NATURAL

The eponymous founder of Ian Hazard Architects on being inspired by his surroundings, the joy of travel and stand out Yorkshire projects

By IAN HAZARD

My passion as a child was drawing. I loved to draw. I would spend hours with a pencil and some paper, drawing pretty much anything that came to mind! But it was when I spent a week working in a local architects practice at age 14 that I started drawing buildings, and thinking about architecture.

By the end of that first week of work experience, I had decided to become an architect. I spent that whole week drawing buildings, at a beautiful big old drawing board, and apparently, you could earn a living from it. My mind was made up!

Embarking upon the long journey to become an architect, my career has exposed me to a very broad range of professional experience, from the design of a university on top of a shopping mall in Vancouver, to working on Battersea Power Station in London, to building a remote Buddhist school in Ladakh, and to building a knowledge and enrichment centre on a barge in Doha.

Whilst the primary focus was always to work on the design of some form of building, it was working with and for people that really mattered on every project. It is working with people that makes the job.

I set up my own practice in 2012, at the tail end of the recession. At that time, the best design orientated architectural practices in the UK were based in the big cities, generally in the south. I had grown tired of living in the city in order to work for a good practice. The city was not my home, and I missed being in nature. There weren’t any design orientated practices hiring young architects in the north east at that time, so there was only one thing for it – to set out on my own!

Over the years I had gained a great deal of design experience working on large, exciting, international projects. I wanted to bring that experience of creating engaging contemporary architectural design to local clients working on their own properties and projects.

At architecture school, you learn how to design buildings. Nobody teaches you how to run a business. So, setting up the practice has certainly been

Ocean View

ROBIN HOOD’S BAY

“It’s really our first completed project”

The project at Ocean View is the internal remodelling and repair of a Grade II Listed end terrace cottage to provide a modern and comfortable permanent private residence. The building was built around 1675-1725 and through its lifetime has been put to many uses by fishermen, master mariners and marine biologists. Although the building has a rich and diverse history, very little evidence of that remains within the internal spaces of the dwelling.

The design proposals for the internal remodelling of the project therefore allow for the sensitive repair of the historic fabric that remains, along with the installation of new contemporary joinery linings and fittings. The proposals also seek to reinforce an understanding of height and verticality, which characterises the buildings of the Bay, as you climb the old stairs from the Lower Ground level at the Dock side, up four storeys to the sky filled Attic.

The Old Windmill York

“This project reflects our approach of bringing new things together with old things so that both elements benefit from each other” challenging at times. I find that we are constantly evolving to ensure that the service we o er is relevant to our clients. When it comes to architectural design our focus has always been toward contemporary design. However, over the years we have learned a lot from working with existing, traditional buildings. Learning from traditional approaches to building construction has taught us a lot, and our approach to contemporary design has evolved as a result.

The Old Windmill exists as a ruined, early 19C, red brick tower located close to the village of Appleton Roebuck, South West of the City of York. When our client purchased the Grade II Listed tower, planning permission and Listed Building Consent had already been granted to convert the abandoned mill into a private dwelling by the means of a small, traditional style, extension to the building.

Our approach to the design of the conversion and extension of the Old Windmill was to start with the lessons learned from its historical context. As a building typology, the design of windmills was constantly looking toward the future, for new technologies and approaches that would improve the process of milling, and to make life easier for the hard working miller.

The new cluster of small outbuildings connected to the tower facilitates the functional conversion of the windmill into a modern family dwelling. The design proposals include the integration of renewable energy sources for the heating and hot water supplies.

From day one, the intent of the practice has been to engage our clients in the design process, so that it becomes a process that they are central to and fully involved within. This process starts with listening to them, rather than talking at them.

Whilst I have always enjoyed drawing, in order to draw something, you need to feel inspired. That inspiration for me has always come from being immersed in nature, particularly the sea. Increasingly we find that the built environments that we create for ourselves separate us from nature, rather than connect us to it. Being inspired by nature ensures that a respect for nature and a desire to seek connection with it remains central to our work. We live between the North York Moors National Park and the Yorkshire Coast. The working day usually begins with an early morning cycle to the studio, along the seafront. There’s no better way to remind yourself why you do, what you do.

At the end of the day, buildings are designed for people. So, we will always be interested in working with like-minded people, whatever the project. However, it is increasingly important for us as a practice to actively engage with the community that we live and work in. ianhazard.com

The Whitby Lobster Hatchery project has been a fantastic example of a true community-initiated project that we helped to get o the ground. Hopefully we can help develop more projects like this, so that we can contribute to our region and its continued development.

Whitby Lobster Hatchery

WHITBY HARBOUR

“Truly a communityinitiated project”

The practice has been asked by a collective of Whitby fishermen to help them develop initial, outline proposals for the design of a new lobster hatchery facility, within the existing Whitby Fish Market building along Pier Road in Whitby Harbour.

The outline proposals have been developed to illustrate the broad aspirations of the Whitby Lobster Hatchery & Marine Discovery Centre and to assist the project team in generating interest in the project and to secure the funding necessary to commission a formal building design process.

The Whitby Lobster Hatchery aims to protect Whitby’s fishing heritage by conserving the local lobster populations. The hatchery will release 100,000 juvenile lobsters into the sea each year; offsetting the number of lobsters caught by Whitby’s fishing fleet, and protecting the region’s lobster industry for generations to come.

The project has three core values: conservation, education and research. Along with providing the hatchery facility to conserve lobster stocks, the proposals include an interactive exhibition and education centre, to inspire and engage the public.

At this stage, the architectural design response to the site and to the project brief are broad outline proposals, that consider ways in which redundant elements of the existing fish market building might be re-utilised to provide for the requirements of the hatchery, and to create a new, iconic, destination in Whitby’s historic harbour.