Week 22: Renovating a Derelict Cottage to Be Near Friends
When our client decided to swap London for a country home, friendship gave her a very good reason to Skenfrith. The Old Shop had already caught her imagination, despite being virtually derelict and requiring considerably more work than a straightforward move might normally involve. She could see beyond its dilapidated condition and had fallen in […]
Week 21: Charlton Park Gate, Contemporary Ideas for a Cheltenham Family Home
Colour-changing lighting, a glowing glass staircase and the same poured resin flooring specification used for the new floor at The Dorchester were hardly conventional choices for a family home in 2008, but conventional was never what the open-minded clients at Charlton Park Gate were looking for. For Week 21 of our #40Projects40Weeks series, we are […]
Week 20: The Ones That Got Away, When Timing, Policy and Circumstance Did Not Align
For Week 20 of our #40Projects40Weeks series, we have reached the halfway point, so it felt only right to do something a little different. A three-for-one, special, bumper edition. This week, we are looking at The Ones That Got Away: three architecture projects that had every chance of success, but for reasons beyond the control […]
Week 19: Saxtys, a Hereford Hospitality Refurbishment with Bubbles on the Ceiling
Lots of projects involve repairs, planning policy and careful heritage detailing. This one had all of that, plus champagne bubbles on the ceiling and a police line-up in the boys’ toilets. For Week 19 of our #40Projects40Weeks series, we are revisiting Saxtys in Hereford, a Hereford hospitality refurbishment from 2007 that reworked a well-established restaurant, […]
Week 18: The Watershed, From Forgotten Warehouse to Riverside Landmark
Some buildings ask politely for a second chance, the Watershed arrived with water around its ankles and challenged us to do something useful with it. For Week 18 of our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series, we are deep diving into The Watershed, a Hereford heritage conversion that transformed an old, dilapidated single-storey riverside warehouse […]
Week 17: Vespers, a Cheltenham SIPs House With a Full-Circle Story
Some projects have unusual beginnings and this one started with RRA’s Mark Powles telling a young developer that he didn’t need an architect for his project. Unusual sales technique, granted. For Week 17 of our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series, we are revisiting Vespers, a contemporary Cheltenham SIPs house from 2019. It is […]
Week 16: How A Trip To America Led To The First SIPs House In The UK
Some projects are ahead of their time. This one was so far ahead of its time that part of the job involved explaining what the construction method actually was. For Week 16 of our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series, we are revisiting what is believed to be the first SIPs house in the UK, […]
Week 15: Upper Hall, Ledbury: A Building of Many Lives
It has been known as Aula Superior, Over Court, Over Hall and finally Upper Hall. And, frankly, if a building has had that many names, you know it has lore. For Week 15 of our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series, we are revisiting the Upper Hall Ledbury heritage conversion, a substantial Grade II listed […]
Week 14: Tivoli Street Timely Transformation, From Watch Repairs to Cheltenham Terraced Homes
As part of our 40 projects for 40 years series, this week we are heading to a residential conversion in Cheltenham. This is Week 14 of our 40 projects celebrating 40 years of RRA Architects. Tivoli has always been one of Cheltenham’s most characterful neighbourhoods. While the town became famous for spa waters, promenades and […]
Week 13: Cotswolds Architects and the House That Was Already Right
Our clients were looking for a new property and asked RRA Architects to view potential houses with them. They had a clear idea of what they wanted, but nothing was quite right. The search was proving fruitless. Then, over a cup of tea at the clients’ kitchen table, RRA’s Mark Powles asked the obvious […]