fotohaus

Images of Trees Extra Care Housing, London - PRP Architects

2012-01-12T09:33:00.000Z

View the complete set of images here

Trees Extra Care Housing

|| Location: Highgate, London

|| Description: The 'Trees' project is located within the Highgate Conservation area on a beautiful site with a mature existing landscape. The building is designed around the beautiful gardens with two single storey wings sensitively placed between existing trees.

The project consists of 40 Extra Care self-contained flats which include a mixture of one and two-bedroom homes all with generous private amenity with space for table chairs and plants.

Lifetime Home of the Year - The Daily Telegraph British Homes Awards 2011
Winner HAPPI Completed Award - Housing Design Awards 2011
Best Design Award - Housebuilder Awards 2011
Roll of Honour Project Award - Housing Design Awards 2009

|| Architect: PRP Architects
|| Developer/Client: Hill Homes and One Housing Group
|| Main Contractor: Durkan
|| Project manager: PRP Architects
|| Quantity Surveyor: DWB Appleyards
|| Structural Engineer: Campbell Reith Hill
|| Mechanical & electrical engineer: KUT Partnership
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

Images of Kingston University Faculty of Business and Law - Hawkins & Brown Architects

2012-01-09T15:30:00.001Z

View the complete set of images here

Project name: Kingston University New Faculty of Business and Law

|| Location: Kingston-Upon-Thames

|| Description: New Faculty of Business and Law for Kingston University

|| Architect: Hawkins / Brown

|| Developer/Client: Kingston University

|| Main Contractor: Wates Group / Wates London Construction

|| Project manager: Mace Ltd
|| Quantity Surveyor: Sense Cost

|| Structural Engineer: Scott Wilson

|| Services Engineer: Hurley Palmer Flatt

|| Mechanical & electrical engineer: Imtech Meica

|| Planning: Mace Ltd

Download our brochure and look back at what we have photographed in 2011

2011-12-21T12:44:00.000Z

Images of Kensington and Chelsea College - Dixon Jones Architects

2011-12-19T09:55:00.002Z

View the complete set of images here

Project name: Kensington and Chelsea College Hortensia Road

|| Location: Chelsea London
|| Description: New building for the Kensington and Chelsea College
|| Architect: Dixon Jones
|| Developer/Client: Kensington and Chelsea College
|| Main Contractor: Wates Group / Wates Construction
|| Project manager: Gardiner & Theobald LLP
|| Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner & Theobald LLP
|| Structural Engineer: Mott MacDonald
|| Services Engineer: Mott MacDonald
|| Planning: Gardiner & Theobald LLP

Images of Learnspace, a major new education research centre in Corby, by GSS Architecture

2011-12-02T14:12:00.001Z

View the complete set of image as a slideshow here or thumbnails here

Project name: LearnSpace

|| Location: Corby

|| Description: A major new education research centre that is situated in a former industrial building in Princewood Road, Corby; funded by Partnership for Schools. The founders of the project are Northamptonshire County Council, Westminster City Council, Counties Furniture Group and Neil Logue of Thorpe Learning Environments Ltd.

The new research centre will be made available to educationalists, building contractors, manufacturers of school equipment, and other interested professionals.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture
|| Main Contractor: Willmott Dixon

Images of Batheaston Primary School by Kendall Kingscott Architects

2011-11-24T09:10:00.000Z

View the compete set of images here

Project name: Batheaston CEVC Primary School

|| Architect: Kendall Kingscott
|| Developer/Client: Bath and North East Somerset Council
|| Main Contractor: H Mealing and Sons
|| Project Value: £2.15m

Images of Trinity High School, Manchester by Ellis Williams Associates Architects

2011-11-14T13:07:00.000Z

View the complete set of images here

Project name: Trinity High School

|| Location: Hulme Manchester
|| Description: New high school in Manchester built by Willmott Dixon
|| Architect: Ellis Williams Associates
|| Main Contractor: Willmott Dixon
|| Structural Engineer: GCM Consulting Engineers
|| Mechanical & electrical engineer: Crown House Technologies

Images of John Lewis Partnership Stratford by Wilson Mason & Partners Architects

2011-11-11T10:32:00.000Z

View the complete set of images here

Project name: John Lewis Partnership Stratford

|| Location: Westfield Shopping Centre Stratford
|| Description: Fit-out of a new John Lewis store in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, London

|| Architect: Wilson Mason & Partners
|| Developer/Client: John Lewis Partnership
|| Main Contractor: Wates Retail / Wates Group
|| Project manager: Underwood Carpenters
|| Quantity Surveyor: Davis Langdon LLP
|| Structural Engineer: Hurst Peirce & Malcolm
|| Services Engineer: PSH Consulting
|| Planning: Alan Park Associates

Images of The Dome Building, University of Chichester - BDP Architects

2011-11-08T20:45:00.000Z

View the complete set of images here

Project name: The Dome Building, University of Chichester

|| Location: Bognor Regis

|| Description: Refurbishment of a listed building by Wates Construction for the University of Chichester

|| Architect: BDP
|| Developer/Client: University of Chichester
|| Main Contractor: Wates Construction / Wates Group
|| Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner & Theobald LLP
|| Structural Engineer: BDP
|| Services Engineer: BDP
|| Planning: Turner Townsend Management Solutions

Images of Clive Booth Halls of Residence, Oxford Brookes University - GSS Architecture

2011-11-07T12:04:00.000Z

View the complete set of images here

Project name: Clive Booth Halls of Residence, Oxford Brookes University

|| Location: Marston Road, Oxford

|| Description: This third phase of the Clive Booth Halls of Residence at Marston Road, Oxford, provides 358 places for postgraduates.

There is a series of linked three- and four-storey pavilions arranged around a central quadrangle, which has a water feature and a Postgraduate Lounge. The pavilions have a mix of individual en-suite rooms and flats of different sizes with up to six students sharing a well-equipped kitchen.

Most of the gently sloping roofs are green sedum. The rooms are naturally ventilated while the buildings feature sustainable cedar cladding. The project has a BREEAM "Very Good" rating.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture
|| Developer/Client: Oxford Brookes
|| Main Contractor: Leadbitter Construction Ltd
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

10 x 10 Drawing the City of London

2011-11-04T14:48:00.000Z

This October I documented a unique event in the city of London created to raise money for the Charity Article 25 and support their great international work providing shelter in areas affected by disaster or poverty. 100 Artists and Architects including Norman Foster, Piers Gough, Tim Makower of Allies and Morrison, Kevin McCloud, Sarah Gray and Frank Green were out over a weekend drawing the city of London. Finding and tracking them down was not so straightforward. I had enlisted the help of a specialist team comprising of friend and treasure hunt maestro Alice Lau together with property specialist and architecture geek Lucian Grant.

It was a cold and grey London day and we were lucky catch Chris Wilkinson of Wilkinson Eyre (pictured) on the street returning to the Article 25 base camp for a cup of tea. He had started a piece of work in Liverpool Street station. We returned to see what he was up to and then spent the next half an hour in station security as it turned out he needed a permit to draw in the station!

The article 25 base for the day was provided by Alex Scott Whitby who recently won the RIBA Forgotten Spaces competition for his INSPIRE project and who has a great studio space in the spire of the Church of St Mary Woolnoth. You can see images of this space and some of the other participants working on the day here.

Images of 10 Old Bailey, London - Sidell Gibson Architects and Avery Associates

2011-11-02T14:30:00.000Z

View the compete set of images here.

Project name: 10 Old Bailey

|| Location: London

|| Description: With a facade design combining traditional stone construction and a highly innovative roof profile & glazing strategy, this scheme, designed in association between Sidell Gibson Architects and Avery Associates, was deemed to be of sufficient quality to justify the demolition of the original Edwardian building which it replaces.

The presence of the Roman City Wall and of sight lines from the houses in neighbouring Amen Court necessitated the development of a very unusual building section with a slanted atrium bringing plenty of light into the heart of the building.

The design of this building provides high quality modern office accommodation with flexible good-sized floor plates. The entrance to the office space is located centrally in the elevation with service entry and loading offset to the south. The general size of a typical office floor is 10,000sq ft, and the new building fulfils the needs of a professional of financial user, enabling tenants to establish a new headquarters.

|| Architect: Sidell Gibson Architects and Avery Associates
|| Developer/Client: Standard Life Investments
|| Main Contractor: Bowen PLC
|| Services Engineer: Elementa Consulting Ltd

Images of the Open Academy, Norwich - Sheppard Robson Architects

2011-10-27T10:12:00.000+01:00

View the complete set of images here.

Project name: Open Academy

|| Location: Norwich

|| Description: The Sheppard Robson design for the first Academy to be built in Norfolk was chosen through a competitive bid process on the Academies Framework. The new 9,000m² development will replace the existing 1960s school with a building that has been designed to meet the Academy’s vision of a ‘vibrant, attractive and stimulating learning environment’ that compliments its ‘open’ community.

|| Architect: Sheppard Robson Architects
|| Developer/Client: Norfolk County Council
|| Main Contractor: Kier
|| Structural Engineer: Ramboll
|| Project Value: £20m
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd, KLH UK, Reform Flooring Ltd,

Images of Pimlico Academy, Library and Adult Education centre - Architecture PLB

2011-10-25T11:55:00.000+01:00

View the complete set of images here.

Project name: Pimlico Academy, Library and Adult Education centre

|| Location: London

|| Description: Pimlico Academy is a Visual and Performing Arts College based in Westminster, London. Pimlico benefitted from the £152million BSF (Building Schools for the Future) Programme (under Westminster Council) where they secured funds for a new sports hall that includes a new gym open to the wider public, an all weather floodlight pitch and a new community library and education centre.

|| Architect: Architecture PLB
|| Developer/Client: Westminster City Council
|| Main Contractor: Bouygues UK
|| Structural Engineer: Pell Frischmann
|| Services Engineer:
|| Mechanical & electrical engineer: Buro Happold
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

RIBA Awards 2011

2011-10-24T11:45:00.000+01:00

Woodland Trust Headquarters selected as one of the East Midlands RIBA award winners. See the complete set of images here.

Architectural Image Library

2011-10-19T12:10:00.001+01:00

New and updated website format for our image library. View it here: http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

new fotohaus website front page

2011-09-20T21:58:00.000+01:00

go to www.fotohaus.co.uk

Nelson Street, Bristol. Graffiti art project - See No Evil

2011-09-15T10:42:00.000+01:00

The UK’s largest permanent street Graffiti Project funded by the local Bristol City council. The ‘See No Evil’ street art project has had more than 70 international artists work on the project including a 11 story individual piece.

Nelson Street is a city centre area in need of regeneration. The Council hope it will transform the area into an inspiring masterpiece and a legacy for the city.

View the complete set of images here.

Europaconcorsi article; NICU Bath

2011-09-14T09:57:00.000+01:00

Europaconcorsi article on a recent project I shot - the Royal United Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Bath, for Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Architects.

View the complete article here, including all the images.

The Holburne Museum Bath

2011-07-11T16:30:00.002+01:00

The new extension to the Holburne Museum in Bath was inspired by the way light filtering through the large trees of the surrounding parkland interacts with the north-east facing wall of the original georgian building. During the summer months the newly built extension by Eric Parry can be seen at it's best. The mottled pattern on the fins of the face are created by the application of two coats of glaze. First a base coat rich in manganese and copper, which produces a green-brown colour, and the following day a mottled pattern is applied containing manganese and titanium oxide, which is white but reacts with the basecoat to form the distinctive blue-green pattern. The ceramic fins are intended to give the building a crafted feel, like something woven. The extension has the feel of a garden room or pavilion and links the inside of the gallery with the established gardens to great effect. You can see the whole project here.

|| Project name: Holburne Museum Extension
|| Location: Bath
|| Description: Modern extension to classical style museum building to house gallery space and garden cafe.
|| Architect: Eric Parry Architects
|| Developer/Client: Holburne Museum of Art
|| Main Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine
|| Project manager: Cragg Management Services
|| Quantity Surveyor:
|| Structural Engineer: Momentum Consulting Engineers
|| Services Engineer: Atelier Ten
|| Mechanical & electrical engineer: Concab Electrical, CMB Engineering
|| Facade consultant: Arup Facades
|| Sub contractor(s): MBM Metalwork

NewArtCentre Roche Court

2011-04-15T10:59:00.002+01:00

Commissioned when Madeleine Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough decided to move her London Gallery to her family home, this sculpture gallery links the main house and the orangery along an existing garden wall. It was conceived as a seamless connection not only between these two buildings but also between inside and out, allowing a clear dialogue between garden sculpture and gallery sculpture.

|| Architect: Stephen Marshall Architects
|| Developer/Client: Lady Bessborough
|| Project Value: 100,000

New fotohaus portfolio website

2011-03-08T17:41:00.000Z

The new website features updated work and a complete re-design of the look and feel of the site. A simple menu and a focus on images; with an option of viewing and selecting from thumbnails or extra large image files, plus an automated slideshow. Each image links to our image library so you can view the complete set from any project featured.

Check it out here

New photos of Great Western Dockyard

2011-02-23T16:10:00.006Z

The Linden Homes Great Western Dockyard development is looking good. The luxury apartments sit right next to the SS Great Britain and were great to photograph due to the attractive interior fit out. It is a great time of year for night-shots, the images of the internal courtyard were taken at just before 6pm when there was a balance between the lighting scheme inside the courtyard and the twilight fading in the sky. The photographs can be seen on our image library here.

Project name: Great Western Dockyard
|| Location: Bristol
|| Description: Housing Development next to the SS Great Britain site
|| Architect: Stride Treglown
|| Developer/Client: Linden Homes
|| Main Contractor: Galliford Try

Kier complete work at the Bristol Clinical Research and Imaging Centre

2011-02-23T11:24:00.007Z

CRIC is a dedicated research and imaging centre serving the research community recently built by Kier Construction.
With attractive modern facilities set within an NHS hospital, CRIC is designed for studies in healthy volunteers as well as patients. It can be viewed on our image library here.

Project name: Clinical Research and Imaging Centre
|| Location: St Michaels Hill, Bristol

|| Description: State of the art clinical imaging facility part of the University of Bristol and University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

|| Developer/Client: University of Bristol, University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
|| Main Contractor: Kier

Equestrian Centre and Large Animal Unit, Moulton College

2011-02-21T14:08:00.001Z

Project name: Equestrian Centre and Large Animal Unit, Moulton College

|| Location: Northants

|| Description: An £8 million investment programme has seen a wide range of impressive new facilities being completed at Moulton College's Pitsford Centre, just outside Northampton. This includes a world class equestrian centre with an indoor arena, a brand new stable complex for 30 horses, and adjoining tack shop. The project included new roads and car parking facilities.

An adjacent Equine Therapy Centre designed by GSS includes a hydrotherapy pool, treadmill and salt spa. The same building incorporates a specialist veterinary practice with a large animal referral unit and a superbly-equipped operating theatre.

Ofsted has described Moulton College as outstanding, while the DfES has awarded it Beacon College status.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture
|| Developer/Client: Moulton College

View the complete set of images in our image library here

Images of Earl Mortimer College

2011-02-17T13:37:00.001Z

Project name: Earl Mortimer College

|| Location: Leominster,

|| Description: As part of the BSF programme, Herefordshire Council is rebuilding Earl Mortimer College as a One School Pathfinder. The proposal is a new-build 900 place Secondary School with a 120 place Sixth Form Centre, which serves the market town of Leominster and a wide rural community.
The College has a sports specialism and this will be used by the whole community.
The School’s social heart space is a double height ‘street’, which has many uses; eating, performing, teaching, learning and socialising.
This space will be light and welcoming filled with student display, with facilities off it such as the community theatre and studio hall.

Suspended over the dining zone of the street is the learning heart of the school and we have coined this space as the ‘Learning Lantern’. The Learning Lantern accommodates the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) on the first floor and the Sixth Form Centre is located on the top floor, with varied learning areas.
In addition to the passive and low carbon design principles, the proposals include wind technology and will achieve a BREEAM rating of Very Good.

|| Architect: Haverstock Associates
|| Developer/Client: Herefordshire Council
|| Main Contractor: Stepnell Ltd
|| Project Value: £17m
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

You can view the complete set of images on our image library here

Private House, London just added to the image library

2011-02-15T12:16:00.003Z

View the complete set of images in our image library here

Inspirational Images: Paris Photo 2010

2010-12-08T11:31:00.011Z

Paris Photo takes place every november at the Carrousel du Louvre. It's always a source of inspiration for me to see rare prints by some of the medium's great artists alongside new and challenging work. The experience of the show is always overwhelming, there is so much to see that visitors often report that they end up experiencing the exhibits through some sort of filter, such as being drawn to small black and white images or certain styles or subject matter. I do always try and pay attention to the quieter and smaller pieces, (powerlines photo - kenneth josephson) attempting not to be caught up in a novelty seeking frenzy, but I can't help being impressed by large scale work, especially when you see images by your favourite photographers such as Massimo Vitali, Erwin Olaf, Edward Burtynsky and Gregory Crewdson.

You see lots of attendees taking photos of the work, i try not to do this as if the work is powerful I know it will stick in my head and I will be compelled to find out more about it after the show. The first piece that really caught my eye did so because it was an image that reminded me of one I have wanted to take for a while, but haven't found the right location. It was an image of Chicago offices at twilight by Michael Wolf.

Wolf's constructed images are rich with detail allowing you to see people at work through the windows, connecting and contrasting the conditions of urban living with the awesome scale of Chicago architecture. Edward Hopper meets Blade Runner.

Continuing with the influence of Hollywood, the next gallery, Flatland, based in Utrecht, contained more than a touch of the David Lynch aesthetic in the work of Erwin Olaf. It was a real treat to speak to the gallery assistants and be shown a full print portfolio of his recent hotel series. I'm in awe of his lighting technique and wish I could watch him at work. Most of Olaf's subjects are female but I thought this image was interesting.

I'm often drawn to images that transform an unpleasant reality into a beautiful image. This was certainly achieved by the seedy subject matter of Polish club dark rooms shot by Konrad Pustola. The Galeria ZPAF S-ka contain a huge print of this image.

Another new discovery for me was Irene Kung at the Forma Gallery stand. Born in Switzerland in 1958, Irene Kung was trained as a painter and achieved her early success as a gifted artist known principally for her still life painting. Her technique, modeled on Etruscan, Roman and Renaissance frescoes delicately describes the tension between classical civilization and the contemporary world. In the last two or three years she has expanded her repertoire to include photography and has made a dramatic entry into the field. Her work has primarily been directed at depicting striking and beautiful architectural monuments. You can read more about the work here in an essay, Beyond Reality, by Ludovico Pratesi. The image below is typical and the base image was taken in Milan.

Another photographer that caught my attention was Naoya Hatakeyama at the Sage (Paris) stand, these were quite possibly the most luminous black and white prints I have ever seen. The series entitled ‘Maquettes/Light’ featured large tower block buildings and were labelled as being silver gelatine prints with a B&W tranparency and light box. The actual print/transparency was being lit from behind.

Also worth a mention was a moving image piece by Cristina Lucas. I tend to be impatient with video in galleries but my companion, photographer Georgina Cook dragged me to have a look at a piece of work entitled 'Europleasure International - Touch and Go'. There is short write up about this work on the feeling listless blog.

The last port of call on the day was the new talent show, which I was slightly underwhelmed by, although perhaps by then my eyes had been worn out with so much intense scrutiny of hundreds of images. I did enjoy the work by Guillame Fandel, images of dancers in industrial structures.

I came away tired but buzzing with ideas, Paris Photo 2011 will be unmissable, it's one of the highlights of my year.

Photo walls make an impact at Bristol University

2010-12-02T12:29:00.005Z

Not since the 60s has it been so fashionable to decorate your walls with photographs, however today's images are crisply photographed using digital technology and turned into stunning wallpapers via digital printing techniques. They can provide a real "wow" factor to both residential, workspace and even restaurant and bar interiors.

The facilities for postgraduate Bristol University students at Berkeley Square have been have a colourful redesign by Capita Architecture. The computer terminals and some of the library walls had a photographic wallpaper designed especially for them by a local company Artworks Solutions. You can see the set of images from the space on our image library here.

If you are considering this technique for a space, bear in mind that the best effects come from using large format digital equipment and shooting a unique image specifically for the space you have in mind. Fotohaus are able to provide this service and can advise on what would look best or even photograph the space and mock up what different images would look like on your wall. For more info email Liz.

Recent work - architectural visualisation images

2010-11-30T12:57:00.004Z

Something in the sky, Liz reports from Italy

2010-11-22T17:41:00.007Z

I was lucky enough to be invited to Italy to document the Club to Club music festival in Turin for electronic music website Resident Advisor. Selected images of the venues and artists appear on the website as a gallery here. The festival featured artists such as Modeselektor, Marcel Dettmann, Caribou, Four Tet, James Holden, Kode 9, Shackleton and Jeff Mills. It was held in several interesting venues across the city such as the Alfa Romeo motor village, a science museum, an old supermarket, a stunning baroque theatre and even on the street with vans containing soundsystems parked on street corners and piazzas. The highlight was a 4 hour Audio Visual performance from Detroit techno pioneer Jeff Mills.

In addition to the event photos, some of the before shots of the venues being set up can be seen on the image library.

Work completed at UWE Built Environment Faculty

2010-10-28T16:33:00.003+01:00

Willmott Dixon commissioned fotohaus to document work in progress at the new faculty housing teaching facilities for architecture and built environment students. Work was recently completed and you can see what the building looks like here.

|| Project name: UWE Built Environment Faculty Phase 2
|| Location: Bristol
|| Description: UWE Built Environment Faculty
|| Architect: Stride Treglown
|| Developer/Client: UWE
|| Main Contractor: WIllmott Dixon
|| Project manager: Turner and Townsend

fotohaus websites on the iphone and ipad

2010-09-30T13:50:00.001+01:00

You can view our portfolio website on a iPhone and iPad. Our new companion website automatically appears when browsing using a iPhone/iPad. Essentially a miniature version of our main site, scaled for ease of use on the smaller screens and capitalising on the innovative navigation techniques of these devices, allowing you to tap, drag and pinch images for a closer look.

1 St Paul's Place, Sheffield just added to the image library

2010-09-27T12:04:00.005+01:00

Project details:

|| 1 St Paul's Place
|| Location: Sheffield
|| Description: City centre office
|| Architect: Allies and Morrison
|| Developer/Client: CTP St James
|| Owner: Standard Life Investments
|| Main Contractor: JF Finnegan
|| Project manager: Gardiner & Theobald Management Services
|| Quantity Surveyor: Tweeds
|| Structural Engineer: Buro Happold
|| Mechanical & electrical engineer: Ernest Griffiths and Son

View the complete set of images in our image library here

Two new retail projects - Morrisons and Princes Mead shopping centre

2010-09-22T14:17:00.007+01:00

Two new retail projects - Morrisons and Princes Mead shopping centre are now available online in our image library:

PRINCESMEAD SHOPPING CENTRE FARNBOUGH
MORRISONS NEW MILTON

New York at night

2010-09-21T08:21:00.004+01:00

Love these fantastic images taken by British photographer Jason Hawkes showing the famous skyline. He captured the series from a helicopter for a new book.

World Architecture News Healthcare awards

2010-09-20T10:12:00.003+01:00

The CODA Architects designed Bristol Heart Institute features in the recent World Architecture News Healthcare awards. See the article (with our images) here.

Updated fotohaus portfolio website

2010-09-06T08:45:00.002+01:00

We just updated our portfolio website to include a new section - guide to our services. Take a look here

Like this...

2010-09-01T09:08:00.004+01:00

It is always good to have browse through various blogs and photographer websites; great to see what everyone else is doing and get inspiration from other peoples work. Recently I came across this work by Peter Brown. You can see more here

New guard dog brings Fotohaus studio to a standstill

2010-08-18T11:50:00.003+01:00

Work this week has suffered under the demands of our new employee, a Hungarian Vizsla. Whilst only expecting board and lodging as payment it seems that tugs of war and running off with our stuff is high on her list of special skills.....

The Photographer's Ephemeris

2010-08-09T15:07:00.005+01:00

The Photographer's Ephemeris is a map-centric sun and moon calculator, allowing the photographer to see how much light will fall on a particular place/location anywhere on the planet.

This is one of the most useful programs we use; going behond the simple rise/set times and sun positions it allows us to determine when the sun will rise from behind a building or a hill (close by to a building we are shooting) and calculate exactly what time we need to setup to shoot. Also, it's free for the desktop version and just a few pennies for an iphone version. Check it out here

The New Kentish Town Sports Centre

2010-07-20T15:47:00.005+01:00

Diane and I were involved with a project to document the refurbishment of Kentish Town sports centre. The building has been significantly redesigned to provide a world class swimming facility and gymnasium. The project was completed on time and on budget by Wates construction and was opened by olympic swimmer and 'Strictly Come Dancing' star Mark Foster. Our images were used to create a brochure showing the building's transformation through the last century and during the recent refurbishment. You can see the images taken so far here. More images will be added to the Image Library once a shoot has been carried out to document the completed building in occupation.

|| Project name: London Borough of Camden Kentish Town Sports Centre
|| Location: Camden, London
|| Description: New and refurbished sports centre and swimming pools for the London Borough of Camden
|| Architect: Limbrick Ltd
|| Developer/Client: London Borough of Camden
|| Main Contractor: Wates Group / Wates Construction London
|| Project manager: Davis Langdon LLP
|| Quantity Surveyor: Cyril Sweett Ltd
|| Structural Engineer: Alan Baxter & Associates
|| Services Engineer: Max Fordham Associates
|| Planning: Watts and Partners

Regatta Court, Exmouth - just added to the image library

2010-06-28T11:01:00.001+01:00

Project name: Regatta Court

|| Location: Exmouth Quay, Devon

|| Description: 38 contemporary new homes in a waterside setting.

|| Architect: ARA Architects
|| Developer/Client: Eagle One Homes Ltd
|| Structural Engineer: Sands Civil & Structural Chartered Engineers
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

View more image here

Bateman House - just added to the image library

2010-06-17T09:41:00.002+01:00

Project name: Bateman House

|| Location: Bristol

|| Description: Private House - a contemporary new build family home.

|| Architect: Wright Davies Homes
|| Developer/Client: Dr's K & R Bateman

See the whole set of images here

Westmoreland House Photography Book

2010-06-07T13:37:00.002+01:00

I have recently created a book which is available to buy online and will also be featured in the Stokes Croft Museum opening next month. You can have a look at the preview here.

Westmoreland House | Make Your Own Book

Will Montgomery and Owen Hatherley: Space

2010-05-26T11:31:00.003+01:00

I attended the talk by author of Militant Modernism Owen Hatherley and Artist Will Montgomery last month. Montgomery's work is exciting to me as it records the sound of the built environment as well as using architectural imagery and as I have recently been experimenting with cutting images to sound to make photo-still movies I wanted to see how he had approached this.

The piece shown was an investigation of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle. At this time the area is in flux as a substantial amount of post-World War II social housing which is deemed to have failed will be demolished, including the Heygate Estate. This will be replaced with new housing developments consisting of a mix of social and private-sector housing.

In Militant Modernism, Hatherley argues that we need to "excavate utopia" from the ruins of modernism and to oppose the trend in public housing towards a Disneyfied pastiche of pre-industrial architecture, as at Prince Charles's Poundbury. The discussion covered at the parallels between the book and the sound and visual project and brought the debate about this contested architectural style to life. More info on the Heygate project can be seen online here. Image: Arthur John Picton

Development & Regeneration - a fotohaus book and exhibition

2010-05-07T09:15:00.001+01:00

Development & Regeneration contains the images commissioned by Bath & North East Somerset Council to create an image library that captures the story of the place, current appearance and character of four urban centres within the Bath & North East Somerset Council district: Bath, Keynsham, Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

This photographic library provides a series of warts and all images before regeneration takes place, and to provide existing context for the emerging regeneration/development proposals for each site.

Important features within the project include existing buildings, access routes and road system, street furniture, areas of open or redundant space, surrounding context including geographical features such as rivers and green space, any significant features of heritage and characteristic architectural detailing, and any significant features of decline.

Ultimately, over time as each regeneration scheme is developed and completed, the photographs will inform the before sequence in a series of before and after images. The book contains approximately 400 images taken from the library of over 600.

The exhibition runs -
Saturday 22nd May - Saturday 5th June
Open: Monday-Saturday 11am - 7pm
Venue: 18 Christmas Steps, Bristol
- and forms part of the Bristol Festival of Photography.

You can buy the book here

Recent projects on the image library

2010-05-06T13:41:00.009+01:00

Two interesting recent projects have just been uploaded, just click on these titles to see the full project online Nailsea School and Avenue Court.

Project name: Nailsea School
|| Location: Bristol
|| Description: Media Academy completed 2010
|| Architect: Aedas Architects
|| Developer/Client: North Somerset District Council
|| Main Contractor: Carillion Plc
|| Project manager: Atkins , Faithful & Gould
|| Structural Engineer: White Young Green Consulting Ltd
|| Project Value: £30 million

The Avenue Court project includes examples of HDR images where several exposures have been combined in order to show a high contrast scene in way that replicates more accurately what is seen by the human eye.

Project name: Avenue Court The Mall
|| Location: Cribbs Causeway, Bristol
|| Description: Food Court in Shopping Centre
|| Architect: Tait Design, BDP Architects
|| Developer/Client: Prudential
|| Main Contractor: Bovis

Horizon House: Bristol's new headquarters for the Environment Agency

2010-04-19T15:34:00.004+01:00

The above image is a photograph and visualisation of Horizon House - I shot the base image then preconstruct created the visualisation of the building. The image uses multiple shots to build up the lighting - specifically the buildings on the right as the lights were only on in each stairwell at different times. Where the building sits in this image there was scaffolding and a construction site....

There is a Talk by Alec French Architects with engineers Hoare Lea on Tuesday 20 April 2010 regarding the buildings recent award of over 85% BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) - the highest ever for a office building in the UK. The talk is at the Architecture Centre Bristol.

Images as Assets, part II

2010-03-31T15:40:00.003+01:00

So you commission some images, often with a particular use in mind such as a competition entry, or to produce a print for your office wall. Then what?

I often receive requests for images years after they were originally commissioned, they are needed to go into an article, to send to a contact, to show alongside newer photos, to use on a new website etc.

In order to keep on getting value from your images you need to archive and store them in a way that keeps them secure and also allows you to find them in the future.

At fotohaus we store the full size Tiff files on a RAID drive which is also backed up to another drive and we also keep a separate DVD copy of each project. Tiff files contain the full data unlike our screen resolution Jpegs, which are great for sending around on emails due to their small size, but sent to print in a magazine, would not look so great! As Craig mentioned in his post on 'Backup, when it all goes wrong', we recommend that when clients receive DVDs they create at least one copy. If you don't have 2 copies of a digital file, you may as well not have it!

We have over 50,000 images and we need to be able to access these easily, this is where IPTC information and image management software come in. Put simply, IPTC information is data that is attached to all our images in a standard international format, it includes the project name, date, location and sometimes keywords describing what is in shot. We use Apple's Aperture software to keep a database of all our images, this allows searching to find any particular project or for specific types of photos such as 'nightshots'. Other software products such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom and Photo Mechanic can all perform a similar function. When Aperture is connected to the Archive hard-drives, we are able to quickly access the full size image, but when not connected, we can still see what images we have, without the thousands of full size files filling up and crippling our working computers.

For any of our regular clients we can consult on the best way to manage your images so that you can protect, access and utilise them as assets for now and the future.

Image D Fulmer of the University of Michigan

Recently added to the image library...

2010-03-31T11:42:00.000+01:00

I've recently uploaded about 10 new projects to the image library, reflecting the variety of projects that we are commissioned to shoot. These include;

Portwall Place, Bristol and Swindon Central Library (both shot for awards entries for Hanson, the brick suppliers)

Waitrose Altrincham (shot for the Annual Report and Accounts for Wates, the construction group)

Fernley Park, Uckfield (commissioned by the developers)

Sir William Stanier School, Crewe (photographed for the constructors, Willmott Dixon)

You can see all the new projects on the image library here, or click on the link to the projects highlighted above

Images as Assets

2010-03-31T11:02:00.005+01:00

This is part one of two posts on how images work for your business. Photography provides an excellent opportunity to keep in touch with clients and prospects and demonstrate clearly what you do. Our work for clients in the construction industry allows them to build relationships with clients, partners and the general public.

As business owners, we can’t afford to make the costly mistake of not following up with people. However, it is never desirable to bug people and send uninteresting or useless information. Perhaps because of this fear of annoying people, only 10 % of businesses make more than three contacts. When you consider that; 2% of sales are made on the first contact and 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact, it is clear that the more familiar people are with you, the more likely they are to use your product or service.

What annoys people is contacting them with information that is boring, and nothing but requests that they buy something from you. As long as your follow up is friendly, personal, full of personality and fun, then you should enjoy getting in touch with people.

Photography provides many opportunities to contact people with something of interest to them. In an environment full of information, photographs are often more engaging than the written word, and tend to be seen by the viewer a snapshot of reality, they also allow associations and suggestions to be made which in written form could be easily passed over. Here are a few examples which may provide some ideas:

Progress photographs of projects for press, websites, email newsletters. Finished photographs for websites, brochures, press and all forms of communication. Photo books showing in depth information on projects, often given as gifts. Printed photographs for exhibitions, providing opportunities for events and face to face meetings. Photo card and postcard packs as gifts, allowing contacts to use your images to communicate with others. Photographs as content for blogs, social networking sites and other online media.

More examples of our images being used to build relationships can be found on our portfolio website on our blog and in our 'tear sheets' section

Image: National Gallery / Diane Auckland

Ecobuild Exhibition

2010-03-27T12:00:00.000Z

With sustainability high on the agenda for many of our clients, the annual Ecobuild exhibition provides an opportunity to see what technologies and ideas are out there. Many of the exhibitors are targeting home owners and property developers and it is very interesting to find out what you can do in your own backyard. In particular I was taken by the 'power predictor' system which allows you to find out how much green energy you could produce at your home or business, which technologies are most suitable and how much time it would take to get a return on your investment. This year there was an increase in the number of landscape, green roof and vertical gardening solutions and the Capita area was a striking 'living building' shown here. I collected lots of brochures which isn't very green of me at all, but I am still someone that likes to see things in print, especially illustrated by interesting images. Usefully, I did find out about a web resource where you can keep up to date on all environmental news, green business and products, if you are interested in these areas Enviro-Live is worth checking.

Journey into space with a balloon and duct tape

2010-03-25T10:26:00.003Z

Love this. Robert Harrison created a £500 camera that takes pictures of the earth from space. Read more here.

Images of new student accommodation in Bristol

2010-03-24T13:18:00.000Z

Student digs didn't look like this when I was at university! IQ have recently finished a new student accommodation block in the very heart of Bristol, which gives the students brilliant views across the city as well as all the amenities of city centre living on their doorstep. See all the images here in our image library.

Bermondsey Square, London

2010-03-23T15:02:00.000Z

Bermondsey Square, a new public space and mixed-use scheme in south-east London that wears its trendiness on its sleeve, from the bespoke bike shed in the corner of the square to the lighting scheme and landscaped street furniture in its central plaza. The development is Igloo Regeneration’s first in London, following the successful completion of phase one of Islington Wharf in Manchester, as part of its Isis joint venture with British Waterways. Like Urban Splash, Igloo believes in using imaginative architecture to bring a distinct urban identity to its inner-city developments.

I photographed the scheme in 2008 and 2010 for Stephen Marshall Architects. Marshall describes his practice’s contribution as “not object buildings, but edge buildings”. Knitted together by the European-style catenary lights – the three buildings reference riverfront warehouses, and there is certainly an industrial feel to the uniform of vertical steel panels, enhanced by the mesh cladding at the north-facing end, and the stark balconies. The Images have been uploaded to our image library and can be seen here.

|| Description: Mixed used residential, offices, hotel, cinema and restaurants
|| Architect: Stephen Marshall Architects
|| Developer/Client: Igloo
|| Main Contractor: Galliford Try
|| Structural Engineer: Buro Happold

foliolink ad in digital photograoher

2010-03-22T11:15:00.003Z

Foliolink, a US based company, who provide our backend website solution for our portfolio website and image library website are using us and our images to market their services in the UK. This is an ad in digital photographer magazine this month.

Sunrise Senior Living communities in Sevenoaks and Winchester

2010-03-19T15:15:00.001Z

Sunrise Senior Living have recently opened two new retirement communities in the south of England - Sevenoaks and Winchester. Have a look at our image library here to see the latest images.

|| Architect: Scurr + Partners

|| Developer/Client: Sunrise Senior Living Ltd

|| Main Contractor: GB Building Solutions / Kier South East

|| Quantity Surveyor: Baillie Knowles Partnership

|| Structural Engineer: Clark Smith Partnership

Images of Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford

2010-03-18T14:41:00.001Z

Recent images of a new sports and complimentary therapy facility plus residential accommodation for the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. This was a really interesting project to shoot as the architects also wanted to illustrate the many details and features necessary in a building designed for visually impaired users. You can view the final images here.

|| Architect: Willmore Iles Architects

|| Developer/Client: Royal National College for the Blind

|| Main Contractor: Morgan Ashurst

|| Quantity Surveyor: Bailey Partnership

|| Structural Engineer: Curtins Consulting

|| Sub contractor(s): Pilkington Glass, Learning and Skills Council

Inside John Lewis

2010-03-16T10:29:00.001Z

I watched the first documentary about the John Lewis partnership this weekend - really interesting to see things from their point of view and how they go about maintaining their core values whilst operating a profitable business. Also nice to see Wates getting some good publicity - they've worked on most of the recent new John Lewis stores (as well as some Waitrose stores) and have a great relationship with them. Click here to see latest images of the new stores in Cardiff, Leicester and Liverpool.

Bristol Heart Institute wins awards

2010-03-15T09:53:00.004Z

The BHI has won three awards at the Building Better Healthcare awards – Best Arts Programme, runner up in Best Hospital and Best Interior. Plus a civic trust award.

You can view all the images from this project here

Hasselblad profile

2010-03-12T14:32:00.003Z

We use the best cameras available and Hasselblad, the manufacturer, has a profile of me and my work online. Take a look at my Hasselblad profile online here.

HWO Architects newsletter

2010-03-11T08:25:00.003Z

A page from a recent HWO Architects newsletter featuring my images.

British Journal of Photography

2010-03-05T11:03:00.000Z

The BJP finally updates itself this month; out with the weekly edition and in with the monthly magazine format. Bigger. Better. More in-depth. Could still do with a better graphic designer.....and the typography is awful. But all in all, we cannot have everything at once....

Redwell road, Paignton - just added to the image library

2010-03-04T16:44:00.001Z

Project name: Redwell Road, Paignton - social housing.

This development has been undertaken in partnership with Riviera Housing Trust, and is on two sites in Redwell Road, Paignton. It comprises 23 one- and two-bedroom flats and eight houses with a mix of two, three and four bedrooms. Sixteen post-war homes which were beyond viable economic repair were demolished to make way.

The layout of the two sites maximises their development potential and provides modern, quality housing which respects the existing environment and residential layout. The homes have been designed to provide a community feel and feature brick banding and weatherboarding to help break up the brick façades.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture

|| Developer/Client:Yarlington Housing Group

|| Project Value: £2.75 million

View the project here

updated client list

2010-02-25T11:26:00.004Z

Just updated our client list -

Architectural practices: AWW, BDP, Barlow Henley Architects, Capita Percy Thomas, Childs+Sulzmann Architects, Churchill Hui, CODA Architects, Curl la Tourelle Architects, Darling Associates Architects, David Morley Architects, Greenhill Jenner Architects, John Robertson Architects, LA Architects, GSS Architecture, Hewitt Studios, HWO Architects, HKR Architects, JCMT Architects, Kemp Muir Wealleans, Parsons Brinckerhoff, RMJM, Stubbs Rich Ltd, Stride Treglown, Steven Marshall Architects, TP Bennett, 3W Architecture, Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Willmore Iles

Construction companies: Alfred McAlpine, Cowlin Construction, Laing O'Rourke, Haymills, Morgan Ashurst, Talbot Construction, Taylor Woodrow, Wates Group and Willmott Dixon

Engineer, management, consultancy, planning and suppliers to the construction industry: Arup, Briggs and Forrester Group, Climate Facilities, Dorma, De Boer Structures, Drivers Jonas LLP, Edmond Shipway, GVA Grimley, Hanson, Hoare Lea, King Sturge, KLH UK, Mapei UK Ltd, Parkrose Builders Limited, Provelio, Scott Wilson, Sibcas, Velfac, WhitbyBird, and Woolf Ltd

Investment and developers: Cala Homes Limited, Countryside Properties Plc, East Thames Group, Investland Group Plc, IQ Letting Property Partnership, Kirkstone, Standard Life Investments, Sunrise Senior Living, Terrace Hill and Quintain Estates and Development Plc

Advertising, marketing, architectural visualisation, CGI, and design agencies: 72 and Sunny, Big Yellow Taxi, Dapson Pierce Advertising, Bowmans, Fold 7, Crombie Creative, Designworks, City ID, Golly Slater, Kent Lyons, Kinross and Render / ECCO Group, M3fx, Northbank Design , Rock Hunter, Preconstruct, Soluis, Seton Design, Tangent, The Design Portfolio Marketing Services Ltd and Wentworth Communications

Local government: Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES)

Along with our architectural work we also provide corporate, advertising and portrait work for clients such as: Orange, Volkswagen, Clydesdale Bank, DST International, Bradman Lake Ltd, Guildhall Chambers, The Holburne Museum of Art, Health Care Projects Ltd, Needspace?, NHS Blood and Transplant, Red Maids School, Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School, South West of England Regional Development Agency, University of Brighton, University of Bristol, Yell, Accidental records, Power Amp Music, Multiverse Music and Kayto Sound

Work is used in national and local press, magazines, journals, in-house publications, annual reports, brochures, catalogues, sales literature, advertisements, online, exhibitions, company portfolios and books. Images have appeared in or have been commissioned by Architects Journal, Architectural Review, Building magazine, Building Services Journal, Construction News, Construction magazine, RIBA journal, Sleeper magazine, national and local press; Independent, Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, The Times and the Financial Times.

UWE Built Environment Faculty

2010-02-17T10:31:00.004Z

Recently Photographed the Built Environment Faculty at UWE designed by White Design almost 10 years ago. Work is in progress on site for the adjoining structure and on the image library you can see some progress photos of phase 2 which has been designed by Stride Treglown. Both projects include a large number of sustainable measures including natural ventilation and solar panels for hot water.

Just added to the image library -

2010-02-05T14:11:00.004Z

The Zuckerman Institute for Connective Environmental Research (ZICER), University of East Anglia, Norwich

The Zuckerman Institute for Connective environmental Research (ZICER) was officially opened by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in 2003. The 2,800 m² facility is part of the University of East Anglia’s internationally-acclaimed School of Environmental Sciences and has been described as a “landmark institute on a global scale”. The building has been designed to address environmental challenges through closer connections between business, policy makers, scientists and wider society.

The scheme reflects the connective nature of the institute and makes a strong statement about sustainability by exploiting the technology surrounding high thermal mass, natural ventilation, photovoltaic electricity and recycled construction materials.
The scheme won the Building Magazine Award for Low Energy Building of the Year in 2005.

|| Architect: RMJM Architects
|| Developer/Client: University of East Anglia
|| Main Contractor: Wilmott Dixon Construction
|| Project Value: £5m

Building Magazine Award Low Energy Building of the Year 2005
European Association for Renewable Energies (EUROSOLAR) Award solar architecture 2004
RICS Award regional high commendation sustainability 2005

View more images in the image library

Plant Growth Facility, Univeristy of Cambridge

This building for the Department of Plant Sciences is located within the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

The building provides the ability to grow plants under carefully controlled environment conditions, with opportunities to alter light, temperature and humidity levels.

The building uses laminated timber arches as its primary structure supporting a stainless steel clad roof and curved timber walls. These enclose two large column free halls which contain the climate controlled chambers used in researching plant growth. One hall is for healthy plants and the other for pathogen infected material. The area for pathogen-infected material is accessed through an air-lock and two of the plant growth rooms are specially designed for material requiring quarantine conditions. The whole facility meets strict regulations set by DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

|| Architect: RH Partnership
|| Developer/Client: University of Cambridge
|| Main Contractor: Willmott Dixon
|| Project manager: University of Cambridge Estate Management
|| Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner and Theobald
|| Structural Engineer: F. J. Samuely and Partners
|| Services Engineer: Faber Maunsell
|| Project Value: £6m

View more images in the image library

Epson Launches Panoramic Photography Competition

2010-01-20T13:37:00.003Z

I saw this on the British Journal of Photography Website. Open to Amateurs and Professional Photographers and with Built Environment and Nature Categories, the 'PanoAwards' are worth checking out here. We are often asked to produce panoramic images for clients either smoothly stitched images such as the one of Cabot Circus above or joiners showing whole street-scapes along the length of a road or river, often useful for planners and others involved in urban regeneration.

New slideshow feature in our online image library

2010-01-13T12:19:00.003Z

We have just added a slideshow option in the image library; check it out here.

Backup. When it all goes wrong.....

2010-01-11T12:58:00.001Z

A very wise person, I have no idea who, once said 'unless you have a digital image file in two places. You don't have it at all'. Using that principle we store it in four...

Many years ago we lost a hard-drive and all the information on it. Not images just general OS stuff and admin. Obviously this was enough to make sure everything we had in the future was backed up. And then backed up again!

Our system consists of this - all computers are backed up constantly courtesy of the fantastic Apple time-machine. Images, are processed and stored on raid drives. The raid is setup as a mirrored system - meaning everything is copied exactly across two hard drives. The theory being that if one fails the other can be used to extract the information. The raid drive is also backed up onto a separate third hard drive. Plus any projects once completed and burnt to DVD for clients is also copied and stored.

So to recap - each image file, raw and tiff is stored in 4 separate places. We recommend that our clients also create additional copies of the disks we send them.

Now, for a very brief period, when we are working on a project and/or image file it is only stored in two places - the raid. Not yet completed so not backed up to the third hard drive and so not also copied to DVD disk. It still exists in two places.

So, recently this failed. Wikipedia states that the failure rate is 0.25%. Pretty low. But it happened.

Now the interesting bit. How to get the info back from the failed drive. The manufacturer held up their hands and said the raid drive(s) were broken and under warranty we get a new drive. Fine. Great. What about the data? Not our area was the reply. Eh, OK....so what then? We were pointed in the direction of various pieces of software. Each at a pop of £100. Tried them all. Nothing. Next, and last option was a data recovery specialist. Off went the drive and hurrah they saved the data. But it wasn't cheap. And it took three weeks. In our world jobs are often required next day.

So what is the moral of this? Do not rely on one format or option. Raid 1 (mirrored) works but it is a lengthy and costly process if it fails. Do not under any circumstance just rely of it! Always have another option. And preferably another option on top of that - hopefully using a different kind of media. Hard drives can fail, DVD or CDs can fail.

Have multiple options on multiple media. And test then all regularly. Boring. expensive. But if it is you livelihood - how can you not?

QEH school, Bristol - brochure/magazine

2010-01-07T09:33:00.001Z

Cover image for the current QEH brochure/magazine of the GSS Architecture designed sixth form. More images can be seen here.

this morning in Bristol....

2010-01-06T10:13:00.002Z

Alex Roman - The Third and the Seventh

2010-01-04T20:36:00.004Z

This is a breathtakingly beautiful film made entirely using CGI. It comments on the photography of architecture and on architecture as an artform. It's subjects are lived in buildings such as Tadao Ando's Benesse House Museum shown above. You can see it here.

Seasons greetings from all of us at fotohaus

2009-12-22T11:12:00.000Z

Images of Forest Way School, Coalville, Leicester

2009-12-17T14:12:00.001Z

Forest Way is a co-educational area special school for pupils aged 3 - 19 years old with a wide range of special needs. Hunters architects designed a inclusive campus site with two secondaries, one primary and LCC office accommodation within historic woodland. The site has been sensitively designed to fit in with the woodland and is based on a series of five ‘fingers’ which provide teaching facilities and dining, libraries and central IT resourcing.

|| Architect: Hunters
|| Developer/Client: Leicester County Council
|| Main Contractor: Willmott Dixon
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

View the complete set in our image library here.

Christmas Steps beer

2009-12-11T15:39:00.001Z

Not exactly photographic, design or architecture but worth a mention- a local brewery has made a festive christmas beer and named it after our street......tastes pretty good as well. If you are local, try it at the Colston Yard

UBIFRANCE, 28 Haymarket, London

2009-12-03T10:42:00.001Z

A new project shot of HWO Architects of the French Trade Commission offices in London.

View the complete set in our image library.

Photos of the Jeppe Hein Artwork in Royal Fort Gardens

2009-11-30T16:52:00.002Z

The University of Bristol commissioned a major work from internationally acclaimed artist Jeppe Hein as part of its centenary celebrations. The work is permanently sited in the University’s historic Royal Fort Gardens, which are open to the public. Jeppe Hein’s works often involve and surprise people by encouraging them to interact with one another and with the works themselves, and by playing optical tricks. His piece for the University’s centenary is no exception and invites audiences to engage with it in very direct ways.

Hein says that the work is ‘inspired by the notion of the University as a place of learning and self-discovery'. I was interested in the way the sculpture allows a new photographic interpretation of the Royal Fort House. More images can be seen on the Image Library in the Education section.

Canynge Hall wins Civic Society Award for Bristol University

2009-11-26T14:59:00.003Z

The Canynge Hall Extension project was awarded by the panel for the way that it sat within the challenging Whately Road/Whiteladies road area:

‘Originally built as a hotel and later a men's hall of residence, this site at the junction with Whiteladies Road is now occupied by Bristol University's Social Medicine Department .

This £4m development includes a four-storey extension with basement, situated in the space immediately behind the existing structure between Whatley Road and Clifton Down Railway Station car park.

The extension was built to supplement the administration and teaching facilities with a lecture theatre and additional offices.

The society says: "An elegant example of modern infill fitting well with an older style for the university's Department of Social Medicine. The detail on Whatley Road creates a fine rhythm."

The project can be seen on the fotohaus image library here.

Award winning fotohaus photography: Liz Eve wins Regen SW Green Energy Photograph of the Year

2009-11-11T13:34:00.010Z

This summer an architect I work with asked if I had an image to enter into the Regen SW green energy photo award. This award particularly interested me as images depicting the idea of sustainability regularly struggle to avoid cliché and often find it difficult to be interesting or enlighten viewers about the processes happening within them. I was also keen to be involved in creating images that would excite people about renewable energy.

I decided to approach the competition inspired by the way that architectural firms enter competitions to compete for work. I took apart the brief and used it as a basis for some research, exploratory visits and speculative photo shoots. Competitions are highly subjective so I needed to be happy that I produced images that would be valuable in themselves whether or not they caught the eye of the judges.

The brief for the Green Energy photo award called for a new and unique image that would illustrate the human element of sustainable energy. I had this in mind as I researched sources of renewable energy accessible for photographic exploration.

I had already photographed the Clifton Lido for the developers who had carried out a project to restore the old Victorian lido that had existed on the site. Although I had some striking images that captured the architectural features, the lighting at night and visitors enjoying the ambience of the place, I had not concentrated on the solar tubes that heat the water in the pool.

One way of creating an outstanding image is to think of ways of getting to a place that others can’t or finding an angle that other people cannot easily see. This is part of the reason I love climbing around on roofs. It looked like the place the most dynamic images of the tubes and the swimmers below would be found. The aim was to communicate simply the function of the solar tubes.

I had pre-visualized the image as being very simple. In actuality, on site I had to deal with other elements such as blinds and a safety railing making it harder to get a clean simple image. The sun also decided to start hiding behind the clouds so in the end I spent an hour up on the roof catching images when the sun was out and when swimmers were passing through the part of the image that looked right.

Other visits to investigate renewable energy generation took me to Gants Mill in Bruton, Somerset and the Geneco Biogas digestors at Avonmouth. The Hydropower installation at Gants Mill interested me as I wondered how I would convery the idea of power being produced by the running water. I had an idea that would involve a bit of work and the cooperation of the owner, luckily Brian Shingler is a keen promoter of Hydropower and was extremely helpful to me. I decided to produce a dusk photograph of the mill, giving the idea that running water was producing power that in turn would light up X number of light-bulbs. The main challenge was in getting enough light onto the water and outside of the building to show what was going on there. I ended up painting in detail during a long exposure using a high power torch.

At Avonmouth I was privileged in being taken around the site by the operations manager who explained how human waste is brought in and ‘digested’ by bacteria in order to produce gas for combustion in order to create energy. I find industrial structures fascinating and was lucky enough to get some good autumnal sunshine so I ended up shooting a huge number of images picking out different aspects of the structures and processes there. Another great off-shoot of the project is that Geneco picked up on the images and are now using some to show people what it is they do.

I was delighted to win the competition, but it was just the icing on cake as the experience of doing the research, taking the photographs, meeting some interesting people and coming out with some fresh new images was fantastic in itself. I plan to carry on the project and hope that people will contact me with innovative and interesting green structures and ways of producing energy. I really hope to be able to promote positive change and transformation with my camera and hope that the images will encourage decision makers to find out more about and choose sustainable solutions.

Images from top: Clifton Lido, Gants Mill, Avonmouth

Lens Culture

2009-11-02T13:15:00.002Z

Always worth a look - Lens Culture - the online photography magazine.
A new online issue just updated with a preview of the upcoming Paris Photo.

A recent project appearing in the architectural press...

2009-10-28T11:20:00.004Z

Nanoscience at Bristol University which I was commissioned to shoot by Capita and Bristol University has appeared in the Architect's Journal, Building Design and Building Sustainable Design magazines. The links will take you to the articles where you can read about the project. Capita also profile the project on their own website here.

Technique: Panoramic photography

2009-10-27T15:01:00.005Z

Panoramic images offer a different angle and perspective. It is a great method of highlighting space or to showcase the wider location view of your projects. We use two different techniques depending on what outcome is required - stitching (combining a series of images seamlessly together) and rotating camera (the camera rotates to capture the complete field of view required). Both methods can provide images up to 360 degrees. Used sparingly and in the right situation panoramic images are a fantastic way to highlight a space or structure.

Above (top to bottom) are from these projects -

Marks & Spencer Simply Food, the More, London
Ashcomb Children's Centre, Weston Super Mare
The Capitol Arts Centre, Horsham
Terex Factory
Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol

Sign up for the fotohaus quarterly newsletter

2009-10-23T13:59:00.003+01:00

Sign up for the new fotohaus quarterly newsletter and also get access to our price guides, shoot checklists and guides to commissioning - all automatically available online. To find out more go to our portfolio website and select 'price guides and newsletter' from the main menu.

Images of Peoplebuilding Hemel

2009-10-14T10:56:00.003+01:00

Project name: Peoplebuilding Hemel

|| Location: Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead

|| Description: PeopleBuilding Hemel is located 26 miles from central London, on Maylands Avenue Hemel Hempstead. The project was developed on the former Lucas factory site. After demolition of the existing factory, Phase 1 of this development comprised a four-storey office building, a sports complex, infrastructure works multi-storey car park and extensive landscaping.

The office building comprised 100,000 sq ft in total. The building was fitted to Cat A standard, providing flexible layouts for future tenants. The building comprised a 9m structural grid post-tensioned concrete frame. The cladding was unitised full height glazed panels with a responsive Brise Soleil on three elevations. This entails automatic sensor/motor driven adjustments to the external blades. The ceiling and floor voids provided displacement air-conditioning. Fit-out was carried out to the entrance reception and toilet areas on all floors.

The sports centre was constructed to shell status, with subsequent fit-out by others. 320 parking spaces are provided on a post-tensioned concrete multi-storey car park and grade level.

|| Architect: Fletcher Priest
|| Developer/Client: Stanhope PLC
|| Main Contractor: Mace
|| Project manager: Mace
|| Quantity Surveyor: Davis Langdon
|| Structural Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners
|| Services Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners
|| Landscape Architect: Charles Funke Associates
|| Property Consultant: FPDSavills & Freeth Melhuish
|| Project Value: £24m

You can view all the images of Peoplebuilding Hemel here:
http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

Sports and leisure projects added to the Image Library

2009-10-06T17:26:00.006+01:00

Added today to the Image Library are 4 projects in the Sports and Leisure category. These include the LC leisure centre in Swansea, the Spyglass and Glassboat restaurants shot this year and images from the Clifton Lido including some new views of the solar tubes that are used to heat the swimming pool. The Sports and Leisure section and these projects can be viewed here.

2009-10-05T10:08:00.003+01:00

Our online image library has been just been updated to display work by sectors and projects; making it far easier to browse the images. Searching using general terms is also a major feature if a specific image or project is being looked for. The sector categories are Cities & General views, Construction, Cultural & Heritage, Education, Industrial, Healthcare and Science, People, Public Sector, Residential, Retail, Sport & Leisure and Workplace & Office. You can take a look for yourself here.

Images of St John Fisher Catholic High School, Woodnewton Childrens Centre and Rowlett Road Housing

2009-09-30T12:51:00.009+01:00

Three new projects shot for GSS Architecture have been added to our image library: St John Fisher Catholic High School, Woodnewton Childrens Centre and Rowlett Road Housing.

St John Fisher Catholic High School, Peterborough

This £13 million redevelopment project features a number of sustainable building techniques.

Two buildings have been constructed from cross-laminated timber panels, resulting in dramatic reductions in construction timescales and costs. The panels are highly insulated and clad in weather-proof, fire-resistant panelling, brickwork and render. The timber comes from sustainable managed forests. Other sustainable features include ground source heat pumps, solar hot water collectors mounted on the south facing roofs and a wind turbine located at the front of the school.

The project includes new and refurbished classrooms, a library; sports hall and all-weather pitch along with music, drama, and ICT rooms.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture
|| Developer/Client: Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia
|| Main Contractor: Kier Eastern
|| Project Value: £13m

You can view all the images of St John Fisher Catholic High School here:
http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

Woodnewton Childrens Centre, Corby

New Children’s Centre that provides an effective link between the existing infants and junior schools, enabling Woodnewton to develop its educational assets and community involvement.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture
|| Main Contractor: Borras Construction

You can view all the images of Woodnewton Childrens Centre here:
http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

Rowlett Road Housing, Corby

The development has been designed for the LHA-ASRA Group by GSSArchitecture. It consists of 27 affordable houses and flats on a former brownfield site that was owned by Corby Borough Council and by Woodnewton School. The site was once home to a dilapidated community building and some old garages. These were demolished and the land sold to the housing association, which received a grant from the Homes & Communities Agency. In return, the income from the sale of the land led to a new Children’s Centre being built at the adjacent Woodnewton School.

|| Architect: GSS Architecture
|| Developer/Client: Leicester Housing Association and LHA-ASRA Group
|| Main Contractor: Lindum Sturgeon
|| Structural Engineer: Waldeck Associates Ltd

You can view all the images of Rowlett Road Housing here:
http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

Images of Electric Wharf, Coventry

2009-09-17T18:12:00.003+01:00

Images of Electric Wharf, Coventry Have been added to our image library.You can view them here:
http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

Created from the shell of Coventry’s original Victorian power station, Electric Wharf is designed as a live/work community with 76 live/work lofts, 21 new-build low-energy homes fronting Coventry Canal and 27,000sqft of office space.

The project demonstrates how complex redundant buildings within a difficult area can be transformed into the heart of a vibrant community. The open space and landscape was developed through collaboration where concepts for the future use were overlaid with historic research. The existing buildings have been carefully remodelled with new-build elements creating a wide variety of spaces. A careful selection of recycled materials and a simple construction material palette have led to a development which has a variation in use and form but provides a coherent response to its users and visitors. New pedestrian and cycle routes have been opened up linking to the city centre, encouraging walking and cycling.

Awards:
RegenWM Award 2007 (Vision for Placemaking)
RICS Award 2007
Midlands Insider Property Awards 2006, Regeneration Project of the Year
Coventry Design Awards 2005

|| Architect: Bryant Priest Newman
|| Developer/Client: Complex Development Projects
|| Main Contractor: Harrabin Construction
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd, Dean & Dyball Civil Engineering (footbridge), Remnant Engineering Limited (footbridge).

Bristol Open Doors Day: Behind Bristol's Closed Doors

2009-09-08T15:32:00.003+01:00

To coincide with Bristol Open Doors Day this weekend I am doing 2 walking tours of the exhibition I have been working on in Stokes Croft. Images of the inside of the many vacant and derelict properties will be displayed on the street with the aim of getting people interested in and debating the future prospects for the area. Anyone interested should come along to the HQ of the People's Republic of Stokes Croft, 35 Jamaica Street, Stokes Croft, Bristol at 11am or 3pm on Saturday 12th Sept.

Adobe awards 10 Fenchurch Street website the 'Site of the Day'

2009-09-01T19:13:00.005+01:00

Adobe awarded the 10 Fenchurch Street website the Site of the day award.

From Adobe: 'Celebrating the refurbishment and new development of this London address, this stylish site highlights the perks and specs of a signature office building. Find out where it is, which businesses already lease space, and what amenities it offers. Check out floor plans. Pull up detailed specifications. Download a brochure. And access a list of contacts.
Created with Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat.
Why it was selected: Rich photography, detailed maps, and downloadable information deliver essential details in a dynamic way.'

The website designed by Positive New Media using a design by Northbank (who provide the overall design/brand of 10 Fen for Standard Life Investments). The site (and downloadable brochure) features my photography.....

Also you can view all the images from this project in our image library

2009 European Copper Projects Awards

2009-08-29T17:54:00.002+01:00

Website for the 2009 European Copper Projects Awards - profiling the Bristol Heart Institute

New project: Bristol University Dolberry Building

2009-08-21T14:05:00.007+01:00

I took advantage of the only decent bit of weather this week in Bristol to visit the Dolberry Building at Langford Vet School.

The new £3.9 million building was opened at the end of April by Sir David Attenborough and has a BREEAM excellent rating for sustainability in design, materials and energy usage. This will provide substantial energy savings to the University over the medium term but will also provide a focus for research sponsors from the UK and Europe with an interest in sustainability. Facilities within the building include office accommodation for up to 75 people, two small meeting rooms, and a larger seminar room, which will also provide web conferencing facilities. The green roof has been designed to encourage birds and insects.

The whole project can be viewed in the Image Library here: http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

|| Architect: NVB Architects
|| Developer/Client: Bristol University
|| Main Contractor: Morgan Ashurst
|| Project manager: Provelio
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac

a different take on architects' portraits

2009-08-21T13:37:00.003+01:00

As a means of presenting the people in its office, Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects favor showing the owners' and various employees' hands instead of faces.

Bristol University Priory Road Complex now in the Image Library

2009-08-18T13:14:00.007+01:00

Images of Bristol University Priory Road Complex have been added to our image library. You can view them here: http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

The new entrance and communal areas feature an inviting curved and easily accessible raised pathway with landscaped gardens underneath. Inside is improved social space for students and included in it's environmental features is a living roof.

|| Architect: NVB Architects
|| Developer/Client: Bristol University
|| Main Contractor: Cowlin Construction
|| Project Value: £3.9m

fotohaus architectural image library

2009-08-17T12:03:00.003+01:00

Foliolink, who provide the back-end infrastructure for our image library and portfolio websites is now using our image library as as an example to promote it's services. They have profiled us and now include our design in newsletters and information about their service. View our image library here.

On the Velfac website -

2009-07-23T12:48:00.007+01:00

If you take a look at the front page of the Velfac website, it features an image we shot for them at Exwick Heights Primary School, Exeter. Plus a browse through the image gallery, project case studies and catalogues & brochures also show our range of images shot for Velfac of their current and recent projects.

You can also view the whole Exwick Heights Primary School project at our image library. The school, designed by NPS South West Ltd for Devon County Council, is built on the edge of Exeter’s green fringe and occupies a sensitive site in terms of its semi-rural location and position within long views across Exeter city. Two existing primary schools were brought together, turning a greenfield site into a vibrant mixed–use development which serves both local primary children and the wider community. The school building is a single, curved structure arranged on two levels on the northern slope of a valley; the two storey south- facing elevation makes the most of the site’s views, while the northern elevation slopes to a single story.

|| Architect: Architect: NPS South West for Devon County Council Devon Property Practice
|| Developer/Client: Devon County Council
|| Main Contractor: ROK
|| Structural Engineer: Parsons Brinckerhoff
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd

Insurance and Technology magazine

2009-07-22T12:34:00.003+01:00

A small thumbnail of the cover portrait we took for this months issue of the US magazine Insurance and Technology. This was commissioned by a New York design agency but shot in Wales....

Images of St Wilfrid's RC Secondary School

2009-07-21T16:22:00.002+01:00

Images of St Wilfrid's RC Secondary School have been added to our image library. You can view them here: http://imagelibrary.fotohaus.co.uk/

The School features a striking curved general teaching block that wraps around a central courtyard and links to the sports and performing arts wing in one continuous circulation route. Visual and physical links connect the courtyard through the building to the playing fields and mature parkland beyond. Environmental features include biomass boilers and natural ventilation throughout.

|| Architect: Curl la Tourelle Architects
|| Developer/Client: Diocese of Arundel & Brighton and West Sussex County Council
|| Main Contractor: Norwest Holst / Vinci Plc
|| Services Engineer: Halcrow Yolles
|| Project Value: £18.5
|| Sub contractor(s): Velfac Ltd