Conservation

Listed Building Consent has been granted for the installation of new organ and lighting to the west end of Bedford School chapel. The chapel is grade II* listed and an important late work of George Frederick Bodley, assisted by Cecil Hare who completed and furnished it after Bodley’s death. It is a building of great refinement.

MBA are architects, project managers and heritage consultants for the project. We enjoyed studying Bodley, his works and writings, and applying his twelve principles of architecture to the building as a way of understanding it.

The work involves removing the original organ, recycling its designed panelling to line the interior of the adjacent tower, and installing a  new organ with vastly improved musical qualities. The organ will have a set of ‘choir’ pipes cantilevering over the nave supported by a new steel frame threaded through the existing gallery.

The organ is designed and built by William Drake Limited and will be installed in 2027. Dr William McVicker is organ consultant and Price & Myers are structural engineers.

9 Carmelite street wrapped in white and under scaffolding for a major refurbishment by MBA.

The Grade II listed building was built in 1893 as the headquarters of the board of Conservators of the River Thames.

The proposed work will transform the building into an attractive 21st century office and secure a sustainable use for the building whilst preserving its historic significance.

A public consultation was held  on 24 November  2021 for a proposed scheme for two new houses in a conservation area at the top of Wimbledon hill designed to be parsonages for the parish of St. Mary. This follows a previous consultation and pre-application consultation with the local planning authority.

New Lion gates at Oriel College, Oxford.  We tried to make the lions minimal, scary, powerful and welcoming.  Laser cut and hand worked by artist blacksmith Ben Prothero.

Planning permission and Listed Building Consent were granted on 11 August. This is our first collaboration with Stanton Williams Architects who are designing a £37 million scheme which will radically transform this Grade II* listed building. Our role was to research the cultural significance of the building, landscape and setting, advise Stanton Williams on conservation and design aspects of the proposals and help them overcome the many conservation challenges during prolonged discussions with Oxford City Council and Historic England. It was fascinating to go through the Rhodes Trust archives to track Herbert Baker’s design development and the late evolution of the plan to incorporate what is now the Rotunda, the original correspondence sprinkled with sketches and diagrams, some on folded scraps of tracing paper. I seem to be following Cecil Rhodes around, after spending 5 years on the Rhodes building at Oriel college, where a major refurbishment by MBA added an extra floor. By adding another layer of history architects can add nuance and cultural context to our built heritage.