Great to spend time with students at @shrewsburyhigh as part of its careers day, talking about architecture, routes into the profession and the many different skills that help shape the built environment.
For BCHN Architects, events like this are an important part of being an active local business. They give us the opportunity to share our own experiences, answer questions and, we hope, encourage talented young people to think about architecture as a future career.
As a Shrewsbury-based practice, we also know how important local talent is. Our two founding directors and one of our senior architects are all originally from Shrewsbury, and we are committed to supporting the next generation of designers, thinkers and problem-solvers from the communities around us.
Thank you to Shrewsbury High School for inviting us and to all the students who came to speak to us. Always a pleasure to take part.
#careers #architecture #shrewsbury
It was lovely to visit our recently completed remodelling project in Quarry Place this week.
The Grade II listed house occupies a magnificent position in the Shrewsbury Conservation Area and overlooking the former river meadows of the Quarry, just outside the line of the medieval town wall.
Our design addressed a number of issues including a legacy of flying freeholds and awkward level changes through a combination of sensitive restoration and confident contemporary insertion.
The works removed unsympathetic 20th century extensions and restored greater clarity to the original plan by stripping out modern partitions and reinstating the proportions of key rooms.
The most significant intervention is a new single-storey rear extension, designed as a simple flat-roofed pavilion with bronze anodised aluminium cladding and large glazed openings to create a deliberate contrast with the cream-painted rendered and brick surfaces of the existing house.
This reconfiguration places a new kitchen and family space at the heart of the home, transforming how the ground floor is used and creating the seamless indoor-outdoor connection expected of contemporary living.
Further enhancements include the remodelling of the former stable block to provide a gym and home office, and the replacement of an existing skylight with a high-performance roof lantern.
@summer.house.interiors@shuker_builders@iqglass@russwooduk
#heritage #architecture #shrewsbury
Delighted to share that we have been shortlisted for Architectural Practice of the Year at the @insiderbusinessnews West Midlands Residential Property Awards.
Our submission was supported by three projects that together demonstrate the breadth of our residential work and the strength of our team’s expertise across very different project types.
These included Churchill’s Hall at @shrewsburyschool , a sensitive student accommodation scheme within a historic setting; Foundry Gardens in Stourport, an affordable housing development with a strong sense of place; and 3 Quarry Place in Shrewsbury, a carefully considered remodelling of a private home in a highly sensitive context.
We are very pleased to be shortlisted alongside so many strong practices.
#architecture #design #residential #housing #shortlist
A full house at @hiveshrewsbury to hear from Stephen Witherford from @wwmarchitects about the practice’s two @riba Stirling Prize winning projects.
His lecture, ‘The Heart of the Matter - exploring the social and physical Conditions at Astley Castle and Appleby Blue’ is the second @ribawestmids@shropsocarch spring lecture.
A huge honour to be the first to hear this new lecture.
#lecture #shrewsbury #architecture #stirlingprize
We are hugely excited to welcome Stephen Witherford, co-founder of @wwmarchitects , for the next @shropsocarch spring lecture.
One of the UK’s most celebrated architectural practices, Witherford Watson Mann is renowned for thoughtful, crafted interventions in historic buildings and for work that responds with great sensitivity to the social and physical conditions of place. The practice has won two RIBA Stirling Prizes, for Astley Castle and Appleby Blue Almshouse.
Stephen’s lecture, ‘The heart of the matter - exploring the social and physical Conditions at Astley Castle and Appleby Blue’, will examine the relationship between these two award-winning projects - very different in type and character, yet deeply connected in their underlying ideas.
The lecture takes place on Wednesday 22 April at The Hive Shrewsbury and promises to be a fascinating insight into the work of a practice that continues to make a major contribution to contemporary architecture, urban design and public life.
Doors open at 6.30 pm with the lecture starting at 7pm. Admission is £6 and £3 for students.
#lecture
#shrewsbury
#architecture
There is always something special about spending time on sites like this.
We recently visited an old farmstead on the edge of Walsall as we continue to develop proposals for its future. With an old farmhouse, threshing barn and a collection of long-derelict outbuildings and sheds, it is a place absolutely rich in character, history and atmosphere.
Years of change, use and decline are written into the buildings and the landscape around them, and that is exactly what makes them so compelling to work with.
Our emerging planning application seeks to embrace that heritage, finding a new future for the site that respects its historic fabric and rural identity while bringing renewed purpose to a long-neglected place.
These early visits are always an important part of the process - a chance to properly understand the setting, absorb its details and get a feel for the qualities that need to be protected, revealed and carried forward.
#heritage #architecture #farmstead #adaptivereuse
Today at Pengwern, we had the Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire visit us to officially re-open our renovated boat bays which was then followed by the Lord-Lieutenant having a go at some rowing with some members of the club! After members were catered by @shrewsfoodhub .
Thanks to @bchnarchitects and @ren2931 from AJR Building and Conservation for assisting with planning and renovating. And thanks to our sponsors for assisting us financially. This wouldn't be possible without you.
And one last thank you goes to all members of Pengwern Boat Club that have helped with this. Your support is greatly appreciated!
#shropshire #shrewsbury #lordlieutenant #lordlieutenantofshropshire #pengwern #rowing #britishrowing #fy #foryou
Delighted to see this new house in Solihull secure planning permission.
This is a project that gave us the opportunity to explore a clear and confident modernist design language in response to a highly specific site.
Tucked behind the existing frontage and surrounded by mature planting, the house has been conceived as a low, single-storey dwelling arranged around a series of distinct garden spaces, creating a sequence of internal and external rooms rather than a single object placed in the landscape.
The design draws on a strongly modernist sensibility, with an emphasis on horizontality, carefully extended roof planes, masonry walls that project beyond the building line, and a central raised hall that provides a vertical counterpoint within the composition.
In that sense, it owes something to the clarity, restraint and spatial discipline associated with architects such as Mies van der Rohe, while still being rooted in the practical and environmental realities of its own setting.
The square site is effectively quartered into four different garden conditions - formal lawn, wild planting, productive garden and arrival space - with the house extending into each of them through four distinct wings. That creates a scheme in which moving through the house also means moving through a series of contrasting landscape experiences, each with its own character, degree of openness and quality of light.
Materially, the proposal is deliberately restrained with red facing brick, expansive glazing, slim anthracite aluminium frames and green roofs.
The project also reflects our interest in architecture that is environmentally considered from the outset with passive solar principles, high levels of insulation, thermal mass, photovoltaic panels, rainwater and greywater harvesting and green roofs all forming part of the overall strategy.
#house #modernist #architecture #planning
Lovely to see the progress being made to our project at
@pengwern_boat_club .
The club on the River Severn was originally founded in 1871 and has been located in its Grade II listed clubhouse since 1881.
The clubhouse has undergone various modifications over the past century including a significant expansion in 2013 and these latest works by @bchnarchitects arch have helped ensure that the building is now DDA compliant with appropriate facilities for its adaptive squad, which caters for rowers with physical, sensory and learning impairments.
The majority of the works focused on the ground floor of the club house, reconfiguring the space and replacing the existing dilapidated concrete slab and replacing damaged steel beams and resrtoring existing cast iron columns.
@ren2931
#shrewsbury #heritage #architecture #severn #boatclub
One of the most rewarding parts of heritage work is the opportunity to look beyond what is immediately visible and begin to understand the deeper story of a place.
This early stage of the Quarry Conservation Management Plan has included the chance to explore historic maps, drawings and records with Shrewsbury Town Council - valuable material that helps build a richer picture of how this much-loved space has evolved over time.
For projects like this, that kind of research is essential. It gives context to what we see today, helps inform the decisions we make, and ensures proposals are grounded in a genuine understanding of significance, history and character.
It is also one of the most fascinating parts of the process - uncovering the documents, plans and layers of information that help bring a place to life in a completely different way.
We are very pleased to be working as part of the wider team helping shape the future of one of Shrewsbury’s most important historic landscapes.
@shrewsbury_town_council@berrys_uk@camlinsla
#quarry #landscape #architecture #conservation #shrewsbury
Few places mean as much to a town as the Quarry does to Shrewsbury.
Set in the heart of the town alongside the River Severn, it is one of Shrewsbury’s most treasured public spaces - a place for everything from everyday recreation to nationally important events. To the people of Shrewsbury it is the jewel in the town’s crown.
We are hugely excited to be leading the consultant team developing a new Conservation Management Plan for the Quarry, helping to shape how this remarkable space is protected, enhanced and cared for in the years ahead.
The project is about understanding what makes the Quarry so special, safeguarding that character, and identifying sensitive opportunities to ensure it remains resilient, accessible and welcoming for future generations.
We are delighted to be working with a fantastic team including @berrys_uk , @bchnarchitects and other local specialists, bringing together a deep knowledge of Shrewsbury and a shared commitment to its future.
This will be a major collaborative project, with consultation and engagement at its heart, and we are excited to play our part in helping secure the long-term future of such an important place.
@shrewsbury_town_council
#shrewsbury #heritage #landscape #quarry #park
