Christmas Greetings

Christmas Round up

Merry Christmas everyone.

We've been so busy over the last few months that we haven't had time to regularly update the blog unfortunately. With a slight reprieve from deadlines, I've managed to wrestle the responsibility of writing the blog update for the first time. Having read through the hilarious posts so far (especially the one about the office outing), it appears that I'm going to have my work cut out if I'm going to step into the witty shoes of the regular blogger (Cough, Andrew, cough).

Here is a quick round up of what's been going on in the wonderful world of Willmore Iles since the last blog post.

In August, planning permission was granted for two "Eco" dwellings at Charlton Park in Keynsham. Building Regulations approval quickly followed and they are due to go on site in the Spring.

September was a busy month, with plenty happening at the RNC.
First, the residential accommodation was handed over, with lots of positive feedback from the college and the users.











Next came the start on site of Gardner Hall.










In November we welcomed Rob Thorley to the practice. Rob is a qualified Architectural Technologist and is currently studying towards his Part 1 in (proper) Architecture at Oxford (ahem, Brooks).

Obviously the main problem we have had to deal with in the office, now that we have two Robs, is how to tell them apart. We had to decide fairly early on how we would refer to the new Rob. After much deliberation, the choice was narrowed down to either Alpha Rob or Dave.

The majority eventually (after several seconds) chose Alpha Rob, though the existing Rob (or Beta as he is now known) plumped for Dave.

Well that's about it. Here's hoping all of you reading this (and I suspect we may be talking double figures here) have a wonderful Christmas and happy new year!

See you in 2009

Tim

Masters in Planning

After three years hard work Andrew has passed his masters degree in Town and Country Planning. Andrew completed the course part-time at UWE, and will continue working towards RTPI recognition. Congratulations!

The Summer Jolly - Fly Fishing

After pond-ering several options for the Willmore Iles summer jolly the decision was taken to spend a day fly-fishing on Chew Valley Lake. It wasn't difficult to lure the team from endless drawings and BREAM calculations. Conditions on the day were not id-eel but carp-diem, we knew some time on the lake would be good for the sole. After basic tuition in casting we headed straight out onto the water, there was no time to mullet over; this was the reel thing. Two novices and a ghillie to a boat - motor boats thankfully, no one wanted to roe.

Poor weather conditions meant that although everything was in plaice, the fish weren't biting. There were lox of line tangles, casting on land was much easier than being perch-ed in a boat. A bass-ic but hearty lunch of steak sandwiches fuelled us for the afternoon.

Thank Cod, by 4pm some cloud cover gave us a fighting chance of catching. 'Holy Mackerel' came the shout as George hooked his first fish - even the hard of herring would have heard him. Paula was by now hooked and managed to land a 2.5lb Rainbow Trout. Paula took her fish home to eat, shellfish and cruel some say, but for her it is not a moray-eel issue; its ethical.

After a relaxing day we are back in the office with a new sense of porpoise.

Thanks to Martin and his team for a great day out.

La Ferme - La Clusaz - French Alps

After 7 months of negotiation planning consent has finally been secured for the renovation and redevelopment of a traditional farmhouse in the French Alps.

Having worked with the clients on their previous home (See Frank's House on the main website) Frank McGoldrick and Aline Courquin appointed Willmore Iles Architects to provide concept design and surveying services for the renovation of a 1822 traditional timber farmhouse on the outskirts of the ski resort of La Clusaz in the Haute Savoie. The proposals retain as much of the original fabric of the building as possible with some contemporary interventions to maximise the amazing views and realise the potential of this beautiful structure. A local architect was appointed to submit the proposals and after months of beauraucracy permission for the scheme has finally been granted. See image above of Frank proudly displaying his permit.

Site visits to be booked for the first dump of winter!

For progress photos see: http://frank-aline.blogspot.com/

Bristol 10k

Willmore Iles fielded a small team at the Bristol 10k road race this weekend. Rachel, Ben and Rob all posted good times. Ben Murrell finished 66th out of a field of almost 4000 with a time of 38mins 41secs. Very fast! We're hoping to field a bigger team for the Bristol Half Marathon in September.

RNC Phase II - Gardner Hall

Planning permission has been granted for the extension and conversion of Gardner Hall for the Royal National College in Hereford. The scheme provides overnight rooms, an assessment centre, cafe and ancillary accommodation for the College which will be used to support their existing activities. The overnight accommodation will also be occupied by visiting teams using the sports facilities, including the British Paralympic Blind Football squad.

The new football pitch at the Venns Lane centre will get a thorough test this weekend (3rd May) when GB’s Blind Football Squad play an international friendly against Spain.

Success at Appeal for Infill Live / Work Unit

A proposal for a flat and workshop at an infill site in St George, Bristol, has been granted at appeal. The scheme makes the most of a difficult backlands site by extending an existing commercial unit at first floor to create a one-bedroom flat.

Bursary Award for MA Research

Andrew Iles was delighted to receive a £500 bursary from the University of the West of England. The bursary was awarded in recognition of the high standard of performance achieved in his Post Graduate Diploma for which he recieved a merit. The bursary is given to support the research work Andrew is undertaking for his MA thesis. The thesis explores the issues of masterplanning university precincts in the context of the new Local Development Framework process.

New Arrival - Laurie Burge

Welcome to Laurie Burge, son of Rob and Maxine. Born January 14. 7lb and 7oz. All well (and cute as a button!).

Congratulations.

RNCB Sports Hall - Steelwork on Site

The project at Venns Lane is progressing well with the initial steelwork erection starting in the first week in January. The sports pitch sub-base is complete and will be open for training in February. The large retaining walls and basement are also near completion.