Gillard Associates News

GA appointed by Newydd HA

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:52:04 +0000

Gillard Associates are delighted to have been appointed by Newydd Housing Association Ltd to develop affordable housing on a prominent site in south Wales.
Our proposals, which emphasised community safety and sustainable design techniques were selected from a limited competition of invited architects.
Newydd are members of the integrate consortium of housing associations and are now the third major housing provider in south Wales in our client portfolio.

H2Office Launched in Cardiff Bay

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:59:54 +0000

Gillard Associates have been working with Waterspace Developments Ltd to design a prototype floating office.
After a year of research, development and a lengthy build process (see earlier blog entry) the office was launched in Cardiff Bay just before Christmas 2009.
The vessel has been selected as the centrepiece of the 2010 Ideal Home Exhibition and visitors will have the opportunity to look at it close up.
Click this link to visit the Ideal Home Show web page and view the VIDEO OF THE FLOATING OFFICE LAUNCH!

H2Office wins Design Award

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 08:51:56 +0100

We were delighted to receive an award for Best Spatial Design at this years Cardiff Design Awards held at the Glee Club in Cardiff Bay. Also shortlisted were Safle for ‘Animal Wall’ - a site specific ecological artwork, and Mark Fisher Studios for U2 World Tour fabric stage system.

Click this link to visit the Cardiff Design Award website and see some of the home grown talent based in the area.

PLANNING CONSENT FOR ECO BUSINESS PARK

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:18:25 +0100

Gillard Associates have been working with Merthyr Mawr Estates to design the next phase of the Chapel Barns Business Park.
The scheme - expected to reach a good BREEAM energy rating - develops the existing Grade II Listed agricultural buildings for office use, and also proposes two modern buildings which are definitely of the 21st century.
“...the planning application has been made to a very high standard, both in design and supporting documents.”
Notes made by Bridgend CBC planning officer in recommending approval

H20ffice Prototype Manufacture

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:02:05 +0100

The H20ffice is coming...

Gillard Associates have been working with WaterSpace Developments Ltd to design, develop and build a prototype floating office
Visit the GA website page to find out more

GA Cohousing Western Mail Interview

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:59:51 +0100

Alan appeared in the green pull out of the Western Mail recently.

He was interviewed about his passion for self build and enabling people to find plots and building land locally.

The interview generated a lot of interest about cohousing and hopefully will help Alan's group find a suitable building site soon.

read the article on walesonline...

Planning consent given for New Code 4 Dwelling

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 11:13:41 +0100

Gillard Associates are pleased to have obtained a planning consent for a bespoke low energy dwelling in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The design takes advantage of an ideal south facing slope making best use of views and passive solar gain.
The open concept is zoned for optimum heating and differing occupancy patterns. Materials are selected for maximum thermal efficiency and it is hoped that the Code 4+ rating will be enhanced by the addition of pv cells to approach carbon neutral performance.

Gillard Associates Speak at CTP

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 14:27:15 +0000

Low Energy Building and Community Design
The Cardiff Transition Project meets for informal conversations and discussions every month.
The speakers this month were Alan Gillard and Daniel Stollar from Gillard Associates, the subject being low energy building and community design.
Visit the CTP website for news of more upcoming events and get involved in a movement which has seen massive growth over a relatively short space of time.
All those interested in climate change and peak oil issues should at least be aware of what the Transition movement means and aims to achieve.

Visit the Cardiff Transition Project website

Alan Gillard speaks at TCPA Event

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:13:03 +0000

The Town and Country Planning Association held an event at the Welsh Millennium Centre entitled Perspectives on Zero Carbon Building.
Alan Gillard was asked to speak at the seminar and showed by example how the Welsh Assembly Government’s Zero Carbon policy could be achieved so long as the initiative was taken by the client.
Other speakers included:
Jeff Perren Welsh Assembly Government and Director of Wales’ Low Carbon Hub; Phil Williams, Development Management Manager, Cardiff City Council and Chair of the Planning Officers’ Society Wales; and Simon Hartley from Faber Maunsell.

Visit the Town and Country Planning Association website

Atlantic College ECO-REFURB Phase 1 Complete

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:14:16 +0000

Successful completion - testing begins!

The first phase of the student house eco-refurbishment - the transformation of Dyfed House - is now complete and in full use.

The house is now being monitored throughout the academic year to get a full understanding of how well the building performs in practice. This information will then be fed back into the design process to tweak the designs where necessary for the next phases of development as well as to improve the efficiency of the newly completed house.

The results will also act as a learning tool for the students and staff, and particularly those living in Dyfed House, to see how their actions effect the everyday operation of the building, and allow them to get the maximum benefit from their new environment.

Visit the GA website

ZERO CARBON HOUSE WINS PLANNING APPEAL

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:31:02 +0000

At last a victory for good sense and innovation over dogmatic and backward planning decisions.

GA has won an appeal for a striking new dwelling in Peterston-super-Ely. The building is unusual in that it combines a variety of technologies to deliver a sustainable building, on a relatively small plot of land.

The form of the building was driven by the need to provide private amenity; avoid overlooking of neighbours; and fit into the street scene. The building is part earth sheltered and features a large south facing energy collector and heat store.

All of the local authorities planning guidelines were followed yet the scheme was still refused permission.

Whilst we always try to work with local planning officers rather than against them, we felt that in this case authority was being needlessly restrictive. The appeals officer of the Welsh Assembly agreed with us and rejected the planners’ case within two weeks.

The appeal hearing itself provided us with an interesting insight into planning officers’ thinking. We discovered that our scheme was ‘interesting but a step too far’; that it was ‘too modern’; and interestingly, we also heard the planning officer’s definition of acceptable modern design – ‘architects should look at the adjacent buildings, sort of copy them, but give them a bit of a modern twist…’ We are grateful for this advice and intend to follow it with our next application.

The owner of the plot intends to put up the scheme for auction with Watts and Morgan at the end of November – anyone wanting to commission a cutting edge low energy design in a beautiful location now has an opportunity to do so.

Visit the GA website

GA selected for reflecting wales exhibition

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:37:38 +0000

The Reflecting Wales Exhibition is now underway as part of the Cardiff Design Festival.

The purpose of the exhibition is to highlight the breadth and depth of innovative work in the built environment, and to reveal emerging architects, designers, artists and students whose work critically explores the built environment in Wales.

An entry from Gillard Associates was selected for display; this is a sketch model of a low energy dwelling which is inserted into a very difficult development site. The dwelling is designed to provide a high quality of living space whilst taking into consideration the need to protect the amenity of adjacent dwellings and enhance the surroundings, whilst striving to make minimal impact on the environment. The south facing gable wall is covered in solar cells which will help make the building a very low energy dwelling.

Visit the GA website

Building Work for the Old Forge underway

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:07:57 +0000

We were pleased to be asked by the owner of The Old Forge in the historic part of Llantwit Major to work up the details of the scheme and submit a building regulations application.
The developer intends to live in the building himself when it is completed and is so pleased with the design that he does not want to change a single thing about it!
The stabilising work to the existing listed building is now in process and the building of the new timber framed and clad extension will follow on shortly. The main contractor, Dave Ringwood, is well known locally as a specialist in building conservation
Visit the GA website

GA to design floating offices

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:43:43 +0100

The latest commission to come our way is unusual - but given the shortage of attractive, energy efficient office accommodation, and the prospect of rising sea levels with climate change - the idea of floating offices is logical and attractive.
H2Offices are a new concept in product design – somewhere between a boat and a self contained pod. Gillard Associates are working with WaterSpace Developments Ltd to design, develop and build a prototype floating office to be marketed early in 2009.

Visit the GA website to find out more