Prewett Bizley Architects

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Prewett Bizley Architects

We produce highly crafted, low energy architecture that is engaging, atmospheric and responsive to the needs of its users.

Working from studios in London and Wells in Somerset, Prewett Bizley Architects produce inspiring, energy-efficient buildings with a sensitive approach to context. Through a creative dialogue with our clients we seek to create engaging, atmospheric spaces that are a pleasure to use, responsive to needs of their users and that bring lasting improvements to the quality of people’s lives. We give pra

ctical and useful advice that enables our clients to understand the design process and make informed decisions. We are committed to achieving best value for our clients according to their particular needs. We try to observe the nature of places to understand their qualities, patterns and nuances in order to propose interventions that might heal or provide continuity with the existing context. Having pioneered some of the most extreme low-energy retrofit projects to date in the UK we are passionate about the need to reduce the impact of buildings on the environment. We are part of the 15/40 collective of architecture practices that share a commitment to radically reducing the energy consumption of buildings through a 'fabric first' approach, with extensive experience in delivering sustainable new-build and retrofit projects using Passivhaus construction methodologies. We offer consultancy services to building owners and other professionals on low-energy construction and Passivhaus design. We have a hands-on approach through which we continuously seek to improve the quality of construction on site. Our architectural work is rooted in the wider activities of teaching, writing and research which allow us to combine thought and technical innovation with a practical approach to the realities of development and construction. Current research focuses on rural architecture, self-build housing and how the principles of low-energy construction can be applied to retrofit of listed buildings. Our work has been recognised by a number of awards, including the Dundon Passivhaus in Somerset which won RIBA Regional and National Awards and was a finalist for the prestigious Stephen Lawrence Prize. We are winners of the Sustainability Architect of the Year Award 2017.

13/02/2024

A competition entry from the archive:
West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen on the southwest tip of Ireland.

The new building is intended to have the atmosphere of a large club house rather than an elitist institution, where the fabric of the building contributes to the making of a special place. We made a 1:50 model to develop the internal spaces and structure.

At the heart of the building would be a single, large table, acting as a catalyst for people drawn by a variety of activities to share the experience of a high quality public space. Over time we hope it might become a repository for the accumulated moods, feelings, emotions, secrets and stories of the life of the town.

08/02/2024

05/02/2024

A competition entry from the archive for the West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen. This was the project text:

The West Cork Arts Centre WCAC will occupy a prominent site in Skibbereen on the route to the main town carpark, an area of disparate open spaces. Our proposal is for a bold civic building whose scale might unite these large public spaces. A new pedestrian route is proposed across the site binding the Arts Centre into the town fabric.

The new building is intended to have the atmosphere of a large club house rather than an elitist institution, where the fabric of the building contributes to the making of a special place.

At the heart of the building would be a single, large table, acting as a catalyst for people drawn by a variety of activities to share the experience of a high quality public space. Over time we hope it might become a repository for the accumulated moods, feelings, emotions, secrets and stories of the life of the town.

01/02/2024

Working out the family bathroom for our new house project in Cambridge.

27/01/2024

From the archive:
Another early small house on a London infill site. We made a large 1:20 scale model of the whole house to explore issues including 3-dimensional relationships, natual lighting amd joinery design.

We gained planning permission for a house on a narrow plot at the end of a long 2 storey terrace overlooking the railway tracks near Wimbledon station. One of the adjoining plots had already been developed and the other had planning permission for a new house. Our project aimed to form a harmonious whole from what will become a terrace of 3 buildings. The use of a tall dormer window over the stair mediates between the scale differences of the neighbours and picks up on the rhythm of the bay windows of the terrace further south.

Externally the structure would be entirely clad with plain clay tiles, emphasising the simple form. The texture created by the lapping, cambered tiles would contrast with sharper finer elements like the gutters, rain water pipes and copings which will be made from copper. The walls, floor, roof and stair would be built from solid timber panels of laminated softwood prefabricated off-site. These would be revealed within the interiors, creating the feel of inhabiting a giant piece of joinery.

25/01/2024

22/01/2024

A project from the archives:
An ‘urban cottage’ on a 60 square meter site amongst late Victorian houses in Streatham, south London.

Robust materials conceal a private domain filled with sunlight. A brick garden wall completely encloses the site. Inside, glass doors fold back to make the ground floor living area and south facing courtyard garden one space. A zinc-clad bedroom and bathroom sit on the garden wall. The form of the dwelling comes from the need to reduce overshadowing of the surrounding gardens.

25/11/2023

Suitably pleased that the 80% house we did 13 years for a far sighted client was recognised by Architecture Today in their 'test of time awards'. It picked up the editors award for education and research. It certainly changed the way we approach our work and had demonstrated that deep (80%) carbon reductions are possible for the existing stock. 13 years on, Retrofit seems to be coming of age - we hope....

20/07/2023

We gained planning permission this week for a new house on a farm in Kent. Designed to Passivhaus standard, the 2 storey house will have a low eaves on the south side to shade the wide openings that overlook a pond.

The lower floor will be clad in brick and the upper floor in horizontal shiplap boards, with a steep.pitched roof similar to nearby vernacular buildings.

17/07/2023

Three of our projects are featured in an exhibition at the
Building Centre in London entitled Retrofit 23: Towards Deep Retrofit of Homes at Scale, which looks at how we
achieve a wider rollout of residential retrofit, focusing on how improving the
performance of a home brings economic, social, and environmental benefits.

The need to retrofit existing buildings is currently one of the biggest challenges in the built environment and will be for the next 20 years if we
are to meet the government's
target of net zero by 2050.

The exhibition runs from May 10 - September 29th.

10/07/2023

Finalist for Architecture Today 2023 'Buildings that stand the test of time'. The 80% house completed in 2010 aimed to show that carbon emissions from historic homes can be reduced by that amount. 13 years of data back that up and show how comfortable it is too. Thanks AT.

11/06/2023

Site visit to our very slow-moving Passivhaus project in Berkshire.

The steelframe is clad in Kingspan's highest performance insulated panel system. They claim the joints are airtight but we are taping nonetheless as there is quite a lot of thermal movement.

28/05/2023

Sneak.peak of a staircase at our just completed house near Frome.

26/05/2023

Our just-completed house near Frome drinking in the spring sunshine.

25/05/2023

A new house emerging from a Somerset meadow. Final signing off of defects today.

19/05/2023

Planning permission granted this week for a new family house on the edge of a Quantock village in Somerset. The house will be built to Passivhaus standard and replaces a 1950s farmhouse.

20/04/2023

Bob will be presenting at this year’s CIBSE technical symposium in Glasgow on Friday April 21st 2023. He will discuss ‘lessons learnt’ from our Mews House Deep Retrofit. The project won a 2022 AJ Retrofit award and an RIBA award before making it to the last 7 on Channel 4’s house of the year.

03/03/2023

A project from 2021 for some new workers' cottages on a country estate in Wiltshire. We designed several house types to suit different orientations and locations on the estate. All were designed to Passivhaus standard.

This one has a 2 storey south elevation and a single storey north-facing entrance elevation, with a catslide roof.

11/12/2022

Frosty bales

29/11/2022

South elevation of our project near Frome for a new family house in a rural landscape. Completion due at end of January.

27/11/2022

Mews House Deep Retrofit London design by Prewett Bizley Architects: extensively refurbished nd-terrace mews improves carbon footprint

25/11/2022

Submitted for planning permission this week, a new family house in the Quantock Hills of Somerset. The house will be extremely well insulated, air-tight and with triple glazed windows to Passivhaus standard. The first floor and roof both project to shade the windows below.

The house sits in the middle of its site like a pavilion - hence the slightly Palladian composition of this elevation.

Model and hard work by .woods

23/11/2022

House of the Year to feature our mews house deep retrofit. Episode 2 tonight at 9 on C4.

26/10/2022

Site visit to a new project to reorganise the layout and improve the energy performance of this gatehouse, now a house, in Somerset.

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