ESHA Architects Awards and Competition Successes

ESHA has substantial experience in public consultation, particularly in the "Enquiry by Design" method developed by The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment which directly involves residents and authority officers in developing design proposals in intensive three or five day workshops. The partners have formed part of the professional team for these events at Nelson, Aldershot, Newquay, Crewkerne, Alderhay (Liverpool), Harlow, Romsey, Crewe Green, Sherford, Cherry Knowle and Cloughton.

The objective is to achieve a consensus between all those with a stake in the development which the residents are happy to support. Therefore representatives of all relevant organisations (as appropriate to the particular project) are invited to be involved in the event so that the outcome has taken full account of all the various factors involved.

What makes an EbD completely different from the consultation which normally takes place as part of the planning approval process is that the final decision about the design proposals is taken by the local residents attending the event.

The EbD process cannot of its very nature carry statutory authority, but it can establish the basis on which planning approvals can be obtained for urban developments which local residents broadly support.

Design Review / Client Advisor

We are members of the Bristol Urban Design Review Panel and RIBA Healthcare Client Advisor Panel. We are well versed in the techniques and methods for assisting clients in formulating project briefs and assessing design proposals and details.

Preparation of Design Codes

These are documents that set rules for the design of a new development and can be used in the design and planning process to implement design guidelines or standards which have been established through a masterplan process. Application of the code ensures that the aspirations for quality and quantity for developments, particularly for large-scale projects, are actually realised in the final built schemes,

Design Intent Details & Specification

When clients decide to seek Design and Build tenders, we are often asked to prepare design intent details and specification. This information describes the detailed appearance of the building including the materials to be used without specifying everything in precise detail. This technique has the advantage of controlling the appearance and general quality while leaving the responsibility for the construction to the building contractor.

Design Monitoring

There are quite often circumstances where the client does not wish to carry out a particular stage of a project himself but still wishes to control the design quality. Sometimes, for example, a client who owns a site commissions us to make the planning application, but once consent is obtained, passes the site to a developer to implement the project. Or the client, such as a commercial company or public authority, intends the building for their own use, but decides to employ a design / builder to carry out both detailed design and construction.

In both these situations we can carry out a design monitoring service which checks the production information produced by the contractor and inspects the work on site at intervals to ensure that the design quality required by the client is fully realised.

A good example of a project where we carried out this service was at Middle Wallop where we designed 250 replacement married quarters for the Ministry of Defence and then monitored the detail design and construction work carried out by the design / build contractor.

Illustration & Visualistaion

We use our own computer generated and/or hand-drawn perspective views to illustrate our schemes. Both techniques have the advantage over conventional two dimensional plans, sections and elevations that they make it much easier for lay people to understand how a design looks in real life. We use various computer draughting techniques to produce either still images or moving images (fly-throughs), which allow the viewer to feel that he or she is walking through the architectural space we have designed.

One of the tools that we use for this purpose is the computer generated video or walk-through. By creating a computer model of a project we can take still images to illustrate a particular view that may be significant or to highlight a particular detail. Another tool we use to make a proposal clear to local residents and planners are photomontages, where computer generated images are set into an existing street scene. Often there is a concern that a proposed building will adversely affect the natural lighting to an adjacent existing building. Using CAD software we can create a massing model, set the exact location of the site, and apply the shadows cast by the proposed buildings onto their neighbours at any time of day, month and year.

Design Competitions

Single Houses and Small Scale - Conversions / Extensions

We regularly provide a service for clients on single houses and small scale conversions and extensions. This service can be simply a feasibility study, a design suitable for planning application, or a full design including working drawings and site inspection. Most of our new houses have been in particularly sensitive locations, like the house in Caerleon amongst Roman remains and on a densely wooded site in Guildford.

ESHA architects - Urban Design - Masterplanning - Planning Consulantcy - Sustainable Design

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