We are a creative and talented bunch at GSA. This year our Christmas image was created by our staff, through a competition. The winning entry was this image designed by Mauro Mosca – Christmas at Arborfield Green, Wokingham.
The wider proposals will include 2,000 new homes, 2 schools, a District Centre, and generous areas of open space. New homes are spacious, light-filled and open plan for modern family living, all within a high quality landscaped setting.
December 2018
Our design for 450 new homes at Gallows Hill has been submitted for RM planning approval. This is a key strategic site in L&Q’s expansion into the Midlands.The new layout and architectural language create a series of distinctive, local character areas formed around the existing & proposed landscape – centred on a 0.5km long view to Warwick Castle.
The design provides a wide range of homes across the development – from 1-bed apartments to 5-bed family houses, with 40% affordable housing spread throughout the site. All these new homes are designed to utilise L&Q's pre-fabricated construction methodology, while incorporating local, site-specific vernacular features.
December 2018
Work has started on the next phase of RNIB Redhill - the conversion of the Grade II Listed Tudor House into the RNIB community hub.
This part of a joint venture with between Countryside and the RNIB will result in specialised accommodation for up 50 residents and 77 new luxury homes on the site, which will be sold on the open market.
December 2018
Our Design Code for the Northern Gateway at Arborfield Green for Crest Nicholson Regeneration has been approved by Wokingham Borough Council.
This is the 4th Design Code GSA have produced for Arborfield and focuses on a key part of the Garrison site that incorporates 3 residential parcels, a primary school and neighbourhood centre. We are continuing our work with Crest to secure reserved matters planning approvals at Arborfield Green into 2019.
December 2018
Congratulations to all the team led by Countryside and L&Q, at Beaulieu, Chelmsford, for winning two International Property Awards.
Beaulieu triumphed in two categories – Best Residential Development and Best Mixed-Use Development. Photo Credit – Countryside.
December 2018
We are delighted that Oak Road in Tiddington, near Stratford-Upon-Avon was unanimously approved at planning committee last night. The scheme will provide 60 new homes with a community focus, clustered around a series of 3 attractive new greens. This will make a handsome addition to the village.
The client, L&Q Counties, provide high quality homes accessible to local communities outside London, across a range of tenures. The buildings will progress rapidly on site – through the use of a timber-framed panel system. The factory techniques are so efficient that the structural frame for a house can be fabricated in 45 minutes!
November 2018
Chelmsford has been a popular place to live since Roman times. In 2012 it became a city – as part of the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
We were pleased to see a photo of our house designs at Beaulieu within the Evening Standard Homes & Property this week.
November 2018
We are delighted that the Bright Horizons Day Nursery and the Kip McGrath Education Centre at Beaulieu, Chelmsford have opened their doors now, welcoming children of all ages, from babies to teens.
This will be a great asset for the wider community. Image credit - Countryside.
October 2018
Yesterday we attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 2 of the South Oxhey town centre regeneration. It was a good opportunity to see all the progress that has been made so far, and to celebrate the success of the partnership between TRDC, Countryside & Home Group.
Phase 2 will deliver 174 new homes, 7,857sqft of retail space and a new market place.
October 2018
The latest phase of Arborfield Green Garden Village has been submitted for planning. Our designs for Crest Nicholson include 110 new homes – a mix of apartments and houses - and a small neighbourhood centre to the north of Biggs Lane.
The wider proposals include up to 2000 new homes, 2 schools, a District Centre, SANGs, allotments and sports facilities. New homes are spacious, light-filled and open plan for modern family living, all within a high quality landscaped setting.
October 2018
At the Countryside Alan Cherry Debate. Nice to see our project Beaulieu, Chelmsford feature as the backdrop for the discussions today!
Among the topics for debate - How can councils and home builders work together to combat potential nimbyism in areas of high housing demand?
October 2018
Our scheme for Bellway to develop part of the North Kent College campus has been submitted for planning. The site has an interesting place in history. In 1895, Martina Bergman-Österberg located her women’s Physical Training College here (then a house called Kingsfield). The game of netball is credited as being developed here.
The proposals include 156 new homes – a mix of houses and apartments, inspired by the architecture of Kingsfield House. The development is centred around The Green - a large landscaped area providing a new setting for Kingsfield, which will be sensitively converted into apartments.
September 2018
We have achieved planning consent for 102 new homes in Grays, for our client Bellway Homes. The proposals include a mix of apartments and houses and transform the site that sits within a former quarrying area of the town, close to the NuStar fuel storage facility.
Grays in Essex is a town with great potential, close to scenic country parks and the River Thames, yet within convenient commuting distance of London. We worked closely with the Bellway team to turn around the planning application in 2 months!
September 2018
This year we went to Warwick Castle for our team building event. It was an enjoyable day, in a wonderful historic setting.
We had training in archery and the art of sword fighting. And now the team is ready for anything!
September 2018
We are pleased that Beaulieu is a finalist in the Best Placemaking category at the British Homes Awards.
The character of the architecture and landscape, working together, give a strong sense of place. The first phases - including the neighbourhood centre are now complete.
September 2018
We are delighted that our design for 2 Iceni Square has been nominated – a group of three-storey, four-bedroom houses in the Atelier neighbourhood where a mix of interesting contemporary designs, which include terraces and flats, have been composed to provide both a distinctive architectural flavour and a sense of integration.
The awards team describe the townhouse as “This house has both pleasing overall proportions and a combination of details that complement each other nicely so that the design works well whether you are looking at it standing back or close up.”
September 2018
It’s great to see the first businesses moving into Station Square, Carpenders Park. This retail area and public square form part of the first phase of the South Oxhey Initiative.
This is a joint venture between Countryside, Home Group and Three Rivers District Council to regenerate the town centre. At the same time the first 84 town centre apartments are under construction.
August 2018
We are delighted that the Community Centre at Beaulieu is now open. It is an important element of our mixed-use neighbourhood centre design.
The community centre has a wonderful double height space - which can be used for lots of purposes. We can't wait to see the programme of events coming up! (Photo credit - Countryside)
July 2018
We are delighted to see that Beaulieu has been shortlisted in the Best Placemaking category for the 2018 British Homes Awards. Further to the development of our design for the wider masterplan for 3,600 homes to the north of Chelmsford, we have designed two of the initial detailed phases of the Development – Beaulieu Chase and Beaulieu Square.
Now completed, these initial phases of the scheme are setting the tone for further phases of the development and have created a place with a real sense of character. New build homes are set within generously landscaped avenues, linear parks and public garden spaces - alongside private amenity space including both gardens and external terrace space.
July 2018
GSA have been working with ENGIE Regeneration - developing the EnergieSprong near net-zero energy retrofit pilot for social housing provider Moat Homes in Maldon, Essex. GSA associate John Pratley gave a presentation to prospective residents as part of a customer engagement workshop at the local community centre.
We have submitted a planning application for 6 homes. GSA designed the holistic proposals using our in-house Passivhaus modelling capabilities to energy-prove the design process. “The project is exciting and the finished result looks really smart but the best bit has to be the expected savings on energy costs” - Ms Edwards - Resident
July 2018
Congratulations to the Beaulieu team for the win in the Infrastructure Planning category of the Planning Awards. It was a successful night -also scooping highly commended awards for Partnership Working and Best Housing Scheme (500 homes or more).
Picture credit – Countryside.
June 2018
“When it comes to designing for adults, young adults in this case, you have to make sure it reflects somewhere they want to live in. It’s not a nursery or a school — you want it to feel like home so you have to be using colours that reflect that kind of environment.” – Manoher Matharu, director
Manoher was talking about our design at Redhill for RNIB. Find out more about inclusive design in George Kafka’s article for Blueprint this month.
May 2018
“Estate regeneration was already a thorny issue before the Grenfell Tower fire, involving complex debates around whether to refurbish or demolish. Tragic events at Grenfell almost a year ago further complicated the issue, leaving many questioning the future of some of the UK’s mid-twentieth century estates, specifically those constructed using the
non-traditional materials and designs of the public housing boom.” – Josephine Smit We are helping to address this. At Wilmcote House, Portsmouth we have been upgrading the external fabric performance to achieve Passivhaus EnerPHit. Read more about our refurbishment project in Josephine’s article.
May 2018
Part of the North Kent College campus is being sold for residential development (to raise funds for a new teaching building). The site has an interesting place in history. In 1895, Martina Bergman-Österberg located her women’s Physical Training College here (then a house called Kingsfield). The game of netball is credited as being developed here.
Our proposals include new houses and apartments, centred around The Green - a large landscaped area which lies at the heart of the development. It also provides a new setting for Kingsfield, which will be sensitively converted into apartments. A public exhibition has been held to consult upon the proposals.
May 2018
We are delighted to receive two planning approvals in one week for our designs at Park Place, Stevenage. Here are some site photos of our town centre regeneration work currently on site. The recent approvals relate to:
12 Park Place - a 9 home scheme for MBU Capital adjacent to our current Park Place project which responds sensitively and adds to the modernist conservation area. St George's Car Park cladding scheme - creating a visual screen for the benefit of the new residents of Park Place that will look towards the car park, utilising perforated metal panels.
May 2018
Grays in Essex is a town with great potential, close to scenic country parks and the River Thames, yet within convenient commuting distance of London. So we were delighted to be appointed to transform this development site within a former quarrying area of the town.
We have just submitted a planning application for 102 new homes (a mix of houses and apartments) at Devonshire Place. We worked closely with the Bellway team to turn around the planning application in 2 months!
May 2018
Congratulations to Paddi Clark who graduated with Distinction in her MSc in Environmental Strategy from the University of Surrey. Her dissertation explored the potential for using Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) in UK social housing using GSA's Westway Beacons as a case study.
Westway Beacons was the first U.K. Housing project to incorporate ATES which uses the heat naturally stored in the aquifer to provide low cost heating and cooling, thereby minimising residents’ fuel bills and helping people out of fuel poverty.
May 2018
We noticed an advert for our apartment scheme at Grange Walk in Bermondsey on the back of a London bus in Greenwich.
Far from looking like ‘the back end of a bus’ - the scheme is an elegant courtyard design that strongly addresses the urban context and surrounding streets.
April 2018
Our twin mixed-use buildings at Park Place, Stevenage, town centre regeneration are progressing well on site. The scaffolding has been taken down revealing the profiled aluminium cladded façade.
Projecting window frames and flat aluminium panel inserts are being installed, as balconies are clad, awaiting glass balustrade inserts to the sides. The “bookends” are finished with Corium brick slips whose lustrous finish changes throughout the day and in differing light conditions!
April 2018
Residents are moving into their new homes at Hallowes Crescent and Maylands Road, South Oxhey. This is part of the South Oxhey Initiative – to regenerate the town centre, achieved through a partnership between Countryside, Home Group and Three Rivers District Council.
Construction of Phase 2 will start in Spring 2019 - providing a further 174 homes. With completion on these properties expected by spring 2020.
April 2018
Recently there has been increasing interest in the alternatives to tall buildings. We thought that you might like to see progress photos of Grange Walk (Corio) in Bermondsey – which is currently on site.
This scheme for Linden Homes and Wandle housing association provides 167 mixed-tenure apartments (including wheelchair homes) in a mid rise courtyard scheme. Although it is only 4-7 storeys high, responding to its context, it achieves 305 dwellings / HA or 859 habitable rooms / HA.
April 2018
GSA with Crest Nicholson have been selected by MKDP to design a prestigious new mixed use quarter overlooking Campbell Park and the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes.
Campbell Park Northside will be developed jointly with Urban Splash and Places for People and will contain up to 1,500 new homes, together with retail, restaurants, offices, a hotel and community space. GSA's winning design incorporates existing trees and hedgerows in a linear park connecting the town centre with the Grand Union Canal.
March 2018
The MHCLG held their "Addressing Fuel Poverty" Workshop in Portsmouth this week, using our Wilmcote House Passivhaus EnerPhit social housing retrofit as a case study. We heard presentations from Portsmouth, Exeter and Southampton City Councils sharing their experiences of providing energy-efficient homes and refurbishing existing housing.
After the Workshop, GSA Associate John Pratley helped lead the building tour - including a look inside one of the recently refurbished maisonettes, where we witnessed first hand the thermal benefit of a Passivhaus home:- a pleasant, draft-free internal temperature of 20C (with the outside a chilly, windy –1C). All achieved without the heating on!
March 2018
Beaulieu will provide a vibrant new district for Chelmsford offering inspirational architecture and landscape. The design is inspired by the area’s rich heritage – set around the majestic New Hall School, formerly King Henry VIII’s Tudor palace, and its estate parkland. The development is conceived as a series of individually designed neighbourhood
Chelmsford's MP Vicky Ford has been on a tour of the latest updates to Beaulieu. Here she is shown visiting Beaulieu Square - our design for the neighbourhood centre.
February 2018
The first phase at Mindenhurst was unanimously approved at Committee last night - great news for CALA Homes and GSA. The scheme for 215 new homes, ranging from 1 & 2 bed flats up to 5 bed detached homes, sets the bar high for the redevelopment of the Princess Royal Barracks in Deepcut.
This is part of a wider plan to deliver 1,200 new homes, a school & village centre. Work will now start on site to deliver much-needed homes sitting within a beautiful woodland setting, with many enjoying views across the Village Green or parkland.
February 2018
Our Design Code for Parcel M at Arborfield Green for Crest Nicholson Regeneration has just been approved. We have a 3 out of 3 success rate at Arborfield!
This code focuses on the Cricket Green character area, right in the centre of the masterplan, close to the new Park and District Centre. The document guides the design of the intimate courtyards and lanes forming a sensitive transition to the existing houses next to the site.
February 2018
Our design for the community hub at Beaulieu, Chelmsford is reaching completion on site. The supermarket and shops are now open for business.
The hub will also provide a new health centre, community centre and with new homes above. Photo courtesy of Countryside.
February 2018
Thank you to everyone who supported the public exhibition showcasing the proposals for the new District Centre at Arborfield Green. We are currently working with Crest Nicholson to produce a Development Brief. This was our chance to share initial ideas with the public.
The centre will be located alongside the new school, and will bring together a vibrant mix of amenities for the community including a food store, shops, food & drink outlets, community and leisure facilities.
January 2018
This year it is 40 years since Francis Tibbalds founded our practice. His holistic approach to placemaking is still enshrined in our practice today. Director Christine Goldsmith is rediscovering his work through his wonderfully illustrated book ‘Making People-Friendly Towns’.
Through the course of this year she intends to visit locations featured in the book, and photograph them. Seeing if the qualities that he valued have survived and how change has affected these places. Starting with London!
January 2018
In refurbishment projects, squeezed budgets are often torn between the demand for better fire safety measures and improving energy efficiency in tower blocks.
But Wilmcote House, Portsmouth shows that needn’t be the case. GSA associate John Pratley recently spoke to RIBA Journal about his experience.
January 2018
Happy New Year from everyone at GSA! We wish you a happy and successful new year in 2018.
This is the spectacular new years fireworks display from our office on Blackfriars Road.
January 2018