August 8, 2023

NVB have been shortlisted for the Education category of the Building Design Architect of the Year Awards.  This comes hot on the heels of being shortlisted for the RIBA Regional Awards.

The competition looks at a body of work rather than an individual project and our entry included Wootton Bassett Infants School, Aldenham Prep School, Haberdashers’ Boys’ School Academic Hub and a research project on combining schools with senior living accommodation.  See our portfolio page for more details.

The winners are announced on 17th October and we are crossing everything.

July 19, 2023

July 11, 2023

Interesting thought piece from our Landscape Director Peter Baker on investment in school facilities and making smart use of budgets. Thank you Building Design.

https://www.bdonline.co.uk/opinion/young-people-deserve-better-than-decaying-school-buildings/5124036.article

June 27, 2023

We are looking for a talented Assistant Landscape Architect. You will be enthusiastic, enjoy being part of a team and have good design skills and wider design awareness. We value participation, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. You will be working primarily on a number of high quality education projects along with a range of work in other sectors.

We will be looking for good graphic skills, a knowledge of AutoCAD and/ or Revit and the Adobe suite. In-house training will be available for any un-familiar software packages.

NVB are committed to promoting equality & diversity both in our workplace and in the wider industry.

Please contact Peter Baker on: mailbox@nvbandscape.co.uk

May 17, 2023

What to do about a lovely old building which doesn’t suit modern education? Look no further than page 37 of the current issue of Independent Schools Magazine where director James McGillivray talks through the key points in addressing modern education in a historic environment.

https://www.independentschoolsmagazine.co.uk/issues/2023-may/index.html

March 20, 2023

“Wow, it’s like an oasis!”
We had a brilliant time showing the RIBA judges around Wootton Bassett Infants’ School this week for the South West regional awards shortlist. It was lovely to walk, slide and crouch around the project with them. The head teacher, Alison Pass, was an amazing host, especially when she mentioned how prospective parents have commented “wow, it’s like an oasis!” and a teaching assistant that the classroom is the best she’s ever worked in!
As can be seen from the photos, we managed to get all but one judge to go down the slide. This is part of the deeply integrated architecture and landscape design where levels played a key role as a catalyst for design. We hid under the treehouse library, which is a favourite spot for the pupils to play and where the school’s focus on reading is in evidence in abundance. It felt like they had dressed the library for the visit with “Iggy Pegg, Architect” and “Rosie Revere, Engineer” on the shelf!
It was great to hear comments about the quality of the internal spaces, the views enabled by the location of the buildings and the bridges and balconies came into their own as the winter weather closed in.
In recent post-occupation feedback the school have told us that pupil outcomes and attendance have both improved following the completion of the redevelopment. Also, and perhaps more importantly, that both the pupils and staff are happier.
We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for the RIBA awards. We feel we’ve had high praise already, but an award would be the cherry on the cake.

March 2, 2023

We’re super-proud to see Wootton Bassett Infants’ School on the front page of the Architects’ Journal (AJ) in their “First Look” section. It has also been shortlisted for a RIBA Regional award.

NVB Architects completes ‘tree house’ primary school near Swindon

Access to the article on AJ may be subject to a paywall.

Photography: Tom Glendinning Photography

February 15, 2023

We’re delighted that Wootton Bassett Infants’ School has been shortlisted for the 2023 RIBA South West Regional Awards.

We look forward to the judges visiting the school to explore the bridges, treehouse library and slide. Hopefully the pupils and staff will sing its praises as well!

We’re especially proud of the collaboration between client, contractor and design team.

Client: Wiltshire Council/Wootton Bassett Infants’ School

Architect: NVB Architects

Landscape Architect: NVB Landscape

Structural Engineer: Hydrock

Services Engineer: Atkins

Quantity Surveyor: Faithful and Gould

Photographer: Tom Glendinning

For more – https://www.nvbarchitects.co.uk/project/wootton-bassett-infants-school/

February 2, 2023

Today, the 2nd February is the UN’s World Wetlands Day highlighting how 35% of the world’s wetlands have disappeared in the last 50 years and ways to reverse this decline.

Government legislation, such as the Environment Act 2021 and Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, are increasing the emphasis to create new wetlands as part of most developments. We include them in the majority of our designs as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) from small wildlife ponds, such as at Wallscourt Farm Academy (see links below), to large surface water flooding and attenuation schemes, such as our masterplan for Selwood Garden Community.

The multiple benefits of wetlands for wildlife, human mental health and the survival of our species, make wetlands the natural choice.

For more information on the day, please follow this link:

https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/

Wallscourt Farm Academy:

Delighted to present @Wallscourt Farm Academy with a new viewing platform for their school pond as part of our commitment to the local community pic.twitter.com/jyeDysC3IJ

— UWE Bristol (@UWEBristol) December 4, 2017

Selwood Garden Community

Selwood Garden Community Outline Application

Selwood Garden Community (SGC) has now been resubmitted to Mendip District Council for a second round of consultation.

This is a mixed-use development including 1700 homes, employment areas, primary school, local centre, care homes and expansive network of Green Infrastructure.

SGC is highly aspirational prioritising attractive streets, community facilities, active travel, public transport, biodiversity, and local employment to create a vibrant and inclusive suburb of Frome.

This project is unique in the area and would secure 15 years of development under a single masterplan ensuring joined-up thinking between housing sites and providing vital infrastructure for Frome which smaller developments often avoid.