Richard Andrews Architects

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Richard Andrews Architects's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Richard Andrews Architects is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Blunkett signature Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Pickles signature Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.ra-architects.co.uk

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Review of the Year
14 | REVIEW OF THE YEAR
Tottenham Hotspur’s
stadium, New White
Hart Lane, has finally
opened after a host
of problems during
construction
The long-awaited Tottenham Hotspur
Stadium opened in April after a seven-
month delay.
One of the most hotly watched
construction projects of the year, the
62,062-seat stadium was due to open
in September 2018 but suffered a
number of setbacks during its build.
Many of the issues stemmed from
problems with the stadium’s safety
systems, which were first reported in
August 2018.
This prompted the club to have
“urgent meetings” with construction
manager Mace, which was the leading
contractor on the works, to review
the programme, rectify and re-test
thestadium.
In September, the following month,
Chairman Daniel Levy said the delay
had resulted in “substantial additional
costs, not least of which the need for
alternative venue hire, along with the
inconvenience for our fans and those of
our opposition.”
Updates were given again in October.
The club said it had been working
with key contractors involved in the
mechanical, electrical and safety
systems before revealing that there
would be further delays to the opening
of the stadium with a new date set
forDecember.
Frustrations, however, continued into
the new year, with the club pushing
back the opening again, including a
Premier League match against their
biggest rivals Arsenal in March, which
was played at Wembley.
The opening finally took place the
following month on April 3, with a no-
expense-spared ceremony, as well as
their first game in the stadium against
Crystal Palace.
Aside from its plush grounds, the new
stadium boasts Europe’s largest football
club shop, a 180-bed hotel and 579
apartments in four blocks for which the
club has planning permission.
It will also play host to other sports,
with a sunken artificial surface
that can be removed for American
footballgames.
Originally estimated to cost £400
million, the final cost for the new
stadium rocketed to £850 million –
slightly more expensive than the £789
million spent on constructing Wembley.
As
The Parliamentary Review
goes to
print, the Premier League has kicked
off, and Tottenham have had an
application to increase the capacity of
their stadi um approved.
Spurs stadium opens (at last)
15RICHARD ANDREWS ARCHITECTS |
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
Tottenham Hotspur’s
stadium, New White
Hart Lane, has finally
opened after a host
of problems during
construction
The long-awaited Tottenham Hotspur
Stadium opened in April after a seven-
month delay.
One of the most hotly watched
construction projects of the year, the
62,062-seat stadium was due to open
in September 2018 but suffered a
number of setbacks during its build.
Many of the issues stemmed from
problems with the stadium’s safety
systems, which were first reported in
August 2018.
This prompted the club to have
“urgent meetings” with construction
manager Mace, which was the leading
contractor on the works, to review
the programme, rectify and re-test
thestadium.
In September, the following month,
Chairman Daniel Levy said the delay
had resulted in “substantial additional
costs, not least of which the need for
alternative venue hire, along with the
inconvenience for our fans and those of
our opposition.”
Updates were given again in October.
The club said it had been working
with key contractors involved in the
mechanical, electrical and safety
systems before revealing that there
would be further delays to the opening
of the stadium with a new date set
forDecember.
Frustrations, however, continued into
the new year, with the club pushing
back the opening again, including a
Premier League match against their
biggest rivals Arsenal in March, which
was played at Wembley.
The opening finally took place the
following month on April 3, with a no-
expense-spared ceremony, as well as
their first game in the stadium against
Crystal Palace.
Aside from its plush grounds, the new
stadium boasts Europe’s largest football
club shop, a 180-bed hotel and 579
apartments in four blocks for which the
club has planning permission.
It will also play host to other sports,
with a sunken artificial surface
that can be removed for American
footballgames.
Originally estimated to cost £400
million, the final cost for the new
stadium rocketed to £850 million –
slightly more expensive than the £789
million spent on constructing Wembley.
As
The Parliamentary Review
goes to
print, the Premier League has kicked
off, and Tottenham have had an
application to increase the capacity of
their stadi um approved.
Spurs stadium opens (at last)
Director Richard Andrews
Songjiang Quarry Hotel – exciting
new thresholds working with our
sister company JADE UK
Richard Andrews was made redundant twice in the
downturn between 2007 and 2011, and subsequently
spotted a gap in the market for a heart-on-the-sleeve
approach to architecture. He followed up by establishing South
Wales firm Richard Andrews Architects, recognising that the
stereotypical architect often didn’t listen to the end-user’s
thoughts and ideas. In response, his firm offers a proactive,
down-to-earth approach, which connects with all sectors in
architecture through clear 3D drawings and a creative process.
Richard tells
The Parliamentary Review
more.
Proud to make a difference
We are a design-led practice that provides services to commercial and domestic clients
across the UK. We build outside-the-box, sustainable and groundbreaking extensions
using new technologies and techniques such as underfloor heating, off-grid small
sewage treatment plants, solar panels and the collation of family studio spaces.
The brief, however, is always subject to change, and sometimes we are called on to
simply improve the quality of someone’s space, no matter how big or small it might
be. Creating double-height, well-lit and aerated spaces is always our first port of
call in shaping the brief, but we always strive to understand client needs.
Our practice has worked with several medical centres across South Wales that
have been interested in redesigning their surgeries to unlock more space and allow
for an ever-growing population. There are typically two routes to take with these
projects – an extension or a new-build layout, dependent on practice numbers.
FACTS ABOUT
RICHARD ANDREWS ARCHITECTS
»Director: Richard Andrews
»Established in 2012
»Based in South Wales
»Services: Residential and
commercial architecture
»No. of employees: 9
»RA Architects works in
extensions, new-build houses
and extra care homes for
the residential sector, as
well as office, leisure and
industrial developments in the
commercial sector
»RA Architects won a
competition designing a
community water activity
centre in South Wales
»www.ra-architects.co.uk
Richard Andrews
Architects
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
16 | RICHARD ANDREWS ARCHITECTS
»CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
“ My dilemma was that I needed an architect, artist and innovative
thinker to put onto paper my idea to develop an underground
events venue, which also had to meet all the legislation criteria.
Discovering Richard Andrews has been like winning the jackpot.
Nothing is too much trouble, and the results are fantastic; all made
better because Richard is such a pleasure to work with!”
– Peter Dale, Groomes Hotel & Events Centre
We set out to free up space and use it
creatively to ensure sustainable building
use; we’re not just making things look
pretty, but rather thinking about the
different demographics that may enter a
centre so that every user is catered for.
We are currently working on a
prestigious event centre in Bordon,
Hampshire, which is associated with
a five-star hotel that will also include
landscaping and parking on-site. Here,
in this picturesque countryside setting,
we have designed the set into the
land, to ensure it becomes blended
into its background.
Planning challenges
We have seen good planning officers
leave local authorities to start their own
or join specialist planning firms and pit
themselves against councils; this has
made the whole process of planning
less of a learning curve and more of a
battlefield of red tape andpolicy.
This is hugely detrimental for the
design and construction process; we
are seeing more and more creative,
young property developers leave the
sector thanks to the process becoming
overly convoluted.
Another reason for their frustration has
been Section 106 and the introduction
of Community Infrastructure Levy in
2010. Both are crippling new property
developers’ budgets, resulting in more
low-quality buildings springing up than
ever before.
Those developers who manage to get
past these pieces of legislation are value-
engineering all the time to compensate,
and this is naturally affecting quality of
design. Indeed, we have seen countless
start-up property developers walk away
from amazing projects because of
consultant costs, red tape, arguments
between council consultants upfront
and high Section 106 or CIL costs.
The argument between private
planning consultants and local
authority planners often sees architects
and clients alike caught in the middle
without any kind of basic design
information. The valuable “softly-
softly” approach to good design has
been lost in today’s planning realm.
We need to go back to the common-
sense approach of discussing and
formalising what planners should
be doing – which is commenting on
context, citing, aesthetics and impact
rather than bat surveys, sound testing,
flood risk evaluations and ecological
assessments, all of which could be
moved into building regulations.
Planning departments would
consequently be less burdened; the
criteria at planning stages could be
made up of a set of tick-box areas,
and planning officers would be able to
take insight from every application and
consequently provide specialist advice
in the case that something minor like a
bat survey is necessary.
Groomes Events Earth
Centre – Borden,
Hampshire
We are a
design-led
practice that
provides
services to
commercial
and domestic
clients across
the UK
“
“
17RICHARD ANDREWS ARCHITECTS |
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
This would go a long way to establishing
a far more streamlined planning system,
where average data would be set out
by local authorities and consequently
evaluated in greater depth during
building regulation stages. We would
welcome collaboration with government
to find a way to do this and help alleviate
the problems of the planning system as
well as loosening the expense of upfront
work and Section 106 or theCIL.
Conforming to software giants
Another notable challenge to
architectural practices is the expense
of licensed software that enables them
to draw and model on a computer.
There was a time, having graduated on
the drawing board, that no expense
was needed to draw with your own
hand. It appears that the licensees now
dictate that we must obtain expensive
licences simply to be creative.
There needs to be parity here, as there
is no regulator overseeing the cost of
these licences. Some licences for Revit
cost over £3,000 per user per annum,
which is a big expense for a small firm.
We would recommend that there is
some kind of regulation in this regard,
before architects start to seek out an
alternative software suite that may not
be as thorough or industry-approved.
A proactive future
By processes of collaborative working
and creative design, we hope to
continue the good work we have
achieved to date and break into the
international market. The global stage
is an exciting opportunity indeed.
We are currently working alongside
our sister company JADE UK to source
hotel work abroad, having recently
set up UK operations with JADE QA in
China, where the amazing Songjiang
Quarry Hotel, pioneered by architect
Martin Jochman, has just been
completed.
Together, JADE UK and our practice
are forming a team to coalesce all
creative building strategies and seek
out projects where we can really
make a difference. There are big
plans for a large UK watersports
centre, previously mentioned hotel
projects across the world, unused
quarries within the UK for the leisure
sector and many other potential
opportunities. It’s a hugely exciting
time in the sector, but we are aware
that we need to remain stable and
level-headed as we work hard to
secure these projects in the domestic
market as it is today.
The global
stage is an
exciting
opportunity
indeed
“
“
Pioneering hotel design
in the UK
Nothing too big or
small – beautiful
extension in
Langstone, Gwent
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
16 | RICHARD ANDREWS ARCHITECTS
»CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
“ My dilemma was that I needed an architect, artist and innovative
thinker to put onto paper my idea to develop an underground
events venue, which also had to meet all the legislation criteria.
Discovering Richard Andrews has been like winning the jackpot.
Nothing is too much trouble, and the results are fantastic; all made
better because Richard is such a pleasure to work with!”
– Peter Dale, Groomes Hotel & Events Centre
We set out to free up space and use it
creatively to ensure sustainable building
use; we’re not just making things look
pretty, but rather thinking about the
different demographics that may enter a
centre so that every user is catered for.
We are currently working on a
prestigious event centre in Bordon,
Hampshire, which is associated with
a five-star hotel that will also include
landscaping and parking on-site. Here,
in this picturesque countryside setting,
we have designed the set into the
land, to ensure it becomes blended
into its background.
Planning challenges
We have seen good planning officers
leave local authorities to start their own
or join specialist planning firms and pit
themselves against councils; this has
made the whole process of planning
less of a learning curve and more of a
battlefield of red tape andpolicy.
This is hugely detrimental for the
design and construction process; we
are seeing more and more creative,
young property developers leave the
sector thanks to the process becoming
overly convoluted.
Another reason for their frustration has
been Section 106 and the introduction
of Community Infrastructure Levy in
2010. Both are crippling new property
developers’ budgets, resulting in more
low-quality buildings springing up than
ever before.
Those developers who manage to get
past these pieces of legislation are value-
engineering all the time to compensate,
and this is naturally affecting quality of
design. Indeed, we have seen countless
start-up property developers walk away
from amazing projects because of
consultant costs, red tape, arguments
between council consultants upfront
and high Section 106 or CIL costs.
The argument between private
planning consultants and local
authority planners often sees architects
and clients alike caught in the middle
without any kind of basic design
information. The valuable “softly-
softly” approach to good design has
been lost in today’s planning realm.
We need to go back to the common-
sense approach of discussing and
formalising what planners should
be doing – which is commenting on
context, citing, aesthetics and impact
rather than bat surveys, sound testing,
flood risk evaluations and ecological
assessments, all of which could be
moved into building regulations.
Planning departments would
consequently be less burdened; the
criteria at planning stages could be
made up of a set of tick-box areas,
and planning officers would be able to
take insight from every application and
consequently provide specialist advice
in the case that something minor like a
bat survey is necessary.
Groomes Events Earth
Centre – Borden,
Hampshire
We are a
design-led
practice that
provides
services to
commercial
and domestic
clients across
the UK
“
“
17RICHARD ANDREWS ARCHITECTS |
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
This would go a long way to establishing
a far more streamlined planning system,
where average data would be set out
by local authorities and consequently
evaluated in greater depth during
building regulation stages. We would
welcome collaboration with government
to find a way to do this and help alleviate
the problems of the planning system as
well as loosening the expense of upfront
work and Section 106 or theCIL.
Conforming to software giants
Another notable challenge to
architectural practices is the expense
of licensed software that enables them
to draw and model on a computer.
There was a time, having graduated on
the drawing board, that no expense
was needed to draw with your own
hand. It appears that the licensees now
dictate that we must obtain expensive
licences simply to be creative.
There needs to be parity here, as there
is no regulator overseeing the cost of
these licences. Some licences for Revit
cost over £3,000 per user per annum,
which is a big expense for a small firm.
We would recommend that there is
some kind of regulation in this regard,
before architects start to seek out an
alternative software suite that may not
be as thorough or industry-approved.
A proactive future
By processes of collaborative working
and creative design, we hope to
continue the good work we have
achieved to date and break into the
international market. The global stage
is an exciting opportunity indeed.
We are currently working alongside
our sister company JADE UK to source
hotel work abroad, having recently
set up UK operations with JADE QA in
China, where the amazing Songjiang
Quarry Hotel, pioneered by architect
Martin Jochman, has just been
completed.
Together, JADE UK and our practice
are forming a team to coalesce all
creative building strategies and seek
out projects where we can really
make a difference. There are big
plans for a large UK watersports
centre, previously mentioned hotel
projects across the world, unused
quarries within the UK for the leisure
sector and many other potential
opportunities. It’s a hugely exciting
time in the sector, but we are aware
that we need to remain stable and
level-headed as we work hard to
secure these projects in the domestic
market as it is today.
The global
stage is an
exciting
opportunity
indeed
“
“
Pioneering hotel design
in the UK
Nothing too big or
small – beautiful
extension in
Langstone, Gwent

www.ra-architects.co.uk

This article was sponsored by Richard Andrews Architects. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Michael Gove.

Rt Hon Michael Gove's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Michael Gove

This year's Parliamentary Review comes at a momentous time for parliament, as we collectively determine the destiny of the United Kingdom. 

On October 31, the UK will leave the European Union. The successful implementation of this process is this government's number-one priority.

Three years after a historic referendum vote, we will deliver on the decisive mandate from the British people. Trust in our democracy depends on it. Until that final hour, we will work determinedly and diligently to negotiate a deal, one that abolishes the backstop and upholds the warm and close relationship we share with our friends, allies and neighbours in the EU. But in the event that the EU refuses to meet us at the table, we must be prepared to leave without a deal.

As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, it is my job to lead on this government's approach, should that scenario happen. Preparing for Brexit is my department's driving mission. But while I am leading this turbocharged effort, the whole of government is committed to this endeavour.

Ministers across Whitehall are working together to ensure that every possibility is considered, every plan is scrutinised and every provision is made. A daily drumbeat of meetings means that we are holding departments accountable, so that preparations are completed on time.

The chancellor has confirmed that all necessary funding will be made available. And we have mobilised thecivil service, assigning 15,000 of our most talented civil servants to manage our exit from the EU.

We will make sure that on November 1, there is as little disruption to national life as possible. Our trade relationships will continue to thrive, thanks to agreements with countries around the world worth £70 billion. Our country will remain secure, thanks to nearly 1,000 new officers posted at our borders. And the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us can remain confident, with absolute certainty, of their right to remain in the UK.

Above all, our goal is to be transparent. Soon, we will launch a public information campaign so that citizens, communities and businesses are ready and reassured about what will happen in the event of “no deal”.

In my first few weeks in this role, I have travelled to ports and tarmacs, borders and bridges, all across the UK –from the seaside of Dover to the rolling green hills of County Armagh. I have heard from business owners and border officials, farmers and hauliers. They are ready to put an end to uncertainty. And they are ready to embrace the opportunities ahead.

Our departure from the EU will be a once in a lifetime chance to chart a new course for the United Kingdom. Preparing for that new course will be a herculean effort. But this country has made astounding efforts before. We can do it again.
Rt Hon Michael Gove
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster