A Hidden Door, Spaghetti Vongole, Peggy Guggenheim, Gondola's, The Dogana and Fireworks. Happy New Year from Venice!

Work moves forward on the construction of our bronze clad apartment block in St Georges Road, Southwark. Here are some pictures from site. An earlier news post can be found here and the project can also be found in our project pages here along with a PDF download

You can never have too many sheds... and they need not necessarily only be enjoyed by men in their 60's. Here is Hebe, aged 3, enjoying her (father's) new workshop. The Telegraph has announced the Shed of the Year. We didn't enter ours but the shortlist prompted a few more photos after it was completed. The shed is a wonderful place to be. After a break in construction during the winter (see here for the News post), the workshop was finished in spring 2013. Dezeen Article PDF Download: Nearing Completion Winter 2013 PDF Download: Completed Workshop

Three years ago we made it to Venice for our office Christmas outing. News Post Here. This year we made it to Little Venice via canal boat from Camden Lock.

Forming part of a comprehensive refurbishment project, here are some progress photos of a basement that we are building under the garden of a Listed Regency Villa in Addison Avenue, Holland Park. PDF Download here

In October 1991, Ben was an enthusiastic 19yr old embarking on his 1st year degree at Birmingham School of Architecture. His tutor, Keith Clarke, was equally enthusiastic, much wiser and significantly taller. 22 years on and these differentials remain and it was lovely to host Keith and his current crop of lively students for an afternoon at our new offices. We discussed many of the projects that we are currently working on and we enjoyed being challenged on the detail (says Ben recalling a long conversation about the position and species of a tree).

Bonfire night and the RDA team made a final visit to the shingle for a final supper hosted by our wonderful and enthusiastic clients, Pauline and David.

Last year we were successful in obtaining a revised planning consent for a new-build block of apartments on a prominent corner site in Southwark. Building work is now well underway with completion due in Spring 2014.

The government has, today, released details of the areas which have been granted exemption from the office to residential permitted development rights coming into force on May 30th 2013. Seventeen councils have been granted exemptions from the rules in specified areas with the The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and The City of London receiving borough-wide exemption. The Central Activities Zone (CAZ) has also received exemption. Download map here. The CAZ spans north and south of the river and the maps showing the location of the exempted area can be downloaded by clicking on the borough names: Camden City of London Hackney Islington Lambeth Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Southwark Council Tower Hamlets Wandsworth Council Westminster City Council  

The first phase of our project to develop 29 high quality small HMO apartments is nearing completion. Working with The London Planning Practice / Savills as Planning Consultants, we successfully obtained planning consent for a land use swap utilising a property owned by our clients elsewhere in the borough. The new apartments, when complete, will be available for rent.

We will shortly be submitting a detailed planning application for a new house in Dungeness. Here is a sneak preview image...

We have reached the final stage of our refurbishment of a former Artist's studio in Chelsea, SW3 - an Olive tree is craned over the roof of the house to the rear roof terrace. Two cameras - one strapped to the tree and the other hand-held. Click here to watch the video!  

We have been working on an office studio at the end of a long garden. Two buildings have been designed. Both are timber framed and very light. The larger studio building is very highly insulated (using 150mm Cellotex combined with Super Tri-Iso) and incorporates a super efficient air-source heat pump. Calculations indicate that the annual heating bill will  cost less than £21 in electricity costs. The building is wrapped with a black timber rain screen over a complete wrapper of a rubber membrane for water-proofing. The rain screen is low-cost tanalised softwood, usually used for roofing. Click for PDF Download with further pictures of the building work.