brick & stoneReiach and Hall, Chris Dyson, Peter Barber, Glasgow City Council Brick innovation and Part L

3NOVEMBER 2013

Leader 4

Prelims News, Interview, Opinion, Calendar and

Book review 6

Preview Surface Design Show 13

Column Nick Schumann 16

Overview Brick and stone 18

Scottish Water, The Bridge, Stepps, Glasgow

Reiach and Hall Architects 26

Wapping Pier Head Residence, London

Chris Dyson Architects 36

Employment Academy, Camberwell, London

Peter Barber Architects 44

Notre Dame Primary School, Glasgow

DRS Glasgow City Council 52

Product matrix Brick slips 58

BCIS costs Brick and stone 62

Faience in Fashion

An ancient material in modern times 63

Product update 74

Drawing to a close

JW3, London: Perforated brick screen detail by

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands 86

Cover image Employment Academy, Camberwell,

London. Photography by Morley von Sternberg

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4 PBJUNE 2013AJ SPECIFICATION

LEADER

The Architects’ Journal is registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. ©2011. Published by EMAP, part of the EMAP network . Printed in the UK by Headley Brothers Ltd

A

AJ Specification

Telephone House, 66-77 Paul Street,

London EC2A 4NQ T 020 3033 2736

Editorial enquiries

E firstname.surname@emap.com

T 020 3033 plus extension below

Editor Felix Mara (2730)

News editor Rakesh Ramchurn (2736)

Assistant technical editor Laura Mark

Art editor Tom Carpenter

Head of production Mary Douglas, Alan Gordon

Production editors Russell Cox, Cecilia Thom

AJ Buildings Library editor Tom Ravenscroft

AJ Editor Christine Murray

AJ Deputy editor Rory Olcayto (2724)

AJ Art editor Brad Yendle (2729)

Chief executive officer Natasha Christie-Miller

Managing director, architecture group

Richard Breeden

Commercial director James MacLeod (2939)

Business development manager

Ceri Evans (2943) Nick Roberts (2940)

Account manager Hannah Buckley (2941)

Jonathan Snowden (2981)

Classified sales Richard Spanton (2979)

Production manager David Evans (2682)

�e country has a national health service, so why not a nationalised energy supply too? It’s time for a referendum on it, writes Felix Mara

s usual, the theme of our November issue is brickwork and stone, although it is no longer called masonry. Blockwork, used less often

externally, with Tim Ronalds Architects’ Colyer Fergusson Building at the University of Kent (AJ 31.01.2013) a notable exception, is also within the remit.

Because of the popularity of these materials in external wall construction, this month’s Overview (page 18) spotlights the impending changes to Approved Document L: conservation of fuel and power, which recently became more topical in Britain for the wrong reasons when gas and electricity companies announced inordinately high price increases, yet again. Given the natural public distrust for these out�ts, and the top-down government policy on energy conservation, it seems timely to mention the unmentionable: nationalisation, after Leader of the Opposition David Milliband’s recent call for a return to socialism. Can we as a nation put aside our hang-ups about socialism and competition, which doesn’t seem to be forcing the energy companies and railway operators to keep prices

down? Given that energy can be a matter of life and death, is it right to put it out to the market, with only token regulation by the state? Most would agree that it’s more civilised to have a national health service, why not nationalised energy supply as well? Along with environmental policies, surely this warrants a referendum. Or are these matters too important to be decided by the public?

Older readers will remember when a large proportion of British architects practiced within local authorities. As this month’s case study on Notre Dame Primary School in Glasgow (page 44) reminds us, some still do. �e architect is, to use its formal name, Project Management & Design, Development & Regeneration Services, Glasgow City Council. Like the work of Hampshire County Architects, it’s proof that these departments can do good work, although Gareth Hoskins Architects should also be credited for its role in the project. Notre Dame Primary School can hold its own alongside this month’s other �ne case study projects, designed by Reiach and Hall (page 26), Chris Dyson Architects (page 36) and Peter Barber Architects (page 52).

36 AJ SPECIFICATION

apping Pier Head was built between 1810 and 1811, and stands at the northern end of a short terrace,

which once overlooked the approach to Wapping Basin. � is terrace was designed by Daniel Asher Alexander and combines traditional, domestic Georgian style with a more austere warehouse aesthetic. It lies within the Wapping Pier Head Conservation area and is Grade-II listed.

� e brief was to create a family home that responds to contemporary domestic use. � e condemned two-storey Victorian extension was replaced with an enlarged masonry structure that addresses the garden and provides kitchen, living and dining areas at ground fl oor level. Additionally, all services were replaced, insulation improved and rainwater harvesting introduced. Period features were reinstated and refurbished to sympathetically restore a sense of character that had been lost over the previous 50 years. Chris Dyson, managing director, Chris Dyson Architects

WWAPPING PIER HEAD RESIDENCE,LONDONCHRIS DYSON ARCHITECTS

Project data

Start on site March 2012

Completion May 2013

Gross internal fl oor area 251m2

Procurement Direct labour

Construction cost Classifi ed

Architect Chris Dyson Architects

Structural engineer Price & Myers

M&E consultant N/A

Quantity surveyor N/A

Geotechnics consultant

Core Geotechnics

Project manager Ben Wilson

CDM coordinator N/A

Building inspector London Borough of

Tower Hamlets

Main contractor H S Restoration

CAD software used

Bentley PowerDraft XM

Annual CO2 emissions Unknown

CASE STUDY

Above left Entrance elevation, with extension on right Right View from garden to north of half-oval extension on left

Photography by Peter LandersSite plan

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37NOVEMBER 2013

Specified products

Brick

Travis Perkins

Coleridge Ashdown yellow multi brick

www.travisperkins.co.uk

Brick colourwash

Beckwith Tuckpointing Glass water binder,

powdered quartz stabiliser,

plus black iron oxide and

Earthbound Brown pigment

www.beckwithtuckpointing.com

Pointing

Beckwith Tuckpointing

Five parts soft sand and two parts

hydraulic lime (2.5 strength)

penny struck pointing

www.beckwithtuckpointing.com

Stone sills and copings

Edenhall

Cast stone

www.edenhall.co.uk

Slate copings

Polished black slate

www.dialbuild.co.uk

Windows

Bronze casements

www.bronzecasements.com

Floorboards

Waxed Floors

Engineered timber floorboards

Double fumed oak, White

www.waxedfloors.co.uk

Cornice

Bespoke by Mark Latrobe

Fibrous plaster

Switch plates

Forbes and Lomax

Antique bronze

www.forbesandlomax.com/

invisible-lightswitch

Door handles and stair rods

Arne Jacobsen

Antique bronze

www.williams-ironmongery.co.uk

38 PBJUNE 2013AJ SPECIFICATION

WAPPING PIER HEAD RESIDENCE, LONDONCHRIS DYSON ARCHITECTS

0 1mN

1. New opening in flank wall

2. New split shutters and housing

3. Hall 4. WC 5. Drawing room 6. Dining room 7. Kitchen 8. Wash house 9. Back yard 10. Garden11. New extension:

25mm brickwork, cavity and insulation, internally lined with 12mm ply, plasterboard and plaster skim

12. New garden wall in Flemish bond brick

13. New opening with timber paneled doors

14. Bedroom15. Shower room16. Dressing room17. BathroomGround floor plan First floor plan

Section A-A

Below right View from north showing new extension and back of Georgian terrace designed by Daniel Asher Alexander

This terrace combines domestic Georgian style with the more austere warehouse aesthetic

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WAPPING PIER HEAD RESIDENCE, LONDONCHRIS DYSON ARCHITECTS

Opposite top North elevation to new extension viewed from garden, showing slate cappings protecting flat arches below recessed panelsOpposite far right Batten roll roof of new extension, with artificial stone copings Opposite bottom and bottom right Ground floor drawing room in new extension

40 AJ SPECIFICATION

Typical head detail

1. 215mm brickwork 2. Slate capping 3. 20mm air gap 4. 95mm Kingspan

Kooltherm K12 insulation

5. Polythene vapour control layer

6. 12mm plywood 7. 12.5mm plasterboard 8. 3mm plaster skim 9. Concrete lintel10. Hafele aluminium

ventilation grille11. 95mm x 50mm

tanalised timber stud12. 198mm x 45mm

hardwood frame with 2mm bronze flat to outside face

13. 1mm tolerance 14. Compressible

foam tape 15. Additional DPM

sandwiched between bronze casement and timber frame to overlap with polythene vapour control layer

16. ‘Old Bath’ Colourmatch mortar

17. Stooling 18. Stone sill

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41NOVEMBER 2013

42 AJ SPECIFICATION

01. Brick

This Coleridge Ashdown yellow multi brick with

red tones complements the house and listed dock

wall. It was economical and available locally

www.travisperkins.co.uk

02. Brick colourwash

The colourwash is a permanent stain applied to

the bricks prior to pointing. A ‘soot wash’ effect is

achieved, with the texture and colour variations of

the brick visible through the colourwash

www.beckwithtuckpointing.com

03. Pointing

The stopping is formed of five parts soft sand and

two parts hydraulic lime (2.5 strength). Mortar was

repointed flush with the brickwork and an old

penny rolled in the middle of the brick joints,

leaving a straight, indented line in the mortar

www.beckwithtuckpointing.com

04. Cast stone sill

The curved outline of the extension required sill

and coping stones to have varying gradients. It

was therefore more efficient to use cast rather

than Portland stone or equivalent

www.edenhall.co.uk

05. Slate capping

Polished black slate cappings (30mm deep) were

used to protect exposed ends of cut brick arches

www.dialbuild.co.uk

06. Window

Bronze casements were used for the extension to

distinguish old from new. The Heritage system by

Vale, designed for historic buildings, has a delicate

extrusion profile while providing slimline double

glazing (4mm glass with a 4mm cavity giving an

overall 12mm double glazed unit). The bronze is

self-finished, high quality and low maintenance

www.bronzecasements.com

07. Floorboard

Engineered timber floorboards in double fumed

oak white were used throughout the extension

and for the basement of the existing house

www.waxedfloors.co.uk

08. Fibrous plaster cornice

Bespoke profiles were designed by Mark Latrobe,

then manufactured and fitted to ground and

first floors of the house and extension. To

follow the Georgian ceilings’ line and the curve

of the new extension, the cornice was applied

while damp

09. Internal fittings

Toggle switch plates by Forbes and Lomax

were used throughout the existing house and

new extension, along with Arne Jacobsen

door handles and stair rods. All fittings were in

antique bronze

www.forbesandlomax.com

www.williams-ironmongery.co.uk

traditional masonry construction was chosen to re�ect and compliment the surrounding Georgian architecture

within the Wapping Conservation Area. �e restrained palate of materials created a quiet, contemporary aesthetic- extended cut-brick arches and slim-pro�le copings framing bronze casements. As brick colour and variety were critical to the project’s success, colour washing was implemented. �is specialist technique meant transparency and shade could be gradually built up to complement the existing house and adjacent dock wall. Chris Dyson, managing director, Chris Dyson Architects

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