Gale & Snowden Architects Ltd

 
Address   Gale & Snowden Architects Ltd
18 Market Place
BIDEFORD
Devon
EX39 2DR
United Kingdom: England 
 
   01237 474952   
Email   info@ecodesign.co.uk  
Website   www.ecodesign.co.uk 
Contact   Mr David John Gale 

 Further information >>
 
1: Project NameOak Meadow Sustainable Housing
Dates: 2003 - 2005
Location: South Molton 
Gross Area: 1,000 to 1,999 sqm 
Sectors:
Houses and Housing - General
 
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Key Services:
Ecological Architecture,  Energy / Environmental Expertise,  Full Architectural Service,  Sustainable Design
 
Awards:
Best Sustainable Development Award 2005 - Building Magazine
Best Social Housing Development - National Homebuilder
Green Apple for Sustainability National Champion Award
Sustainable Construction Award - Environmental DEBI Award
Best Sustainable Development - WestCountry New Homes Awards
Best 2 Bedroom House - WestCountry New Homes Awards
Description:
An eco-friendly neighbourhood of 35 homes for the rented sector has become the single most prolific award winner in the Gale and Snowden portfolio. Oak Meadow at South Molton, Devon which was designed to become a template for wider application elsewhere. It has been recognised as the best sustainable housing of its kind in the country and was awarded for the best social housing project in the country 2005 – a view shared by residents. Light and airy modern design is linked to sustainability features such as careful orientation to harness solar gain, local sourcing of materials, outstanding levels of insulation, air tightness, high performance triple glazing, high levels of thermal mass, energy efficiency, and external landscape design to high ecological standards. There are also cool larders that use the cool temperature of the earth to form pantries to keep food fresh and reduce the need for large fridges. These buildings have been designed to not need space heating unless the temperature outside drops to below -3 degrees C, the occupants and their appliances heating the buildings. The building designs have been based on the Gale & Snowden philosopy of taking the best from both modern and traditonal design to reduce the need for energy and water. The buildings have also been designed to be healthy both for the occupants and the environment. In addition, the low running costs show how economic ‘green’ developments can be.
 
2: Project NameWoolsery Sports and Community Centre
Dates: 1999 - 2001
Location: Woolfardisworthy 
Gross Area: 500 to 999 sqm 
Sectors:
Culture & Entertainment - Community Centres,  Sport - Leisure Centres
 
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Key Services:
Community Development,  Community Planning & Participation,  Ecological Architecture,  Energy / Environmental Expertise,  Lottery/Grant Bid Advice
 
Awards:
Civic Trust Award Winner - Vital Villages Special Award 2003
Devon Environmental Business Initiative Winner ‘Carbon Reduction’ Category 2008
South West England Green Energy Awards Runner-Up ‘Best Small Energy Scheme’ 2008
Description:
Since its completion in 2001 the Woolsery Sports and Community Hall has become the focus of community life and the low energy design has enabled the community groups to thrive, because the running costs are less than £1 per day. The building is carbon neutral and receives an income from selling electricity back to the grid. Since the completion of the super-insulated core building, renewable energies have been added including photovoltaics, wind turbine, ground source heat pump and passive ground cooled cool-larder. An extension has also been built designed by Gale & Snowden, which is compatible with the original ethos of the project. This project involved community participative design using planning for real techniques and involving the community throughout the project.
 
3: Project NameTorrington Infants School & Early Years Centre
Dates: 2003 - 2005
Location: Great Torrington 
Gross Area: 1,000 to 1,999 sqm 
Sectors:
Community Participation,  Education - Nursery Education,  Education - Primary Education,  Education - Training Centres,  Landscaping - General
 
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Key Services:
Architects' Service & Fee Advice,  Community Development,  Contract Administration,  Ecological Architecture,  Energy / Environmental Expertise,  Full Architectural Service,  Furniture Design,  Interior Design,  Landscape Design,  Production Information,  Sustainable Design
 
Description:
Part of the community’s vision for the future of Torrington, this new-build infants school is for up to 240 pupils. The vision includes an early years centre, the relocation of the infants school and the upgrading of the junior school, all on to a single campus. For the infants school, sustainability and low energy requirements were core elements of the brief. The contract value was £2.8million.
 
4: Project NameHallsannery
Dates: 2013
Location: Bideford 
Gross Area: Not available 
Sectors:
Conservation - Georgian Buildings,  Culture & Entertainment - Conference Centres,  Culture & Entertainment - Entertainment Complexes,  Hotels
 
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Key Services:
Building Technology,  Ecological Architecture,  Energy / Environmental Expertise,  Full Architectural Service
 
Description:
Perched high on the hill one mile from ‘the little white town’ of Bideford, and within 5 miles of the rugged beauty of the North Devon coast, Hallsannery is a late-Regency period, Grade II Listed manor house. Having been used for years as a field studies centre and offices, the once grand, formal rooms were a maze of cellular office spaces, subdivided by partition walls and labyrinthine corridors. Handed down within the same family, the new owners approached Gale & Snowden Architects with a brief to restore and celebrate Hallsannery’s former grandeur, establishing a venue for weddings, holidays, corporate meetings and events. Gale & Snowden’s approach was to juxtapose the very best of the old with the best of the new: sympathetically revealing the original volumes of the rooms and diligently conserving historic features and details - plaster covings, original fireplaces, period joinery, built-in furnishings, a central sweeping staircase and its glazed lantern - whilst rationalising the flow of internal circulation and skillfully introducing modern luxuries such as en-suite bathrooms to every bedroom - sometimes realised as discreet, self-contained ‘pods’ nestled within the largest of the rooms. A new, large family kitchen designed for relaxed, communal dining now sits at the heart of the house replacing the former commercial kitchen which once served the field studies centre. Gale & Snowden carried out a low-energy feasibility study and the proposals incorporated a number of measures to help increase internal comfort and the building’s energy efficiency including: Sealing up unused chimneys dramatically reducing air infiltration Refurbishing and draught-proofing the existing timber sash windows Replacing the huge oil-fired boiler with a wood pellet boiler system Heating and hot water modifications and design Inclusion of insulation to the ground floor construction Over the last 20 years, Gale & Snowden Architects have been involved with numerous projects involving the restoration, renovation and conservation of historic and Listed buildings. We continue to research and develop innovative ways to improve the energy efficiency of our historic buildings to ensure that they continue to provide healthy environments for us to occupy into the future.
 
5: Project NameRHS Rosemoor
Dates: 2010
Location: Torrington 
Gross Area: Not available 
Sectors:
Community Participation,  Culture & Entertainment - Community Centres,  Culture & Entertainment - Visitors' Centres,  Education - Training Centres
 
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Key Services:
Ecological Architecture,  Energy / Environmental Expertise,  Full Architectural Service
 
Description:
The brief was to create an environment in which groups of 60 plus children and their teachers would be inspired to learn about the natural world around them. The Peter Buckley Learning Centre nestles under and around a 300-year-old oak tree at the edge of the Rosemoor formal gardens. Its interconnected day-lit classrooms spill out onto a south-facing teaching terrace. The large over-sailing roof offers year-round weather protected teaching opportunities. The roof also captures large volumes of rainwater which is harvested for plant cultivation. The building is simple to run. Spaces are naturally ventilated and flooded with natural daylight. Daylight levels within the building were modeled to ensure very high levels of daylight design are achieved. Daylight modeling was carried out in conjunction with thermal modeling to optimise the passive design of the building and ensure comfort conditions throughout the year. The highly insulated timber frame ensures that negligible space heating is required. The design includes a large thermal storage tank fed by solar panels and a log boiler that consumes timber grown on-site. Gale & Snowden developed the biomass strategy for the RHS, where plantation timber is felled two summers in advance of consumption. It is logged the following year and moved and stored in a purpose-built store adjacent to the wood burning plant. The log boiler was specified to suit the timber source available. Sustainable materials and products were specified throughout. This included green oak cladding, cellulose fibre insulation, mineral and plant based paints and stains, linoleum flooring, careful selection of sheathing materials, and triple glazed windows and doors. As with all Gale & Snowden projects, the use of materials such as PVC was avoided. The centre has proved very popular with local schools and those further afield. Gale & Snowden are delighted to have been afforded the opportunity to have worked with the Royal Horticultural Society.
 
6: Project NameGreenwoods
Dates: 2010
Location: High Bickington 
Gross Area: Not available 
Sectors:
Houses and Housing - One-off Houses
 
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Key Services:
Full Architectural Service
 
Description:
The Greenwood project is a unique new build dwelling, set in the beautiful North Devon countryside, close to the village of High Bickington. Gale & Snowden Architects were able to obtain detailed planning permission for this ecological and low energy building on the site of a former single-storey dwelling. The innovative building and landscape design makes the best use of site assets. The dwelling is built into the south facing bank of the valley to maximise solar gains and panoramic countryside views, whilst seeking shelter from cold Northerly winds. The site generates its own fuel and power from coppiced wood, solar thermal and PV panels, and its productive garden provides food for the occupants. Key features of the project are: Beneficial solar heat gain Super-insulated – triple glazing and high levels of insulation throughout Non-thermal bridging detailing Air tight construction Thermal mass design Natural daylight design Natural ventilation Minimal space heating requirements - one wood burner can provide all space heating. Healthy building design in accordance with Building Biology principles – e.g.: non-VOC and non-chlorine based (non-PVC) materials, organic paints, stains and oils, natural materials Low water use design Solar photovoltaic panels, which provide an annual feed-in tariff that has recently been in excess of £1,000 per year Solar thermal provides hot water Low energy lighting and appliances throughout The design also features local crafts incorporated into the building such as the bespoke oak spiral staircase, joinery throughout and the handcrafted kitchen. The house has been designed around a spectacular open plan kitchen / dining / living room that has soaring ceiling heights. Largely double-height, this is a room with rare qualities of light and space and has wonderful views across the valley. Gale & Snowden Architects provided full and integrated Architectural and Mechanical Engineering design services for this project from concept design to completion. As building plots for self-build projects are becoming more scarce, a number of Gale & Snowden’s clients are finding properties that are beyond renovation. The practice has successfully achieved planning approvals for several similar projects for new and much improved ecologically aware dwellings.