CHRISTOPHER NILS SHAW
Portfolio of selected works 2019 -2021
Document Title Date
Contents CV 4
Academic
House in an Orchard
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Living Cloth
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Forager’s Retreat
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Mangrove Resilience
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Detail Study
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47 Bottles
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Buttress Architects
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Trafford Design Guide
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Clay Cross Towns Fund
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Wildhouse Lane
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Chester Road
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Christopher Nils Shaw Portfolio
3 Contents
CHRISTOPHER NILS SHAW
www.christophernils.com 07590459951 info@christophernils.com British Manchester, UK
Education
About
2016 - 2019
University of Huddersfield Architecture (International) BA (Hons) Award - First Class
2002- 2004
A Levels
St. Joseph’s College, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Member of Manchester Society of Architects m000 Iso[Nation] Publication
2019
(finalist) RIBA President’s Bronze Medal
(nomination) 2019 RIBA North East & Yorkshire Student Award (nomination) 2019
During my studies I have developed projects for many different cultures and climates, designing architecture that has a strong social conviction and sustainable agenda. My dissertation research explored the impact of demolishing obsolete urban artefacts and how this process affects the collective memory of the city. RIBA student mentor for Buttress Architects
Awards 2020
I am passionate about every aspect of design, particularly with architecture that is deeply rooted within its context and the tectonic expression of materials and technology.
Third Year External Examiner’s Prize
(winner)
Experience July 2019 - Present
Buttress Architects Part 1 Architectural Assistant
Competitions 2020
mOOO Iso[Nation]
Charity competition for the World Health Organisation Covid-19 Solidarity Response fund.
2019 Peter Stead Sustainable Architecture Award (shortlisted)
Exhibitions 2018
Nicholas Ulanowsky Award for Detail in Design
(winner)
2019
Leeds Festival of Architecture
2017 First Year Highest Achievement Award (winner)
2019
Royal Cambrian Academy
2017
Architectural Process
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Christopher Nils Shaw Portfolio
Byram Arcade, Huddersfield
Buttresss Architects
Architecture (Internantional) BA (Hons)
2021 Trafford Civic Quarter AAP A new sustainable neighbourhood in the heart of Trafford’s AAP, with 700 new homes, leisure and botanical gardens.
2019 Living Cloth Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam A sustainable fashion workshop and studio for Ho Chi Minh City; connecting young designers with the traditional crafts of Vietnam’s tribal communities in a response to the damage caused by fast fashion.
2021 Foregate St. Conservation and development of Grade II Listed former bank in Chester. A highly sensitive s adjacent to the Roman city walls. 2020
Trafford Design Guide
A document to provide guidance on principles of character and place, encouraging high quality design based on connected neighbourhoods and architecture that responds positively to Trafford’s historical context. 2020
2019 Forager’s Retreat Conwy, Wales Aimed at encouraging ecotourism, the retreat is a place to cook wild food collected from the shoreline of North Wales.
2019 47 Bottles - Dissertation Stoke-on-Trent Research that looks at the destruction of bottle kilns in Stoke-on-Trent, and how their absence has affected the city identity and collective memory.
Clay Cross Towns Fund
As part of a bid for government funding, the vision for Clay Cross is one of a thriving industrious and sustainable market town, built on a strong and vibrant community spirit and a unique heritage. 2020 Wesley Chapel The conversion of the Grade II Listed former Wesley Chapel in Macclesfield. Testing feasibility options for a restaurant and residential use. 2019 Wildhouse Lane Situated to the north of Milnrow, Wildhouse Lane is a housing scheme that has recently been awarded planning consent. The sensitive site sits on the edge of the Pennine Moors and has several of Grade II listed agricultural buildings to the north east.
2018 Nook Holmfirth Brewery and taproom to allow local brewers to expand craft beer production, facilitated by a masterplan of the village that addresses the changing land use in British high streets.
2017 Mangrove Resilience Tortola, British Virgin Islands A hurricane shelter with the reintroduction of mangroves to the area, creating a soft interface between the land and sea that produces greater resilience during storm surge. 2017 Common Huddersfield Cinema and laundrette, a project that explores the role of these building types in the 21st century.
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CV
Projects
House in an Orchard mOOO Iso[Nation] 2020 - Finalist Chartiy competion for the World Health Organisation Covid-19 Solidarity Response fund. Collaboration with Theodora Beckett
The design is a response to the feeling of timelessness one experiences during self isolation and working from home. As the days and months pass by, it is easy to feel disconnected from reality as our lives settle into a simpler routine. House in an Orchard uses natural light, spatial hierarchy and the vibrant seasonality of fruit trees to create external time givers, allowing the occupants to adapt to a new daily rhythm based on changes in nature. The house proposes separate spaces for working, private living and gardening, establishing a distinction between each of these activities during the day. The office is connected to the main house via a covered walkway that frames views of the surrounding orchard and provides a sheltered place to experience the weather. Each morning, the occupants are awoken by light that enters the bedroom through a large skylight to the east. As the sun moves through the sky, windows are positioned to bring light into spaces as they are used. The kitchen is designed to be accessed throughout the day and as the central point of circulation. The courtyard garden contains raised beds to create a supplement food supply and promote healthy mental wellbeing. Fruit trees were chosen for the scheme not only because they provide an abundant crop during late summer but for the striking visual changes each tree shows throughout the year. From the fragrant white blossom and verdant leaves of spring, to russet leaves falling in autumn, each season provides a sense of time.
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7 House in an Orchard
Living Cloth Ho Chi Minh City
RIBA President’s Bronze Medal nomination RIBA North East Student Award nomination Third Year External Examiner’s Prize winner
Weaving and embroidery techniques have been taught throughout the generations, particularly in the Vietnamese hill tribe communities who developed intricate and colourful clothing from naturally produced yarns, such as hemp, cotton and silk. These tribal communities also became experts in natural dyeing techniques, especially in the use of indigo. As Vietnam embraces globalisation, the culture of these communities is under threat, with many of the younger generations leaving their ancestral homes in search of work in the cites. While the production of clothing is still big business in Vietnam, it is largely concerned with mass production for the ‘fast fashion’ export market. The proposed scheme is a fashion studio and workshop, with the aim of connecting young designers from Ho Chi Minh City to the many tribal communities that inhabit the country and their knowledge of textile production. The project celebrates slower manufacturing as a necessary step towards a more sustainable future in clothing design and manufacturing. The building incorporates indigo cultivation, dye vats and traditional looms to provide educational facilities for the neighbouring school. Beehives are used to encourage ‘batik’ wax dyeing techniques and to introduce Vietnam’s traditional crafts to the next generation. The hives also encourage greater biodiversity and pollination for the surrounding plants, whilst giving the school children an opportunity to learn dyeing techniques.
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9 Living Cloth
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Ground Floor Plan 1. Workshop - Communal workshops for 4 brands containing industrial straight stitch sewing machines, 5-thread over-locker, standard gauge sewing machines, folding table loom, cutting table 2m x 2m, dress makers dummies. 2. Design Studio - Communal design studios for 4 brands containing computer facilities, workbenches, cutting table 2mx2m, conference room, library of patterns & resources. 3. Education Centre - Direct access form the neighbouring school. The space contains traditional hand looms, drawing facilities, lecture area. This area also includes vats for indigo dyeing.
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4. Indigo Cultivation - Raised beds of indigo plants with parallel walkways. 5. Individual Boutiques - Retail space for each brand, perforated brick construction to allow for natural ventilation. 6. Offices 7. Plant room
Living Cloth
Concept Models The initial concept model (right) was driven by the notion of weaving. Using the structural grid lines of the surrounding built environment, one can read the dense urbanism as a woven fabric. The response to this context was to weave planes and forms into the grid to create courtyard spaces and a hierarchy of form, emphasising the warp and weft of the site. The structural grid of the site was given more fluidity with curved forms that appear as fabric; a woven brick facade that is breathable in the tropical heat. While the pergola and indigo planters conform to the structural lines of the surrounding Vietnamese ‘tube houses’. 11
Cast stone coping
Spray-applied waterproof membrane 200mm rigid insulation 300mm precast, reinforced concrete roof slab 400mm services cavity Slatted timber acoustic ceiling with interconnecting aluminium dowels 200mm precast, reinforced concrete frame 1000mm pre-galvanised wall tie Bespoke brick, each has a corresponding grid reference indicating placement in relation to neighbouring bricks
12mm interior cladding, native durian timber 50mm services cavity
Double glazed window, 8mm toughened glass, 16mm cavity. Slides open for ventilation.
500 mm precast concrete, red pigmented 60mm screed Damp proof membrane
400mm insitu concrete slab
Detail
Section
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Concrete pile foundation 500 mm diameter, 4000mm depth.
13 Living CLoth
Forager’s Retreat Conwy, Wales
The coastal town of Conwy relies heavily on traditional seaside tourism, making it particularly vulnerable to changes in recreational habits. However, the surrounding landscape has great diversity in natural habitats, ranging from tidal waters to dense forest and hedgerows, all of which offer up wild ingredients to the vigilant forager. Forager’s Retreat aspires to encourage ecotourism in Conwy by connecting visitors with their natural surroundings, through collecting wild food and cooking on an open fire. The scheme also proposes to incorporate a mussel farm within jetty of the small building complex, encouraging greater biodiversity and cleaner water. A site was chosen at a point where a woodland meets a rocky peninsular, creating an ideal opportunity for a visually striking piece of architecture that celebrates the rhythms of nature and the seasons. A study was also undertaken to understand the genius loci of Conwy, looking at the different phenomena that make up the character of the area, such as texture, stratification, patina, landscape, vernacular and memory.
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15 Forager’s Retreat
Initial conceptual design was inspired by the sculptural works of Sean Scully; layered horizontal elements create bold structures within the landscape. The rock, sand and marine life in Conwy can often be seen in layers that share a relationship to one another, presenting an opportunity to explore such themes in an architectural form. Concept models explored ways in which these layers could be 16
Christopher Nils Shaw Portfolio
sculpted to create contrasting smooth and textured surfaces. Different iterations were tested to establish the spatial relationship between the forms; framing views across the water and creating a sense of enclosure. The buildings are designed to appear as an extension of the rocky outcrop, breaking up into the estuary. Their small footprint ensures minimal disturbance to the river bed.
17 Forager’s Retreat
Mangrove Resilience Nicholas Ulanowsky Award for Detail in Design
The island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands is becoming severely effected by the frequency of powerful hurricanes due global heating. The brief asked for a play area that could also be used as a shelter in an extreme weather event. Historic accounts of boaters using the mangroves for shelter during hurricanes began to inform the design, while further research found that 80% of these mangroves had been lost causing soil to be washed away creating additional detriment to the local environment. The proposal introduces a resilient interface between the ocean and the land. Rather than a barrier to try and prevent storm surge, a
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mangrove lagoon invests in the natural area making it more resilient to damage, especially as the roots deepen, preventing soil erosion. The reintroduction of mangroves on the site creates a lagoon and reed bed rich in biodiversity. The nature reserve incorporates play areas designed for younger children, while others can participate in kayaking, snorkelling, bathing and relaxing around natural pools. The structure of the shelter responds to the root system of the surrounding mangroves. Internal spaces are naturally well ventilated and provide plenty of shade.
19 Mangrove Resilience
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21 Mangrove Resilience
Detail Study A detail study of Jesus College, Cambridge, by Niall McLaughlin Architects explored the tectonic expression of the building and the methods used in its construction. Research into the different materials and construction techniques was used to inform the production of a physical model, creating a deeper understanding of how rich architecture is produced from considered detailing and craftsmanship.
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23 Detail Study
47 Bottles Architectural Dissertation
Stoke-on-Trent is often defined by its industrial past; the ceramic industry created an architecture that was unique to the area, with thousands of bottle shaped kilns uniting the skyline of the Six Towns. Although the kilns were ubiquitous throughout the area, during the twentieth century they were demolished in their thousands. This process of demolition fundamentally changed the city vernacular, resulting in a loss of identity and urban memory, leaving only forty-seven kilns still standing. The locations of the demolished bottle kilns were plotted using a combination of historic and contemporary maps. This enabled one to construct an image of their former presence within the townscape. This process also allowed for direct comparisons between the land use of sites during the early twentieth century and the present day. Today, these bottle shaped buildings have become monuments in the landscape as history bestows on them a function for which they were not intended. Using historic maps, site visits and literature, the dissertation sought to determine how the loss of these unusual urban objects affected the identity and collective memory of the city.
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47 Bottles
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent 73 previous kilns mapped 19 remaining kilns
285 previous kilns mapped
Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent
12 remaining kilns
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Trafford Design Guide Buttress Architects
The borough of Trafford is situated in the south of Greater Manchester. Providing clear guidance on principles of character and place, the document encourages high quality design based on the following principals: •
Connected and inclusive communities
•
20 minute cycle neighbourhoods
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Designing with character and responding to heritage
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Sustainability
•
Redefined streets & landscaping
My responsibilities included establishing best practice design principals for a variety of different building types. Illustrating the document with diagrams and presenting work to the public and councillors at the Trafford Design Guide Symposium. The finished guide will be used by architects, planners and landscape architects to create sustainable urban neighbourhoods in Trafford and the surrounding boroughs of Manchester.
Tall Buildings
Solar studies
Landscaping at ground level Dual aspect
Active frontages
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Christopher Nils Shaw Portfolio
Apartments 1
2
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1. Articulated skyline 2. Height at street intersections to create landmark 3. Green roof terraces 4. Active frontages to create a lively street scape 5. Recessed balconies
Low Carbon Housing
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1. Insulated fabric, air tight design
8. Angled roof 25o to allow light into garden.
15. Green roof.
2. Integrated photovoltaic.
9. Maximise light to rooms
16. Air tightness, tape around windows.
3. Water butt.
10. Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery
17. South facing windows, triple glazed.
4. Home office.
11. Low VOC paint and carpets.
18. Decentralised energy.
5. Low water consumption fitting. Heat recovery.
12. Divert waste from landfill.
19. Low NOx heating.
6. Rain water harvesting .
13. Electric car charging point.
20. Solar control deep reveals.
7. Air source heat pump.
14. Native trees and plants.
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Clay Cross Towns Fund Buttress Architects
Clay Cross is a former industrial and mining town with a distinct sense of identity and rich industrial heritage. As part of a bid for government funding, Buttress Architect’s vision for Clay Cross is one of a thriving industrious and sustainable market town, built on a strong and vibrant community spirit and a unique heritage. The scheme proposes a renewed heart that responds to the aspirations of a growing population with a future founded on enterprise, skills and learning, innovation and low carbon technology. Enhanced connectivity
My role in the project was to analyse existing connectivity, site opportunities, heritage assets and illustrate key proposals centred around a new town centre.
Existing key route Proposed cycle routes
Cycle route to A61 to Chesterfield
Tupton Hall School Proposed railway station EGSTOW PA R K
Br
idg eS
tre
et
EGSTOW PA R K
Road
High Street
Holmgate Kenning Park
St. Bartholomew’s Church
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CONEY GREEN
t
ee Str et
rk
Ma
Sharley Park
Train station
Energy Pilot Project Bridge Street Depot
Low carbon housing & leisure centre Vibrant centre, residential & market
Co-working, leisure with residential above A61
Community / Education
Events in park
High Street traffic management
Clay Cross Towns Fund
Low carbon housing Creative hub
Enterprise & Skills Hub
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Egstow Park
Coney Green
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SCALE 1:5000
New homes
Mixed use - bus station, retail, leisure, workspace
Br Str idge ee t
Bus Station
A new local carbon work space
New leisure centre
Pedestrian / cycling improvements Town centre mixed use retail, commercial, civic, residential
Community / education (re-use of library site)
High Street Market Street
Public realm and pedestrian / cycle improvements
Rev
Play space
New square for markets & events
Park & Events
Date
Intls Details
© The moral rights of the author are hereby ass This drawing and design is the sole property of Buttress Ltd is Registered in England and Wale
Park & Events Creative hub
Improved green link
Improved pedestrian / cycle access to the park
Skills, enterprise, community
New homes
Public realm & traffic management improvements Potential vehicular link to Market Street
Project Title
Clay Cross TIF
Client
Nexus Planning
Location
Clay Cross
Drawing Title
Strategy
Key pedestrian and cycle routes for improvement Proposed new train station
Date
10/23/2020 12:47:56 P
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Wildhouse Lane Buttress Architects
Situated to the north of Milnrow, Wildhouse Lane is a housing scheme that has recently been awarded planning consent. The sensitive site sits on the edge of the Pennine Moors and has a number of Grade II listed agricultural buildings to the north east. These heritage assets display large gable ends constructed in millstone grit; a typology that has informed the overall design of the proposed house types.
47 new homes
The site layout responds to the clusters of neighbourhoods to the south, with the notion of creating distinct landscaped courtyards within the development. My role in the project was to create feasibility options to the site layout with adoptable highways, design and model the house types with guidance from my mentor and create all drawings and documents for planning submission. In addition to these tasks I was expected to co-ordinate with the client, planning consultants and highways consultants on a regular basis and manage relavent CDM documentation as Principal Designer.
47 integrated cycle storage
vehicle charging points
SuDS
17,800m2
Town Grain TownTown GrainGrain
3.2
open space
Concept Diagrams 3.2 3.2Concept Concept Diagrams Diagrams
Existing Cluster Typology
Existing Cluster Typology Existing Existing Cluster Cluster Typology Typology The neighbourhoods that extend from Milnrow town centre display clusters of houses in a moderate density.
The neighbourhoods The neighbourhoods that extend that extend from Milnrow from Milnrow town centre town centre display display clusters clusters of houses of houses in a moderate in a moderate density. density.
The neighbourhoods that extend from Milnrow town centre display clusters of houses in a moderate density. Wildhouse Lane Pre Application
Wildhouse Wildhouse Lane Pre Lane Application Pre Application
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Opportunities & Constraints
Concept
Existing trees and a rising ground level create a buffer to the road and Opportunities & Constraints & Constraints enclose theOpportunities site to the west . There are potential views to the Heritage asset and opportunities to create green spaces and maintain the open Existing Existing trees and treesa and rising a rising ground ground level create level create a buffer a buffer to theto road the and road and nature of site. enclose enclose the site thetosite theto west the .west There . There are potential are potential views views to theto Heritage the Heritage asset and assetopportunities and opportunities to create to create greengreen spacesspaces and maintain and maintain the open the open naturenature of site.of site.
The design is driven by taking the grain of the adjacent townscape and the character of clusters, creating a development that has different character areas.
Concept
Opportunities & Constraints
The design is driven by taking the grain of the adjacent townscape Concept Concept and the character of clusters, creating a development that has different character areas. The natural topography and increased landscaping The design The design is driven is driven by taking by taking the grain the of grain theof adjacent the adjacent townscape townscape established a prominent edge to the development and a strong sense and the and character the character of clusters, of clusters, creating creating a development a development that has that different has different of enclosure. character character areas.areas. The natural The natural topography topography and increased and increased landscaping landscaping established established a prominent a prominent edge edge to theto development the development and a and strong a strong sense sense of enclosure. of enclosure.
There are potential views to the heritage assets and opportunities to create green spaces and maintain the open nature of site. 22
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31 Wildhouse Lane
Chester Road Buttress Architects
759 new homes A mix of townhouses, apartments & live work units
Hotel 112 rooms
65,500sqft leisure & retail Variety of commercial units to create active frontage
Parking hub & rooftop foodhall 300 spaces with parcel collections, 11,000sqft foodhall
9,800sqft office space Live work units Active courtyards with live work units & makers yard
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CH ES TE R
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Town houses & Apartments
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New square space with cafés, restaurants and bar
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Apartments with Commercial at Ground Floor
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Hub, cycle, food, community, cars
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Cycle route
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Green tower
4.
Exhibition walk
10. Office Commercial
5.
Makers courtyard
11. Hotel / Leisure
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Performance outdoors
12. Homes / Ground floor retail / cafe
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CHRISTOPHER NILS SHAW www.christophernils.com 07590459951 info@christophernils.com