Strangely Familiar

There is probably a place you stand in for a few minutes each day; it may be a street corner, a crossing in front of the station, or a bus stop as you make your way home from work. You probably stand in the same spot, look in the same direction as normal and nod to the same building directly in front of you. One day you happen to stare at this building and notice that something’s different, not that anything has changed, it’s just different.

As an architect, I know that where you stand and how you look at things, even ordinary things is immensely important. It is both challenging and exciting to imagine what it would be like to be there and what I would see before a space is even created. In many ways the act of seeing is explored by artist, and long time friend Alex Cave. Yesterday Alex completed his newest work called ‘Clock Tower couple study 02’ and I had a chance to chat to him about it this morning. He tells me that he uses street signs and traffic lights as light sources for the figures. The thing about Alex is that he never actually says what you think he’s going to say. He makes around 150 sketches, capturing people, dogs, cats, buildings, rain, in fact anything you or I would normally walk past without any recollection whatsoever. Back at the studio, somehow everything has fused, melted ,merged and reconstructed, leaving you with the feeling of “oh, I know that place... oh hold on...no, I’m thinking of somewhere else.”

'Images of London' will showcase Alex Cave's work at David Le Lay Architects from 17^th December with a private show on 16^th December.

www.alexcave.com

An Approach to Historic Buildings

“Cadogan Place is the one slight bond that joins two great extremes; it is the connecting link between the aristocratic pavements of Belgrave Square, and the barbarism of Chelsea.”

When ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’, was written by Charles Dickens in 1838, the houses at nos. 113 and 114 Sloane Street were already 50 years old. The front elevation was undergoing ‘improvements’, yet it would be another 50 years before far more radical alterations would occur. The late 19th Century saw the building increase by three stories and extend back into the garden with a pair of grand additions. Alterations continued throughout the 20th Century culminating in a disastrous cross-lateral conversion into nine separate flat in the 1950s. The mammoth task of reconstruction began in March 2008 and was completed recently in late summer of 2010.

There is no doubt that Georgian and Victorian architecture represent a large proportion of our cultural heritage. Our practice is rooted in a deep respect for historic buildings and for the culture and tradition of good building practices. Sometimes that means clearing away the debris of past work to uncover what is really valuable about the space and what speaks to us about as sense of identity embedded in the building.

With many years of working with historic buildings, we are particularly adept at interweaving old with the new and steering our site team smoothly through the building process so that we get the best out of them and the highest quality workmanship. We were fortunate to work with the Cadogan Estate who not only have expertise transforming historic buildings but also share our approach to this type of project.

We had great communication with the team allowing us to help them understand how historic fabric merges with the new work to create a consistent architectural language. Although styles appear to change from 18th to 20th Century, there is a similarity between stages as they cycle through the tendency towards lightness, density, proportion, scale and material. The new elements were designed to resonate with the retained fabric and restore much needed coherence to the architecture.

Refurbishment of David Le Lay offices, Autumn 2010

We’re enjoying our recently refurbished offices at 39 Old Church Street. We’ve opened up our split level office occupying the lower ground and ground floors of a prominent Victorian building to better utilise the space and the way it interconnects.
In removing a partition wall dividing the ground floor into a meeting room and reception area, we’ve created a single, fluid space throughout. We’ve redistributed our work operation so that the ground floor is now work space, which in turn has freed up space for a meeting table as well as more generous work space on the lower ground floor.
Repositioned light fittings from the partition wall to side walls on the ground floor and newly installed down lighting on the lower ground floor has created a softer look. While sanded and varnished solid oak floor boards and redecorated white walls throughout have given the office a bright, contemporary feel which makes for a very pleasant space.
If you are planning a similar office refurbishment, please call the office on 020 7351 5456.