Crawford Partnership Annual Review 2021 by Alan Crawford

The Crawford Partnership Annual Review 2021

A Year in Review 2021 has passed by in the blink of an eye, once again dominated by the global impact of COVID-19 and all its variants. Who could have imagined at the beginning of the 2020 lockdown that the impact of the virus would see us entering a third year of disruption to our world of work and daily life? The lockdown scenarios we have all experienced in the past 2 years have altered the views of many homeowners on how they now want to use their homes, and this year we have received many enquiries to reconfigure and renovate houses and apartments, and even to design new homes to provide more space and adaptable use for families that have experienced the daily home working, home schooling and general daily indoor existence during the continued lockdowns and have realised that their 20th century accommodation layouts are not suited to the new 21st century phenomenon that we have all experienced. Many new clients are now seeking spaces within their homes and gardens to accommodate independent areas for home working for all the family. Smaller households have also suffered from a lack of external amenity space and many who live alone have experienced loneliness and health and well-being issues. The consequence being that the design of all new residential accommodation will need to adapt in future to these new parameters. Most of us have already adjusted our work life patterns to the vagaries of this new world order, which has also brought about concerns over a new era in the future of work, with many inner-city office buildings remaining only partially occupied as swathes of the working population remain home working. This has resulted in city centre commerce experiencing a considerable downturn across all the retail

sectors with the rise in online shopping. Consequently, we have seen many empty high street shops blotting the retail landscape of our cities, and we now need to diversify our thinking on how we can re-purpose and reuse these vacant spaces to ensure that our high streets can continue to remain vibrant centres of the community. We are researching ideas for new community living and working concepts that explore the changing ideals of creating the ’15-minute neighbourhood’. With the end of furlough, the statistics on homelessness, particularly for younger generations, have again been on the increase this year, and Crawford Partnership remain committed to finding solutions to provide low-cost affordable homes to address this growing problem, and we are presently working with a leading national youth homelessness charity to provide 33 modular micro homes in south London as part of the client’s ‘independent living’ programme. This initial development is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. In the coming years, we will face even greater challenges brought about by climate change, urbanisation and migration, the housing crisis and homelessness, and the impact of artificial Intelligence, robotics, and automation on work and employment, which will increasingly influence our design thinking and approach on all our projects. We relish these challenges, and going forward into the new year our outlook is positive. We will continue to push boundaries to explore lateral solutions that incorporate the latest construction techniques and sustainable design. The implementation of digital cloud-based technology in the office has enabled us to remotely meet and share drawings with clients, consultants, and contractors which we will also build on.

Once again, we hope you will enjoy reading our Annual Review, and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to catching up with you again in 2022. The Crawford Partnership Team

Current Projects

Muswell Hill Broadway N10 Located in the heart of a busy Muswell Hill shopping parade, this project transforms an existing commercial building with unused upper floors to create nine new flats designed to high standards of energy conservation and sustainability. The existing ground floor commercial unit is also modernised as part of the overall building upgrade and extension. A new floor will be added onto the street frontage set in a mansard roof, with 3 of the new flats located on the rear flat roof area utilising prefabricated modular construction to provide a lightweight, sustainable addition. The new front façade is designed to respect the existing Edwardian architecture, fitting sensitively within the street scene and providing a facelift to the existing bland 1950’s façade. Construction works are expected to commence on site during 2022. Click here for more information and a video.

High Street SL5 In September 2020, we obtained planning permission for a new house to replace an existing single-storey dilapidated outhouse, formerly the storage area to a shop on the main High Street in Sunninghill. The new house is located behind the shop set on a compact back land site, with the access being via a narrow passageway to the side of the main high street buildings, resulting in complex access and logistical issues for the construction works that we have been in discussions with the local planning authority to overcome. The contemporary two-storey house includes a new basement level, excavated to provide two large bedrooms, one of which includes an ensuite bathroom and dressing room with access onto a new external open courtyard, and at ground floor, with a small garden area connected to the open-plan kitchen, living and dining room, with two niches to provide a home office space. A considerable part of our time spent on the project in 2021 has involved overcoming the site’s constraints. We now anticipate works to commence on site in the first quarter of 2022.

Windsor Road W5 We were contacted in 2021 by a new client who had seen our completed project at Kenilworth Road and aspired to obtain planning consent to build two new houses to replace 6 unused and run down lock-up garages nearby. Our design for the two new 3 storey semidetached homes adopts the latest guidance on the development of small sites in the Mayors London Plan and follows our in-house manifesto for the development of urban infill sites, such as lock-up garages, with excavated basements that accommodate 2 large bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, an open plan ground floor with living, kitchen and dining areas, and a setback first floor with the principal bedroom suite. A planning application has been submitted to Ealing Planning Department with a decision anticipated in January 2022. Click here for more information.

Princes Avenue N10 The design has been developed to provide a modern and spacious home for our clients and their family, who presently live in the existing ground floor flat, whilst at the same time providing a more efficient layout for the first floor that will also enable the large and badly planned interior at this level to be reconfigured as two individual flats. The proposals reflect our clients’ aspirations to reconfigure the internal layout to make better use of the rooms and spaces and to provide a new rear extension clad in Corten steel aimed at opening up the living areas to provide improved daylight and sunlight and a seamless connection to the rear garden that can be enjoyed all year round. The project is about to be issued for tender with construction works are anticipated to commence on site in the first quarter of 2022.

Marwood Drive NW7 We were contacted in 2020, to prepare designs for the complete modernisation of an existing family home that was no longer able to support the needs of the family. In experiencing the initial lockdown and home working, with much of their time being spent indoors, the family were keen to add more unusable space to better suit the new 21st-century lifestyle phenomenon. With a professional chef in the family, a new spacious kitchen with the latest appliances was paramount and this would be incorporated as part of a new ground floor extension onto the rear garden. The reconfigured layouts also incorporate a new principal bedroom suite within the existing attic level reworking two smaller existing bedrooms into a unified single space and incorporating a large single dormer window replacing three small existing dormers and providing greater volume and daylight within the new space. Construction work is ongoing and expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2022.

Cranley Gardens N10 The clients initially approached us in 2021 with ideas to demolish their existing Edwardian home and to construct a brand new house to better suit the needs of their 21st century family lifestyle and to address the difficulties of achieving a balanced work and home life during the pandemic lockdown periods, which has become a growing design phenomenon. Following discussions, we were able to convince them that their aspirations could be achieved by retaining and reconfiguring the existing house with a more environmentally conscious and economic refurbishment and overall upgrade. The retrofit and modernisation proposals include an extended and reconfigured ground floor providing increased living and dining area that seamlessly opens onto the extensive south facing rear garden, a reworked and extended attic space providing an additional bedroom, and a new swimming pool and gym and leisure area sunk below the rear garden and with access direct from the main house. Planning approvals for various works are ongoing with a start on site mid-2022.

New End NW3 In light of the ongoing issues that we have all experienced with the rise of home working, home schooling, and much of the daytime being spent by families indoors, the owners of an existing 300 year old Grade 2 Listed dwelling set in a north London conservation area contacted us in November 2020 aspiring to modernise and extend the basement area of the period house to better suit the needs of their family. They hoped that by adding a new basement extension introducing a new connection to their underused garden, and reconfiguring the existing basement kitchen area, that this would provide more usable space for individual work and play areas and better accommodate more flexible family use. Any reconfiguration or addition to a Listed building will likely be contentious, and we have been liaising with the conservation officer at Camden Planning Department during 2021, providing a number of design proposals with a pre-application submission in endeavouring to arrive at a solution that sensitively meets the demanding requirements of both preserving and enhancing the character of the existing period home. We hope that progress towards an approval can be made in 2022.

Fortismere Avenue N10 The client contacted us on the basis of our long experience of designing similar new homes on compact infill plots and brownfield land in Haringey and across London. The brief seeks the creation of a detached New build home with a unique design that whilst modern, has a sympathetic relationship to the local vernacular. Our proposal reuses the existing building shell and adds a further level to transform the garage and flat into a new 2 storey pitched roof 4 bedroom family home. The front façade is designed to be a sympathetic addition to the street scene, with contemporary details that borrow from traditional features found in the local area, creating harmony with adjacent Victorian terraces and aiming to preserve and enhance the character of the Muswell Hill Conservation Area.

Existing Front Elevation

The house is designed with a ‘fabric first’ approach to sustainability, with high levels of insulation in floors throughout. Additionally, mechanical ventilation & heat recovery, solar pv panels, and an air source heat pump will enhance the energy efficiency of the new dwelling, future proofing its credentials for 21st century living. Proposed Front Elevation

Front Street Elevation

Architecture & Interior Design PROJECT:

a. 1a Muswell Hill London, N10 3TH t. 0208 444 2070 w. crawfordpartnership.co.uk

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DRAWING NO.: DRAWN:

CLIENT:

Fairport Fortis Green 205 AP

CHECKED:

SCALE:

11 REV:

1:100 @ A3 Athos Eliades

STATUS:

Concept Design

DATE:

12 November 2021

Updated:

NOTES: Report all errors and discrepancies promptly to architects before proceeding with the works. Do not scale from drawing. Figured dimensions to be worked to in all cases. The contractor is responsible for checking dimensions, tolerances and references. All structural information to be taken from the structural engineer's drawings.

Doveridge Gardens N13 In 2020 we were contacted by the owners of an Edwardian corner property to provide designs for a new ground floor wrap around rear and side extension. The resultant design has been arrived at through extensive dialogue with our clients and also after lengthy and protracted discussions with the planning department at Enfield Council, who initially expressed reservations over the extent of the new additions. Negotiations on the with a planning decision have been ongoing through 2021 and a planning decision is now anticipated in January 2022.

Oakfield Road N4 We were asked by the owner of a large Victorian house on the corner of two streets to design a new dwelling at the bottom of his existing garden. The three-storey design provides an open plan kitchen/dining/living space at ground floor, a separate first floor lounge with an outdoor terrace attached, and two bedrooms in the basement facing an open courtyard and lightwell. As with many of the infill plots we work on, the house footprint extends to each of 4 boundaries to create a compact but spacious home, whilst respecting the existing amenity of the surrounding neighbourhood. Incorporating multiple skylights into the building, natural lighting is optimised whilst also maintaining the privacy of neighbouring residents. In our drive towards zero carbon design, energy efficiency is designed with a ‘fabric first’ approach incorporating high levels of insulation in floors, walls and ceilings and air tightness, with mechanical ventilation & heat recovery, solar pv panels, and an air source heat pump to enhance the energy efficiency of the new dwelling, future proofing its credentials for 21st century living.

Upper Tollington N4 We were contacted by a new client in December 2020 to prepare designs for the conversion and extension of an existing dilapidated 5-bedroom mid terrace Victorian house to reconfigure he property to provide two new selfcontained duplex flats, one of which will be occupied by the owner. The modifications and new addition proposed to the rear façade respond to the existing massing of the neighbouring dwellings and will incorporate high quality materials and finishes in keeping with the existing context and surroundings. Planning approval was obtained in 2021, with works on site now programmed to commence in January 2022.

Projects started on site

Georges Road N7 Working on behalf of an experienced developer client, we obtained planning consent in 2020 to replace a cluster of low-rise dilapidated buildings occupying a narrow linear site fronting onto a busy one way road in Islington, North London. The approved design provides a new terrace of five 3 storey townhouses, with patio gardens to the rear and accessible roof gardens, echoing the existing pattern of terraced town houses in the area. An additional four-floor purpose-built B1 office, complete with a zinc barrel roof and new basement extends the length of the new terrace and will introduce new employment use in the area. Construction works started on site in November 2021 with and anticipated completion date in Spring 2023. Click here for more information and a video.

Rosebery Road N10 Having acquired an existing two Storey, two-bedroom period style ‘coach house ‘the clients contacted us to help them fulfil their aspirations to provide extra space for the family and extending the compact house with a new side addition built on the existing garden. An initial pre-planning application was submitted to Haringey Planning Department exploring several options for the extension. After receiving positive feedback, with one option considered more appropriate, full planning approval was obtained in 2020, and during 2021, we progressed the detail design, working closely with our clients to provide an economic design solution that balanced their budget whilst maximising space and quality of materials and fixtures. Construction works started in August 2021 with completion date anticipate in February 2022. Click here for more information.

Dudden Hill Lane NW10 We were invited by a developer client to prepare designs for a new residential development on an existing brownfield site in the London Borough of Brent, which had been unused and overgrown for many years. Flanked by a bland three storey 1950’s shopping parade, the approved design provides five new flats fronting the main road, marrying the existing three storey parade with a new contemporary addition, and with three semi-detached houses set within a mews at the rear of the site facing onto a tranquil green area. Combining contemporary design evocative of aspects of the Arts and Crafts style, the dwellings aim to provide a modern living environment at an affordable cost. The design also aims to strengthen the existing urban grain and enhance the bland street scene with new homes that sensitively blend contemporary detailing and materials whilst enhancing the context of their immediate neighbours. Following lengthy site investigations an Updated planning application was submitted In November 2019, and are hoping to start construction in 2022. Click here for more information.

Lugard Road SE15 Following a series of meetings with a national homelessness charity, we were appointed to provide design input with the charity’s ‘Independent Living’ programme aimed at assisting young people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness, to live independently in new accommodation developed by the charity. Our designs are based on the use offsite modular construction techniques, to deliver carefully designed microliving, where each young person will be accommodated in their own self-contained studio flat, with the philosophy of the scheme predicated on providing a new type of mediumterm transitional housing for young people with low or no support needs, at a cost of up to one third of a young person’s earnings. The flagship London scheme is located in Southwark, transforming a vacant site owned by the charity, into 33 modular micro homes. Architecturally, two, three-storey blocks have been designed around a central courtyard garden, creating a tranquil and safe landscaped space and external amenity, as well as providing external deck access to the living accommodation.Work on site infrastructure is already underway, with project completion anticipated in March 2022. Click here for more information.

Projects completed on site

Pattison Road NW2 In July 2018, following a protracted planning process extending over a two year period, planning permission was finally received for a new residential development comprising three, four storey, three bedroom contemporary terraced family homes on a back-land site near Hampstead Heath in North London, formerly home to a vehicle repair workshop. Being entirely surrounded within the enclosed site by the existing back gardens of adjacent houses, the layout and configuration of the new houses has been designed to minimise their impact on all neighbouring properties, and all 3 homes look inwardly onto a ‘mews courtyard’. Each house is provided with a private enclosed ground floor courtyard garden area, with additional amenity space at basement level and on individual private roof terraces at first floor. Construction was completed in May 2021 and the houses are now being marketed for sale. Our Website Savills Sales Website

Candela Yard N8 We were appointed in 2015 to prepare designs for a mixed use redevelopment of the former Kwikfit garage in Crouch End with a mix of new flats at 3 upper levels and with the Kwikfit operations remaining at ground floor along with new retail space fronting the high street. The designs were eventually approved after several local authority design panel reviews and local community presentations. The clients decided to progress the detailed, design constructions drawings and works on site, following a Design and Build procurement route and Crawford Partnership were not involved during this stage. The works on site are now completed and the flats are being marketed for sale. The quality and detail of the end product is close to our original design aspirations, although the developer has modified some of the detail during the construction process which is normal under a Design and Build procurement, but nevertheless, we are pleased to see our designs realised in this key location in Crouch End. Our Website Candela Yard Sales Website

Kenilworth Road W5 The site has been developed to give our client’s son his first step on the housing ladder. The design of the two-storey, two-bedroom home has been carefully considered to maximise the internal space of the property whilst respecting the existing urban context of the site. The new home targets Passivhaus design standards, with modern methods of construction incorporating a fabric first approach, high levels of insulation and triple glazing, solar photovoltaic panels, mechanical ventilation heat recovery, and an air source heat pump providing all heating and hot water. Building works were completed in May 2021, and the new house adds further to our extended portfolio of new homes built on urban infill plots in London, which is a niche specialism of the practice. In November 2021, the house nominated for an award in the annual prestige Build-It Awards. Click here for more information

Kenilworth Book Following the finished construction of our project on Kenilworth Road, we have created an in-depth book detailing our design choices and thought processes. The book provides the reader with an example of the typical compact plots that we continue to work on across London that have similar potential to create interesting, contemporary new homes. We share many insights and illustrations as examples of our working process and methodology to demonstrate our complete involvement in the design and construction process from inception through to completion

Click here for the online book.

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Other Design Projects

Feasibility Designs we have worked on in 2021 In 2021, we continued to be busy with new enquiries and we were invited to prepare concept designs for several large new build and refurbishment residential projects, and also prepared a feasibility study for new modular living accommodation for young homeless people re-purposing a former church. 1. 2. 3. 4.

House renovation and extension in Hendon New house in Hampstead New house in Hampstead New homes and community space for homeless 16-24 year olds re-purposing a former church in west London

RIBA Journal “Light Roof Ideas Competition” In November, we submitted a competition entry for the design of a small house that could have no conventional windows in walls and needed to rely only on light coming from above, either via skylights or internal lightwells. Many of the sites in London that we work on are often either backland brownfield parcels of land surrounded by existing homes, or small infill plots sandwiched between existing buildings, with many constraints to address and overcome, such as overlooking and privacy, rights of light and noise. Often these landlocked sites initially appear to have little or no development potential, however, we see these constraints as opportunities to shape our designs, and although we have previously designed houses where windows have only been possible on one facade and reliant on skylights or lightwells, we had never designed a completely introverted house with no windows in any walls, so this was an interesting challenge perhaps preparing us for future projects.

Architect’s Journal “Brent Cross Pavilion for All”

CONCEPT - Raising the Green Roof The overarching concept of our proposal is to create a low carbon, fully demountable, and near invisible structure that is a natural extension of the playing field, achieved by peeling away the existing turf at ground level and layering this seamlessly across the entire roof of the gently sloping pavilion, merging the existing field with a new biodiverse green sedum carpet that knits the new pavilion structure lightly and sensitively into its surroundings. The green roof design reduces the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling, with the vegetation acting as insulation, and clusters of circular skylights set into the hilly rooftop open and close during the day for ventilation and fresh air flow. Solar panels integrated on the periphery provide on-site renewable energy, supplying a percentage of the building’s electricity for the year and reducing greenhouses gases, whilst the sedum provides habitat for birds, bats, and bees, and contributes towards SUDS and grey water recycling. The main structure of the pavilion proposes a grid of exposed off site prefabricated glulam timber columns and beams combined with cross laminated timber floor and roof panels and mass timber walls, all supported on prefabricated steel screw piles that sit gently on the existing ground and are engineered to support the loads of the building. Floor to ceiling triple glazed sliding doors open out from the main social areas of the pavilion onto a continuous external terrace and viewing area for use in summer, providing panoramic views from the pavilion across the main Clitterhouse sports and social areas.

The competition brief asked architects to create a net-zero design concept for a welcoming and inclusive sports and active play pavilion to be built on the Clitterhouse playing fields in Brent, North London. The concept developed by Cole aims to introduce a discreet intrusion that pulls up the existing grassy field and inserts the new structure as an invisible extension within the existing grassy slope and accessible rooftop garden, with the new structure becoming part of the existing green landscape.

TEAM Crawford Partnership are a north London based architects’ practice. info@crawfordpartnership.co.uk www.crawfordpartnership.co.uk

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Circulation

Pavilion centred and on top of hill

Views looking down the hill

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Bee Breeders “Small House 2021” 6.6m

3.6m

The third annual MICROHOME Competition which is part of the Bee Breeders Small Scale Architecture Appreciation Movement asks for innovative design ideas to demonstrate how small scale architecture could change how this, and the next generation view residential property. Our proposal, developed by Yerkin, proposes a modular, off grid, affordable and carbon neutral home of 25m2 for a young professional couple that can be rolled out in single or multiple numbers. The submission extends and develops ideas on compact microhomes that Crawford Partnership continues to explore for prefabricated modular living accommodation as an affordable solution to addressing the ongoing housing crisis and increasing homelessness, particularly in our recent collaboration with leading UK youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint,

Carbon Positive Affordable Housing Competition The intent of this international design competition is to solicit design ideas for affordable, carbon positive housing. Designers are invited to consider replicability of their approach in multiple neighbourhoods, cities, and/or countries. Scheme size could range from a micro-home to a tall building depending on the select context or solution, and participants are encouraged to look beyond conventional solutions and consider resiliency in strategies as well. Yerkin and Alan have been developing ideas that again extend Crawford Partnership’s explorations into pre-fabricated offsite modular microhome solutions, and the concept design uses a former lockup garages site in west London to accommodate multiple microhomes grouped in small clusters of eight homes (Hamlets) and multiple Hamlets to create a Village community of two storey modular homes set within a linear meandering landscaped layout that maintains the amenity and privacy of adjacent homes and gardens.

News, Events and Publications

Events RIBA London Winter Party SBID ‘Meet the Buyer’

In September, following the relaxing of lockdown restrictions, the RIBA London Groups arranged a get together for its members and guests at the Standard Hotel. Alan, as Chair of RIBA North London Architects Group, has continued to be active in promoting events and discussions during lockdown, and the outing was a great opportunity for our young team of architects and students to meet up in person with friends and colleagues after months of zoom meetings, and to enjoy a few informal drinks at the hotel’s rooftop bar.

In October, Alan and Maria attended the SBID ‘Meet the Buyer’ event held at the Nobu Hotel in London. This annual all-day event organised by The Society of British and International Interior Design provides a series of full on, 1 to 1, face to face meetings with product and materials suppliers from across the interior design world, and also combines several presentation talks on topical design aspects and is always a wonderful opportunity to network in person with colleagues from across the design and supply industry, particularly after months of lockdown.

Loxone Opening Event

In November, the Crawford Partnership team were invited to attend the launch of the new Loxone smart home showroom in Crouch End which was officially opened by the Mayor of Haringey, Councillor Adam Jogee. Crawford Partnership now incorporate smart home Technology in the majority of their residential projects, with the cost of these installations having reduced considerably over recent years, and enabling our energy saving heating and ventilation installations to be fully monitored by occupants, even remotely, driving down running costs, and future proofing homes.

Judging - Designer Awards Alan was delighted to be invited on the judging panel once again for the 2021 Designer Awards, now in his 14th year judging this prestigious annual event, which is a highlight of the kitchen and bathroom industry calendar. This year the event host was the TV celebrity, Fred Sirieix, and the Lifetime Achievement Award, always the highlight of the celebrations, was this year presented to Ross Lovegrove for his work in advancing the field of industrial design across all design industries. Alan and Maria had the pleasure of sitting with Fred and Ross at the reception and were engrossed chatting to them on a variety of design issues. It was also great to catch up with our former office colleague, Liam Bennet, who scooped one of the awards for his new employer, and also a great chance for Tim to catch up with his old colleague.

Judging - Leaf Awards Having participated as a judge on the LEAF Awards since 2013, Alan was delighted to be invited again in 2021 to take part as Chair of the LEAF Awards judging panel. Alan’s input was rudely disrupted when he contracted a serious bout of COVID in June during the judging timeframe. However, Alan had recovered sufficiently to moderate the opening discussion on the ‘Future of Cities’ at the two day LEAF Forum held at Nobu Hotel in October, and was honoured to present two of the prestigious awards at the LEAF Awards reception. Click here for more information.

Build-It Awards For 10 years the Build It Awards have been the most coveted accolade in the self-build industry. In November, Crawford Partnership were shortlisted for an award in the category ‘Best Architect or Designer for a Self-Build Project’ for the completed design of a new house in Kenilworth Road, W5. This is the second time in 3 years we have been shortlisted in the category, and are proud to have our work recognised by the judging team. Again, we did not win on this occasion, however, a great evening was had by all the team and our clients at the awards reception. And we are sure it will be third time lucky in 2022. Click here for more information.

Visit to M-AR Production Centre In December, Tim Spiller visited the M-AR modular homes production factory in Hull to inspect the progress and quality of the new prefabricated modular living accommodation that we have designed for homeless 16 – 24 year olds on behalf of our client Centrepoint. All 33 of the new 25m2 self-contained homes are now under construction, with transport and erection of the two and three storey stacked modules on the south London site anticipated to commence at the end of January 2022.

We hope you enjoyed our 2021 Annual Review, and from all of us at Crawford Partnership, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to working with you in 2022!