HatHouse Topping-Out Ceremony

The Fleet and YOU&ME designed refurbishment of an historic Hat Factory in Luton’s Hat District for Luton Culture with funding from SEMLEP has been offically ‘topped-out’in a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Luton, Councillor Naseem Ayub.

HatHouse, which is the sister project to HatWorks, encompasses the refurbishment of a handsome Edwardian purpose built hat factory into works spaces including an modern hat designer and manufacturer’s studio.  The basemen will house a food and beverage offer serving the wider Hat District.

The process has carefully stripped back the layers to uncover the original materials and structure.  Featured images show the repair works to the historical floor members and the sandblasting to used to uncover the previously concealed internal brickwork.

How Super is a Super hospital?

An analysis of acute care delivery options in East Kent

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jaimerbishop_nhs-nhsestates-estatesplanning-activity-6772941966381584385-Bbu3

Architects for Health Exec – Jaime Bishop Re-Elected

After a 5 year period away Jaime Bishop of Fleet Architects was re-elected to the Executive Committee of Architects for Health by the membership.  The AGM, which also hosted the annual Phil Gusack Lecture delivered by Professor Sir Robert Winston, welcomed the election of 3 other new members to the executive committee, including Caroline Mulholland of Sir Robert Macalpine, Alice Green of P and HS and Dr Hina Lad of Llewelyn Davies.

Jaime was previously an AfH board member between 2007 and 2014.  During this period he launched the Student Health Design awards initially sponsored by Brookfield PLC.  Working with Sue Francis, the event evolved into the Student Charette with support from the Mace Group, which hosted teams of international and local students for a week of exploring current and emerging design issues in Healthcare.  Topics included working with Guy’s and St Thomas’ to design Acute settings for the aging population and with increasing prevalence of dementia (poster featured above – image courtesy of Stuart Pearson Wright), designing for death and rethinking paediatric outpatients within an acute setting.

Between 2006 and 2010 Jaime was an elected Governor at the Homerton University NHS FT before being invited to join the board of East London Integrated Care (a not for profit CIC commissioning enhanced primary care services in City and Hackney).  Since the advent of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) he has been a non-executive board member of City and Hackney NHS CCG, first leading on Patient and Public Involvement and more latterly devolved primary care commissioning.  Having learned from the era of CCGs as they now morph into larger integrated commissioners and GP practice gears up to work at scale, Jaime hopes to bring this behind the scenes knowledge to the architectural forum and to promote the Architectural vision and opportunity working alongside policy makers, commissioners and public estate managers.  Jaime has written widely on policy implications for estates including the development of Sustainability Transformation Plans and their impact and future demands on the NHS and Social Care Estates.  Jaime is very interested in the social determinants of health and the role architecture should play within a healthy cityscape.

Listed Building Permission for Nine New Flats

The team at Fleet have obtained listed building permission to convert a Grade II former Language School in Ramsgate into nine generous flats.  The site consists of two bays of the Royal Crescent on Augustine’s Road neighbouring Pugin’s Grange and Chapel and overlooking the Royal Harbour.   Six of the flats will enjoy direct sea views with four double fronted flats including balconies or direct access to the cliff top greensward.  The proposals also include the addition of a new build pavilion addressing   St Augustine’s Road.

More information to follow.

Planning Permission Islington

2019 has started with a flurry of successful planning applications including the extension and remodelling of a terraced cottage in the Arlington Square Conservation Area in the London Borough of Islington.

More information to follow.

Grade II Listed Luton Hat Works Wins Planning Approval

The Fleet YOU&ME team, working with Luton Culture, have obtained planning permission for the conversion of a Grade II listed former Hat Factory, the oldest in Luton’s Hat District, to become shared office spaces and a community heritage centre.

This is the second of two former Hat Factories currently underway with the Fleet YOU&ME team.

Fleet have continued their excellent record in both planning and listed building submissions with one more Grade II listed design and two conservation proposals due for determination imminently.

More information and images to follow.

(Below)  The Hat Works Project as seen from our other project with Luton Culture, Hat House.

Congratulations NHFT – Trust of the Year 2018!

HSJ Awards 2018: NHFT Announced HSJ Trust of the Year 2018

Fleet have been working with, Health Service Journal (HSJ) Trust of the Year 2018, Northamptonshire Healthcare FT (NHFT), for several years within and around their Mental Healthcare Estates in Kettering and Northampton. In 2017 and 18 we prepared proposals for refurbishing an existing ward at the Berrywood Hospital site to provide repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treatment resistant depression (featured image).

The HSJ reports:

No one could accuse leaders at NHFT of setting their sights low. The overall aim is to support change and growth both locally and on a national scale. Individual goals include demonstrably changing cultures to influence care; delivering innovations that change lives; staying financially robust in a challenged climate; and developing strong partnership working.

But the evidence is these goals are being met. A redesigned partnership-focused mental health crisis pathway is said to be reducing acute admissions, and has been selected as an NHS England case study; the organisation’s chief executive is now heading the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership; financial targets have been met, with the control total actually exceeded; a new facility opened to offer repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for treatment resistant depression; and a crisis house has delivered £800,000 savings in acute admissions.

Staff and patients alike seem to greatly value the organisation. There have been significant gains in employee engagement as measured by the national staff survey, with the organisation now the top performer of its kind on the percentage of staff who would recommend it as a place to work.

In 2017-18, patients left 25,089 reviews of the trust via its feedback system, iWantGreatCare. Some 94 per cent would recommend the trust’s services to friends and family, and the organisation is rated 4.81 out of five for overall experience.

Image – Fleets proposals for the entracen of the new rTMS unit.

New offices for Tomorrow @ 180 Strand

Fleet are working with Tomorrow Ltd to design and equip their new offices and gallery space in the increasingly vibrant Fashion and Arts Mecca at 180 Strand owned and run my The Vinyl Factory.  This i s the second floor in the building Fleet are designing after the design for the new Frieze Offices working with the Simon Jones Studio.

Tomorrow London Holdings Ltd is a Group of companies forming a unique multibrand, multiservice omnichannel business model which includes a showroom and a logistic centre as well as a consulting, marketing and digital arm.

Directed by CEO and major shareholder Stefano Martinetto and equity partner Chief Commercial Officer Giancarlo Simiri, the Company offers a unique blend of digital, sales, consulting, logistic and financial services to a variety of established and upcomig designers and brands.

The Company’s management team has aligned a curated selection of international brands across high-end and contemporary menswear, womenswear, accessories, technology and jewellery including Marni, OAMC, Ambush, Ader Error, SJYP, Sue Comma Bonnie, Tibi, Facetasm, Markus Lupfer and Frame providing these brands with quality exposure, capital, business advice, and access to the world’s top stores.

Tomorrow operates out of offices and showrooms in the world’s five major fashion capitals: London, Milan, Hong Kong, Paris and New York, currently employing 120+ people in 4 continents.

The offices will be open in March 2019.

Image – Nike x A–COLD–WALL* present an installation by Samuel Ross.

Peckham Platform Wins ACE Funding

We’re delighted to announce that Arts Council England have awarded  £380,000 to Peckham Platform to launch Everyone’s Platform – a new phase in their development where they will invest in tools to expand the reach and impact of their work. This will include the launch of a new venue on Peckham Library Square in 2020, designed with Fleet Architects which will include a redeveloped gallery – more visible and accessible, welcoming all communities.

Joyce Wilson, London Area Director, Arts Council England said:

“The art and culture community in South London is rich and varied, as demonstrated by these four outstanding organisations which are receiving small scale capital funding. But there is still work to be done, and new communities to reach. All of these funded projects will be doing great work to make this happen – from Studio Voltaire’s affordable workspaces and Matt’s Gallery new event space for the public, to Peckham Platform’s ability to champion community arts engagement and Bureau of Silly Ideas touring work around the country”

Peckham Platform Director Emily Druiff, said:

“This is a great endorsement of our work and an incredible opportunity for us – the biggest transformation in our organisation’s history. We know that the work we do can have a transformative effect on people’s lives and this grant will allow us to significantly expand our activity and ensure the future development of social art for communities in Peckham and beyond”.

Richard Watts, Chair, Peckham Platform, said:

“Everyone’s Platform is an exciting development for us, since it will allow us to extend our impact, support the growth in the highest quality social arts across the country and make real our determination that everyone in Peckham must benefit from regeneration investments. This Capital Award from ACE is our third significant grant towards this project, so the Peckham Platform Board are delighted with the support we are receiving towards our £1.1m target.”

Top image credit – Thomas Walker, the Transpontine Laboratory, LSBU

Kai Xin Tan Joins Fleet

Kai Xin joined fleet architect in October 2018 after completing her Part II in University of East London, where she gained a distinction. She was awarded the RIBA East London Society Architects Award for her fifth year portfolio. She has experience in mixed use and residential projects from her year out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Kai Xin is currently studying MA Urban Design to further develop her design research in architectural environments, while gaining experience at Fleet to equip herself to be a well-rounded, qualifying architect.