations for bat and bird boxes will also be explored.

BoonBrown Landscape Architects are looking forward to bringing the design ideas to fruition, reinvigorating the gardens and injecting much needed colour and life back into the gardens for the benefit of local people and visitors to this beautiful spot.


Full planning application submitted for a new 24,000m² factory for Numatic International

13/04/2022

News

We are really pleased to announce that BoonBrown has submitted a full planning application for a new factory in Chard, Somerset for Numatic International!

This development will streamline the production process of the popular Henry model vacuum cleaner, from raw materials to finished product, all in one facility to meet increased demand.

The building is a considerable size and provides 24,000m² of new floor space. It has been designed to accommodate several interlinked functions and makes use of sustainable technologies including PV panels, brown roofs and landscape mitigation measures.

Watch this space as we update you with the progress of our application!


BoonBrown appointed on Dorset Centre of Excellence

News

15/03/2022

We are excited to announce that we have been appointed as Project Architect, Landscape Architect and Principal Designer for The Dorset Centre of Excellence!

We are proud to be leading the design team and observe the transformation as the beautiful building and grounds are sympathetically refurbished.

We have been appointed as the architects for Phase 2 of the development of the Dorset Centre of Excellence, on the former St Mary’s School site in Shaftesbury.

We have already been working in partnership with Dorset Council UK to design the landscaping for the site, which includes Dorset’s new school for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), Coombe House School.

Phase 2 will see the further development of The Dorset Centre of Excellence, a centre of learning for professionals working with children and young people and a community resource.

It will offer training and courses, making use of the state-of-the-art facilities, including provision for arts, culture, music and sport.


BoonBrown appointed on Abri's Planning Consultants Framework

News

15/12/2021

BoonBrown is delighted to be awarded first place on Abri’s Planning Consultant Framework, announced recently.

Formed in November 2019 by a merger between Radian Group and Yarlington Housing Group, Abri is a not-for-profit organisation, providing more than 35,000 homes in the south and south west of England.  Abri is committed to investing in local communities to make them stronger and more vibrant, whilst helping provide homes to those who really need them.

Commenting on the appointment, Matt Frost, Town Planning Director at BoonBrown, said: “ This is great news for BoonBrown – we look forward to strengthening our existing relationships with Abri to assist in their aim to provide homes and to build communities across the South of England.”