Work is continuing apace at South Hereford Volkswagen where the brand’s new retail concept is being implemented for the first time in the UK.  The bold new concept, epitomised by the dramatic full-height glazed frontage, not only improves visibility of the vehicles, but clearly marks the pedestrian entrance and communicates a fresh, contemporary feel for the brand.

Excellent progress has been made in the first three months and the building envelope is now complete.  When the internal works are completed on the first phase, the retailer will take occupancy of this part of the facility whilst the remainder of the showroom is enhanced to realise the new retail concept.

Close working with both the retailer and the contractor has enabled Stubbs Rich to develop a phasing strategy which has allowed the showroom to remain operational throughout the entirety of the works.

The showroom is due for completion in early August.

 

Work is now well underway on Flourish Homes’ headquarters building in Wells.  The completed building will represent the culmination of several years’ work by the client and design team to create a new headquarters facility for the organisation to accommodate their staff and provide a centre for their tenants to visit.

The project goes beyond good practice in environmental terms.  The client’s aspiration was to reduce overall energy demands, whilst generating some of their energy requirement on site.  A combination of high thermal mass, natural ventilation and thermally tempered air from a ground source heat pump all assist in achieving this goal.

Work on the concrete superstructure which provides the thermal mass is starting this month, with final completion due in March 2011.

 

Stubbs Rich are pleased to have won the Constructing Excellence South West Heritage Award for our Komedia project in Bath.

We took a down-at-heel disused listed cinema and changed it into a new venue for live entertainment. We also provided a home for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen. Both have proved to be very successful.

The judges commended the way in which a redundant listed building, designed to fulfil a very specific demand as a cinema, had been found a new and valuable use.

 

We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in our OJEU bid to be appointed by the University of Bath to design the new Student Centre.

This exciting project will act as a major focus for the University campus and give the students much improved facilities.  It will also dramatically improve the approach to the parade level from the east.  The design of the building is to achieve BREEAM Excellent.

By working closely with this important client and an excellent design team on this challenging project, we believe that we will help the University begin to implement their long term masterplan for the campus.

We will be working with King Sturge, Gleeds and Mann Williams.

By fusing together a serious understanding of data centres, science and Town & Country planning law - admittedly an unlikely combination - Stubbs Rich have created and patented an idea that offers the possibility of low carbon, low energy data centres and much more.

Others have suggested very clever technology to improve the performance of the equipment.  Our idea turns on its head the traditional understanding of how a data centre works, heralding the green data centre.

John Rich, co-inventor, says, “This idea has the potential to future-proof data centres against rising fuel prices and to help such facilities respond to the challenge of climate change.”

Please contact John Rich or Nicholas Stubbs if you are interested in either becoming a development partner or applying this idea to a project.