Details of the 2011 Conservation Awards and Commendations

Salisbury Civic Society New Buildings Awards Scheme 2011

The judging panel, which was chaired by former Salisbury MP Robert Key and also included Adam Madge, Nicola Lipscombe and Paul Stevens, met on October 4th to consider the thirteen nominations submitted. Of these five were within Salisbury, and eight were outside the city. After considerable discussion, and site visits to short-listed candidates, the judges decided to give Awards to five of the nominations, and to commend five further ones.

This was a particularly good year for the new buildings awards scheme, with a wide range of high quality buildings being recognised (no particular order in either category).

Awards

1) 'The Sleepers' and 'The Sidings', Tollgate Road, Salisbury

Architects: Anders Roberts & Associates Ltd, Christchurch

Accustomed to social housing in the area being worthy but visually unremarkable, the judges were pleasantly surprised to find that the 24 housing association flats in Tollgate Road were not in the usual Salisbury vein. The combination of white render and timber boarding created a clean and attractive appearance, contrasting effectively with the brickwork found in more traditional buildings in the area around. The articulation of the main facade, with elements set at varying distances from the pavement line, was well handled, lending depth and interest to the design. The rear elevation, slightly simpler but with the addition of two nicely proportioned and elegant staircase towers, was equally applauded. The judges felt there was scope for planting along the perimeter here, and hoped that the bare concrete blockwork used for the interiors of the very prominent bin stores, some of which was visible even with the doors closed, could be improved. However for its skilful use of a constrained site, and the bright and positive impact of its design approach, the building was felt to be well worth an award.

2) Alabaré Place, Salisbury

Architects: Quattro Design Architects, Bristol

It was immediately apparent to the judges that the street scene had benefited greatly from the removal of this building's ungainly and overscaled 1960s predecessor, but they then had to decide what positive contribution was being made by the new hostel for homeless people replacing it. They noted that the easy option, so often taken in Salisbury, of replicating traditional Georgian styles had not been adopted. The overall three storeys plus dormer approach scaled in with the neighbouring building, but within that general form the elevation had been handled in a very distinctive way, with a render/brickwork mix in calculated proportions, and modern materials for the upper part, combining to form a whole which made its own statement rather than pretending to have always been there. The interior, with its full-height atrium, was deemed to be a great success, creating cheerful well-lit spaces with no institutional feel about them, and the building was well fitted-out. The use of natural stone for exterior details was also applauded. Overall the building seemed to answer the requirements of its brief exceptionally well, while also enhancing a prominent site within the historic city.

3) Treetops, Stapleford

Architects: The Classic Architecture Company, Wilton

As with Alabaré Place in Salisbury, the unusual mixing of materials, here render and stone, with considerable areas of glass, immediately indicated that the building aimed at something more than safe conformity with local norms for a village house. The use of simple angular forms, together with an unashamedly industrial roof material, created something that worked exceptionally well within its own specific site, where the slope up from front to back was taken full advantage of. Further work to the garden should see full integration of the house with its rural setting. The interior was judged to be particularly successful, with the consistent use of ash for floors and joinery, and the imaginative creation of spaces both single and double storey in height, combining to produce something of real distinction. The open staircase and other carefully thought-out details added to the effect. High levels of insulation, allied with other features such the extensive south facing glazing, shaded in the summer but taking advantage of the sun in winter, enabled a large house to be run with low fuel bills, and the sustainability aspects of the project were another reason for the judges having little difficulty in agreeing it reached award standard.

4) Residential Development at Clements Lane, Mere

Architects: Clive Hawkins, Lavenham
                   David Oliver, Dorchester

            South Wiltshire has not been well served by volume housebuilders in the design field, and this small estate was greeted with interest, as the photos initially seen by the judges clearly indicated a rather more considered approach. A site visit confirmed that both in overall concept and in attention to detail, the estate was an exceptional achievement. House designs did not attempt to go beyond a safe traditional approach, but for once they met the key demand imposed by this choice, which is that buildings are designed and constructed with care and conviction. The range of materials was well chosen and handled, and the layout created variety and interest, with a consistent building line on or just back from the pavement edge, which created a properly town rather than suburban feel. Car parking was confined to internal courts where possible, and a line of houses on the edge of the site, which had only a footpath running past its front doors, was considered particularly successful. Sizable areas of tarmac, though not ideal, were probably inevitable in a commercial development, and were softened by tree planting. As a lesson to other, larger developers as to what could be achieved if the commitment was there, the estate clearly fully deserved an award

5) Riversleigh, Coombe Bissett

Architects: Favonius & Co, Salisbury

With a rather constrained and difficult site, previously the location of a bungalow of no merit at all, the thinking that had gone into this house had clearly produced something of exceptional quality. Large areas of glazing on the north facing front elevation maximised the available light, while the projection out from the sloping rear of the site on piloti created visual interest as well as useful space below. The green roof, high insulation values and use of properly-sourced timber for the walling combined to give the building genuine credentials in the field of sustainability, while the courtyard space at the south facing rear served as a natural extension of the interior, taking full advantage of direct sunlight. The interiors were judged to be exceptionally successful, with a generously sized principal living space and ancillary rooms around carefully put together and fitted out, to create a house where it would be very easy to feel at home. While still essentially one storey, the building far exceeded any normal sense of the word 'bungalow', and was felt by the judges to be an impressive achievement.

Commendations

1) Sixth Form Centre at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury

Architects: Nichols Brown Webber, Henley-on-Thames
Saunders Architects LLP, Romsey

Another stage in the long-term plan to bring the school's facilities up to a level matching its superb site just east of the cathedral, the new building was clearly a world away from the temporary classrooms it replaced. Its L shaped form made sensible use of the available space, with good quality brickwork and tile-hanging to match other new work adjacent. A projecting staircase tower and oriel windows contributed additional visual interest. Internally, the curve of the staircase corner, with good detailing of the joinery of the window set into it, made this a particular feature of the design. The bright, clean spaces of the classrooms, with their generous ceiling heights, indicated a building that served its basic functions very well, while the one classroom that looked out to the east end of the cathedral made good use of a view beyond those available to most schools. The sixth form centre clearly met its brief in a very efficient and attractive way, and was deemed well worth a commendation.

2) Park and Ride Building at Petersfinger, Salisbury

Architects: Nash Partnership, Bath

The building on the Petersfinger park and ride site, the last of the five planned for Salisbury to be completed, continued the trend of having something purpose-designed for each site, rather than relying on some standardised model. The outcome here was a circular plan form, with a predominantly grey theme for the fenestration, which forms the majority of the wall space, and for the sloping roofs, pleasantly offset by some of the ground floor walling having a rendered finish in a colour not unlike Devon cob. The first floor repeats the form on a smaller radius, giving good observation facilities for a full 360o, and creating an interestingly stepped profile. Sustainable features had been incorporated where possible, including a green roof. The overall result was deemed to be an attractive small building, which created the desired facilities in a way that went beyond the merely utilitarian, and provided the site with a well thought-out focal point.

3) Workshop at Holt Cottage, Teffont Evias

Architect: Gerald Steer RIBA, Salisbury

Photos showed this site, on the other side of a lane from a listed cottage, to have previously been occupied by a ramshackle shed, of no visual value and limited practical merit. Its replacement is a small two-roomed building, constructed as a workshop, but with the potential to be adapted for other uses if the needs of owners change. It is clearly a major asset to a small cottage which, most unusually, has not been subject to the process of being extended which have seen so many other cottages move away from their original characters. In contrast to the previous shed, the workshop had been built to a high standard, with stone walling to match the major material of the cottage, clay-tile roof and traditionally detailed joinery. For the quality which had gone into the design and workmanship, and the success in providing valuable facilities without needing to encroach on the original form of the cottage, the project was felt to be well worth a commendation.

4) Junior Ranks Dining Centre at Bulford Camp

Architects: Scott Brownrigg, Guildford

Pressures on time prevented a visit to this nomination, but a good set of photos provided by those responsible for the building, and knowledge of it or similar buildings on the part of two of the judges, enabled a decision to be made that it certainly reached commendation standard. The principal external elevations used simple, contemporary forms and a range of materials to create a bright and cheerful appearance, marking the building as a major addition to the domestic and social facilities of the garrison. The interior provided for a range of uses in an imaginative way, creating spaces with generous ceiling heights and high quality detailing of staircases and other features. The two storey space on which one section of the building was focused seemed to be particularly successful. The overall feel was the opposite of institutional, and the judges felt that the aims behind the building, and the way it had been executed, certainly deserved recognition.

5) Bridge at Gurston Manor, Broad Chalke

Designer: Sarah Pennal, London

New bridges are not frequent candidates for the awards scheme, and the judges were keen to see the impact of this one on the ground. They had little difficulty in deciding that it was a significant asset to the garden of the listed house which looks out over it. The elegant design and high quality craftsmanship, combined with the use of local stone, created something of real distinction, making it rather a shame that the winterbourne which it crosses does not flow all the year round. The lettering cut into the end piers facing the house, and the meticulous brickwork to the underside of the bridge, hardly visible in most views, indicated a commitment to quality beyond the average, and the turf finish to the pathway over helped meld the structure into the landscape. Design and execution, coupled with the commitment needed to build the structure in the first place, all contributed to a project of genuine high standard.