Voting in the People's Choice Award (Buckinghamshire Design Awards 2022/23)

Badminton House is a listed building with a classical 18th-century brick facade and is a good example of the 18th century bricklayer’s art.

In recent years, the facade started bulging and distorting, indicating it was moving. The outer layer of brick was peeling away. An innovative solution was needed.

The contractor has successfully retained the front wall using a steel frame and welded wire mesh lattice. Timber panelling and other features were adjusted carefully to accommodate the new steel frame.

The Brunel Engine Shed was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway in 1854.

Buckinghamshire New University has exciting plans to use the renovated Brunel Shed as a public café and gallery space as well as a workspace for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses spinning out of the university.

Recent renovations include:

• new slate roof in keeping with its original Victorian character
• repair of the original timber queen post trusses designed by Brunel
• large areas of glazing and rooflights added to dramatically increase natural light
• exterior landscaping added
• step-free accessibility including elevator to mezzanine level

Chelwood is a new modern family home in Chesham Bois, Amersham, replacing a dilapidated existing suburban house.

The house is pushed up to the northern boundary to maximise the south facing garden.

Taking local forms, traditions and crafts, and mixing them with innovative and contemporary systems is a key part of the design.

Chelwood incorporates many sustainable design principles. To reduce embodied carbon, demolition materials were re-used for the sub-base below the ground ventilated void and under the hard landscape areas.

The Chilterns Lifestyle Centre replaced the ageing Chiltern Pools complex and in addition to health and fitness facilities, it provides a community centre, library, youth club and children’s nursery - all under the one roof.

The spirit of the design approach is ‘Something for Everyone.’ These ageing services were originally spread rambling across several separate buildings across the site.

The new building is twice as efficient as the old facilities, with a significantly lower carbon footprint, a Building Energy Rating EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) Category A-23 and a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) rating of “Very Good”.

Clarendon House is a 61-bed care home plus 14 assisted living apartments. It was built on a previously vacant but prominent location in the heart of Buckingham’s historic centre. Existing patterns of development in this part of the town reflect traditional ‘burgage plots’, where a single strong building line faces the High Street with long narrow plots extending to the rear.

This historic form of development has been used in the architectural and design response for this scheme. It gives the impression of two narrow linear blocks, which are subtly linked, sitting within a burgage plot.

The development utilises a simple palette of mostly natural, traditional materials – a variety of brick, slate and clay roofing, and timber brise soleil – along with more modern detailing relating to the box windows and recessed brick work.

Prior to works, 13 High Street consisted of a 19th century two-storey building and granary, of stone construction with slate roof coverings, and several single-storey stone and brickwork infill outbuildings. Between the two main buildings was a courtyard with several unattractive structures providing outside seating.

The pub/bar location has been retained within the front section, thereby ensuring a traditional and customer facing welcome. The main dining extension infills the area between the range and original building, preserving and enhancing the existing listed building and offsetting it with a subservient style, height and use of materials. A sympathetic new glazed link between the old and new provides transition and natural daylight, highlighting the existing stonework walls.

The Granary has been repaired and redecorated to provide additional outside seating, while the courtyard provides an attractive setting and opportunity to appreciate the buildings.

The Airfield Pavilion project started in 2017 as part of a new housing development in the growing village of Haddenham. The brief from Haddenham Parish Council was to provide a building primarily for sports and to also have a community space.

The interior of the building splits uses between either side of the main entrance lobby, with sports to one side and the function space to the other. This allows the dual-purpose building to be run as separate elements or as one.

Within the ‘Sports Wing’ there are two team changing rooms with showers & toilets which have been designed to Sport England standards, plus a referee's changing room.

With biodiversity and sustainability at the heart, there is a partial green living roof and part zinc roof with solar PV panels. Construction materials were also selected with longevity in mind. Energy and water use have been minimised and the building has achieved an ‘A’ rated EPC (Energy Performance Certificate).

The innovation hub provides much needed teaching accommodation for the school – 15 classrooms in total over three floors – together with supporting accommodation. It occupies a high-profile area of the school campus, clearly visible from the road, and gives a new identity to the school, providing a welcoming statement to all pupils, staff and visitors. 

Internally, the building is robust and organized into a simple and rational plan which repeats from floor to floor. It contains interesting changes in volume that make vertical connections between floors. Circulation is wide and ordered, ensuring pupils can move around the building quickly and easily.

Externally, there is a rich variety of material finishes and colours creating a highly articulated and interesting external appearance. The articulation creates interesting shadows that change throughout the day. The facade facing the entrance to the school is highly glazed, with a triple height entrance hall behind, creating a dramatic and modern elevation day and night.

In September 2022 the new Kingsbrook Secondary School opened its doors to its first intake of 180 Year 7 pupils. It includes a bespoke 32 place Special Educational Needs unit, the first of its type in Buckinghamshire. The facility will enable SEND pupils to access a mainstream offer whilst accessing specific specialist support, providing strong outcomes for the pupils and enabling then to remain in their own communities for their education.

The school has been carefully designed such that it can be expanded in the longer term in response to local housing growth, to become either an eight- or even ten-form entry school.

The school has been funded from the national Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), Section 106 Developer Contributions and government Basic Need funding. In addition, the building has excellent sustainable credentials and is designed to ensure it is thermally efficient thereby reducing the carbon emissions.

Affordable rural homes built on a redundant garage block and following the contour of the landscape including an accessible bungalow and homes for social rent and shared ownership. The homes are net zero carbon/future homes ready including electric vehicle chargers, electric air source heat heating. They support the sustainability of the rural community by providing affordable housing for shared ownership sale and for rent.

Number 3 Orchard Lane is a new family house which combines contemporary design style with excellent energy efficiency and superior internal comfort, being a certified Passivhaus dwelling.

In today’s economic and environmental climate, energy efficient buildings are of paramount importance. Passivhaus is recognised as the ‘Gold Standard’ of energy efficient design, using approximately 15% of the energy consumed by a comparable new house. Features include mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, which provides filtered fresh air 24 hours a day and is known to help those suffering from allergies like asthma. 

The home is only recently completed but soon the building will be complemented with some contemporary planting of grasses and shrubs to soften the lines further and help it to blend into the built environment.

This walking, wheeling and cycling route was first established in the 2000s as part of the Gemstone Active Travel Network and was originally called Emerald Way, running from the town centre to the communities of Fairford Leys and Haydon Hill. It was renamed the ‘Platinum Way’ in celebration of the late HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The project was composed of two key elements:

1. Upgrading the existing Emerald Way to comply with current active travel design standards;
2. Extending the route from Haydon Hill to Berryfields and Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station – the ‘Haydon Hill Link’.

These upgrades, together with the route extension to Berryfields represent a dramatic improvement in active travel infrastructure for north-west Aylesbury, establishing a continuous dedicated off-road walking, wheeling and cycling route between Aylesbury town centre and Waddesdon.

The existing building, in its current state, did not fulfil the aspirations and vision for the community. A feasibility study looked at creating a new facility that includes the following objectives:

• a true local community centre supporting a range of social and sports facilities, which can be financially viable throughout the year and is an attractive addition to the village
• a safe, family-orientated environment that engages with the adjacent park
• flexible use spaces that bring together a wide variety ages, activities and culture
• catering and hospitality facilities for public and private functions
• low maintenance and sustainable

Site constraints required a 2-storey central core with single storey ‘lean-to’ wings either side in order to accommodate the required spaces. The changing room is adjacent to the main football pitches on the west, with. The main hall located to the east. The central hub area is made up of the café and reception at ground floor with serviced meeting rooms at first floor. This has wonderful views of the park with a spill-out terrace at ground floor and large balcony at first floor.

Materials used reflect the locality, with soft multi orange/red brick used for the external walls at ground floor, with a light grey powder coated aluminium standing seam roof and dark grey windows and doors.

Taplow Riverside is a new development located near the village of Taplow situated between the River Thames and the Jubilee River at the former St Regis Paper mill Site.

It has provided new homes for an expanding community, whilst completely transforming the old Paper Mill Site and how it was used. It is now a mixed-use regeneration scheme in a distinctive riverside setting, comprising of 211 dwellings within 21 acres of public open space, alongside a new footbridge, restaurants, employment space and a boatyard.

The site holds a series of historic buildings that have been refurbished as part of the development. These refurbished buildings make up 25 of the 211 homes on site, of which some benefit from private riverside moorings.

Taplow Riverside has become a vibrant and welcoming place, frequently used and enjoyed by both residents and the wider community. Connectivity to the wider area has been improved by creating a network of cycle paths and footpaths, including a new footbridge, alongside open green spaces, informal meeting and play spaces and outdoor fitness equipment. The provision of pubs/restaurants and public car parking have helped to make Taplow Riverside not only a place to live, but also a leisure destination, resulting in a huge increase to footfall in and around the site.

Sportsmans Way sits in a prominent location at the entrance to Longwick when approaching from Princes Risborough. The design is based on the idea of a farmyard that has evolved over time.

Design influences include a prominent farmhouse, as well as smaller ‘cottages’ and barn style properties, all making use of vernacular features such as brick detailing, exposed rafter feet, timber boarding and agricultural style garages with an elongated rear roof section visible from the Thame Road.

The development aims to provide a high quality and visually attractive gateway into Longwick, integrating well into the village whilst also paying tribute to the rural nature of the surrounding area and the site’s location in the transition between the village and the adjacent countryside.

Two of Aylesbury’s newest neighbourhoods are Berryfields and Buckingham Park, situated to the north-west and north of the historic town centre, and are home to schools, shops, community amenities and workplaces; Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is situated in Berryfields. This means there is a lot of demand for travel between the two neighbourhoods.

However, existing infrastructure for walking, wheeling and cycling between these areas was limited. Paths alongside the River Thame are prone to frequent flooding. The path along Martin Dalby Way runs immediately adjacent to a fast, busy arterial road.

St Peter’s Greenway was conceived as a safe, convenient and accessible route, making it easier for people to walk, wheel or cycle for their journeys. An entirely off-road route, it runs through an area of calm, rural tranquillity offering respite from adjacent busy, noisy urban areas.

As a working rural landscape, fencing and gating arrangements have been designed to be accessible for all path users whilst protecting livestock and facilitating farming operations.

The path has been promptly embraced as a community asset by local residents since its opening in October 2022. Volunteers have planted trees along the route and local schoolchildren have participated in chalk art competitions.

Off Church Lane in Chalfont St Peter lies a green and unspoiled closed burial ground, which passed into the ownership of the Parish Council in the 1970’s. Headstones have been moved to the boundary of the garden. It has an upper lawn which has a war graves section, including a VC holder, while the lower lawn has been the focus of this project so far.

Former Chiltern District Council’s Open Space Strategy identified that Chalfont St Peter had no public garden and no space for quiet reflection, relaxation or to escape noise and traffic. The Centenary of the end of World War I was the prompt for the Village Action Group to elevate this unloved and overlooked garden into a fitting memorial garden for the village while also providing a secluded haven for wildlife and a safe space for quiet reflection.

One of our heritage plaques has been erected at the garden entrance, a metal soldier has been placed on a plinth, and the garden is now part of our village Heritage Walk. The garden is seen as both an outdoor museum and a rejuvenated 'pocket park'. Further enhancements here are proposed by the Parish Council.

It has been a unique opportunity to breathe new life into a forgotten, hidden space in the heart of the village which many residents did not know existed.

The project comprised the restoration of the historic but dilapidated Conservatory Café, to make it fit for purpose as a high-quality café for the National Trust at Cliveden House.

A major part of the project was the re-roofing of the Grade II listed Conservatory which dated from the 1980s and was leaking.

Accessibility has also been improved by re-grading of approach surfaces to achieve level access, the addition of power assist doors, and the reconfiguration of the servery and seating to provide more flexible space and improved circulation, as well as softer furnishings to reduce reverberation.

The completed Conservatory Café is now a delight to visit, offering high quality, accessible facilities in a unique historic setting that is befitting of Cliveden House.

This is a unique eco-build children’s nursery in Bellingdon, Buckinghamshire, set amongst the beautiful Chiltern Hills. The project was designed to make use of locally sourced materials from the Chilterns in order to create a sustainable, low carbon, healthy building in which the children could thrive. Many of the materials have been produced and supplied by a local brickmaker.

There is no cement in the building at all, saving a significant amount of CO2 that would otherwise have been used in its production. The foundations were filled with field flint from the surrounding fields, avoiding the need for concrete. The internal and external brickwork has all been laid using lime mortars which are more sustainable, and more attractive, than cement-based mortars.

Bespoke glazed tiles have been used for the kitchen and bathrooms, as glazed bricks for the internal ledge of the dome. Selected internal walls have been decorated with interesting features and mosaic animals to add an educational sense of fun, befitting its use as a nursery.

The roof structure is made of laminated timbers and supports a green roof seeded with wildflowers, which has blended seamlessly into the landscape.

West House shelters in an outskirt of the pleasure gardens at Stowe. A winding path meanders through the woods, leading to a cluster of two-story houses, where West House proudly stands alongside three Neo-Georgian masters’ residences. It provides 24 study bedrooms, each equipped with en-suite facilities, staff living areas, common rooms, gardens, and terraces.

The building is split into two blocks: the first a low-lying two-storey block with external terrace and main shared facilities, and the second is partially sunken into the ground and extends over three floors.

The use of colour aids legibility and accessibility within the space, with the bedrooms in more muted colours. White fitted furniture serves as a backdrop to vibrant flooring, while window seat fabrics and curtains feature warmer neutral tones.