Lime Property Ventures launch with student scheme

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gcp are pleased to announce Lime Property Ventures first development creating 25 student flats from a decommissioned sheltered housing scheme just off King Square in central Bristol has been delivered on time and within budget. The scheme has been developed in partnership with Bristol SU Lettings.

Lime Ventures is Elim Housings new development arm. This is the 4th project gcp have worked with Elim on over the last 3 years and we are actively sourcing development opportunities for future Lime schemes. 

Custom build is all go this autumn

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Graven Hill near Banbury is the largest development of custom / self-build homes in the country.

We are pleased to be supporting a couple keen to move in to the area who are bidding for a plot in Phase 1A.  Using the Plot Passport for their preferred site we have developed a compact modern home with the agreed Material Palette for that part of the site.

For more information about the Graven Hill development see their September 2016 Newsletter or go to www.gravenhill.co.uk.

Graven Hill, Banbury

'New tall buildings should not harm the character of an area'

 

Our project J3 takes the lead image for this story as an example of how new tall buildings can make a positive impact on the skyline.

 

Exert from Bristol 24/7:

Last week, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said: "I want Bristol's skyline to grow. Years of low level buildings and a reluctance to build up in an already congested city is a policy I am keen to change. Tall buildings built in the right way, in the right places and for the right reasons, communicate ambition and energy."

 

Click here to read the full story

Goose Chase PassivHaus one year on

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An interesting day returning to our Oxfordshire PassivHaus project with Tim Bartlett from CVC (http://cvcdirect.co.uk/ ) to check the calibration of the ventilation system and confirm that the MVHR is working as designed. CVC have been really helpful in the design and installation of the Brink Renovent system and measuring air flows shows that all rooms are receiving the correct amount of fresh air and the almost silent MVHR is working as designed. After a year of living in their new home the client says they wouldn’t want to live in anything else!

Goose Chase Passivhaus

Get a £50k grant towards building your Grand Design

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Material supplier Saint-Gobain and creator of the Multi Comfort concept have teamed up with Grand Designs to host a competition for aspiring self-builders by offering a £50k grant to the winner of a competition to design the ideal Multi Comfort home.

A prerequisite of the competition is all entrants must appoint a PassivHaus-competent architect to design the dwelling. Colin Powell, architect and director at gcp Chartered Architects is a certified PassivHaus designer and is keen to take support your Grand Design aspiration.

The competition is open for entries from 15th August 2016 to 15th October 2016.

https://www.multicomfort.co.uk/multi-comfort-projects/grand-designs-self-build-competition/

Doors open @ 3 of our projects

Three projects we've been involved with will feature on the Bristol Doors Open Day @BristolDOD programme this year. Bristol Water @BristolWater, Trinity @TrinityBristol and Filwood Green @FilwoodGreen  all made the list. 

Bristol Water and Filwood Green are both ticketed events, so please book early to avoid disappointment. No tickets needed for Trinity. Let us know what you think by tweeting @gcparchitects and @BristolDOD.

Click here for the programme.

Click here to book tickets for Filwood Green Business Park.

Click here to book tickets for Bristol Water.

J3 gets the thumbs up from Place Making Resource, sister publication of Planning Resource!

John Baker, partner at PBA Associates provides a rounded review of the scheme three years on since completion and finds it a worthy winner South West RTPI 2015 Planning Excellence Best Scheme on the Ground.

The mixed use scheme next to the M32 motorway now has all ground floor commercial work space units fully let that further contribute to the vibrancy of this urban meeting place.

The J3 scheme has transformed an unloved and unsafe corner of Bristol in to an active and accessible crossing point for the M32. J3 has become a catalyst for further development work in the area and bring forward ideas about regeneration in the vicinity of the motorway.

The J3 scheme builds on an earlier Master Planning study gcp undertook to bring forward development opportunities along Stapleton Road in Easton which runs parallel to the M32.

If you don’t have a full log on licence read the full article by John Baker of PBA Associates here

J3

Looking good in Clevedon

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View from the site

The sun is setting and the scaffolding has been struck on our listed building redevelopment in Clevedon. The specification was for a high performance baumit lime render system that avoids the time and environment constraints of traditional lime render. This specification was agreed with the North Somerset Conservation Officer and allowed the project to get to a water tight stage with windows fitted earlier in the programme than would normally be expected.

Cambrian House with Baumit rendering just completed

More success in Quality Assurance

 

gcp are really proud of our ongoing commitments to Quality Assurance and Environmental Management.

Following on from our successful integration of ISO14001 to our system, we have now completed transition training to ISO9001:2015.

We are looking forward to the new challenges and the opportunities for change and improvement this new standard will bring.

We will be undertaking a Customer Satisfaction Survey over the next few months to infrom this process and shall report back on the findings.

High Rise Finalist

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Twinnell House, the high rise tower block refurbishment gcp have been working on for Mears and Bristol City Council, has been shortlisted in the INCA Awards 2016.

This builds on past success for gcp, sps Envirowall and Woodman Brothers - this team won The Insulated Cladding Awards (INCA) in 2014 on the highly commended Junction 3.

Twinnell House, a stones throw from INCA 2014 winner J3, is nominated for Best in External Wall Insulation, Domestic Refurbishment, High Rise. The winners will be announced in a London Gala Dinner in October.

Read the INCA Press Release here.

#AffordableHousing @MendipCouncil

Mendip Affordable Housing Day

Wells Town Hall 21st July 14.00-19.00

gcp will have a stand at this event organised by Mendip District Council presenting our experience and knowledge particularly in the area of sustainable and low energy design. We will be on hand to answer questions show some of our current projects in the area.

Cllr Woollcombe-Adams portfolio holder for Health and Wellbeing, said: "This is a great opportunity for people to come along and meet with a range of experts and find out more about a number of elements of affordable housing in one place. It will be a chance to get all those questions answered that people are not sure about.”

http://www.mendip.gov.uk/affordablehousingevent

Prevention Through Design

gcp are currently supporting an international project aimed at reducing occupational injuries and illnesses in the construction industry, led by researchers from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).

Click here to read the full press release from UWE Bristol.

It is estimated that the global construction sector accounts for 100,000 fatalities annually and about 30 to 40 per cent of all fatal occupational injuries. Injuries and new cases of ill health in construction costs society more than £1.1 billion a year in the UK.

The innovative project will focus on improving health and safety through design, which contributes significantly to accidents occurring both during construction works and afterwards.

[...]

The project, funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, is being undertaken by an international research team of academics and practitioners from the Health and Safety Executive, Heathrow Airport, Mott MacDonald, Bam Construction Limited, ISG, Nick Bell Risk Consultancy, GCP Architects, Safety in Design, Loughborough University and East Carolina University. The project commences in October and will run for two years.

 

Listed Refurb Setting New Standards

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Architects image of Cambrian House, Clevedon

Cambrian House on Wellington Terrace, Clevedon, is being fully refurbished using a combination of traditional materials and the latest technology to create a modern home for the 21st century.

The house has an integrated but separate fully fitted guest suite at lower ground floor. It boasts four generous reception rooms, a new kitchen diner, three bedrooms (master on suite) at ground and first floors and a large attic bedroom.

This Grade II listed Georgian house with its striking modern extension overlooks Clevedon Pier and Severn Estuary. Currently on site with occupation for Christmas 2016.