Keeping up with studio four point ten!
Here at four point ten we’d like to keep you up to speed with progress on all our projects and events, so check in once in a while for the latest.
Building bridges with Co-forest
14 NOVEMBER 2024
We have been working with the fantastic Co-forest Initiative at their Founders Wood site near Bristol, to develop plans for a new timber shelter and bridge to help support their team of volunteers and connect between their new and emerging woodland sites. We were delighted to take on the project as an opportunity to showcase our sensitive approach to detail and craftsmanship led design, and are looking forward to picking up the tools in the new year to help with its construction.
Welcoming Amy to our team
16 SEPTEMBER 2024
We are delighted to now welcome Amy to our growing team, providing a much needed helping hand as we continue to progress with more great projects across Bath and Kent. Amy joins Marc in our new Kent / East Sussex based studio having recently graduated from Lancaster University.
Our new Kent office
5 SEPTEMBER 2024
Our Kent studio has moved to Flimwell Park on the Kent and East Sussex border.
These offices are part of a pioneering mixed use sustainable woodland development. The new studio space sits at treetop canopy level with a wonderful view of the woodland. We think it is going to be a pretty inspiring place to work and a great setting to expand our studio team.
Nature is taking hold
14 JULY 2024
We recently revisited one of our previous projects and were delighted to see the garden and planting taking shape around our stone and timber structures.
This building, like many of our schemes, was designed with the landscape playing a key role in the overall framing and experience of the building. Inspired by the concept of a ruinous structure, the design emphasises the importance of the landscape meeting (and even reclaiming) the building to create a more seamless blend between nature and architecture.
In this way, we hope that our buildings find a more comfortable home in their landscapes.
New Beach House Nearing Completion
10 APRIL 2024
Works to our new build house in Pett Level, East Sussex are now nearing completion, and the black stained (and fire treated) timber cladding is looking fantastic. The detailing works to integrate hit-and-miss screening over balconies and windows to control for privacy, and the edges neatly managed with matching metal trims to complete the ensemble.
The three storey dwelling is designed to be a low energy home, with high levels of insulation, heat recovery and integrated solar shading provided by a sheltered balcony on first floor. The open plan space on the ground floor provides a comfortable kitchen and dining space and reconnects the house with its garden. The top floor living space and roof terrace enjoy views out to the sea, whilst careful modelling, set backs and screening has been designed to reduce overlooking of neighbouring properties.
We look forward to being able to share the completed building very soon!
House in the Country in for Planning
19 MARCH 2024
This exciting new build house in Thornbury, Bristol is now in for planning with South Gloucestershire Council.
The project seeks to create a new family home with innovation, low energy and low carbon design at its heart. The brief also centres around creating a stronger connection between building and landscape, home and garden, with a strong landscape proposal worked up alongside the building design.
Completion of House Renovation
6 FEBRUARY 2024
We recently visited one of our projects in central Bath that is nearing completion with only a few external works left to complete (once the weather improves of course).
The interior renovation works were intended as a subtle transformation, managed using a soft palette of pale greys and natural timber, but with some bolder character punching through in the bathroom spaces and fitted joinery works. Much of the exterior works centred around creating a new raised decking and balcony space connected with the kitchen and diner, with views back towards the city and a new sweeping stair connecting down with the gardens below.
This success of this project is very much tied in with the ambition and energy the client brought to the table, and the can-do attitude of the building firm who shared in the vision and worked hard to achieve great results on a challenging budget. We look forward to seeing the final result in a few months time.
We’ve Taken to the Skies!
10 JANUARY 2024
With the use of our new drone camera we have not only been able to enjoy our projects from a whole new angle, but this has opened up new possibilities in the way we are now able to survey our buildings throughout the early condition assessment, design development and inspection stages.
Here you can see two of our neighbouring projects both nearing final completion, set in the beautiful Kentish countryside. In the foreground is our house extension and remodel with its red zinc roofing (link below), and behind this our black-clad new build house (the grain store) inspired by the agricultural barn it replaced.
Watch out for more aerial shots of our building projects soon.
A Year of Awards at the Roman Baths and Clore Learning Centre
20 DECEMBER 2023
It has been great to look back on the year of awards our Roman Baths client have received for the Clore Learning and World Heritage Centre in Bath. This is a building our Architect Lee completed with them whilst working with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, so we’re extremely proud of the recognition the project is still receiving. The awards now include:
The Bath Property Awards 2022
RIBA South West Award 2023
Civic Trust Award 2023 - for Best Conservation Project
2023 School Travel Award - for Best Venue for History Learning
2023 Visitor Information Service of the Year
We are also proud to be back working on the building for the Roman Baths, so look forward to sharing more project updates in 2024.
Finding Beauty in the Abandoned
15 AUGUST 2023
A recent blog post that explores the phenomenon of abandoned industrial buildings and abandoned industrial sites and asks how lessons learnt from this experience can be used to inform new and more extraordinary architecture.
Cherry Cottage submitted for planning.
3 AUGUST 2023
Our latest extension and interior remodelling job in Hawkhurst, Kent is now in for planning with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. The existing building is the site of the former Post Office and the project required a sensitive approach to the design and coordination with the local planners as is sited in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The design seeks to provide a high quality and contemporary designed single storey extension and draws on the character of the original building with its distinctive wrap-around hung clay tile cladding.
The traditional hipped roof form delivers a generous internal volume which is carved and folded to provide both an intimate dining space alongside a more open and vaulted living area. Two large rooflights ensure the space receives dynamic natural lighting that changes throughout the day with large folding sliding doors connecting out into the garden.
Reflecting back on a decade of work at the Roman Baths.
1 JUNE 2023
Now, standing before the finished Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre, I am filled with an immense sense of pride. The transformation of the building and undercroft spaces have exceeded all expectations, due in part to the rich offerings of the existing building fabric that revealed itself along the way. I have always had a passion for working with historic buildings because I feel they contribute so much to the design process, offering constraints and opportunities that fuel creativity and challenge your way of thinking when problem solving. Working on significant fabric, such as found in Listed buildings and Scheduled Monuments, also demands a greater attention to detail, quality material selection and craftsmanship - all this perfectly aligned with our own personal ambitions and working ethos for the architecture we strive to create here at Studio Four Point Ten.
The design approach we embraced ensured that the authenticity and raw beauty of the hidden spaces remained intact. Visitors can explore the undercroft spaces as they were discovered, allowing for a truly immersive and captivating experience. The building blends history and modernity within the new learning spaces and has created a harmonious space that both educates and enthrals.
Award winning.
25 MAY 2023
We are pleased to see that the Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre in Bath by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is a 2023 RIBA South West & Wessex Award winner.
This was the final project that our director Lee Holcombe designed and oversaw construction of, before leaving FCBS to join Studio Four Point Ten.
The project is the culmination of Lee’s passion and skill when it comes to working with historic buildings and his meticulous detailing. The judges described it as “tectonically and materially rich, the Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre is a triumph of thoughtful and inventive thinking that has created a series of dramatic and unexpected spaces that both celebrate and highlight the layered history of these wonderful buildings. It is a clear testament to the productive and successful collaboration between architect, client, archaeologist, contractor and wider design team."
Working with English Oak.
17 FEBRUARY 2023
We’re passionate about quality construction and the use of interesting and quality natural materials, and its hard to beat the beauty of English Oak as being used extensively for the interior of our Charred Cabin project in Bath.
From the very start the ambition was to create a warm and cosy interior space for our client to work, and for this project we’ve settled on a palette of dark slate floors, deep autumn paint colours (dark red and greens) and the use of a sawn oak boarding for the various wall linings and fitted furniture pieces.
Much of the delight in this space is in the careful detailing of its materials and surfaces, concentrating on how they come together and the texture they contribute to the feeling of the space. For the boarding we’ve sourced a rough sawn oak which lends it a certain rustic charm more in-keeping with the cabin in the woods theme here.
True to our ambitions as a practice and working ethos, we have taken an active role in the construction of this project having been busy onsite cutting and fitting the oak boards this week. As well as being a delight to look at enjoying the splattering of burry grain (clusters of tiny knots) and flashes of silver grain in the smooth planed parts, it’s also an absolute pleasure to work with.
Class Q barn conversion application submitted.
17 JANUARY 2023
We recently carried out an extensive feasibility study for a client, looking at various configurations and layout options for the conversion of two metal clad agricultural barns in Kent. Following on from this we have made the relevant permitted development submission. Whilst one design created four dwellings, the client opted to proceed with the option of converting each of the barns into individual spacious dwellings.
Under Class Q of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) you can convert some agricultural buildings without the need for a full planning application; providing that certain criteria are met eg. the age of the building, the location is not on special land, etc. Using Class Q legislation it is actually possible for one agricultural unit to be converted into up to 5 dwellings:
- 3 large dwellings (over 100m2) Up to combined 465m2
- 5 small dwellings (under 100m2 each) or
- 1 large dwelling + 4 small dwellings (Max. 865m2 eg. 1x465m2 + 4x100m2)
Whilst the criteria might seem quite restrictive, these permitted development rules could just be a stepping stone to building your dream home. Our Grain Store client purchased such a barn with Class Q approval, but had greater aspirations for the project. They appointed Studio Four Point Ten to undertake a concept design study to see what could be done with the barn. We were able to use this permitted development application to justify the new build house that incorporated a higher roof and thus allowed for a whole extra storey for bedrooms.
If you have one or more agricultural buildings that you would like to convert, but are unsure how to proceed, then get in touch to discuss the specifics and we can advise whether the project is likely to meet the criteria of Class Q.