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Spring/Summer 2009

This period has been an incredibly busy time for us and we have recently added to our staff; ARCO₂ sponsored Alan Hughes through his two year post graduate diploma and he re-joined us again in June. He now hopes to work towards becoming a Chartered Architect.

We were shortlisted for 6 awards including the SW RICS awards, prestigious Michelmores/WMN and were commended in the Cornish Buildings Group Awards with Trelander and St.Clements Community Hall below, click on press coverage. The second phase of the project is due to start on site soon.

ARCO₂ joined Ecofab at futurebuild + ecobuild in London in March (left). Sion Pierce and Martin Penk represented the practice for the 3 day event and the rest of the office joined them for 1 day to offer their expertise and tour the event.

Completed projects include the indoor pool and gym at Helsbury Park (right), Camelford, Cornwall. The building has outperformed expectations with typical overnight pool water heat loss of 1^oC, compared to average pools heat loss of 3oC. The combination of high levels of insulation, high thermal efficiency glazing, a ground source heat pump, large solar thermal array and ventilation and heat recovery has kept the energy consumption to a minimum. The pool helped to gain another Gold Award at the Enjoy England Annual Awards, which puts Helsbury Park in the top 3% of self catering accommodation in the UK. For further information and a 360 degree panorama of the pool visit: http://www.helsburypark.co.uk/

Queen Elizabeth Sustainability Centre in Dorset (left) was completed in June. Directors Martin and Ian attended the open day and provided a tour to the local media and school children. The combination of sustainable materials such as strawbale, sheep wool, recycled newspapers (6,000 donated by local residents), heraklith, brown roof and locally grown timber cladding has resulted in an education building that will inspire students and enable them to learn about simple elements such as renewable energy, natural ventilation, natural lighting, restricted artificial lighting and natural biodegradable materials. Click for open day press coverage.

A traditional green oak framed structure has also recently been completed in West Cornwall. The garden/sun room forms part of a larger barn conversion which was completed in early 2007. The building has a sweeping curved roof planted with sedum varieties. Over the past few months the sedum has changed colour from a dark green to a beautiful pink and purple flowering roof. The structure links to the main living area of the barn conversion and has two sedum roof areas, high level clerestory glazing, natural stone with slate cills and lime plaster internally. The garden/sun room will eventually lead out onto a natural swimming pool, which is nearing completion.

The redevelopment of Broadmeadows Garage site in between Wadebridge and Padstow into 5 no. Live/Work units was completed in spring. ARCO₂ designed and obtained the planning permission and our client sold the site to a developer. Although we were not involved with the construction phases the building maintains many of our design concepts, glulam sub-structure, interior and external appearance. The building features rear passive solar sun spaces, cedar shingle roof, sedum roofs, solar thermal collectors for domestic hot water heating and large glazed areas to take advantage of the stunning panoramic views of the river Camel. The Live/Work concept is clearly something new and different; the same can be said about the building.

The first phase of a Grade II Listed courtyard of barns was recently completed. The barns belong to one of the oldest buildings in Bodmin which has been in the same family ownership since 1795. The remaining phases will be completed throughout 2009. The prestigious Grade II Listed house near Saltash featured in the last news was also recently completed.

The inspirational Childcare Centre at Bishop Cornish CoE School, Saltash (right) featured in the last news is now nearing completion and will be featured in the Autumn/Winter news. For information about the recycled rubber roof slates visit http://www.dynaslate.co.uk

We are currently working on several pre-school, nursery and Children Centre buildings throughout Cornwall and Somerset and have been employed directly by ecofab as Design and Build Architects.

The proposed Nursery and Children’s Centre in West Cornwall (left) has recently been submitted for planning. The building will cater for 40 children aged 2-5 years and the community facility will accommodate services such as after school, health clinic, play sessions, baby group, parent classes, meeting space and private hire. The building will be constructed as a Design and Build project using Ecofab Ltd as main contractor. The construction will therefore be of a pre-fabricated modular strawbale and sheep wool insulated fabric within a glulam timber post and beam frame. The site falls within sensitive designated and protected areas, the proposal has therefore been designed to be sympathetic to the landscape environment. All of the roofs will be planted with sedum species to encourage wildlife, reduce rainwater run-off and to become part of the landscape. A large proportion of the building will also be clad with untreated locally grown timber.

are also working on several private house commissions. The image to the right is a replacement dwelling close to the moors. Although being located in a rural location and on the edge of a small village the building will be extremely private, whilst benefiting from far reaching rural views. The house has been designed with the sun path, landscape and views in mind. As with many of our new buildings it will be super insulated, constructed of timber frame and incorporate renewable forms of heating and/or energy generation. Materials will be responsibly sourced and local materials used where suitable.

We recently received planning permission for a new playgroup building in Nanstallon, which will be starting on site in the Autumn.

Selected new commissions include the conversion of 3 Grade II Listed barns, new countryside dwelling, new dwelling with passive solar sun space, large stone dwelling for holiday accommodation nr Rock, a Nursery & Children’s centre (Design & Build with Ecofab Ltd) and numerous pre-schools (Design & Build with Ecofab Ltd).

Please feel free to contact us for a friendly no obligation consultation at our award winning eco office conversion. Alternatively, we will be happy to meet with you at your site, however a time charge may be required.