Simple Works

We’re incredibly proud to share that Holly Tree Cottage, delivered with @site_office_architects has won not one but two RIBA South West and Wessex awards- including the Small Project of the year award. The project refurbished and extended a 2-bedroom cottage and its outbuildings in rural Dorset, creating a brighter, more open and energy-efficient home while retaining the character of the original building. A timber-framed extension was added to the existing brick structure, with breathable wood-fibre insulation and lime render unifying the old and new elements. The layout was reorganised to provide open-plan living downstairs, additional bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, and flexible garden outbuildings across the site. Huge congratulations to Site Office and the wider project team involved in this fantastic achievement. Images by: Liam Ashmore #RIBAAwards #SustainableDesign #StructuralEngineering #Retrofit #TimberConstruction #LowCarbonDesign #Architecture #SimpleWorks

Next week Sinead and Phil will be in Leeds for our second year at UKREiiF. Last year was a brilliant few days meeting lots of people, attending great events and enjoying the slightly chaotic energy that comes with thousands of built environment people descending on Leeds for a week - so we’re looking forward to doing it all again! If you’re going to be there and fancy catching up drop us a line. #UKREiiF #Leeds #BuiltEnvironment #StructuralEngineering #RegenerativeDesign #Property #ConstructionUK

Last night we hosted our first pub quiz as part of our fundraising efforts for the Hackney Half Marathon, raising money for Hackney Foodbank. A really fun evening bringing together colleagues, friends, collaborators and others from industry for some competitive quiz rounds, great energy and all for a really important cause. Huge thanks to everyone that came along, donated and helped make the night such a a success. And congratulations to our winning team!

DEADLINE EXTENDED! Applications for the Design for all programme are still open and the deadline for applications has been extended to 22 May 2026. If you know of a charity or community group in England who could benefit from the support of a team of building professionals - direct them to the Desjgn for all website (link in alma-nac’s bio). The Design for all team: @ntaplanning @stockdaleuk @simple__works @orconsultingengineers #probono #architecture #communitymatters #charityproject

Simple Works is expanding and we’re looking for a talented Senior Civil Engineer with 4 to 8 years experience to join growing our team! If you’re ready to lead projects that make a difference to people and the planet we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch at [email protected] with a CV and examples of previous work.

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 What to see, visit and experience in the built environment this month. At FUMI gallery @gallery_fumi , ten artists and designers ask how objects, forms, and atmospheres shape the way we live – including @jie.wu_ who creates sculptural furniture made from antique wood in conversation with pastel coloured resin. By Which We Live is on view until 20 June. Free to visit. 2. Columbian artist Delcy Morelos draws on the lightweight, earth-based ethos of Andean and Amazonian architecture for her monumental installation in the midst of the Barbican’s iconic concrete. Marking a return of artwork in the @barbicancentre ’s Sculpture Court for the first time in 10 years, visitors are invited to walk inside the structure, surrounded by soil, clay and fragrant spices – a treat for all the senses. Free to visit. Fri 15 May — Fri 31 Jul 2026 3. London director of @carusostjohn Architects Ben Speltz asks ‘What’s next for our existing buildings?’ in the second instalment of this year’s RIBA x Vitra Talks series. From Düngerbau (pictured), an old chemical factory converted into workspace, to Hospitalfield Arts, a complex amalgam of medieval buildings in Scotland, the talk draws on a wealth of projects transforming historic sites to explore the potential of adaptive reuse. 15 May. Tickets available on Eventbrite. 4. As part of Clerkenwell Design Week, @georgekingarch will present The Canary Clock Tower – both a nod to the area’s historic tradition of clockmaking and the canary in the coalmine. Rather than showing the time, the tower displays realtime data pollution through analogue dials crafted from recycled plastic offcuts supplied by Smile Materials. True to this CDW’s theme of circular design, the plastic components will be returned to @smile.materials for full recycling after the festival, while George King Architects will explore relocating the piece to a permanent public setting. @clerkenwelldesignweek ’s 15th Edition runs 19 – 21 May. #simpleworkspicks #londonarchitecture #architectureevents

We recently turned up the heat at Simple Works with our very own Master Chef-style team social. Split into teams, everybody went head-to-head in the kitchen-bringing plenty of creativity, teamwork and a bit of friendly competition along the way. There were some great dishes but most importantly, it was a chance to connect, collaborate, and do something different together outside of the usual work day. Beyond the cooking, it was really about strengthening relationships, building team spirit, and celebrating the people who make Simple Works what it is. Well done to everyone who got involved- and congratulations to our winning team!

Last week, we visited an exciting new creative wellbeing and workspace in Newham that is now nearing completion-and it’s looking fantastic! Working alongside Office S&M Architects, our work mainly involved designing the structural alterations to the primary building, as well as a horizontal extension The space will soon be home to a relocated local library (moving from just down the road), along with shared workspaces, giving the building a completely new lease of life for the local community. When we visited, the existing library was already full of activity so it’s easy to imagine just how well used and valued this new public space will be once it opens. Images 1,3,5 by @officesandm

Our team is running the Hackney Half Marathon to raise vital funds for the @hackneyfoodbank , supporting local families and individuals that need it most. Every donation goes directly to the food bank, helping provide essential support to our community and making a real difference. To boost our fundraising efforts, we are running an online raffle. Thanks to the generosity of local businesses, we have an amazing variety of prizes on offer- from vouchers to unique treats and experiences, with every ticket purchased going towards supporting this essential cause. Whether you donate or share this post, every bit of support helps us go further. The more people we reach, the more good we can do. A massive thanks to all the businesses that so kindly donate: @manehackney @pophamsbakery @restosune @behind_this_wall_bar @bistrotheque @mileendclimbing @hackneybikefit @saunaandplunge @healing_space_hackney @paperdressyoga @hitiogymhoxton @elevatedfitness.londonfields @om_being_ @rooftopsaunas @communitysaunabaths @coreclapton @el_gansocafe @weare_wakingdreams Fight Zone London & Holistic Health Hackney All donations will automatically be entered into the raffle. Winners will be contacted on the 15th of May. Follow the link to donate: /page/simple-works-raffle

We’re hosting a pub quiz night in support of our ongoing Hackney Half Marathon fundraising efforts for the Hackney Foodbank. Open invite to anyone working in the built environment - architects, engineers, planners, developers, and friends - to join us for a fun evening of trivia, drinks, connection and fundraising. 💷 £20 per person 👥 Teams of 4 (no full team, no worries! We’ll match you up on the night) All proceeds go directly to supporting families in need through Hackney Foodbank as part of our fundraising for the Hackney Half Marathon. Good questions, good people, great cause. If you’d like to come along or bring a team, just donate £20 per person to secure your place or drop us a message or email for details. We’d love to see you there! Link to donate: /team/simple-works?utm_medium=TE&utm_source=CL

Temporary community projects often sound straightforward on paper, but in practice they come with a very specific set of constraints: limited time, limited budget, and in many cases, no ability to anchor structures permanently into the ground. In that sense, they force a kind of architectural honesty — where stability can’t be hidden below the surface. For the Phoenix Road Performing Gardens, designed by Nooma for the London Borough of Camden as part of the London Festival of Architecture’s ‘Somers Town Acts’, the ambition was to create a small street garden that could host performances, storytelling and informal gatherings for the local community. Without foundations to rely on, the question became structural as much as spatial: how do you achieve stability on an existing paved surface? The answer lay in two lightweight structures, each resolving the problem in slightly different ways. ‘The Performer’ uses a simple column and truss grid with straightforward joinery, allowing for rapid assembly while relying on its own weight and frame stiffness to resist lateral forces. ‘The Storyteller’, designed for workshops and smaller gatherings, takes a more concealed approach. Staggered circular rings tie together a series of inclined elements, while hidden sandbags within the seating provide the ballast needed to prevent overturning — achieving stability without any permanent fixing. Across both elements, the same principles apply: lightweight construction, careful geometry, and the strategic placement of mass where it is needed most. Project credit: @nooma.studio @wemakecamden Photos by: @luke.odonovan

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 What to see, visit and experience in the built environment this month. 1. The latest addition to Stratford’s skyline – the V&A East Museum (@vam_east ) by @odonnell_tuomey – is finally open. Already an iconic structure, the new V&A launches with The Music is Black: A British Story (until Jan 2027), tracing 125 years of Black music in Britain. Featuring collections and conservation on open display, the neighbouring V&A East Storehouse is equally compelling: our kind of double bill. 2. Not Vital (@fondaziun.notvital ), who coined “SCARCH” for his irreverent mixture of sculpture and architecture, presents Listening + Looking at @thaddaeusropac . Set within Ely House, an 18th-century Mayfair townhouse, the exhibition offers a series of precise, slightly disorienting encounters – featuring the artist’s ears in stainless steel and on marble tabletops. Free to visit. On view until 23 May. 3. For those who like their buildings with an intergalactic bent, Maggie + Charles Jencks’ @thecosmichouse reopens this month. First opened to the public in 2021, the postmodern landmark returns with @isaacjulienn ’s site-specific installation of his new moving-image work, All That Changes You. Metamorphosis, which was partially filmed on site. On view until 18 December. 4. @opencity_uk presents an above-ground walking tour of London’s sanitation infrastructure, including the Crossness Pumping Station on the banks of the Thames. Completed in 1865, Crossness is exemplary of Victorian architecture and engineering – beauty and utility in perfect harmony. 25 April. 5. On 30 April, Níall McLaughlin (@niallmclaughlinarchitects ) delivers the @riba Royal Gold Medal lecture at the Royal Geographical Society (@rgs_ibg ) in South Kensington. His work returns consistently to making – “Building is an act, not an object,” says McLaughlin. “Architecture lies in its making and the way that it shapes learning, culture and communal life.” Also available to stream. #simpleworkspicks #londonarchitecture #architectureevents