Galleries

Forge Design Studio’s Year in Review!

Regeneration Projects

Regeneration of previously developed urban sites remains at the heart of many of our projects. Work has continued on all stages of development across a number of schemes.

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Our first site in Hertford, the Former Waters Garage on North Road has commenced construction work. Whilst we have not remained active on the project, it was sold-on by our client, we are very interested to see the buildings emerge from the site. It has been a complex undertaking for the new owners but it appears the values and interest which is being created will make it a successful development.

Click here to find out more!

On the opposite side of the road!! …. we have carried out the working drawing programme for 60-68 St Andrew Street. We achieved planning permission in February and have worked with our client on the detailed development of the proposals – utilising our 3D BIM skills during the process. The archaeological investigation which was required as part of the planning conditions has been completed and a start on site is due early in the New Year.

Our largest single regeneration project, at the Former Brewery Site, Portslade is currently going through the planning process. The proposal includes a mixed-use of 50 residential units, in a mixture of new build and conversion, together with a Creative Arts complex providing start-up, low rental employment space. We are in detailed negotiation with the case Officers and are looking forward to a positive outcome early in February

A303 CPD Tour!

We enjoyed a great staff day out of the office on Thursday. It was CPD, honest!

After much discussion in the office about an away day, our lovely Director Mike, set up a top secret tour of three mystery locations. The team were only told to be ready by 8:30 and to wear sensible shoes!

Rendezvousing bright and early, Claire, Loretta, Mike and Nick, set off from Salisbury just before 9.00am and headed to the new Denton Corker Marshall, Visitor Centre at Stonehenge. Arriving before the crowds it was good to see the building and overall masterplan coping with the hordes of tourists who began descending on the site. The trip out to the stones was enjoyed by all, and as we had 3 out of 4 first-timers, it led to a lot of interesting discussion and speculation.

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We all hoped that the plans for tunnelling part of the adjacent A303 will go ahead. (Click here to find out more)

From Stonehenge we headed west to Durslade Farm, home of Hauser and Wirth. For those that don’t know –

“Hauser & Wirth Somerset is a pioneering world-class gallery and multi-purpose arts centre, which acts as a destination for experiencing art, architecture and the remarkable Somerset landscape through new and innovative exhibitions of contemporary art. A landscaped garden, designed for the gallery by internationally renowned landscape architect Piet Oudolf, includes a 1.5 acre perennial meadow, which sits behind the gallery buildings”

The buildings, garden and exhibits were a revelation and were much admired by all. It also provides a really nice lunch!!

For the last stop of the day we came back to Salisbury and made our way along to Roche Court to admire the work of Stephen Marshall Architects at the NewArtCentre. The range of projects, attention to detail and accessibility are admirable. Great to see a long-lasting relationship between architect and client. The obvious trust and understanding between the parties was plain to see.

The Artist’s House was a firm favourite – if you haven’t visited you should try and get along to see it.

A great day out with a chance to see 3 world class projects within a 45 or so miles of the office. Nice.

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Our Director Mike, always full of bright ideas!

Please see the links for further information on all of the locations we visited yesterday!

Hauser and Wirth

Roche Court

Portslade Brewery, Brighton

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After extensive pre-application discussions with the Planners at Brighton and Hove City Council the application for the regeneration of the Former Brewery Site at Portslade has been submitted and registered with the Local Authority.

Mike attended the second public exhibition held on site on the 8^th June and the feedback received has been further reflected in the submitted proposals. Notwithstanding the regeneration of the whole site and securing a future use for the distinctive brewery buildings, one of the most exciting elements of the scheme is the potential partnership with Pheonix Arts Brighton.

It is proposed that the former workshop building and lower floors of the corner Tower fronting onto the High St are converted to form a series of affordable low-rent studio spaces, multi-purpose exhibition, teaching areas and café. The attached images show an example of the proposed spaces together with an extract sample of the submitted drawings.

The scheme includes 50 residential units with a comprehensive mix of sizes and configurations and approx. 7,000 sqft of creative employment space.

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Feeling Proud

1.30pm round 3b

Mike completed the MacMillan Cancer Support 72 hole golf challenge on Thursday 23^rd at Broadstone Golf Club. It was a double whammy as Barry Mutter, one of the other pros in the shop, had completed the task with a variety of partners on Monday 20^th. All together we have raised more than £1000 for a great charity, with contributions still being added!

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Mike teamed up with son Chris and the Club Captain Mark Dowland for the whole day, with Chris Roberts joining us for the final 36 holes. A great experience with fantastic support from everyone at the club. The weather held (just about!) and the golf was consistent in its inconsistency!!

Plans are already been hatched for next year’s occasion with lots of ideas for a multi-course event.

Please feel free to give what you can, click here to donate to our JustGiving page

Longest-Day-Golf-Challenge

Summer Garden Party

After a week of weather watch we welcomed a great number of our friends and colleagues to enjoy a glass of prosecco in the garden at The Forge on Friday 10th. We managed to dodge most of the showers however the new sail shades were called into action briefly and proved to be almost waterproof!

The effort that everyone made to attend was much appreciated and it was a great chance to catch-up with progress within the office. The conversion of The Forge was much admired by those that hadn’t previously visited the office – it is hard to believe that, not only have been in the new space for more than a year, but we are coming up to our third birthday.

Time passes quickly when you enjoying yourself!!

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BIM Training @ The Forge!

Forge Design Studio welcomed Jonathan Reeves into the office for two days of 3D Modelling/BIM training. Utilising our Vectorworks 2016 CAD package we fully explored the capabilities and potential of the system. The training is the first step towards our BIM Level 2 accreditation which we are currently undertaking.

Great progress was made and the opportunity to step outside of the day-to-day project work was welcomed by all.

We look forward to making full use of all the 3D modelling capabilities and, in particular, explored and verified the inter-relationship between our software and other industry standard systems.

* nb Jonathan is the author of Innovative Vectorworks BIM, a recent publication which showcases many examples of BIM collaboration.

Summer Garden Party

Forge DS Garden Party Invite

In keeping with our tradition we are looking forward to our Summer Garden Party being held on …. A great opportunity to say thank you for all the support to our clients, friends and associates.

Being held on the eve of Euro 2016 it will also be a chance to relax and enjoy the surroundings before getting caught up in the excitement of more football! As the representative of the only home nation not to qualify, Mike has decided to ignore all talk of the tournament.

Our quarterly events are becoming well-established and glad to say that the invitation list is growing – rsvp early to avoid disappointment!

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As you can see we are getting plenty of practice in at lunchtime taste testing sessions – it’s a tough life in the sunshine!