PLANNING CONSENT GRANTED FOR PRIVATE HOUSE IN HAMPSHIRE
NOVEMBER 2012
The practice has received planning consent from Winchester City Council for the construction of a new private house in a sensitive area in the Hampshire countryside.
The site sits next to the river Arle, an area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by English Nature and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EC Habitats Directive. Permission was granted following extensive consultations and a positive response from the Winchester and Eastleigh Design Review Panel, as well as the support of Natural England and the Wildlife Trust.
The house will have high sustainability credentials including high levels of thermal insulation and airtightness, passive solar heating, ground source heating technology, PV panels and substantial enhancement of the ecology of the site through extensive landscaping works.
ATHLETES OCCUPY OLYMPIC HOUSING
AUGUST 2012
In the run up to the London Olympics, the Athletes’ Village housing block N15, is now occupied with athletes’ preparing for the games. Niall McLaughlin Architects have designed the external skin of the housing block on a ‘chassis’ designed by Glen Howells. The facade samples fragments of the Elgin Marbles, scanned from the British Museum and converted into 3D pre-cast panels depicting galloping horses from the Parthenon Frieze.
Niall McLaughlin commented on the practice’s approach to the unusual commission in Building Design. ‘I was very interested in the principle of the facade being delaminated from the building’s core form. Usually it’s something one tries to swim against to retain a sense of ‘authenticity’, but here we decided to embrace it….I like the idea of setting Ruskin’s conception of the craftsman against the absolute Taylorism of the construction process. Through digital reproduction, these deracinated stones are now doubly lost.’ (Building Design 27.01.2012)