transform
transformation
by Tom Bloxham MBE, Jonathan Falkingham, and Nick Johnson.
Š Urban Splash, 2011 Published by RIBA Publishing, 15 Bonhill Street, London EC2P 2EA ISBN 978 1 85946 396 3 Stock code 74717 The right of Urban Splash to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed and bound by Butler, Tanner & Dennis Ltd, Frome and London. While every effort has been made to check the accuracy and quality of the information given in this publication, neither the Author nor the Publisher accepts any responsibility for the subsequent use of this information, for any errors or omissions that it may contain, or for any misunderstandings arising from it. RIBA Publishing is part of RIBA Enterprises Ltd. www.ribaenterprises.com
transformation
When Tom met Jonnie Work talks A space, called home Places matter From old to new Royal William Yard, Plymouth Lister Mills, Bradford Chimney Pot Park, Salford Fort Dunlop, Birmingham MoHo, Manchester The Matchworks, Liverpool Midland Hotel, Morecambe Budenburg HAUS Projekte 2&3, Altrincham Rotunda, Birmingham 3Towers, Manchester Chips, New Islington, Manchester Park Hill, Sheffield Lakeshore, Bristol Saxton, Leeds Longlands, Stalybridge
5 7 23 39 51 52 60 66 74 82 88 94 102 108 114 120 128 136 144 152
Conclusion 159 Projects 160 The final word 164 Acknowledgements 166
Saxton Leeds
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Saxton, Leeds
Project Location Sector Size Built Transformed Architect Partner
Saxton Leeds Apartments 2.6 ha / 410 homes 1950s formally called Saxton Gardens 2011 Union North Re’new Homes and Communities Agency
Built over 50 years ago, Saxton Gardens is Leeds’ most sought-after local authority housing scheme, comprising seven medium-rise housing blocks. Two of the blocks, however, were due for demolition – something that always amazes us. It’s often the same people who are worrying about plastic bags who are happy to tear down perfectly good buildings. A third party introduction to Leeds City Council put us on the trail, and before we knew it we had our first development in Leeds. We believe that doing this sort of regeneration in a city, near people’s work, near transport routes, is much more sustainable than housing on green fields where you need a car to commute. Giving these buildings a new lease of life and creating outdoor space around them will help to build on the strong existing community.
A huge amount of energy has gone into the redevelopment of this project. One of the ideas of the modernist movement was to create frames for buildings, allowing all of the internal spaces to be partitioned as you wish because the internal walls are not load bearing. This made the buildings at Saxton easy to adapt and reuse. Although the buildings were tired, their concrete frames made them robust and allowed architects Union North to extend their floorplates. The space was generous anyway by modern standards, and now the new apartments are even bigger in size. We’ve reclad the buildings to give them a new look and introduced floor to ceiling glazing to allow the apartments to fill with light. One- and two- bed apartments have been created, some featuring balconies and private terraces.
Tom ‘The outside is as good as the inside at Saxton, with a private residents’ garden, a wildflower meadow and even an orchard. We wanted to create an outside where city dwellers could live out suburban weekends and grow their own fruit and veg in their own private allotments.’
Saxton, Leeds
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' ‌a refreshingly new take on house-selling‌ Saxton is proof that being adventurous with outdoor space and understanding what buyers really want can help developers nurture the feel-good factor.' The Independent
Saxton, Leeds
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Designer Lance Routh Union North
' Our key aims with Saxton were to create a distinctive place with personality, and to maximise social interaction through design. Careful consideration has been given to the way that pedestrians can move around the buildings and through a variety of engaging external environments.' Union North
Saxton, Leeds
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' There are good things being done, things like Urban Splash, where it’s not like Barratt Homes… They’ve got an eye for design, most people don’t give a toss.' Andy Williams of Doves to Steve Hands, The Independent
Saxton, Leeds
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Architects and designers Adjaye Associates Alison Brooks Architects Alford Hall Monaghan Morris Arkheion Austin-Smith:Lord BDP Ben Kelly Design David Morley Architects Dalton Maag De Metz Forbes Knight Design Studio DSDHA FAT Feix & Merlin Ferguson Mann Fielden Clegg Bradley Architects Flacq Foster + Partners Future Systems Gareth Hoskins Architects Gillespie Yunnie Architects Glenn Howells Grant Associates Hawkins\Brown Ian Simpson Architects Ice Architects Kinetic Latham Architects Levitate Architecture Make Matthew Heywood Maurice Shapero Architects NORD North Planit Project Orange Querkraft Q2 Reiach and Hall Richard Rogers Partnership Riches Hawley Mikhail Ryder Architecture shedkm SMC Alsop Snook Space Craft Stephenson Bell Studio 3 Studio Egret West Union North Weston Williamson
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Photography and CGI's Adrian Burrows Andy Brown Ben Blackall Bristol Records Office Charlotte Wood Photography Daniel Hopkinson Duerden Collection Hugh Burden Jason Lock Joel Chester Fildes Jonathan Keenan Jonathan Moore Photography Karen Wright Len Grant Luke Unsworth Martin Crombie McCoy Wynne Associates Morley Von Sternberg Nic Gaunt Nick Hufton Paul Groom Peter Bennett Photography Price & Myers Plymouth Naval Base Museum Robert Whitrow Richard Cooper, Photoflex Simon Webb Shaw + Shaw Tim Smith Tom Benn Trevor Burrows Uniform Design Mhairi Smith, Urban Splash Printing Butler, Tanner & Dennis Ltd Publisher RIBA Publishing Š Urban Splash 2011
305 awards for design, architecture, regeneration and enterprise. We would like to thank everybody that has been a part of the Urban Splash story. There are too many of you to name individually but you know who are.
Contact Urban Splash Timber Wharf 16 - 22 Worsley Street Castlefield Manchester M15 4LD 0161 839 2999 www.urbansplash.co.uk
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