Hot on the heels of the hugely successful Windsor Design Live 2023 events, we are delighted to share with you details of our next event – Thames Valley Build & Design Live, being held at the beautiful Easthampstead Park Hotel in Wokingham on Saturday 11th of May. Private homeowners, self-builders and independent developers will visit Thames Valley Build & Design Live because they want to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of property development from a host of specialist consultants and suppliers with extensive experience of these types of projects. The consultants and suppliers will be available throughout the day at Thames Valley Build & Design Live to provide lots of really useful information, advice and will answer your questions and address your concerns. This is an in-person event where you can book one-to-one meetings with the consultants and suppliers, or you can just turn up on the day. Consultants and suppliers you can meet include: • Architect • Planning consultant • Builder • Interior designer • Furniture designers and manufacturer • Garden & Landscape designer • Energy consultant • Smart home consultant Visit https://thamesvalleylive.com/ to find out more about the consultants and suppliers and to book one-to-one meetings on the day. They each bring specialist expertise and knowledge to the event and will answer all of your questions as well as provide brochures and information for you to take away. Easthampstead Park is one of Berkshire’s finest hotels and is set in 80 acres of woodland, parkland and formal gardens. There will be complimentary refreshments throughout the day. In attendance will be a wide range of consultants to help you every step of the way including architects, planners, builders, electricians, energy experts, landscape gardeners, interior designers & furniture designers.

The BSA has been a hot topic since it came into force in April 2022 and implemented in October 2023 albeit with some transitional arrangements. Architects must keep abreast of regulatory changes and much of the time this is fairly technical. Now and again there is new legislation that is so wide-ranging that we feel it’s important to ensure all our clients are aware of it. One such significant shift came with the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022. This legislation is designed to address concerns raised by tragic incidents like the Grenfell Tower fire. It has far-reaching implications for architects, their clients and the entire construction and property development sector. The Act came into force in April 2022 and implementation began last October. The Grenfell Tower disaster, which claimed 72 lives in 2017, highlighted critical flaws in existing safety protocols and brought into question the accountability of those responsible for ensuring building safety. The Act aims to rectify these shortcomings by imposing stricter requirements on building owners, developers, and architects to ensure the safety of occupants. The Act requires a revaluation of project management strategies and budget allocations. Compliance with the Act may mean additional costs and time constraints, particularly during planning and construction phases. Artichoke will work closely with our clients to navigate these challenges effectively. One of the key implications of the Act for clients, is the emphasis on accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle. Clients can expect greater scrutiny of building designs, materials, and construction methods to ensure compliance with safety standards. The Act introduces the concept of the "duty holder," placing specific responsibilities on individuals involved in the design, construction, and maintenance of buildings. The Act also introduces a new regulatory framework for high-rise residential buildings, requiring the appointment of a Building Safety Manager and the development of a comprehensive safety case report. Clients undertaking projects in this sector must be prepared to allocate resources towards fulfilling these requirements and collaborating closely with architects to streamline the process. While the Building Safety Act 2022 presents challenges for architectural clients, it also offers opportunities for innovation and improvement within the industry. By prioritising safety and accountability, the Act lays the foundation for a more robust and resilient built environment. Clients as well as architects and other professionals, must embrace this shift and recognise it as a collective endeavour to safeguard lives and uphold the integrity of the built environment. By understanding and adapting to the requirements of the Act, architects and clients can navigate regulatory complexities more effectively and contribute to the creation of a safer, more sustainable built environment. We have produced a guide explaining our understanding of the Act and its implications, including a more detailed explanation of the responsibilities of a Duty Holders. Please contact us at office@arctichoke-design.co.uk if you would like a copy.

We love building design! This often involves designing a refurbishment or extension to a clients home. Or, designing a brand new house. But, we also work with commercial clients across East Berkshire and surrounding areas including Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey. Our commercial clients operate in the hospitality sector, in healthcare, industrial property and commercial development. Over the next few months, we’ll sharing more information about this exciting and growing side of Artichoke. Here are two examples.

Finding the right architect for you might seem a daunting task. And a good working relationship between a client and architect is crucial to the success of a project. So here are our thoughts on the ideal client-architect relationship… Our ideal client is someone who appreciates the uniqueness of custom design, the creative process and the value both can bring to their project. You don’t need a clear-cut plan, but a willingness to trust our expertise and journey with us through the design process is key! Collaboration Working with Artichoke is wholly collaborative. We look for clients who are eager to engage in a creative partnership and we especially love clients who are responsive and engaged, providing insights and feedback to ensure we shape the project together. Your involvement is crucial – it is your project and we want it to echo your aspirations. Collaboration is important at all stages of a project. It’s especially important at the initial design phase, prior to regulatory approvals and construction. Understanding and establishing your brief is fundamental so we can develop designs to suit you. We ask the right questions and we listen so that the outcome is something beyond your expectations. At Artichoke, we love to invest time in the sketch design process. Sketching helps us present several design proposals quickly and effectively so that we can collaborate with our clients to tweak and refine the design.

Our love of great design is plastered all over our website and (hopefully) seeps through everything we write and do. We’re passionate about the built environment but there is a perpetual obstacle… Local Authorities (Planning) perform a vital function; to ensure that proposed developments are appropriate and don’t harm our build environment or the people that use it. That’s not an easy job and carries an awful lot of responsibility, after all, who can actually decide what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ design? Many iconic pieces of architecture, that are now cherished and loved were loathed when they were originally built. Guggenheim, Tour Eiffel, Sagrada Familia to name a few and not just quiet discontent, Pablo Picasso wished those responsible for the world famous Spanish landmark would be “sent to hell” while George Orwell described it as “One of the most hideous buildings in the world!” How can it be that buildings that are held as beautiful and iconic were so utterly scathed when they were first designed?? The answer is (I think) quite simple; people are afraid of what they don’t know or understand and almost by definition, this is what contemporary architecture (and art) tries to do, to push design boundaries. How on earth are Local Authorities supposed to assess a design proposal or style of which they have little or no experience, or anything to compare with? Again, the answer is (or seems) simple in principle but not in practice; those judging design should be suitably qualified to do so (although seemingly – even designers can’t agree on good (contemporary) design – see Sagrada Familia!). Nevertheless – whilst there will always be disagreements between (qualified?!) designers and the general public, there seems some logic in having someone, who is qualified (?!) and experienced to make such a critical decision. For larger more significant building, there are review panels, attended by architects, amongst others – which on balance seems to be a sensible approach because it hopefully means on balance there will be more good decisions than bad. This is all very well for larger projects, but what about all of the tiny projects that make up the majority of the residential streets that make our towns and villages where we actually spend most of our lives? This is where (from most of our experiences) the system seems to fall apart. Obviously, Local Authorities, which are already stretched to say the least, do not have the resource to allocate an experienced or qualified designer to every single smaller project (for small, read a handful of dwellings or less). The solution is seemingly quite logically, intended to help the less experienced officers to assess the wide variety of proposals they must consider by creating some design guidance for them (also to try and ensure consistent decision making). In principle this sounds very sensible, however, trying to distil the almost infinitely broad ranges of sites, situations, clients, desires and hence (viable and good) possibilities into a single design guide is not possible. The result is a design guide which is based on a very narrow set of ‘typical’ and ‘traditional’ instances of examples or situations that are known to work well. That also actually sounds great…doesn’t it? This is where my heart sinks and genuinely sometime brings me to the verge of tears. Because it’s typically placed in the hands of junior officers (see LA resourcing issues above) without design experience the well intentioned ‘guidance’ is taken as gospel and 99% of the time they then also do not have the confidence to deviate (at all) from the well-intentioned document. The consequences, in my eyes are truly catastrophic. Without the realistic opportunity for designs, which don’t conform to the guidance, to be approved, but which can still be full of passion, beauty and respect for the built environment – the variety, diversity, interest and creativity of the built environment is already suffering. In all but the most historic densely populated towns (where there is generally less scope for development), you usually don’t have to walk very far to see how many buildings and extensions there are which are so ‘safe’ and so ‘magnolia’ – pastiche copies of styles gone by, that there is nothing that looks new, interesting, breaks any moulds or inspires anyone. Full circle - here we go right back to the start of this blog. There is no doubt, a risk of allowing anything new or different, as inevitably there will be new building(s) that are labelled as ‘carbunkles’ - and some of them may be. But, others (and the appreciation can take time!) will be seen as iconic and will be loved and this even (especially?) applies to the smaller projects, in the streets which make up the majority of our villages, towns & cities. What it really comes down to is trust and it’s no different with the planning system than it is in everyday life; we have to make decisions whether to trust someone or something. Most of the time we’ll probably get it right – other times we won’t and it might have a small consequence or it might have significant consequences. As in life though, it’s a choice and a fight not to allow the let-downs to make you cynical – who wants to live in that world?? Of course, I’m not recommending blind or uneducated trust, that just leaves a big wide open door to abuse but without some more trust in the ability of experienced and passionate designers to do what they’re (generally) good at, what a hideously bland world we will all live in. The thing that led to this blog was reviewing once small element of RBWM’s Borough Wide Design Guide regarding one of the smallest types of development – the dormer window. This is an example of their ‘guidance’ – you can read the rest in full here https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/planning/planning-policy/planning-guidance/adopted-supplementary-planning-documents-spds/borough-wide-design-guide-spd