July 20, 2020

NVB have been announced as Finalists in the Building Design Architect of the Year Awards.  They have been shortlisted for Education Architect of the Year.   In contrast to other awards which recognise a single building,  the selection criteria states that “the judges will be looking for evidence of all-round design excellence and fitness for purpose over a body of work”.

NVB submitted four projects from our education work, three of which are complete, and one which is due to commence construction later in the year.  The projects were The Michael Malnik Centre for Music and Media at Leighton Park School, Dauntsey’s School Sports Pavilion, Dean Close School Day Houses and a new Academic Hub for Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School.  Details of the three completed projects can be found in our portfolio.

We have been shortlisted along with a talented field comprising of Architype, Child Graddon Lewis, Cottrell and Vermeulen, HKS, Levitt Bernstein, Penoyre and Prasad, and Scott Brownrigg.  The winner will be announced at an award event in October.

June 8, 2020

A fascinating programme from on BBC Radio 4 about the very different take Frome Town Council have on getting things done in local politics. We were proud to play a part in bringing the neglected building which is now their home back to life.  You can still hear the programme here.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jf7s

We get a huge amount of satisfaction out of this kind of community project and from breathing new sustainable life into tired buildings.  See our portfolio pages for more of our civic and community projects.

April 17, 2020

It was great to see our Tiger House for Longleat on the BBC’s Animal Park programme this week.  It was such an amazing privilege to be involved with this project to protect such magnificent creatures.  We would urge you to take a look. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000hb25/animal-park-cutdowns-episode-13

We have a range of animal conservation, wildlife and veterinary projects in our portfolio.

April 8, 2020

Anyone who says it’s business as usual is lying, but we are adapting well. There is a temptation to hunker down and just deal with the items that are on your desk already, but some of our clients have decided that this is a great opportunity to make progress on feasibility and viability studies in a range of sectors.

We admire that attitude. Make use of the time to focus.

If your organisation has something in mind, we can initiate new projects without having to wait for the current turmoil to subside. That way, when something more like normal service resumes, you will be in a great position to move forward.

A business continuity plan has a nicely ordered sound to it, but the real test is in the implementation. We have been very pleasantly surprised by how well the office has been functioning with remote working. We have our bandwidth-heavy BIM models working very smoothly via a VPN link to our servers. Communication and virtual meetings are working well. Planning applications are still going in. We have even hosted a stakeholder engagement workshop.

These are not normal times, but they can be highly productive times. We can help you use this time to think strategically about your projects.

March 4, 2020

In 1990, we became NVB Architects.  A lot has happened in thirty years and yet this was just the latest stage in the evolution of our practice, the history of which goes back much further.  In another thirty years’ time it will be 2050, by which time the government has committed to being CO₂ neutral.

There is a lot to do, but we are excited about the challenges of our next chapter and we have a great team.

Thirty years ago, none of us could have predicted the extent to which the internet would change the way we work and play, but we adapt and grow.

By 2050, the young people who come to us for work experience will be established in whatever career they decide to pursue.

The children learning in the schools we have designed will be leaders in their field.

What we can be sure of is that in 2050, our work will still be about people, adaption, evolution and necessity, approached with rigour and creativity.

February 6, 2020

Works are well underway at St Bartholomew’s Primary School in Royal Wootton Bassett for the Diocese of Salisbury. The project will increase the form of intake providing 4 new classrooms, a studio hall, new entrance, improved admin facilities and associated external plan space. The design is based around 3 simple ‘barn’ structures presenting a smart new entrance to the school.

January 9, 2020

We are looking for the following people to join our busy architectural and landscape teams:

• RIBA Part I students

Placement opportunities for enthusiastic students between 6 months and 1 year available. Experience of Adobe Creative Suite essential.

• Landscape Architect

Position available for an enthusiastic Landscape Graduate or qualified Landscape Architect to join our busy team.

• Landscape Technician

Position available for a Technical Assistant to join our busy team. We are interested in technically skilled individuals from related disciplines such as architecture or engineering. The successful candidate should be well organised, and fully able to develop design sketches into technical working drawing packages to a high standard.

Join us!

Please send CV and samples of your work to andrewsimpson@nvbarchitects.co.uk

January 8, 2020

We are very pleased that the Post Mortem and Anatomy Study Centre (Brinsea Building) is nearing completion at Langford Veterinary School for the University of Bristol.

The new building replaces existing facilities on the campus, providing a commercial PM facility supporting the local community and providing caseload for academic studies, and an Anatomy Study Centre providing a nationally-renowned teaching programme for veterinary students.

The building adapted and extended a previous commercial unit on the site to create the new facilities. The design was developed in conjunction with technical staff to ensure that potential contaminants are controlled through passive zoning of the building, and active systems to manage air-flow, drainage and cleaning.

This project complements previously completed projects by NVB Architects for Langford Veterinary School including a small-animal hospital (ICU, imaging and theatre facilities), animal welfare research spaces, Translational Biomedical Research Centre and equine-surgery building.