Rock Townsend Practice Brochure

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A perfectly genius proposal. The design for the redevelopment of Holy Trinity School is pioneering and cleverly tackles the need to provide more housing and more primary school places. Boris Johnson Mayor of London

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Architecture & Design The Old School Exton Street London SE1 8UE 020 7261 9577 studio@rocktownsend.co.uk

rocktownsend.co.uk


About us

We are a start-up with a story. Founded in 1972 and re-established in 2012, our practice brings together the entrepreneurship of Rock Townsend’s founding partners with the enterprising attitude of a new generation of designers. Our studio workshop is a place of craft, rigour and exploration. Young architects are given early responsibility, acting as apprentices to a connected way of thinking. The focus is on collective effort, an internal ethos reflected in our relationships with outside collaborators. We try to consider each project from beyond the usual perspectives of architectural practice and, alongside our creative role, engage fully with the technical and commercial aspects of the design journey. We strongly believe that architects are uniquely placed to enrich the process of making buildings; applying imagination and critical thinking to resolve practical problems into fitting solutions. Our intent is to make apt buildings and active places which embody a long-term view about contextual change. The resulting work has spirit and endures, not because it expresses our own architectural authorship, but because it carries the signature of the users, clients and communities to whom it belongs.

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Our experience

Residential

From small infill sites to large mixed-use developments, we use our creative skills, technical knowledge and commercial awareness to design housing solutions that are apt and desirable. We try to challenge preconceptions in a constructive way to maximise the value we deliver to our clients and to residents, designing places that are socially, environmentally and economically sustainable in the long-term.

Commercial

Our approach to workplace design starts with understanding the client’s unique brand. Whether for new build headquarters, refurbishments or temporary installations, we collaborate closely with clients and users to integrate their culture into every aspect of the working environment, thinking holistically to gain best value from the budget and achieve the right balance between initial capital investment and ongoing lifecycle costs.

Education

Our experience ranges from individual primary and secondary schools to programmes of multiple projects for sponsors, local authorities and central government. We listen carefully to each school to understand their pedagogy, culture and aspirations and adapt our approach so that our designs meet specific requirements, support different ways of working and make a positive impact on learning outcomes.


Further Education

Whether designing general teaching accommodation or highly specialised training facilities, we work collaboratively with all stakeholders to develop bold and sometimes unexpected solutions that are unique to each college. We aim to create inspiring and active places that meet specific user needs, minimise ongoing operational costs and foster a sense of pride and community within the college and the local area.

Community

Our experience ranges from stand-alone visitor centres to multi-purpose, innercity youth and community facilities. Our design approach balances the need for financial viability, in terms of construction and sustainable long-term operation, with the opportunity to create an appropriate landmark in the local area; one that is welcoming, inspiring and meets the specific needs of the community it serves.

Higher Education

We have worked with several leading universities to maximise the effectiveness of their estates, providing high quality facilities that support changing learning styles and meet rising student expectations. Our approach combines practicality and vision, thinking constructively about how to make every space work efficiently and effectively whilst using design to celebrate and enhance the university’s unique identity.

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....how our approach comes together

Apt Buildings & Active Places Workshop culture: Collective effort + Craft

Social integrity: Sustainability

Suitability + Innovation

Constructive thinking :


Why work with us?

We have a unique workshop culture

Of the many lessons Rock Townsend has for the industry, it is that a practice can be caring, socially aware and innovative all at the same time. Building Design Magazine

We love to draw and to make things. This is how we explore ideas and engage our clients and collaborators in a collective way of working. Our workshop is a place where all contributors can come together to engage in this process and develop fitting and often unexpected solutions. We’re passionate about learning Our passion for design is shared with an equal passion for learning. We use this to evolve design excellence in our sectors, listening carefully to user requirements and engaging with all influences on a project to understand how our creative contribution can make a project a success. We build relationships that deliver real value Successful projects are often the result of a close-knit team working towards shared goals. As a medium-sized practice we offer significant director involvement, an energetic team of young architects and the team consistency that builds relationships and delivers most value. We design places that feel good We believe that successful architecture creates places that not only work, but feel good. We think carefully about the identity of the buildings we design, how they support the comunities they serve and how they provide the ‘spark’ which makes a place enjoyable and sustainable.

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Residential


Salisbury Road B3 Living and Hill Group

This project exemplifies what can be achieved through the creative redevelopment of challenging sites and the positive contribution that the sensitive densification of suburban areas can have on local neighbourhoods. Rock Townsend, in partnership with B3 Living and Hill Group, transformed a former suburban industrial site into 52 new homes, challenging the assumed density of the local area while making a positive contribution to the public realm. This was the result of a carefully negotiated building height that made semi-basement parking viable and in turn released generous central amenity space. The 4 to 5-storey development strengthens the sense of place by committing a significant portion of the site to landscape that connects to the wider area. Simple, robust detailing and well-proportioned windows create a high quality, light-filled building that makes the flats and communal areas feel more spacious.

Location: Construction Cost: GIA: RT Start: RT End:

Hoddesdon ÂŁ7.4m 4,000 sqm 09 / 2012 11 / 2015


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The adoption of a central corridor access provides an efficient net to gross ratio and allows the entry stair and lift cores to be generous in both width and volume. This naturally-lit transition from public to private realm maintains a visual connection with the landscaped courtyard whilst the triple-height volume with cantilevered stair creates a dramatic space that enhances the sense of arrival.


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Holy Trinity London Diocesan Board for Schools

With no funding available and increasing demand for primary school places in the Borough, the design for Holy Trinity Primary School is a bold, metropolitan piece of architecture that completes the surrounding urban block whilst maximising outside space for the school. The building provides a two form entry primary school built at ground and first floor levels with a doubleheight external play deck at second floor level, above which spans a block comprising 101 new apartments to cross-subsidise the school’s expansion programme. This arrangement allows the roof of the school to be used as outdoor learning landscape and for the apartments to benefit from uninterrupted views across London. Combined with the ground floor amenity space this arrangement provides the school with external play space equal to approximately 95% of the site area. With a design and engagement period of over 3 years, this air-rights development grew in scale as funding diminished and greater cross-subsidy was sought. What began as a replacement school masterplan quickly became an innovative new mixed-use solution appropriate to its urban context. The project is the result of joined up thinking about how to deliver much needed school places and new homes in the capital.

A perfectly genius proposal. Boris Johnson Mayor of London


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Private sale

Apartments Open air

Play Deck Two-form entry

School


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Dalston, London ÂŁ28m 3,260 sqm (school) / 101 units 10 / 2009 11 / 2013

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Larden Road Genesis Housing Group

The Larden Road project involved a major mixed-use redevelopment of a former factory site, integrating it back into the surrounding residential neighbourhood and delivering 454 mixed tenure homes, 6,000sqm of office space, nine artist units, a cafÊ, a doctor’s surgery, retail units and amenity space. The site was purchased with planning consent but the design required significant re-ordering to achieve the desired mix and size of units and a series of alterations to address matters of buildability and value. Through a collaborative working arrangement with two other architectural practices we were able to twin track the planning and working drawing packages to shorten the programme by five months, enabling an earlier start on site and reduced borrowing costs. Our elements of the work included the refurbishment and conversion of an original Prestolite factory building into apartments, two new apartment buildings either side of the factory and a terrace of houses to complete the existing street scene. The final development provides areas of individual character within an overall masterplan arranged around high quality central landscape.


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Acton ÂŁ71m 454 units / 6,742 sqm office 12 / 2005 10 / 2009

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Trout Road Paradigm Housing

This development forms part of a wider masterplan to reshape this area of West Drayton into a high quality residential neighbourhood. The project involves the reconfiguration of a consented brownfield site scheme for 44 new affordable rent homes, designed around a raised central courtyard. As part of our design review we have incorporated improvements to the basement parking, circulation cores and unit layouts to simplify the structural solution, enhanced the entrance sequence and incorporated GLA’s space standards. We have also established an alternative CfSH Level 5 compliant strategy with reduced maintenance costs. These alterations are being negotiated with the planners whilst discharging conditions under the existing permission, enabling the programme to remain on target and for risks relating to delayed drawdown of grant monies to be mitigated.

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West Drayton ÂŁ7m 3,800 sqm Q1 2013 Q1 2017


Homestead Lane Rockwell Ltd

Built on the former site of a Dairy Crest distribution centre, these 11 houses have been designed to respect the heritage of the garden city whilst providing high quality homes that meet current aspirations. The dwellings are based on a small selection of typologies with individual plots incorporating adjustments to exploit the specific opportunities of each location, plot shape and orientation. This provides variety and choice and helps to settle the buildings within their immediate context. The design detailing creates something modern yet familiar in its language and form. Fenestration is generous, reflecting the established norm within the garden city of optimising visual links between inside and outside whilst the site layout adopts best practices in natural surveillance and establishing pedestrianorentated shared landscape to unify the development.

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Welwyn Garden City Confidential 1,160 sqm 01 / 2015 Q4 / 2016

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Farrington Avenue Paddington Churches Housing Association

Farrington Avenue is a 190-unit regeneration scheme that harnessed the energy and enthusiasm of existing residents and the local community to enable a successful three-year redevelopment programme and the creation of an enhanced residential neighbourhood. Following land assembly by the client this former MoD estate was brought back into single ownership, enabling a comprehensive estate-wide regeneration that introduced cross-subsidy to the scheme through mixed-tenure. Following a successful planning negotiation process, consent was granted for a development density that exceeded the local planning policy, acknowledging the high quality design which incorporated 40 replacement family houses, 150 additional units, a replacement community centre, new street layouts and landscape. The masterplan removed all areas of indefensible open space and provided each home with private gardens or balconies. A new through-route to the adjoining neighbourhood combined with improved surveillance of car parking means that the development is now fully integrated in the wider Bushey neighbourhood and is no longer a location for anti-social behaviour.


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Bushey ÂŁ26m 15,745 sqm 2006 2011

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London Road Aldwyck Housing Group

This 62-unit regeneration scheme in Dunstable replaced two run-down 1960s apartment buildings with a vibrant new development that exceeded the Local Authority’s initial expectation of 45-units and created a gateway to the town and surrounding neighbourhoods. Appointed by Aldwyck as lead consultant we secured consent for a development of significantly higher density than the predominantly two-storey surroundings, enabling a mixed-tenure solution to offset the cost of semi-basement parking. The success of the scheme was founded in effective pre-application discussions with the Local Planning Authority and extensive community engagement to gain buy-in to this phased delivery scheme. The final development with its wide balconies, large windows and bold colours brings a new identity to the area and delivers improved living conditions for general needs rent, shared ownership and private sale homes.

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Dunstable ÂŁ7.7m 4,610 sqm 05 / 2007 11 / 2011


Garden Avenue & Furzen Crescent Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

These two developments represent the first new council housing for Welwyn Hatfield in many years. With an extensive stock of larger family houses in the borough the projects will deliver 22 apartments and 7 houses to help meet the demand for affordable housing. The project forms part of a programme of works that seeks to redevelop disused domestic garage sites within the borough into attractive homes for local residents. The developments are set within established residential areas, demanding a design approach that minimises impact on the surrounding properties. The ‘mews-type’ arrangement and aesthetic brings an established, tradition typology with a contemporary feel, creating a sense of place in an otherwise difficult environment. The detailing of a shared hard landscape unifies the buildings, encourages an active streetscape and transforms the site into a sociable, welcoming area.

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Hatfield ÂŁ4.4m 3,500 sqm 09 / 2013 Q3 / 2017

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Commercial


Pentland Headquarters Pentland Group

The Pentland Group required a new headquarters building that offered a striking home for its well-known brands including Speedo, Ellesse, Kickers and Lacoste. It also needed new facilities for the Group’s Marketing and Executive operations. The brief was to provide an environment that was inspiring, open and innovative, where every part of the campus becomes a creative work space for “thinking outside the box”. Built around and partly across a lake, the new HQ provides uplifting internal and external spaces that enhance staff wellbeing and support creative, collaborative working. Beautiful and spacious reception and presentation areas together with the lakeside dining pavilion provide a “buzz” to the place. The group work areas where “imagineering” happens are fun and unique and were the result of working closely with Pentland’s in-house designers and brand managers to create an environment where people and brands define the spaces. Following the success of the new HQ building we were appointed to design a high quality swimming pool as an extension to the main office building. The pool provides a luxury leisure facility for the staff and a promotional space for Speedo and Pentland’s other brands.


Best of the Best 2003

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I told you that I wanted to have the best office in Britain. One has ambitions but one never expects to achieve them. Thank you so much for all that you and your gang have done. Stephen Rubin Chairman, Pentland Group

Location: Construction Cost: GIA: RT Start: RT End:

Finchley, London ÂŁ17.9m (+ ÂŁ4.5m pool) 9,448 sqm (+ 500 sqm pool) 2000 2006


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Berghaus Headquarters Berghaus

The clothing and footwear brand Berghaus came to us with a brief that asked for their existing building to be reinvigorated and made fit-for-purpose for a modern, forward-thinking company. We stripped the building back to its shell, using the increased ceiling height to integrate a sky rail storage solution. Offices were pulled away form the windows and skylights were inserted into the roof to let light stream into the main office space. Along with the refreshed entrance and cafe space, every detail of the design is used to reflect the quality and ethos of the Berghaus brand and provide staff with an inspiring environment to work. The project represents an exciting re-imagination of a previously unloved building on an industrial estate into a modern workspace that staff are proud of and that reflects the brand ethos of ‘live for adventure’.

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Sunderland ÂŁ1.2m 3,000 sqm 08 / 2013 10 / 2015


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This is f**king awesome! Katie Greenyer Creative Director, Red or Dead (Pentland)


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Lacoste Paris Office Lacoste

Continuing our work forThe Pentland Group, which recently included projects for Speedo and Berghaus, we were invited to design a new showroom and office space for Lacoste Chaussures in Paris. We initially provided advice to Lacoste on a number of location options, helping to appraise the suitability and opportunities that they each offered. Following the selection of a building in the Roguette area of Paris we were appointed to make the existing spaces reflect the quality and ethos of the brand. The space has been kept as open as possible, with glazed offices located at the edge to maximize the open plan area. In the showroom, the use of brand details and product immersion was key. The crisp white insertions identify the different sectors and Lacoste ‘pique’ inspired shoe displays provide an interesting way of displaying the products.

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Paris €140,000 500 sqm TBC 2015


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Education



Wellington Primary School London Borough of Tower Hamlets

This project involved a new extension to increase Wellington Primary School to a two-form entry school along with refurbishment of the existing 1920s buildings to provide an attractive environment fit for learning in the 21st Century. The compact site informed the design of a three-storey extension with a central atrium that encourages social interaction within year groups and establishes a new heart to the school. This maximised natural ventilation and daylight, reducing the primary energy demands and creating light and airy spaces in which to move around the school with a connection to the sky. The overall form of the new block creates a more welcoming approach for parents and pupils marked by a projecting form at first and second floor levels which allows learning activity to been seen from the street, promoting the educational facility within the borough.


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Bow, London ÂŁ1.9m 2,055 sqm 12 / 2008 09 / 2012

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St. Michael’s Primary School London Diocesan Board for Schools

This phased expansion of an existing primary school has created a modern and welcoming two-form entry school. Phase 1 involved the construction of new buildings to facilitate the decant from the existing facilities. Phase 2 involved the stitching together of the new and old schools with the construction of new dining, library, ICT and classroom facilities. Phase 3 completed the scheme with the refurbishment of the existing buildings during a summer works package. The design is focused on establishing a simple layout and a clearly defined route through the school, centred on the main hall, dining and library spaces that creates a new heart. This provides a more legible and less daunting experience for pupils, makes all the activities of the school visible from the central areas and allows natural ventilation and daylight to be maximised in both the classrooms and circulation spaces. The concept of the central, connected route through the building and site reinforces the ethos of the school, bringing together community feel, Christian ethos, sustainability and outdoor curriculum.


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Location: Construction Cost: GIA: RT Start: RT End:

Enfield, London ÂŁ3.5m 2,288 sqm 08 / 2009 12 / 2012

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HLR Priority Schools (PSBP) Education Funding Agency (EFA)

The design and delivery of four new secondary schools in Hertfordshire, Luton and Reading is part of a seven school PFI Priority School Building Programme. Working with the Interserve Kajima consortium our design approach is based around a set of standardised design principles that enable delivery within the target budget and aligned to the EFA’s Facilities Output Specification whilst enabling each building to be tailored to the specific context and ethos of the school. Working in close partnership with Interserve, Arup and Maber architects, who are delivering the three remaining schools, we have created design solutions that minimise whole life costs and maximise the continuity of components, systems, interface details and maintenance regimes, working to BIM Level 2.


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BIM We are utilising REVIT and working to BIM Level 2+ on all HLR projects, including the following working methods: • • • • •

Utilising Navisworks for model federation and clash detection Undertaking walkthroughs and tagging items to produce Model Risk Registers for Design Team Meetings Federating consultant and sub-contractor models Adopting NRM1 / PAS1192 naming conventions Working with Activeplan during bid stage to meet output specification

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Hertfordshire, Luton & Reading £60m Varies 01 / 2013 10 / 2016

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Leeds West Academy Leeds City Council and E-ACT

As the first E-ACT sponsored Design and Build Academy to be completed, Leeds West is a flagship development which transforms learning for the community it serves. This has been achieved by close collaboration between Rock Townsend and the educators allowing the client to articulate the principles of the curriculum as well as the vision for the pastoral structure and for these to be translated into an inspirational building. The new building features innovative arrangements for subject teaching, placing aspects of the curriculum within three ‘hubs’: Diversity, Communications and Innovations. The building’s facilities include four hi-tech IT suites and mobile facilities for ICT-rich learning, a full-size climbing wall, a professional theatre to support the Academy’s specialisms in English and Performing Arts and a fully equipped Hair and Beauty salon for students taking vocational courses.


A flagship development where excellent teaching is facilitated through innovative design within a creative, vibrant environment. Annette Hall Principal, Leeds West Academy

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Bramley, Leeds £32m 12,042 sqm 09 / 2008 09 / 2011

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Hyde Technology College Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Hyde Technology College is a new 1230 place 11-18 school that was delivered as part of the Tameside BSF programme in partnership with Carillion. The school forms part of a masterplan which includes Thomas Ashton SEN School, also designed by Rock Townsend. The new building meets the school’s ambitions for transformational learning and provides specialist vocational facilties including catering studios, a construction warehouse and a hospitality area. The concept of the building is centred on a progression of internal and external learning ‘gardens’ which reveal themselves as you move further into the site and building. The gardens are rich learning and social environments, each accommodating a range of teaching styles whilst having their own academic emphasis. Classroom clusters are arranged around breakout spaces which overlook the triple-height gardens whilst the main activity spaces for sport, art and construction are zoned for community use to the rear of the building. The omission of traditional corridors and the distribution of staff spaces ensure that movement around the school is interesting and safe, allowing students and staff to see what others are doing, be inspired and engage in cross-curriculum learning.


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Location: Construction Cost: GIA: RT Start: RT End:

Hyde, Tameside ÂŁ20m 9,600 sqm 08 / 2008 10 / 2011

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Thomas Ashton SEN School Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

This is a new facility for the education of KS2 and KS3 students with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The school provides a non-institutional environment for the students to learn, delivering a ‘home away from home’ approach with a variety of spaces that balance privacy and social interaction. The design can be read as a microcosm of outside life with a city-type structure intended to create a sense of community, comprising self-contained houses, a public square, leisure facilities and workplaces. The school accommodates 56 students with the primary accommodation arranged into almost completely selfcontained learning-bases. These are organised around a central external courtyard to encourage social play.


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Hyde, Tameside ÂŁ4.4m 2,000 sqm 02 / 2009 11 / 2011

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Further Education and Community



The Kilburn Centre College of North West London

The Kilburn Centre is a learning facility that replaces an existing dilapidated, inefficient building and was the first of two landmark projects that formed part of the College’s property improvement programme. Built on a redundant car park plot of land it represented a difficult and unpromising environment to locate the College’s flagship building. We developed a concept that stacked the general teaching accommodation into an efficient five-storey building, releasing half of the site as landscape amenity space for the College and surrounding community. The chamfered building form was a response to complex rights of light which, when combined with a bold striped facade, created a strong building identity affectionately known as ‘Zebra Bites Kilburn’. The plan form, with a five-storey central atrium, allows deep penetration of light and passive ventilation, whilst heat recovery minimises environmental impact and operating costs. The high quality furniture, fittings and frameless glazing contrasts with the exposed concrete to give an equally strong identity to the internal environment, helping to promote the College as a cutting- edge and inspiring place to learn.


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Every local authority in London should have one of these - it makes you want to enrol on a course just to be able to use the building. Ken Livingstone Mayor of London (at the opening in Sept 2007)

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Kilburn, London ÂŁ5.5m 2,805 sqm 06 / 2004 08 / 2007


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The Telford Building College of North West London

In this state-of-the-art building for the Faculty of Technology we challenged the presumption that heavy duty engineering and trade accommodation needs to be single-storey. The resulting five-storey building released valuable college land for other uses, provided an extremely efficient building form in terms of floor to wall ratio and provided optimum plan depths for good uniform daylight to all teaching spaces. Stacking the accommodation in this way generated huge commercial benefits for the College in phasing, capital expenditure, use of land and operating costs. Purpose-built spaces are provided for specific disciplines including welding, plumbing, manufacturing and engineering, automotive engineering, heating and ventilation, fibrous plaster and trowel trades. By integrating many disciplines that are generally separated, the building encourages interaction between courses and raises awareness of the wider construction process among the students. The building itself is an essential learning tool with exposed services and simple architectural detailing allowing students to understand their chosen discipline within the wider context of a working building. This landmark building powerfully promotes the College and its technical courses; an exemplar of STEM education.


There was a free exchange of ideas with clear communication channels, ensuring that all voices were heard. The team really pulled together to create a lasting legacy for construction students into the future. Malcolm Rapier Assistant Principal

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Willesden, London ÂŁ6.9m 4,100 sqm 09 / 2005 03 / 2009

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The Osmani Centre The Osmani Trust

Rock Townsend worked in partnership with The Osmani Trust, LB Tower Hamlets and the building users to develop an exemplar brief for a modern inner-city youth and community facility which has become the benchmark for youth centres across the Borough. Sustainability, value for money and quality of design were the client’s overarching aspirations for the scheme. In response, we developed a tight cubic form which derives from the sehan; the traditional Moorish courtyard. This concept underpinned a ‘reduce demand first’ approach to design where, by utilising a large span structural solution to allow the creation of multi-use spaces, we were able to reduce the Gross Internal Area by 30% whilst still meeting the spatial and functional requirements of the brief. With a smaller, efficiently formed building we were then able to adopt a natural daylight and ventilation strategy through a central atrium, a low U-value external envelope, air source heat pumps for heating and cooling and a combination of solar panels and PV panels to achieve BREEAM Excellent. The building has become a prominent landmark in the local area providing social, recreational, training and employment opportunities to meet the needs of young people from the diverse local community.


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Kilburn, London ÂŁ5.5m 2,805 sqm 06 / 2004 08 / 2007

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Higher Education


Senate House North Block School of Oriental and African Studies

This £22m project refurbishes and extends the North Block of Charles Holden’s Senate House, a Grade II* listed building near to Russell Square. The project involves a number of design elements that allow various facilities to be combined into a single location. This includes extensive refurbishment of the existing building together with a new glazed courtyard roof that creates a major new social learning space in the centre. This glass roof adopts the highest quality detailing to deliver a ‘light-touch’ intervention that responds to the historic context. The design maximises the visual connection to the surrounding listed building by detailing the primary support beams to follow the curvature of the glazing and utilising structural glass secondary beams. In total the project will deliver over 7000 sqm of accommodation, constructed in a crowded city centre location with restricted access and the need to maintain ongoing campus operation. The modern interventions and sensitive refurbishment will complement and articulate Holden’s original design whilst maintaining SOAS’s dedication to being the guardian of the listed building and to safeguarding its future.


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Bloomsbury, London ÂŁ22m 7,109 sqm 09 / 2011 08 / 2016

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The Clipstone Street Building University of Westminster

The existing Cavendish Campus comprised two early 20th century buildings which were significantly overcrowded, having to accommodate three times the number of students that it was originally designed for. We designed a new 9-storey building to provide much needed open plan, flexible floor space. We based the design on a commercial office model which enabled the academic departments to expand, contract and adapt over time to suit their changing needs. A separate entrance and vertical circulation core was provided to allow the University to sub-let the upper floors independently and to create an income stream should space requirements significantly reduce. Our extensive consultation with a large group of stakeholders enabled a holistic approach to the campus to be realised, one that provided increased clarity for the users. This was achieved by adopting a simple building form with a high-quality integrated metal cladding system that increased the legibility of the campus as an urban block and reinforced the identity of the University within the dense urban context. The building was successfully delivered to a high standard on a constrained site and we were subsequently appointed to design a new social hub in the central courtyard space.

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Fitzrovia, London ÂŁ18m 7,500 sqm 2000 2004


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The Student Hub University of Westminster

The Cavendish Campus masterplan, which we developed during our work on the Clipstone Street building, recognised the fundamental need for a social ‘heart’ to facilitate the students’ working day and promote the idea of the University as a community. ‘The Hub’ concept was born, re-establishing the links between the various campus buildings via a new multistorey social building - a true meeting place to facilitate greater social interaction on the campus. The sequencing required the Hub to be constructed after the Clipstone Street building, thus demanding a carefully considered logistics plan involving a series of enabling works and a ‘building through a letterbox’ approach. This involved a high degree of co-operation between designers, contractors and the University to maintain a full curriculum throughout. In order to assist in mitigating the impact on campus operations and the student body, a ‘Quick Wins’ summer works package was proposed aimed at improving the temporary student experience and indicating the added value the subsequent programme of construction would deliver. This included improvements to the ‘look and feel’ and capacity of the entrance area and an a public art installation commissioned from one of the lecturers in sculpture at the Harrow campus.


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Fitzrovia, London ÂŁ5m 1,600 sqm 2003 2006

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Psychology Department University of Westminster

This project involved the relocation of the Psychology Department into a 640 sqm newly refurbished facility at the Cavendish Campus. Our proposal adopted a modern approach to work space but one that took into consideration the specific working patterns and needs of the users. After extensive engagement with staff and students it became clear that a wholesale open plan approach would not accommodate the various user needs. Our proposal therefore created a balance of different space types including private areas for individual academic work and one-to-one learning, dedicated group learning zones, new laboratories and a central learning space shared by staff and students with a feature 8 metre table capable of subdivision. The project creates a distinct brand for the Psychology Department with the crisp, white ‘laboratory’ aesthetic contrasting with the raw finishes and exposed services of the building. This is complemented by accents of colour to bring warmth and focus to specific areas. This refurbishment is a great example of how existing facilities can be transformed in a short space of time to create a place that staff and students are proud of. The result has been very positive with the department now hosting film nights that did not occur before and staff conveying increased work satisfaction and improved relationships with other staff and students.


This stands out for its simplicity and unity... creating an airy translucent space that does not compromise practicality. Judge’s Comment FX Interior Design Awards

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Fitzrovia, London ÂŁ1.38m 640 sqm 02 / 2014 09 / 2014

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The Learning Platform University of Westminster

The remodelling and refurbishment of the Marylebone Campus, home to the Westminster Business School (WBS) and the School of Architecture and the Built Environment (SABE), provides a nurturing environment for learning that changes the ‘learn and go’ culture into one of ‘learn, stay, socialise and share’. The project centres on a ‘Learning Platform’ concept, a 1200sqm flexible, IT-rich social leaning environment that provides a range of formal and informal learning spaces. This new heart to the campus was created by covering a previously under-used, windswept podium to provide one major central space that connects various buildings on the site. It is a place where the two schools merge and integrate; promoting a collective community. The project also included major upgrade to the existing estate, an area totalling 10,660sqm, including general teaching, lecture theatres, breakout spaces, a postgraduate suite, library and a reception. The design involved various environmental improvements to the 1960s buildings including upgrading the thermal fabric, a new CHP boiler and rainwater harvesting. Combined with a rationalisation of spaces to increase utilisation, the project reduced energy costs, saved 292 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum and achieved BREEAM Excellent.

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Marylebone, London £20m 10,660 sqm 07 / 2010 11 / 2012


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It has been essential to breathe new life into the Marylebone site and create a better sense of identity. This project does that by creating a real heart to the campus, which is vibrant and uplifting. Trevor Wills Director of Estates and Facilities, University of Westminster


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Marylebone Library University of Westminster

The refurbishment of Marylebone Campus Library delivers a comfortable and attractive place to study and a variety of ICT-rich environments to support individual and group learning. The project involved the complete refurbishment of the second and third floors to deliver new balcony spaces, a series of study rooms, offices and reorganised book storage. Improvements to natural daylight and the contrast of exposed finishes, glazing and highlights of bold colour create a strong identity for the library while the specification of high quality furniture is used to create sub-areas within the open plan layout to support various student preferences and needs.


Location: Construction Cost: GIA: RT Start: RT End:

Marylebone, London ÂŁ1.2m 1,100 sqm 05 / 2014 10 / 2014

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Harrow Library University of Westminster

The transformation of the second floor library at the Harrow Campus creates a vibrant and inspiring learning environment fit for a dynamic and design-savvy end user. The Harrow campus is home to the Westminster School of Media, Art and Design and so the library needed to be a unique place which would chime with the school’s design orientated students. Stripping back the space to its shell and applying a new layout with plenty of natural light and sharp, clean lines, gives a modern studio feel to the space whilst the raw materials, soft furnishings and splashes of colour help to define the different zones. It was important to offer a variety of areas for silent and independent study. The large curtains to the reading rooms are a unique way of establishing a physical and acoustic barrier to the quieter spaces, giving the rooms a feeling of privacy. Silent study booths and high-backed armchairs create individual learning opportunities and sit alongside custom-designed communal IT benches. The use of honest materials with bold geometric lighting and occasional highlights of colour makes the library an exciting place for students to spend time in, to study, explore and share.

A great new space that really reflects the students and the work going on at this campus. Makes studying in the library a lot more enjoyable. Student Feedback


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The new library is an exciting and very positive addition to the way we provide learning space. It has been well received and the flexibility of the various areas of quiet space is in accordance with our students’ needs.

Location: Construction Cost: GIA: RT Start: RT End:

Harrow, London £0.92m 1,500 sqm 05 / 2015 10 / 2015

Warren O’Leary Interim Director of Estates and Facilities University of Westminster 96

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Our Team

top left to bottom right Tim Robinson Martina Favero Steve Stokes Sally Thompson Richard Watson Andrew Bacon Daniel Goldenberg Guy Shackle Michelle Jones Charlotte Tamplin Peter Phillipps James Ford Sophie Baldwin Mark Gabbey Richard Sharp Caroline Lander Phil Rogers Martha Moshinsky Stephen Bradford Martin Howlett Richard Shepley

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Architecture & Design The Old School Exton Street London SE1 8UE 020 7261 9577 studio@rocktownsend.co.uk

rocktownsend.co.uk


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