We are all aware of Flood resistant houses, usually one-off designs on high-value sites, which use expensive, high maintenance, elevated or flotation construction & technology.  However providing protection from flooding for mass social housing present more formidable planning, economic and construction challenges. In 2014 as part of the City Council’s Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust programme, …

Continue reading “Bromford estate: flood resilient housing”

We are currently supporting Witton Lakes Community Association with concept proposals for the refurbishment and re-use of a public baths building, exploring ideas around co-working and community services through project team and stakeholder discussions, precedent study visits, drawings and visualisations. Collaboration with a cost consultant and considering possible phasing and fundraising is also a critical …

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Paul and Tracey wanted to provide extra bedrooms by extending their dated bungalow. They wanted a more contemporary feel with an improved front entrance and much better views of their garden, its Lebanese Cedar tree and the surrounding countryside. They got all of that plus a balcony, full en-suite, ramped covered entrance, built-in storage and …

Continue reading "Cedar Cobb – home extension"

After much searching David & Colin found the ideal corner site in the Forest of Dean, the only obstacle to their dreams of an eco-friendly, contemporary house was the sixties house already occupying the site. With extensions front and rear, and a roof over, it vanished within the apparently new 4 bed house which now …

Continue reading "Bluebell Cottage – Lyndney"

A family of five needed an exceptional piece of architecture on an exciting site. On their behalf, we recently secured a planning approval under paragraph 79 of the NPPF (previously para 55) citing exceptional architectural quality for an impressive riverside site in the Malvern Hills. Interpreting the family’s hopes for their future home, working with …

Continue reading "Ryall Meadow – family home"

Witton Lakes Community Association wished to create a new future for the Park Keeper’s cottage by the reservoir, provided to them via an asset transfer from Birmingham City Council. We assisted from the beginning of the concept, collaborating with them in meetings and funding applications to raise money to realise their goal. The project creates …

Continue reading "Witton Lakes Ecohub"

A Birmingham charity needed a new base on their waterside green space. We recently secured planning approval for a new community building on behalf of Birmingham Settlement to be built on their playing field site next to Edgbaston Reservoir. The new building sites itself on the original footprint of the previous building to serve the …

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Last few days on site for our community building in Cotteridge Park that we built with the help of Wikihouse. Next step is a whole building mural by a local artist. pic.twitter.com/ER8aAmFYmO — Rob Annable (@eversion) July 9, 2020

We congratulate Wendy and all the Lyng Community Association Board on winning the Housing Excellence Award 2014  in the Regeneration Category. Who would have imagined that all those meetings back in late 2000, those cold and wet evenings, busy weekends workshops and lengthy discussions about the finer points of housing design would be so successful. …

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In January 2004 Axis Design were interviewed by the Coalville Partnership to undertake an Estate Masterplan for the redevelopment of the Coalville Estate, Stoke on Trent. A decade later members of the Coalville Partnership, Stoke-on-Trent Council officers and members, Compendium Living, Coalville Residents Association, Riverside and residents of the redevelopment now named Weston Heights came …

Continue reading “Weston Heights Neighbourhood Regeneration”

One of the most enjoyable aspects of our work in community projects is getting to know the neighbourhood we’re working in over a long period of time and being able to see a project through from start to finish. Blurton in Stoke on Trent is one such project that we’ve had the privilege of being …

Continue reading “Blurton Hub – official opening”

As part of our work to develop new cost effective self-build strategies we recently prepared a submission to the NaSBA Self Build on a Shoestring competition. Although we weren’t successful it was great to see that a number of submissions had proposed a similar concept to ours, exploring the possibilities of single storey housing. The …

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Our latest completed project for Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust is looking great in the sunshine. The final phase of flats has now been occupied alongside the houses that were handed over a few months ago and this morning we’ve been out in Garretts Green to take a few photos. Garretts Green, begun in 1939 and …

Continue reading “Meon Grove completed”

Last week we attended the Greenbuild Expo in Manchester, exploring innovative products such as load bearing insulation for thermal bridge reduction and recycled plastics for external works. We also had the pleasure of being finalists in the Greenbuild Awards. The Greenbuild Awards 2013 recognise true achievement looking for low-energy buildings that go the extra mile …

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Axis Design joined the team of Architects for Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT) in 2009. Since then we’ve worked on a number of sites, 5 of which are now complete. This important work to deliver quality homes for Birmingham City Council continues and we’ve had a busy few months working on several new sites. As …

Continue reading “BMHT and the Pype Hayes Estate”

A few weeks ago Axis Design nominated the BMHT team at Birmingham City Council for WMCCE’s Client of the Year award. We were invited to join Capita Symond’s table at the annual Celebrating Construction awards dinner last week and we were delighted to learn that our nomination had been successful. Here’s what the judges said: …

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Final preparations are under way for our collaboration with Stoke City Council and Buildstore next week at the launch of the Custom Home Build project. Initial proposals for one of the sites being offered are complete and we’ll be presenting them to the public and discussing the future of the scheme. To get the debate …

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We’ve been working on a development in Chell Heath on behalf of Stoke on Trent City Council and Staffordshire Housing Association. Planning approval for 17 purpose-built bungalows was secured in early 2010 and the £1.5m development was delivered under a Design & Build Contract by Seddon Construction. Designed for elderly and disabled residents, these are …

Continue reading “New Homes at Warren Road, Stoke-on-Trent”

Care of Podnosh, have a listen to Brandwood End Resident’s Group Chairman, Steve Walters, and other residents talk about the history of the Brandwood End housing project in Kings Heath, Birmingham: listen to ‘Steve Walters of Brandwood End Residents Association in Birmingham’ on Audioboo

We’re delighted to report that along with our team of sub-consultants, we have been successful in a competitive tender for Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s first Custom Home Building project. The former Penkhull Farm site on Newcastle Lane in Stoke-on-Trent has been chosen by Stoke City Council and the design team led by Axis Design will be …

Continue reading “Self-Build in Stoke-on-Trent”

Axis Design have been working with Birmingham City Council since 2009 to help deliver the local authority’s ambitious social housing project, Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT). To date we have designed new housing on seven different sites across Birmingham and over the last few months, the team’s hard work has been rewarded with a total …

Continue reading “Multiple Awards Success for BMHT”

An update on one of our previous projects… A number of years ago we designed the first phase of a project called Pride in Camp Hill in Tuttle Hill, Nuneaton. We’ve mentioned it here previously in the project section but we’re returning to it again today and sharing more images because we’ve just discovered that …

Continue reading “Project of the decade – Camp Hill”

We’ve been visited today by an A-level student who had the foresight to visit a number of offices to find out more about the profession before she committed herself to life as an architect. To complete her experience it seemed appropriate to ask her to blog about her experience… When I tell people I want …

Continue reading “I want to be an architect”

Our latest housing planning submission is a development of our BMHT work, delivering 12 new Code Level 4 houses on a difficult infill site in Bartley Green. Unusually for a project like this, the best layout solution proved to be to follow a similar arrangement to the previous housing on the site. The challenge with …

Continue reading “Moors Lane, Bartley Green”

Blurton Hub, originally uploaded by axisdesign. Construction of the community centre at the heart of our masterplan for Blurton in Stoke on Trent continues with the installation of a large photovoltaic array that will benefit from the Feed in Tariff. The 8 kWp system will deliver signifcant daytime electrical load helping to power a 33kW …

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Pershore Road opening, originally uploaded by axisdesign. The first of our Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust projects was handed over recently and we were delighted to take part in the ceremony and meet the family moving in. Here are some details from the press release: “The homes are the first to be delivered by Birmingham City …

Continue reading “BMHT – Pershore Road opening”

Today sees the official opening of the passive solar spaces we designed on behalf of Waterloo Housing for the latest phase of Brandwood End in Kings Heath. Thanks to funding assistance from Birmingham City Council we’ve been able to provide two storey glazed spaces to the rear of ten houses of mixed tenure. Designed as …

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This week we’ve been working on sketch proposals for a building for the Friends of Cotteridge Park resident group. Designed to be a robust part of the landscape that can be quickly/cheaply put up in stages, the project uses a combination of off-the-shelf products and earth sheltering. You can see full details at the project …

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Works is progressing well with phase 2 of the ecoterrace project and like the previous properties we’ll be taking part in some open days for the public. Come along and visit us! 107/109 London Road, Chesterton, Newcastle Under Lyme, ST5 7JE Open days: 7th March 10am-2pm 14th March 10am-2pm 4/6 Victoria Street, Chesterton, Newcastle Under …

Continue reading “visit ecoterrace phase 2”

Following a busy month of award shortlists, we’re delighted to announce that ecoterrace has won Building magazine’s ‘99% Campaign Award for Refurbishment’. The project was also a finalist in the CIH Housing Awards and Inside Housing magazine’s Sustainability Awards. Queens Road was also a finalist in the Inside Housing magazine award, shortlisted under ‘Sustainable smaller …

Continue reading “2008 Award Winners”

We can announce that our ecoterrace project has been highly commended at the recent Staffordshire Construction Awards. We’re looking forward to phase 2 and the delivery of the next four properties.

The first properties proposed as part of our Blurton masterplan document are nearing completion. Here’s an image of the bungalows at the centre of the courtyard.

Our Ecohomes ‘excellent’ rated housing designed for Kier Group and Black Country Housing has been completed. More photos and the original sketch designs are available here: Queens Road

The first two ecoterrace properties are now complete! 91 London Road and 63 Booth Street were officially opened with the help of renowned ecologist David Bellamy. If you ‘d like to come along and visit the houses we’re having a number of open days during the next few weeks. Full details can be found on …

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May 12th will see the official opening of the first two properties at a specially organised launch event. After that 63 Booth Street and 91 London Road are being opened for public viewing over several days in May 2008. If you’d like to take a look and discuss the project with team members, feel free …

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The first two properties on our ecoterrace project are almost complete. Visit our dedicated web site for more info: http://ecoterrace.co.uk If you’d like to hear more about the project we’ll be presenting the project and taking part in a discussion panel at Think08 on May 7th.

Here’s the latest image from our project in Stourbridge. This shot shows the way each of the properties has a slightly different relationship with the street, depending on the paving and the door position. Construction should be completed soon. We’ve also submitted the project for a Building For Life award – we hope to get …

Continue reading “Queens Road progress”

For the last few months we’ve been working on a project to refurbish 6 terrace properties in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. We won the project after a competitive bid last summer and last week saw the launch of the public web site charting the progress of the work. We’ll be recording the project on the eocterrace web site …

Continue reading “ecoterrace.co.uk”

Architecture Week 2007 is a good time to announce one of our latest commissions to develop an environmentally sound refurbishment proposal for terrace properties in Stoke-on-Trent. Continuing our explorations into solar passive architecture, the design delivers robust, replicable solutions to both the improvement of the fabric, the quality of the living space and the thermal …

Continue reading “Eco-terrace – Stoke on Trent”

One of our latest projects has just been granted planning approval by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. The design responds to tight site constraints and a brief calling for an exemplar, environmentally friendly scheme. Carefully orientated to make the most of the south-east and south-west sun, the saw-tooth layout and innovative roof plan create an animated, …

Continue reading “Eco-housing planning approval”

Kings Heath, Birmingham 2001—present A 1950’s estate of some 250 Smiths houses being redeveloped in association with Waterloo Housing Association, Birmingham City Council and the local resident’s Estate Development Group. The new homes are being built in phases and the brief is quite simply to recreate the Arts & Crafts residential and environmental qualities of …

Continue reading “Brandwood End”

Blurton, Stoke on Trent, 2005—present Axis Design were appointed by Aspire Housing to provide consultation and masterplanning services for an estate of approximately 3500 households. Alongside the standard methods of enquiry we provided a custom built web site to enhance the reach of the consultation process.

Upton, Northampton, Site B – 2004 The brief for this second phase of the new urban village at Upton Northamptonshire called for a high density mixed use urban quarter combining flats and townhouses within a clear hierarchy of urban spaces.

Strasbourg Drive, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, 2004—Present Axis successfully bid for the redevelopment of this housing estate in Leicester which incorporated selective demolition and the construction of 134 new mixed tenure properties comprising bungalows, flats and houses, along with extensive landscaping and reconfiguring of the existing road network.

Stoke Road, Bletchley, Milton Keynes 2004 — present Axis Design Collective won an invited competition for the development of 94 canal side apartments, townhouses and bungalows in the Bletchley area of Milton Keynes. The development was derived from a very detailed set of development design codes that stipulated building heights, frontage treatments and materials to …

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Coalville, Stoke on Trent, 2004—present Axis design were appointed by the Coalville Partnership in January 2004 after winning the competitive tender for the remodelling of the estate consisting of 400 coal board houses dating from the 1950’s. Axis undertook a programme of intensive community consultation with local residents which included setting up a dedicated residents …

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Upton, Northampton, Site A 2003 The brief for this first phase of the new urban village at Upton Northamptonshire called for a high density mixed use urban quarter combining flats, townhouses and bungalows within a clear hierarchy of urban spaces.

Northfield, Birmingham, 2002—present day Axis is working with Birmingham Housing Dept & Touchstone Housing Association on this project. Chatham Road involves the demolition of the majority of existing Smiths housing, with the retention of 14 dwellings. Approximately 65 dwellings will be new build with a mixed tenure allocation, whilst a 60 bed Extra Care scheme …

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Camp Hill, Nuneaton 2002-2005 Axis acted as architectural and urban design consultants for Lovell Partnerships who won the competition to be involved in phase 1 of this Urban Villages Initiative. The project, supported by the Princes Foundation, Advantage West Midlands, Touchstone Housing Association and Pride in Camphill involves the construction of 172 homes of mixed …

Continue reading “Tuttle Hill”

Egghill Estate, Birmingham 2001—2003 Axis produced a masterplan for the rebuilding of the Egghill Estate in south Birmingham, an estate of 560 dwellings built in the 50s and 60s. Working from an office in an empty ground floor flat, Axis carried out consultation with residents which leading to an agreed masterplan for new dwellings, road …

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West Bromwich 2000-2003 Axis in association with Beazer Partnerships, now Kier Partnerships, won the competition to create a new urban quarter for the Lyng.

Castle Vale, Birmingham 1995—2002 Axis have worked on the Castle Vale estate since 1995 on a number of projects from area based, Neighbourhood Strategy consultative design to the detailed design of houses, flats and bungalows. On both the Sopwith Croft and Watton Green areas we worked from a locally based neighbourhood design office meeting with …

Continue reading “Castle Vale HAT”

Pype Hayes, Birmingham 1989– present The rebuilding of the Pype Hayes Estate in Birmingham is Axis’s longest-running job. It was a low-rise suburban council estate built in the 1930s, of about 1400 houses. Although the houses were of conventional appearance, they were built of an untested concrete panel system, and by the 1980s it was …

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