Inkpen Downie Architecture & Design Ltd Blog

Countdown to the Listed Property Owners Club show

karen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:09:03 +0000

It’s on the 18th and 19th February at Olympia in London. Full details on their website We’re ready to chat to all comers and looking forward to meeting some interesting specialists. Email us for an free entry invitation (saving £10 each on the door) and come and say hello while you’re there.

open house for CPD

karen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:16:42 +0000

We have a CPD organised in our offices. The title is “Sustainable lighting for period buildings”

If you would like to come please email, phone or tweet on @inkpendownie. It’s at 1pm on 21st February 2012. CPD presented by Betacalco

Champagne is open!

karen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:39:25 +0000

After 5 years of discussion and setbacks the live/work design we drew up for this barn has secured it’s future. Planning permission has been granted in a green belt area of Essex for a live/work use for the barn.

It’s not listed in itself but is within the curtilage of a listed building and has some historic significance.

The years passing by meant that the condition of the barn depreciated constantly and it was in danger of blowing away in the last winds of Jan 2012.

It’s a great relief for the owner that a decision has been made and that the accepted designs mean that the barn will not disappear.

It took a detailed design and access statement and a lot of research by our architect, Mr David MacDougall to get the proposals through and it’s a great start to the year all round!

Notes from an exhibition

karen — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:18:23 +0000

Following on from the Historic Buildings Parks and Gardens event on 15th November 2011 it’s time for a quick review.

An interesting, packed day which started with a trip around Parliament Square (unintentional). Lots of friendly people stopped by to chat throughout the day and we had a good look around at the other exhibits ourselves. A conflab with Duncan Worboyes of Igloo Builders set our practice manager off to look at their website to find they had won a Master Builder of the Year 2011 award. Well done!

Conincidentally we had a banner showing a manor house we’d renovated after a fire and David O’Halloran, an insurance surveyor from Barrett Corp Harrington who’d seen it before the damage paused to comment on the changes.

Amongst those showcasing the intricacies of their skill were Locker and Riley, specialist plasterers.

Overall the event delivered on the variety promised and also provided an excellent lunch.

See you next year HHA!

Exhibition time again

karen — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:46:45 +0000

At the time of year when everyone else is thinking about Christmas here in the office it’s been a hive of activity in advance of the next event. This time we’re at Historic Homes Parks and Gardens on the 15th November in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Centre in the heart of London.

An early start is called for to try and avoid some of the traffic and to get our wonderful banners set up before the coffee pots even finished percolating. Banners this time were produced by Prontaprint with an amazing turnaround time of 24 hours. Thanks guys! They should cut set up time down to around 30 minutes.

During the day there are seminars from Edward Harley president of the Historic Houses Association which has 1500 member houses with around 500 houses and gardens open to the public each year. Next up is John Penrose MP whose portfolio includes tourism, heritage, gambling and horseracing. An interesting mix there. And to round things off the Marquess of Douro gives the Smiths Gore lecture. As the owner of Stratfield Saye House which is around 50% retained as a family home there should be an interesting perspective on life in a historic residence on offer.

The doors open at 9am, it’s right by Parliament Square, everyone is welcome and if you do attend, please do stop by and say hello to John and Ben.

We are now on Twitter

karen — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:19:42 +0000

Having attended the Be2Her event alongside the Georgian Group at their prime location and ProjectBook we now have our own Twitter account and you can find us here . We’re still being delighted by the sheer amount and variety of knowledge being shared freely. It appears to be creating it’s own Big Society. Come over and have a look.

DAC Awards

karen — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:03:23 +0000

We are pleased to announce that St Peter’s Harold Wood has been awarded a Merit in the DAC Design Awards Scheme 2011. Project details are here

Clare Priory extension video

karen — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:55:02 +0000

To have a walk through of the design for the extension to Clare Priory have a look here

CRE Sandown 2011

karen — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:24:58 +0000

Inkpen Downie are exhibiting at the Christian Resource Exhibition at Sandown 10th – 13th May. Find us at stand E37 and get a free ticket by clicking here;

Church extension takes great shape

karen — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:22:32 +0000

The extension was designed to provide pre-school facilities for the children of the community of Langdon Hills, Basildon. Supported by funding through Sure Start the building is due to be completed in Mid March.

The church has it’s own webpage with details of the building works including our original plans here.