“A self-build project for one of the partners in the practice, the magnificently named Cranks Castle is a house on top of a sea wall with fantastic views. Since the governments Draft Shoreline Management Plan makes the future of the building uncertain, the new owner had to abandon plans for replacement and extend the dilapidated original. She rearranged spaces within the existing footprint, for instance adding a generous hall for sandy clothes. A local carpenter made the windows, and those on the seaward side have external shutters to protect them from flying pebbles in winter storms. All the windows make the most of the views”. Ruth Slavid

“There is an instant sense of calm when I step through the sliding glass entrance. My room [is] at the back and you cant hear a thing not even tellies from the other rooms. What a plus. Bijou’s about right- I have a double bed, a unit housing wardrobe, drawer, fridge, kettle and hairdryer a crushed velvet stool full length mirror and small but perfectly formed shower room. The colour scheme is white with touches of smoky lilac and there are two blinds one that blocks out the light and the other lets it in while obscuring the flats opposite…..A late night and sink-into bed mean it’s a struggle to surface. The sun’s streaming in, though, and the shower’s got wake-up power so I’m in an extremely good humour by the time I descend. Now we can see the breakfast room properly a chic extension with sloping glass roof overlooking a decked terrace and garden…..Hanger lane will never be a destination in its own right so why stay here? Hotel is a bit of a gem though, if you are staying in town alone – the staff are efficient and friendly and it has achieved a rare thing of an environment in which strangers soon feel completely at ease with each other.”

“Problem solving is a major theme in this exhibition, and for Jane Opher and David Howel-Evans of heostudio, the challenge was to transform Oxford’s Thirst lounge bar and restaurant in just four days. Owner Spirit Bars wanted the work to be complete during a short lull before the university’s spring term began. “Our solution was to design the new interior so that it could be made in pieces that would fit together on site like a jigsaw,” explains Howel-Evans, adding that “everything was measured at least four times”. Pre-cast fibre-cement panels were made to line the space “like concrete wallpaper”, a new stainless steel case was made to wrap around the old concrete bar, furniture was made offsite and then everything was delivered in vans and fixed into place. Meanwhile, floors were sanded and refinished, lighting upgraded and new tiling added all within the four days and with a budget of £40,000.”

“Following an initial fit-out by heostudio in 1991, Thirst OX1 was in need of a fast-track, but durable, refit. The bar’s popularity and high volume of customers had given rise to a constant schedule of repair and redecoration, but the end of the line had come.
Heostudio had been looking for an application for fibre cement panels for some time. As well as being stable, strong and unstainable, the panels can be pre-cut very accurately and drilled, which means that once they have been carefully surveyed they can be installed quickly with no finishing work required. The steel, mirrors and timber panelling were also developed as claddings and fabricated off site. The fit-out was executed in just four days.”

“David Howel-Evans, of heostudio, also focused on his family’s use of space and ingeniously divided his south London Victorian home into two flats. He sold off the lower one, which has provided useful funding for building his own office. “We had lived in the house for more than three years and done some work on it, but realised that we weren’t really making use of the top floor or the roof terrace, which has great views. So the idea was to open up to the roof and shift the family upwards, leaving space on the ground level to make a separate flat,” he explains.
The work included removing walls in the whole upper part of the house and taking off the roof, then remodelling the space, putting a huge living room right at the top. “We now have four and a half bedrooms and two bathrooms and don’t miss the ground floor at all,” Howel-Evans says. He adds that by changing the house into two flats the conversion attracted a lower-than usual level of VAT. The work cost £60,000.”

“Conversion of the architect’s own three-storey Victorian house in London SW8 provided two separate units for sale. The upper floor, with its new mezzanine and roof terrace, became one unit. Dining and living spaces were combined into a larger open space. Rooflights and glazed terrace doors amplify daylighting.”

“…it has always been difficult to integrate the awkwardly L-shaped groundfloor bar with the larger, clubbier basement.
The overall feel of Thirst is clean, cheap and cheerful. Behind the expanse of glass frontage lies a pared down, linear, white space, with coloured lightboxes paying a cheeky homage to Soho’s heritage of neon and ‘model’ signs. Downstairs is darker, with an occasionally manic dancefloor, a cosy back alley with table seating and a bewilderingly large number of ladies’ loos (a hangover from the venue’s lesbian past).”

“A tiny site in Brixton was created 20 years ago by the messy subdivision of the original dwelling. It faced a courtyard bounded on one side by a three-storey flank wall, a garden boundary and a gated entrance. The scheme aims to dissolve the division between inside and outside space by creating a courtyard ‘room’. The elements within the ‘room’ reinforce this domestic analogy – abstracted cupboards, dresser, lighting etc and a uniform concrete surface to the floor. A split-level roof deck/lantern has been inserted above the spare bedroom and stairwell which also serves as a home working area. The fully glazed box rises from work surface level and reveals open views of London.”

“Capital Studios in London wished to change its catering operation – a canteen split into two dining rooms. The brief was to enlarge the operation, remodel the adjacent reception area and unify the two dining areas. The scheme presents abstracted ‘tables’ for the caterers to lay out food on and can also be arranged to feed up to 80 people. Warhol prints, owned by the client are set into recesses in the walls.”

“The interior is ultra-modern, designed by London architects David Howel-Evans and Jane Opher. The tables are low and are surrounded by block stools. Around the edge of the main room is a long fitted bench with coloured cushions. Behind, the wall is relieved to allow down lighters to cast light behind the sofa – a great backdrop for groovers who can’t keep their feet on the floor and require a stage!”

“This £3,500 nursery fence for Ashmole Primary School, Oval, London, replaces a chainlink fence which was in tatters after just two years of use. Robustness was essential, but the design also had to address security issues, and provide new seating. To keep costs down, the fence uses existing steel fence posts as reinforcement for the fair-faced block pier and planters. The marine ply boards act as infill panels and are enlivened by cut out and applied letters which originate from the name of the school.”

“Opposite the Park End club, this spanking brand new bar looks straight outta Hoxton. (Architects David Howel-Evans and Jane Opher are London-based.) Contem-porary minimalism, with a lush red back room, a long, long bar, and a wall that you can sit in (yippee!) – a great space all round.”