Merry Christmas from everyone at Willmore Iles Architects

Christmas Jumpers

Here we are resplendent in our Christmas Jumpers!

We collected £40 for Save the Children, so thank you all for your donations with particular thanks to Martha for the gingerbread men and money she collected from their sales.

Sock Factory marketing suite nears completion

A typical Kitchen Living Dining Area has been set up within the shop opposite the Sock Factory site on Welford Road to help students visualise the flats prior to construction. The Marketing Suite for the Sock Factory in Leicester is near completion and hoping to open within the next few weeks.

Student Accommodation Conference 2012

Andrew Iles was pleased to contribute to the panel debate at the Property Week Student Accommodation Conference 2012.  The panel discussed ‘The evolution of student accommodation to compete in a global context’.   The conference has grown in strength and was sold out to capacity this year; reflecting the strength of the sector in a difficult property market.

Weston Hospicecare

Willmore Iles Architects were delighted to receive this letter from our friends at Weston Hospicecare, thanking us for our help in getting together a public consultation for their proposed new Well-being suite. The scheme is currently in planning, pending a decision.

University of Hertfordshire

Willmore Iles are pleased to be part of the Uliving team selected as preferred bidder for the University of Hertfordshire College Lane Residences Project.  The scheme involves the construction of over 2,500 rooms on campus over a three year programme.  The scheme will be a 'Ture Zero Carbon' development with a biomass gasification CHP plant providing all heating and power requirements.   A planning application is being prepared for submission in Autumn 2012.

University of Exeter

Following the successful handover of Birks Hall in September 2011, the second phase at the University of Exeter has now been completed and the two remaining sites at Lafrowda and Duryard were handed over in the last week of August 2012.

This marks the completion of the Exeter residences project that began back in 2008. With over 1900 student rooms, regional offices and student services housed in 19 buildings over three sites, this is the longest running project that we have been involved with, from planning through to completion.

We will put up some photos very soon so watch this space!

Blog? We have a blog? Oh yeah, better update that!

After realising that "Merry Christmas 2011" probably wasn't appropriate as the first thing people saw when they clicked on our blog (in early September 2012), it's fallen on my shoulders to produce an update.

Elmgrove Library, Portsmouth

Completed in August, this project involved the conversion of an existing library and office into purpose designed and managed student accommodation arranged as five flats. Much of the work was internal, however the existing tired facade was revamped as part of the b works. The photos above show the front elevation as it was, and as it is now.

Greenfield Crescent

The conversion and refurbishment of a pair of previously vacant semi-detached Victorian villas in the heart of the Calthorpe Estate in Edgbaston has now successfully been returned to valuable use.   The modern, light touch refurbishment provides a mix of residential student flats, showcasing the existing character of the villas.  The 30 bedrooms are fully let for this academic year and we wish Calthorpe Estate every success with their latest venture