Esmond Murray Architects

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Join us at the CRE Exhibition

Our sister company EMJ Architects will be exhibiting at the CRE National Exhibition 2019.

The event brings together ordained clergy, lay leaders and anyone who cares about the future of their local church to offer fresh ideas, products and suppliers. If you would like to find out more about our range of architectural services for church and community projects, come and talk to our team.

Join us at Sandown Park, Esher. Tuesday 15th – Thursday 17th October 2019.

 

 

New Intern Joins The Esmond Murray Architects Team in Bath!

Since joining in August 2018 for my Part 1 ‘Year-Out’, I have learnt a great deal, including meeting with clients, being taught about the planning process, working on drawings, and creating 3D models from scratch. Working in Esmond Murray Architects is very different from my university experience in University of Lincoln, with a difference to the projects I am working on as well as the design and building process, allowing me to grow as a student and a professional, even within this short period of time.

With my university experience including representing my fellow students on the course, working with prospective students, and running as Vice- President and Media Secretary for the Architecture Society, as well as completing the imaginary projects and competitions for studio, I still have a lot to learn and feel I am gaining a huge amount of knowledge from my colleagues at EMA. I can’t wait to continue to learn even more within this practice.

I have really enjoyed working within this environment, meeting with different people from the industry, watching each project progress, and having an impact on each project I’ve worked on. Another aspect of the job I have greatly enjoyed is spending time with Paddy and Bob, the dogs, and the amount of coffee and cake consumed in the office.

 

The Old Water Mill, Falfield, South Gloucestershire

Having already completed the renovation and extension of the adjacent Mill House we have now achieved detailed planning and Listed Buildings approval to add a two-storey extension to this grade 2 listed house. This was the original flour mill powered by water from the adjacent stream. The wooden water wheel and associated mechanisms are preserved inside the house behind a glass screen.

The new extension will provide a large family kitchen at ground floor opening onto the garden terrace with a new sitting room above that has direct access to an extensive balcony overlooking the garden and stream beyond.

It is intended that the new building, due to start on site in September, will be constructed using a green oak timber frame to reflect the existing large timber beams floor beams and mill mechanism.

As part of the negotiations with the local authority’s listed buildings officer we presented images from our computer model to show how the extension complimented and safeguarded the setting of the listed building.

 

 

 

Bath’s first beach bar! County Hotel in Bath

Esmond Murray Architects have been working on a major extension to the County Hotel in Bath. This is their new beach bar! Have you been?

“Creating something that’s fun, eclectic and different for Bath is what we do, and we’re delighted with the initial transformation here at The County Hotel,” says owner Ian Taylor. “Our new planting and sculptures to the front of the hotel – which include Summer the owl by artist Angus McBob [part of the Owls of Bath public art trail] – give passers-by a hint of the new look and feel, but we hope people will come and experience our new Beach Bar and social hub for themselves.”

 

 

 

An update from our Architectural Assistant

Since joining the practice in February 2018 for my RIBA part one placement, I have worked on three church projects, three hotels and over ten residential developments. The nature of the work has been far more varied than I was expecting, as most accounts I had heard of the part one placement before I arrived made it out to be a role mainly involving ‘computer monkey’ tasks.

But rather than being stuck behind the computer and given repetitive bits of work from more experienced people in the office, I’ve been given the chance to go out on client meetings, carry out surveys, put together the drawings and documents for planning applications, and even do some early design stage work on a few residential extensions and a new community centre in Bath.

I have enjoyed listening to real clients talking about what they want from us as a way of informing my design decisions – a welcome contrast from the often-arbitrary processes I have become used to in the development of studio projects at the University of Bath, where the brief tends to be for an imaginary client. After a few months of working on detailed construction drawings, with reference to the building regulations, I am starting to feel more practically grounded as an architecture student.

 

 

 

New internal design and fit-out contract for Dorchester Community Church

The site for this new church and the adjoining school were identified by the Duchy of Cornwall in its master plan for this new district on the edge of Dorchester. The Dorchester Community Church are selling their site in Dorchester and will be moving into the new church at the end of the year.  

We have been commissioned to re-design the interior, provide detailed construction drawings and make inspections of the work as it proceeds. When completed the church will have a main worship area to seat approximately 200, a public café, three flexible meeting rooms, creche and offices in addition to male, female and disabled toilets and a lift between the ground and first floors.

 The church, which is naturally ventilated, sits on one side of a piazza/car park and being the first church to be constructed in Poundbury will become a focal point for the new community.

View our architectural project portfolio