
Latest News: Framework bid success!
vHH Appointed to Public Sector Framework for Southwark Council
In
2020 we look forward to progressing our Passivhaus Creative Arts building in
Cambridge, to transforming the 1920s former GPO Rugby Radio Station into a
secondary school for Houlton and to digging a great big hole(!) by the walls of
Leicester Cathedral.
Wishing you all the
best for 2020.
1 – Cross-laminated timber (CLT) - CLT has strong environmental credentials and provides a robust and very airtight structure, with the lowest embodied CO2 of the structural materials. We’re always keen to propose it where it’s a good fit for a project – like at the New Ark building for St Benedict’s School, or the Creative Arts Hub building for St Mary’s School.
2 – Foamglas Perinsul – A cellular glass load-bearing insulation that we’re putting to use to prevent thermal bridging in our Passivhaus projects. Very expensive, but essential when you need decent thermal breaks through load bearing masonry.
3 – Rugby Radio Station – One of the residual objects from the 1960’s equipment removed from the former GPO transmitter station as part of our enabling works – we think a glazed ceramic stay insulator. We are converting this building as part of the new Secondary School at Houlton, for Urban & Civic PLC.
4 – Woollen upholstery fabric – Choosing the right internal finishes is always crucial to the success of our buildings, like the varied textures and surfaces used to fine-tune the acoustics of the Whitty Theatre for Luckley House School.
5 – Ruabon Tile – A fragment from enabling works demolition at the Rugby Radio Station, where these tiles are used both as a decorative course in the brickwork facades. Unlike the bricks, which came from nearby, still manufactured, so we will reinstate historic masonry using the same detail.
6 – Glass reinforced concrete – The historic timber cornice around the Transmission Block of the Rugby Radio Station was painted to look like the lower, stone, cornice of the stair tower, and was destroyed by fire in 1943. As part of our restoration of the facades we are reinstating it in glass reinforced concrete, which will be durable in its exposed position – c.18m above ground level – and look appropriate.
7 – Forbo linoleum pinboard – A favourite internal finish of ours – useful, vibrant, and made from natural linseed oil, rosin and cork. Makes classrooms smell nice…and lasts a long time.
8 – Painted and timber nuts – scavenged from the enabling works demolition at the Rugby Radio Station. The historic paint is lead-based, and thus all being removed: the painted bolts have allowed us to match the exact BS colours of the historic steelwork for the replacement paint.
9 – Vintage Brick – A salvaged ‘Jacobean’ facing brick, used in the 1936 extension of the Rugby Radio Station. We have salvaged these, and the original 1929 ‘Buckley Junction’ bricks, for repairs to the retained historic façades – but if you know a source for more, please let us know!.
10 – Textured glass – The original Power Hall windows have a slightly textured glass that contributes a distinct character to the interior, which we are repurposing as the new Houlton Schools assembly and dining halls. We are replacing (and reinstating) the original windows, to provide an adequate thermal envelope, but with frame sections and double glazing – including this modern textured glass.
11 – Compacfoam – A specialist rigid thermoplastic insulation we’re using to cut thermal bridging out of our details, particularly at windows and door thresholds.
12 – Grey-brown Brick – Traditional
masonry can be a great option for all sorts of projects and will feature in
many of our projects this year. This one is a candidate for our facades at the
passivhaus Creative Arts Hub for St Mary’s School in Cambridge.
13 – Ancon Teplo-L-Tie - a super low thermal conductivity wall tie made from pultruded basalt fibres, which we’re using to minimise thermal bridging in our passivhaus projects – and those which are approaching that level of performance.
14 – Copper finishes – a selection of the copper alloys we’re choosing from as we look for the perfect cladding for our projects at Leicester Cathedral, St Mary’s School, and more.
15 - Cor-ten weathering steel panel – weathering steels were developed to eliminate the need for painting, as they form a stable and attractive rusted coating after exposure to weather, which prevents further corrosion. One on the wish list for 2020.
16 & 17– Ancaster weatherbed buff and Kilkenny fossil – pale and dark limestones, which will be used to create pattern within the new step-free floor in Leicester Cathedral – making it accessible and hiding nearly all the new services routes.
18 – Burnished brass window frame – a beautiful and energy efficient window system under consideration for our extension to the Grade II* Leicester Cathedral – and the new internal lobbies to the historic doors.
19 – Faience - a glazed terracotta sample, part of our selection process to select the right glaze and finish for the façades of our extension to Leicester Cathedral.
20 – Northumberland Buff – a robust and durable sandstone,
this is a small mock-up panel exploring the vertically grooved finish that will
be used on principal elevations of the Heritage Learning Centre extension at
Leicester Cathedral, inspired by 1570’s detailing at the ruined Lyveden New
Bield.
vHH Appointed to Public Sector Framework for Southwark Council
Heritage Learning Centre for Grade II* listed Cathedral given go ahead by Local Authority
We're looking for an exceptional Part II Architectural Assistant to work with us on new projects
Find out more about our projects and the materials we are using
Check out the fantastic Christmas programme at The National Centre for Early Music
vHH Client Adviser & Partner Meryl Townley explains why the role is an important one
Listed building enabling works begin on site
Public and parents share their views at consultation event
Exciting step forward for creative adaption school project in Rugby
Architects take design workshop to students at Rugby School's Festival on the Close
Planning Submitted for new £35m Secondary School in Grade II listed building at Houlton Development, Rugby
Primary school staff and pupils settle into new building at Houlton, Rugby
Grant funding awarded for Leicester Cathedral's heritage learning centre extension
vHH Architects appoints new Associate
Planners & CFCE give the go ahead for complex project to extend listed building
Marble Hill Revived revised designs approved
HLF Round 2, planning and CFCE applications submitted for new project
vHH working on new “inspirational” secondary school for Urban & Civic
New primary school at Houlton development opened by Bishop of Coventry
vHH Partner Josh shares his tips for approaching a building project
New college in Belgium opens up opportunities for next generation of students
vHH Project Leader Peter Hanson talks about Passivhaus
Ardingly School science facility reaches significant stage of construction
Join us as we bring the world of mini-golf to our offices in Camden
Classic vHH Cambridge building added to the National Heritage List
Summer Visit to new Houlton school from the Archbishop of Canterbury
CHALKUP21 walking trail in Dover features our landmark White Cliffs Visitor Centre
State of the art STEM building one of 15 in the running
vHH joins the UK Passive House Organisation
Check out our careers page for more info and how to apply to join the vHH family
Draisci Studio produce beautiful work of art for Oundle SciTec foyer
Delivering quality public school spaces on a tight budget and challenging site
Passivhaus building for repeat client creates inspiring places to learn
Crossway Church 1 of 4 shortlisted for the President's Award of the National Church's Trust
Office trip to on-site and recently completed buildings
Heritage Lottery Fund approve £4m grant for English Heritage project
A new home for the United Reform Church in Elephant & Castle
vHH Architects have completed their first project outside of the UK, which opened recently to students
Planning proposals and HLF Stage 2 designs submitted for approval for Marble Hill Revived project
vHH Architects’ high profile Richard III project at Leicester Cathedral has been awarded a National RIBA Award
vHH scoops 3 x regional awards at the RIBA East Midlands Awards
Green Sky Thinking Week Passivhaus site tour gives visitors an overview of how it all works
Early morning Cathedral announcement confirms funding award
Video describes new school facilities and illustrates how vHH's designs have inspired staff and pupils
Already shortlisted for the 2017 BD Education Architect of the Year Awards which took place last month, vHH Architects is now in the running for TWO RIBA Awards.
Come along to our on-site event as part of Green Sky Thinking week in May
Architects join school to celebrate St Benedict's Topping Out
vHH up for Education Architect of the Year Award
School for Urban&Civic will serve new Houlton development
Marble Hill Park & House Representation project gets HLP round 1 Pass
New theatre and drama studios for Luckley House School wins a Brick Award
At the beginning of October we attended the Grand Opening of our new STEM campus at Oundle School, known as SciTec.
Make a day of it this weekend!
The concrete is complete at Crossway Church and the main worship space is taking shape
New Performing Arts Centre shortlisted for Brick Awards 2016
Our Part 1 students go back to uni, as two new Part 2 students join the office
On Friday we celebrated the start on site of the new 600 place Sir Thomas Fremantle School with a ceremonial cake-cutting on site.
We are delighted to have won the 2nd phase of Leicester Cathedrals’ reordering works – Leicester Cathedral Revealed
vHH Partner shares her views on school design in this month's FX Magazine
New Greenfield Secondary School gets the Green Light from Planning
A case study for our approach to historic buildings & heritage clients
Additional space at St Patrick’s RC Primary School will create learning opportunities
Josh travels to Eeklo to see our new building on site
Our Leicester Cathedral Richard III Project gets short-listed in two categories for 2016 Awards
New project at Camley Street will transform visitor facilities
Designer of stunning furniture at Leicester Cathedral displays light sculpture at new school
Partner Meryl Townley discusses the importance of working with proactive and constructive consultants
What’s going on in the office…
Joanna van Heyningen named in New Years Honours List for services to architecture
Progress on site as new building takes shape...
Film about new Bow School documents how the building has enhanced student and staff experience
First project for new senior school building in Ealing is almost complete
Designer of Leicester Cathedra receives accolades for amazing piece
Partner Meryl Townley Becomes London Rep for Second Term
Visit vHH's stunning Bow School on 19th Sep, as part of Open House London 2015
King Richard III finally finds his last resting place
Bow School
Bow School
Richard III - Leicester Cathedral
See the winning design from our delicious Bake-off Party last week
A mid-construction Bow School featured in last year’s Open House, but this year the building is fully complete.
The date of Richard III's reinterment has now been set.
Check out the set of photos on our Flickr from our recent Cycle to Bow event as part of the London Festival of Architecture last month.
The proposals for the reordering of Leicester Cathedral's chancel and crossing, including King Richard’s tomb, have been accepted by the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England following extensive consultation with interested stakeholders.
Our work at St Patrick's Catholic School in Camden involves a combination of demolition, new build and refurb
van Heyningen and Haward Architects has recently moved
We are excited to announce that our revised proposals for internal reordering at Leicester Cathedral have now been approved
The NLA's new Ipad App documents new and proposed projects via one interactive map.
This lively blog demonstrates how our Rivergate Church at Barking is becoming a veritable hive of activity!
As part of Green Sky Thinking week we've been looking at the impact our Cory Environmental Centre has had in its first year as a regenerated former landfill site.
On 23rd May 2014 the High Court ruled that Richard III's remains should be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral