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We’re excited to announce we’ve been named in the AJ100 for the first time! Alongside this brilliant achievement, we’ve also been shortlisted for the ‘New Member of the Year’ award – the only Manchester headquartered finalist on the list.

The AJ100 celebrates the UK’s most innovative, ambitious and successful architectural practices, based on the number of qualified architects employed. The New Member of the Year award is eligible to new entrants to the list and those appearing for the first time in five years. The newcomer award will be judged on both business success and quality of work and we line up against six other firms.

Not only has our practice grown to meet our diverse portfolio of work in recent years, but we have also developed from within. Our increased number of Architects is in large part down to the number of Architectural Assistants we have mentored throughout their professional studies and we look forward to welcoming the next cohort very soon. Outside of Architectural roles, we’ve also reinforced our BIM, Sustainability and Central Support functions to help future-proof our integrated service offer and maintain our high client satisfaction levels.

MD Andy Rainford said: “Joining the renowned AJ100 is a testament to our amazing team and clients whose hard work and trust have enabled us to continue to grow our practice. We are continually striving to improve our business for the benefit of our team, clients, the communities we work in and the environment and it’s great to see this being recognised with another accolade. We can’t wait to join the awards ceremony in June and look forward to meeting all the other talented practices then.”

2023 is proving to be a landmark year for the practice. It commenced with securing B Corp Certification at the start of January, being shortlisted for Architectural Practice of the Year at the Insider NW Property Awards and most recently it saw us make the Sunday Times Best Places to Work List.

Read more about the award and the finalists here.

We’re excited to announce, we’ve been named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list for the first time!

The list honours and celebrates Britain's top employers and acknowledges the best workplaces for women, LGBTQIA+ community, disabled employees, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers and wellbeing.

The Sunday Times partnered with employee-experience platform WorkL to survey applicant’s staff using 35 questions from WorkL's employee engagement survey which focus on areas like staff empowerment, job satisfaction and employee wellbeing. In addition to determining the list, the results provide insight into new and emerging workplace practice. This year, pet policies, flexible working and a four-day week proved popular incentives.

Chris Longcroft, EVP Publisher, The Times and The Sunday Times, said: “The Sunday Times Best Places to Work awards recognise companies that create a happier and fulfilling working environment for all, by fostering engagement from their teams, yielding great business and performance in return. Wishing all of those companies who made the grade this year many congratulations.”

MD Andrew Rainford said: “We are incredibly proud to have joined the Best Place to Work List for the first time. The accolade recognises the work of everyone across the practice and we look forward to using the insights from the survey to ensure AEW remains the best place to work for our team.”

Our appointment to the list, comes off the back of other recent successes including becoming a Certified B Corp, joining the Living Wage Foundation and being shortlisted for Architectural Practice of the Year at the Insider North West Property Awards.

View the full list and read more insights from the survey here.

Following years of hard work by our client Glenbrook and the project team, we were excited to see Meridian 6, Wigan finally gain outline planning consent at appeal last week.

The £100m development comprising 625,000 sqft of employment space, is located on a 40-acre site close to the M6 motorway. The site has been allocated for employment use in Wigan Council's Unitary Development Plan and forms part of the South Lancashire Industrial Estate (SLIE) Primary Employment Area.

A hybrid application for the scheme was submitted in July 2021 but, despite an officer recommendation for approval, the proposal was refused in April 2022. The green light follows an appeal which was lodged in October 2022.

Dan Symonds, development manager at Glenbrook, said: "We are thrilled to receive the positive appeal decision from The Planning Inspectorate. Wigan has a clear pressing need for employment space, and delivery of this long-standing allocated site will go some way in satisfying that demand."

We have been responsible for the design of the scheme with SGi acting as civil and structural engineers and Gerald Eve as planning consultant.

We are proud to announce that our project at the Sale West estate in Trafford has been recognised with the ‘Regeneration of the Year’ award at this year’s Northern Housing Awards.

The aim of the Northern Housing Awards is to “shine a light on the individuals and organisations who make it their mission to improve homes and communities in the north”. We’re therefore delighted to see Sale West, and the team behind it, recognised in this way.

Working for client Irwell Valley Homes, we have developed the masterplan for the site and overseen the design and delivery of 46 new affordable homes to date, with a further 33 planned in Phase 1. Subsequent phases will deliver another 184 homes. Both the masterplan and the houses have been designed in response to extensive community engagement and address local housing need, promote sustainability and help minimise energy costs for residents.

Alongside our architectural role, we have also played our part in investing in the local community. We are delivering a range of social value initiatives including a 3-year sponsorship of Ashton on Mersey School via Class of Your own’s Design Engineer Construct Programme. Through this initiative, we have run an architecture club, hosted site visits and will soon welcome students to our office to learn more about careers in construction. We have also supported local residents group, Our Sale West, through various donations and support.

AEW Director, Colin Savage said of the award: “It’s great to see Irwell Valley Homes, Our Sale West, and the wider team’s efforts rewarded with such a prominent housing award. The success is the result of many peoples hard work and we look forward to continuing our commitment to creating high quality, sustainable new homes across the estate.”

For the fourth time, a brave group of walkers from our team are taking on the Cumbrian Challenge in support of Walking with the Wounded.

The charity provides early intervention programmes and speed up access to therapy to help change the lives of veterans and their families. They support those “who have fallen the furthest, men and women struggling with mental health issues, unemployment, homelessness or caught in police custody.”

In total, 26 staff across 7 teams will take on the challenge and help raise much needed funds for the charity. This will take place on May 13th and will involve a challenging walk around the Lake District, alongside teams of veterans and other supporters. Our teams will all complete “The Tougher” challenge, climbing 13 peaks over 31km with a 2,289m ascent.

Rob Foster, who’s helped organise the event for the past few years has said: “We can’t wait to take on the Cumbrian Challenge with our largest ever group of walkers! This event always causes a buzz in the office and it’s great to see so many people getting involved for the first time. Volunteering our time and raising money for charity is a key focus of our Social Value Agenda and we’re delighted we can support the valuable work Walking with the Wounded do again this year.”

If you’d like to donate, visit our teams' fundraising page here.

We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for ‘Architectural Practice of the Year’ in the Insider North West Property Awards 2023.

The aim of the awards, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is to celebrate the property industry in the North West. This year's finalists were chosen after a robust judging process and discussions with previous winners and other respected sector experts.

This is the fourth time we’ve been shortlisted in this category, and we’re delighted to see the team being recognised in this way following another successful 12 months. During this time, we’ve achieved a 30% increase in net turnover, welcomed two new Directors to the Board and been certified as a B Corp – one of only 19 architecture, design and planning companies in the UK to hold the globally recognised certification.

Additionally, we’ve raised over £13,000 for charitable causes, doubling the previous year's total, and volunteered 315 hours of time to local charities and organisations - many spent supporting the communities in which we’re working.

Andy Rainford, Managing Director has said of the news: “We’re delighted to have been shortlisted in these awards for the fourth consecutive year. The accolade is a testament to the hard work of our team who have continued to deliver high quality schemes for our clients across the North West. It also recognises our continued support for local communities and the environment in the region, which are at the heart of our placemaking approach. We look forward to attending the Awards night in May alongside the other finalists.”

We're also proud to see Network Space shortlisted in the 'Purpose-Led Innovation' category for their Glass Futures project for which we're Architect. View the full list of finalists in all 16 categories on Insider.

Saturday 25th March saw an exciting morning for the staff, residents and supporters of Ronald McDonald House Manchester with the opening of their new Day Room. Working together with the charity, our Interior Design Team have created a welcoming new home-away-from home hub for visitors to the Manchester residence.

As a long-time supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), and with the funding for the space coming from late AEW Managing Director Steve Burne’s Charitable Trust - who raised over £400,000 for the charity before he sadly died from cancer in October 2018 - we welcomed the opportunity to act as Interior Designer for this new space.

RMHC provide accommodation for the families of sick children being treated at nearby hospitals. The vision for the scheme was therefore to create “a home-away-from-home”, with the design focused on creating a warm, homely environment for all members of a family to enjoy.

Our design proposals involved knocking through between the existing Day Room and a Games Room to create one large, light filled space with easy access to the communal garden. The final open-plan layout combines different areas for cooking, relaxing, gaming and play – allowing families using the House to stay together whilst each uses the area that best meets their needs. Aesthetically, a key focus of the design was to bring the outside in. This has been achieved through the implementation of tranquil and relaxed style with furniture and finishes specified in warm earthy tones and natural hues, paired with patterned weaves and timber accents.

Director Danielle Purves has said of the scheme “It’s an honour to have been appointed as Interior Designer and successfully realised this commission for RMHC, particularly with the space being funded by Steve’s Charitable Trust. It’s great to be able to continue his legacy of support for the charity and to provide a much needed, home-away-from-home for families during stressful times.”

Read more about how the Day Room has been received, and how it will positively impact residents here.

Our work at Manchester is the latest in a long-standing portfolio of work we have completed for RMHC. Having completed our first House for them in Birmingham in 2009 and more recently having designed and delivered Houses at Evelina, London and John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Working with Muse, we’ve submitted a planning application for WestonM6 in Crewe - a sustainable new business park in the heart of the Basford East neighbourhood.

The hybrid application includes an outline application for the 39.45ha site and a detailed application for the first phase of industrial development - comprising three warehouses and totalling 750,000 sqft. The overall scheme comprises over 1 million sqft of logistics and industrial space.

From design to occupancy, sustainability and wellbeing have been at the heart of our proposals. The scheme has been designed to be BREEAM ‘Very Good’ and will maximise the sites green assets for a new wildlife ‘pocket park’, a 3-kilometre active walking trail and rich landscaping for use by occupiers and the community.

In addition to our architectural and masterplanning work, our integrated Sustainability Team collaborated with Muse to carry out a life cycle carbon assessment for the scheme. We visualised the embodied carbon within the proposed development and held a collaborative workshop to explore how the design and specification could evolve to achieve the most significant reductions in whole life carbon.

Alan McBride, projects director at Muse, said: “At WestonM6, we’ve worked hard to design a sustainable place that complements the existing neighbourhood being created, unlocks vast areas of greenery to promote a healthy lifestyle, but importantly attracts significant inward investment and meets the demand for new jobs in the town. As a business, we’re committed to creating vibrant places that leave a long-lasting positive legacy to benefit communities and at WestonM6 we know we’ll achieve just that and build a brighter future for all in Crewe.”

Basford is the latest in a diverse portfolio on industrial and logistics projects we are working on nationwide. To see more of our projects, visit our Industrial Projects page.

In Decemebr 2022, we became a Certified B Corp. B Corporations are companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. To mark B Corp Month, we've spoken to Sustainabiltiy Manager, Peter Bartley to hear all about B Corps, the benefits of becoming one and how we're "going beyond" this March.

For those who aren’t aware, what is a B Corp?

If a company is a B Corp, it means they’ve been recognised for the environmental and social good they do as a business. Being a B Corp is about making business a force for good, where all stakeholders like employees are considered and not just shareholders. On the last count there’s a global community of over 6,000 B Corps, with 1,500 in the UK and just 18 in Architecture Design and Planning.

Who can certify as a B Corp and why should they?

Anyone can certify as a B Corp, even start-ups – although this is a slightly different process as they need to be able to share a full year’s worth of accounts and data.

For AEW, we wanted a way to show how what we do positively impacts our people, clients, projects, and the planet. Having B Corp status is one of the best ways to demonstrate exactly how purpose-driven we are, and now we’re working within a community of B Corps, we can increase our reach even more.

From raising our profile to developing new partnerships and attracting and retaining the best staff, having B Corp status brings loads of benefits and opportunities.

How hard is the certification process? Do you have any tips for those considering it?

It's quite a lengthy process to become B Corp certified, involving detailed impact assessments, and supporting evidence. It took about a year and a half from the initial submission to the final impact assessment, which outlined where we could improve.

We were already in a strong position because of improvements we’ve been making to our benefits package, strategies, and policies. Without all the hard work we’ve been through to ensure our people are well looked after, the process would have been a much bigger undertaking.

If you’re thinking about becoming B Corp Certified, I’d recommend jumping straight into the B impact assessment (BIA) as soon as possible. This step is free and there are no limits to how long you work on this stage. You can begin to fill it out based on where you are now, then review what’s missing to see how you can improve your scores. Even when you’ve achieved B Corp certification, it’s still a process of continual improvement – there’s a three-year re-certification cycle.

Why is it so important that companies in the built environment become a B Corp?

As an industry, the emissions we produce are significant, not to mention the potential social and environmental risks with what we do. Collectively, we need to do more to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, so we should welcome any frameworks that can help us reshape our aims to start putting people and planet before profit.

What benefits have you seen/hope to see from AEW becoming a Certified B Corp?

For those who’ve already heard about B Corp, it instantly shows how committed we are to environmental and social performance. When I talk to people who haven’t heard of B Corp, it gives me a great opportunity to talk about the wider impacts of business, and how it can be a force for good. Internally for AEW, it’s helped us refine our business culture and identity.

What steps are you taking to improve AEW's B Corp score?

The most challenging part of the assessment for us was compiling all the environmental performance data across all our projects. Since doing this, we’ve adopted a practice management system, which is a tool that allows us to capture a wider range of metrics across all projects. This data gives us powerful insights, which means we can focus training and systems, and work together with clients to help reduce the environmental impacts of their schemes. Once we can more accurately capture project performance, we should be able to significantly improve our environmental and community scores.

What are AEW doing to #GoBeyond this B Corp Month?

For B Corp month this March, we’re promoting awareness of other B Corp brands and companies to our team – organisations that are aligned with AEW, and that we could potentially collaborate with.

We’ll also highlight where we aim to “Go Beyond”, both with corporate sustainability, and our ambition to move beyond ‘business as usual’ on our projects. To help our clients move beyond ‘business as usual’ we’ve developed a briefing template within our AEW Sustainable Outcomes Toolkit to help them see what good looks like and how they can achieve best practice performance on sustainability in their sector.

Following close collaboration with client JD Sports, we were delighted to see our proposals for JD Sport’s new creche, and outline approval for the wider site, approved for planning at Bury Council’s February planning committee.

We have provided masterplanning and architectural services for the expansion of JD Sports’ Campus in Bury. The first phase of development is a 10,500 sqft creche which will provide childcare for between 90 and 120 JD Sports employees.

The standalone crèche has been carefully designed with respect to statutory early years guidance, key spatial adjacencies and the site itself. The result is a secure, two-storey creche nestled in the corner of the site. All classrooms and play areas are located on the ground floor with access to external amenity space. Upper floors include staff facilities and a flexible community event space leading out onto a large roof terrace.

Outline planning has also been granted for the second phase of the project, which includes the four-storey JD Hub. The new hub building will comprise 70,000 sqft across four floors. This will incorporate a variety of amenity uses in addition to office space including meeting, conference, lecture, mock shop, gym and a restaurant with roof terrace. A multi-purpose, all-weather, 5-a-side football pitch completes the offer.

James Fuller, global head of concept and design at JD Group, said: “Mirroring our position as a global sports fashion retailer, the space has been thoughtfully designed to drive enhanced collaboration and attract more top talent while cementing the future of our business here in Bury.”

We have bolstered our Management Team with the recent appointment of Associate Director Chris Lenehan and HR Manager Karey Wardhaugh. The senior appointments come off the back of another successful year, which saw our practice securing B Corporation Certification.

Chris Lenehan joins from DMWR Architects, where he gained experience across a range of sectors including industrial warehousing, self-storage, retail, residential and town centre masterplanning. Chris will play a key role in delivering our extensive portfolio of industrial projects nationwide.

Karey Wardhaugh joins from creative marketing agency Shoot the Moon, where she was Head of HR and Talent. Karey is a CIPD qualified HR professional with extensive experience in the design industry. She will oversee all aspects of our People Strategy on behalf of the practice.

Chris said of his new role: “With the recent B Corp announcement, it’s an exciting time to be coming onboard.”

Karey added: “I’m thrilled to be joining AEW. The practice has established a great people culture and I’m looking forward to working with the team to support AEW’s plans for growth.”

Andrew Rainford, Managing Director of AEW, said of the appointments: “We’re delighted to have both Chris and Karey join us and help bolster our Management Team. These appointments will reinforce our expertise and experience in the commercial sector, whilst ensuring we maintain the highest standards of recruitment, employee care, and people development. We’re aiming to build on the success of 2022, which saw us celebrate our 30th birthday, announce two new Directors and achieve a 30% increase in net turnover.”

The senior appointments form a key part of our plans for continuous improvement and growth, as was gaining B Corporation Certification. B Corps are companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. We bring the total number of UK-based, architecture and design practices with Certification to 16.

Andrew added: “The B Corp Certification recognises the ethical and sustainable way we have conducted our business internally and externally for over 30 years. The application process required a real team effort over several months and it’s great to see that hard work pay off. With so few UK-based, B Corps in the ‘Architecture design and planning’ industry, we’re delighted to now be counted amongst this leading group.”

With the successful bidders for the second round of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund announced, we were delighted to see our Accrington town centre project for Hyndburn Borough Council secure £20 million of funding.

Working closely with the Council and the Bid Team, we developed proposals for three projects which formed the basis of the LUF bid. These were Accrington Market Hall, Market Chambers and Burton’s Chambers.

The market hall will be refurbished and transformed into a food and drink destination for local people – targeted at enticing the next generation and a new audience to the town. The Market Chambers building, opposite the Market Hall, would be acquired, refurbished, and repaired – with the ultimate aim to transform it into a cultural, arts and heritage venue. The Art Deco Burton’s Chambers building, opposite the Town Hall, would also be purchased and restored to become a co-working space for businesses and events. It is hoped that the three projects will be a catalyst for kick-starting the wider transformation of Accrington town centre.

This is the third successful public funding bid we have supported, having previously worked with Stockport Council and Bury Council to gain investment for their town centre regeneration projects. To discuss these projects, or your own requirements, please contact Director Phil Hepworth phepworth@aewarchitects.com.

This week we reached a major milestone in our “People’s Pods” initiative with a visit to the Energy House 2.0 official launch event to see a completed pod for the first time. We have worked with partners Casey, Emmaus Salford and the University of Salford’s Energy House 2.0 Team to develop pioneering proposals for new energy efficient accommodation for the homeless.

The aim of the initiative is to upgrade and refurbish redundant site cabins to provide a warm and safe place for rough sleepers to stay on a temporary basis. The thermal properties of a cabin were initially evaluated in the Energy House 2.0 under winter conditions with the team making recommendations in terms of upgrading the structural insulation and the heating system to provide a warm and comfortable environment with low running costs.

AEW are in a unique position to combine our in house sustainability and architectural teams to study this research and, through collaborative workshopping in the studio, have developed a prototype design to transform the cabin into a sustainable, energy efficient, sleeping pod.

Joe Flanagan, Energy House 2.0 Project Manager, at the University of Salford, said: “Our unique Energy House 2.0 facility will have many uses, working with house builders and industry to help improve the efficiency of all our homes. But it can also be used for things like this to help give back and provide real benefits to the local community. We are proud to work with Emmaus to help develop better solutions for the homeless to help them keep warm in the colder months and will provide a stepping stone to a more stable future.”

Jackie Smith, Business Development Manager at Emmaus Salford, said: “Our first four pods opened in May 2020 and have helped many people off the streets, access support and into more permanent housing. Casey has kindly donated eight more cabins which we plan to refurbish to a high standard, both for the people who will be using them and for the planet.”

Energy House 2.0 is a pioneering facility at the University of Salford, it contains two environmental chambers within which they can recreate a wide variety of weather conditions. The project is receiving up to £8,244,043 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

For more details on Energy House 2.0, visit www.energyhouse2.com and follow us on Twitter @energy_house2 and LinkedIn @Energy House 2.0.

We’ve started the year as we mean to go on, with the news that we are now B Corp Certified. We bring the total number of UK-based, architecture and design practices with Certification to 16, joining other leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.

B Corporations are companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. There are just over 5900 B Corps globally, with 1,460 of these based in the UK.

To become a B Corp, we undertook a rigorous review process that was assessed by B Lab. Applicants are required to achieve at least 80 points out of 200 across five assessment categories (Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers). We demonstrated that we met high standards on factors from employee benefits, customer service, collaboration and charitable giving to supply chain practices. We scored well above average across all categories and achieved an overall score of 95.3.

Andrew Rainford, Managing Director, said: “The B Corp Certification recognises the ethical and sustainable way we have conducted our business internally and externally for over 30 years. The application process required a real team effort over the past year and it’s great to see that hard work pay off. With so few UK-based, B Corps in the ‘Architecture design and planning’ industry, we’re delighted to now be counted amongst this leading group.”

Sustainability Manager, Peter Bartley, who led the process added: “The certification is testament to our commitment to positively impact all stakeholders — workers, communities, customers, and our planet – and ensure a benefit for all. As we work towards recertification in 3 years, being a B Corp will provide us with a framework for continuous improvement to further enhance our environmental and social performance.”

B Corp Certification is just the latest step we have taken towards ensuring the highest standards of sustainability across the practice and our operations. In 2020, we signed up to Architects Declare and in 2021 we joined the UN Race to Zero - committing to a long-term net zero goal of 2040. We also established our Sustainability Team to oversee corporate sustainability and launch our environmental assessment service offer to integrate sustainable design into our projects.

As another eventful year comes to an end, we'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Our last day of work will be Friday 23th December. The office will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January.

Thank you to our team, our clients, collaborators and friends for another successful year. We look forward to working with you all again in 2023.

View some of our highlights from the past year on our News page.

A huge congratulations to Danny Lomax for passing his RIBA Part III examination and interview, we couldn’t be prouder!

Danny first joined AEW in 2017 as an Architectural Assistant. Since then, Danny has gone on to complete his Masters at Leeds Beckett University, whilst maintaining a full-time role at the practice.

Over the past 5 years, Danny has worked on a wide variety of residential projects. These range from the Sale West Estate regeneration for Irwell Valley Homes to the masterplanning of a former MOD site in Bromborough for Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Throughout this time, Danny has been supported by a clear programme of coaching, mentoring and continued learning in accordance with AEW’s Part I and II Pledges.

“We are extremely proud of Danny for passing his ARB & RIBA examination. Danny took the option of studying for his masters degree on a part time basis whilst continuing to remain part of the AEW team. With commitment to both study and employment Danny has proven how successful this can be. We look forward to continuing to support him throughout his career” Colin Savage, Commercial Director.

As a business we are striving to deliver more sustainable outcomes across our projects and to demonstrate that the highest standards of sustainability can be commercially achieved. We’re therefore proud to be playing our part in developing the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard (NZCBS) - a single agreed definition and methodology for the industry to determine what constitutes a net zero carbon building.

Our Sustainability Manager Peter Bartley is contributing to the development of the NZCBS, as a member of the Logistics/Warehouses Sector Group. Within this forum, we are using our experience and expertise of carrying out whole life carbon assessments to help inform the development of this exciting and well needed standard.

The NZCBS coalition is now calling on UK built environment industry practitioners to supply operational energy and embodied carbon performance data for their buildings. This will support the development of their evidence base over the coming months.

Firstly, the NZCBS coalition is seeking operational energy data for buildings - specifically in-use consumption data from the best performing existing buildings, and modelled performance data for buildings in design or construction. This data will enable the NZCBS development team to understand what today’s benchmark for energy performance is, and what current and future best practice might look like.

Secondly, the NZCBS team is seeking embodied carbon data from both new construction and retrofit projects. This will enable the NZCBS development team to set out benchmarks for embodied carbon emitted in the construction process of different building types across the UK.

“This project will develop a robust industry-led Net Zero Carbon Building Standard to provide much needed clarity for all stakeholders in the real estate industry and we encourage all our clients and partners to participate in the project.” – Peter Bartley

Participants are invited to submit data via the Built Environment Carbon Database. The deadline for submitting data is 16th December 2022. For further information and to submit data, visit the NZCB website or contact Peter on pbartley@aewarchitects.com.

Following a busy period for our specialist team, we were delighted to see three industrial schemes reach major milestones in recent weeks. Gemini8, Warrington reached practical completion, we secured new work at the Daresbury supercomputing centre and planning was approved for a new forge press in Sheffield.

Gemini8 Business Park in Warrington is a 119,600 sq ft development which saw us work closely with Caddick Construction to design and deliver 18 Grade A industrial units ranging from 3,900 to 16,500 sqft. The units have been designed to maximise operational efficiency to suit a wide range of end user requirements, providing a mezzanine level office at the front of the building and a general warehouse area on the ground floor. The scheme is a joint venture between developer Chancerygate and Hines.

In Daresbury, we have been appointed by Russell WBHO to support them in the construction of a 33,000 sqft supercomputing centre. This temperature-controlled facility - which will help facilitate innovation in digital technology and expertise in computing, data science and artificial intelligence - is the latest addition to the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Daresbury Laboratory.

Meanwhile in Sheffield, planning has been granted for the construction of a new building to house the UK’s largest open-die forging press for Sheffield Forgemasters. The new 135,000 sq ft structure will sit adjacent to the existing forge building and will house a new 13,000 tonne press. A target date of 2025 has been set for the completion of works and the new forging press to be in operation.

Director Alex Southall has said “It’s great to see these projects reach these key milestones. The scale and diversity shows the breadth and depth of AEW’s expertise in the industrial and logistics sector and we look forward to seeing them progress.”

We are delighted to announce that our housing-led regeneration proposals for a former MOD Site in Bromborough, for Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, have gained planning approval. The proposals for the 8ha site were unanimously approved at Wirral’s strategic planning subcommittee last week.

The Council are committed to delivering a long-term vision for regeneration, which benefits communities across the Borough. With the former oil storage depot site in Bromborough designated for industrial use, yet lying vacant for 15 years, the partners sought to promote the site through the emerging Wirral Local Plan for comprehensive residential development.

We worked closely with Barton Willmore (now Stantec) who undertook an extensive pre-application dialogue with the Council, and neighbouring Riverside Business Park site, to bring forward the scheme of 466 new homes across both sites. We worked collaboratively alongside the design team of Curtins, Vectos (part of SLR) and Stantec to develop comprehensive masterplan and design code proposals, in conjunction with the neighbouring site, to gain approval for this exciting development for the Liverpool city region.

We developed the residential proposals for the MOD site and explored multiple options including hybrid housing, apartments and extra care proposals. The preferred “Housing only” masterplan accommodates 249 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes (affordable/market/family) alongside new public realm and amenities and improved pedestrian and cycle links. Emphasis has been focused on placemaking and careful consideration has been given to the adjacent site.

We look forward to seeing the scheme progress.

Following another successful financial year end, and as we look forward to the future, we’re delighted to announce several senior promotions. Peter Bartley has been promoted to Associate Director, Tom Scott-Smith and Liz Durcan have become Associates and Meg Wood has been made a Senior Interior Designer.

Peter joined AEW in 2021 as Sustainability Manager, and since then has made huge strides in driving our sustainability agenda forward - both as a business and in the delivery of our services. He now manages a sustainability team of three, offering BREEAM Assessor, BREEAM Accredited Professional and Life-cycle Assessment services to our clients.

Architect Tom has been with AEW for five years and has been promoted to Associate for stepping up and taking ownership of a significant new retail client workstream and for his role mentoring more junior members of staff.

Interior Designer Liz has been promoted to the role of Associate for championing interior design both within the practice and externally. Liz’s recent work includes our own studio and Oldham Council’s recently opened office in Oldham Spindles.

Meg joined AEW as a Graduate in 2015 and has now been made a Senior Interior Designer for showing exceptional commitment in leading the “Convenience of the Future” roll out for McDonald’s - one of our most significant and long-standing clients.

Andy Rainford, Managing Director has said of the promotions - “As we continue to progress and grow, we are always looking forward and are confident in making the appropriate changes to strengthen our team at the right time. I’m therefore delighted to be able to announce the promotion of these four high performing members of the team.”

This round of promotions follows the strategic promotion of Alex Southall and Danielle Purves to Director earlier this year and the addition of three new Architects to the team with Kate Silvester, Emily Fettes and Michael Harrison all passing their RIBA Part III exams in April.

On Friday 14th October we held our annual End of Year Presentation to review and celebrate our performance over the last financial year and to share our plans for the next. We hosted the event in our office, with the whole team in attendance, before heading out for a party at The Blues Kitchen.

In the face of a range of global and national issues, which have had a knock-on effect on our industry and those of our clients, FY 2021-2022 saw us deliver another strong performance across the practice. Below we summarise our year in numbers:

• 30% increase in net turnover
• 90 strong team delivering fantastic projects for our clients
• 6 Promotions, including 2 new Directors
• 3 of our team became qualified Architects
• 268 new projects – up 24% on last year
• 74% ‘exceptional’ average Net Promoter Score from our Annual Client Survey
• 9.1% pay rise awarded to all staff to help with the cost-of-living crisis
• 3 - we have rolled out Rapport3, an integrated Project, CRM and HR systems
• £13,932 pounds raised for charitable causes – over double last year’s total
• 315 hours of volunteering time donated to local charities and organisations
• 12 work experience students hosted

Managing Director, Andy Rainford concluded the presentation “We have seen incredible results following an unprecedented 2 years. The coming year will undoubtedly have its challenges, but with an ongoing investment in our team and our systems, alongside our strong financial position, we look forward to another successful year.”

We believe our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees. That’s why at our End of Year Presentation each year we hand out the “The Steve Burne Charitable Award” to recognise an outstanding personal contribution to social value.

Former MD Steve Burne, who sadly died in 2018, was not only at the heart of our AEW family, but tirelessly completed fundraising and charitable activities for Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Steve Burne Charitable Trust. To honour Steve’s legacy, we named the award in his honour.

Each year we ask our team to nominate and vote for a colleague who they think should be recognised for giving back and helping others. This year the award was presented to Architect Charlotte Fuller for being an active and supportive member of the Social Value Committee. During the year Charlotte worked alongside Lifeshare to organise clothing donations and Jubilee packages; created a variety of window displays and helped make Christmas cards to raise funds for RMHC; helped organise AEW’s summer sports day and Christmas party; mentored part 1 and part 2 architectural assistants; took part in the Cumbrian Challenge to raise money for Walking With The Wounded; and in her spare time volunteered for Valley Heritage Building Preservation Trust - helping to revive heritage assets in the area of Rossendale.

Charlotte will now build on this work as the new Chair of the Social Value Committee for 2022-2023.

Well done Charlotte, a thoroughly deserved winner and a real inspiration to us all!

We have worked with CIAT to help create ‘Where it’s AT’ educational campaign– a central place to showcase the crucial role played by Architectural Technology and Chartered Architectural Technologists.

Where it’s AT includes 8 case studies:

• Careers
• Future
• Sustainability
• Home
• Design
• Performance
• Conservation
• Technology
• International

Watch the videos here

As part of CIAT's exciting and new 'Where it's AT' campaign, AEW director Colin Savage FCIAT takes us on the journey behind the development and reuse of a near derelict street of houses bringing homes to injured veterans, creating a veterans' housing community within the existing community in east Manchester.

AEW are proud to be working with partners Casey, Emmaus Salford and the University of Salford’s Energy House 2.0 Team to develop pioneering proposals for new energy efficient accommodation for the homeless for the “People’s Pods” initiative.

The aim of the initiative is to upgrade and refurbish site cabins to provide a warm and safe place for rough sleepers to stay on a temporary basis. The thermal properties of a cabin were initially evaluated in the Energy House 2.0 under winter conditions with the team making recommendations in terms of upgrading the structural insulation and the heating system to provide a warm and comfortable environment with low running costs.

AEW Architects are taking this research and, through collaborative workshopping in the studio, are developing a prototype design to transform the cabin into a sustainable, energy efficient, sleeping pod.

Joe Flanagan, Energy House 2.0 Project Manager, at the University of Salford, said: “Our unique Energy House 2.0 facility will have many uses, working with house builders and industry to help improve the efficiency of all our homes. But it can also be used for things like this to help give back and provide real benefits to the local community. We are proud to work with Emmaus to help develop better solutions for the homeless to help them keep warm in the colder months and will provide a stepping stone to a more stable future.”

Jackie Smith, Business Development Manager at Emmaus Salford, said: “Our first four pods opened in May 2020 and have helped many people off the streets, access support and into more permanent housing. Casey has kindly donated eight more cabins which we plan to refurbish to a high standard, both for the people who will be using them and for the planet.”

Energy House 2.0 is a pioneering facility at the University of Salford, it contains two environmental chambers within which they can recreate a wide variety of weather conditions. The project is receiving up to £8,244,043 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

For more details on Energy House 2.0, visit www.energyhouse2.com and follow us on Twitter @energy_house2 and LinkedIn @Energy House 2.0.

Five years on from our last visit to the British Council for Offices (BCO) National Awards, we were delighted to attend the event once more in October. Having been a regional winner, and a national finalist, in the ‘Corporate Workplace’ category in 2016, we were proud to see our office scheme Moneypenny shortlisted in the Test of Time category.

The Test of Time awards “rewards previous BCO award winners that have proven themselves to live up to their original aspirations and intentions.” Moneypenny underwent a post occupancy evaluation and a visit by the BCO judges to assess its effectiveness in coping with occupancy requirements over time.

With future proofing a key element of the original brief for the building, flexibility and adaptability were built into the design. The bespoke building was designed to institutional standard and for maximum flexibility, features include:

• Office floor plates provide a clear 18m span on 1.5m grid to comply with BCO guidelines, which maximises layout adaptability and allows for cellularisation
• Multiple stair cores
• Split WC arrangements in a “super loo” format
• Desk service strategy, raised access floors, buzzbars and grommets provide flexibility of desk layout
• Externally the roof has space for additional plant and future installation of PVs
• Loose furniture was selected over fitted where possible to allow for easy relocation.

At the time of original completion, the second-floor shell was unoccupied but allowed for expansion into without adversely affecting the design or operation of the building. As they have grown, Moneypenny have subsequently moved to occupy this 2nd floor. Should Moneypenny need to expand again, the careful siting of the building within the extensive grounds means the potential to extend the building would also be possible in the future. Further testament to the scheme’s success is that the office provided adequate flexibility and space for social distancing throughout the pandemic, without unduly effecting business efficiency or operation.

We’re incredibly proud to see Moneypenny recognised in this way and that our designs have truly stood the test of time, both through the growth of Moneypenny and through the complexities brought about by the pandemic.

To hear more about Moneypenny or to discuss our work in the Office sector, please contact Director Phil Hepworth phepworth@aewarchitects.com.

Following another successful financial year, we asked all our fee-paying clients to give us their honest feedback on our performance over the last 12 months as we look to continually improve our service offer and project delivery.

We asked a series of questions about our team and our work and used the Net Promotor Scoring (NPS)* system to evaluate the responses. Overall, we were rated “Exceptional”:

• Contactability and attitude? NPS - 71
• Knowledge and skills? NPS - 73
• Design quality? NPS – 76
• Quality of our technical information? NPS - 69
• How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend, colleague or industry peer? NPS - 84

We got some amazing comments:

“After working with you for many years we still have a very good working relationship and that continues to develop” – Stephen Jackson, East Lancs Mark Benevolent Fund

“Excellent team to work with, very knowledgeable and always willing to go the extra mile!!” – Paul May, McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd

“It is always a personal relief and comfort to know that we can work with Aew on new opportunities and projects that we pursue. They provide an excellent service, are highly responsive and provide helpful recommendations/design solutions.” – Catherine Chilvers, Network Space

For each response received, we made a £25 donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities on the respondent’s behalf. These donations will help provide free 'home away from home' accommodation to the families of sick children being treated in nearby hospitals.

Thank you to all our clients who took part this year.

*Net Promotor Score (NPS) is an internationally recognised client feedback system, whereby clients rate us from 0 (not at all pleased) to 10 (extremely pleased). The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of ‘Detractors’ (0-6) from ‘Promotors’ (9-10) multiplied by 100. Whilst NPS scores vary across industries, a positive NPS (i.e. one that is higher than zero) is generally deemed ‘Good’, an NPS of +50 is generally deemed ‘Excellent’, and anything over +70 is ‘Exceptional’.

On Thursday 15th September, we attended Place North West’s Future of Retail Event. The conference, which was jointly sponsored by ourselves and TLT LLP, covered topics ranging from how to encourage city centre footfall levels to the positives of pop-up retail and competitive socialising.

The audience first heard from Vaughan Allan, Chief Executive of CityCo and Manchester BID, who shared Manchester’s retail statistics since the BID’s inception 10 years ago. This was followed by a presentation from Matt Colledge, Board Member and Project Director of the High Streets Task Force, who discussed changes in the retail sector over the past 50 years.

Next up was a session examining shopping destinations of the future, with AEW Director Danielle Purves joining the panel to discuss issues ranging from technology through to the needs of the next generation.

Danielle, said “The retail industry used to be a service industry. You went and interacted with people, you touched the products, and you came away after having an experience. It’s moved the other way into a real tech business and I think the future really needs to bring it back.”

“There are a lot of companies out there that have amazing online platforms that perhaps aren’t reciprocated when you go into the bricks and mortar offering. I think it’s making sure that you have got that connectivity between the two. I think that’s something the younger generation are going to be pushing for.”

Read the full summary, and view the presentation slides and photos from the event, on the Place North West website.

Thank you to everyone who attended and please get in touch with Director Danielle Purves dpurves@aewarchitects.com if we can assist you with any of your future retail or leisure projects.

August 2022 saw a major milestone reached at our Oldham Spindles project, with main contractor Willmott Dixon commencing the regeneration of the 450,000 sqft shopping centre.

Proposals include the provision of a new market with events venue above, a new heritage archive designed to showcase artefacts from Oldham’s arts and heritage services and a new civic office and coworking space. While construction continues, Spindles will remain open.

“This is an exciting milestone in the project and you will soon start to see lots of changes taking place as we reshape the building for the future,” - Oldham Council Leader Cllr Amanda Chadderton.

Planning permission was secured in June 2022 and it is hoped works will complete in 2024.

Oldham is one of many town centre regeneration projects we've undertaken for local authorities across the North West, with other comissions for Stockport Council at Stockroom and the Radcliffe Civic Hub for Bury Council.

If you want to talk to someone about our work in this sector, contact Director Phil Hepworth phepworth@aewarchitects.com.

We are pleased to share that our scheme at East Lancashire Paper Mill Island site has been approved at planning committee. The project will deliver 27 new affordable homes for client Great Places Housing Association.

The scheme comprises 20 apartments and seven houses for affordable and social rent - five three-bedroom houses, two four-bedroom houses, 17 one-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom apartments. The development forms part of a much wider plan by Bury Council and Homes England to deliver up to 400 homes, a riverside park and a relocated cricket ground at the former paper mill site.

The development has been sensitively designed in response to the surrounding area and sites heritage. The red-bricked terraced homes are three storey in height, with small front gardens and private amenity garden areas to the rear which aim to reflect Victorian housing in the locale.

The design of the neighbouring three-storey apartment building responds to the industrial design of the former paper mill buildings and is constructed of red brick with slate effect roof tiles. The building stands taller than the new housing and has tall, pitched roofs to create a feature for the locality and to mark the gateway to the rest of the paper mill site.

Now approved, the scheme will be delivered by Great Places’ in-house construction team Terra Nova.

From the practice’s early beginnings on the 4th July 1992 with three staff John Albutt, Dave Evans and Christian Wewer (A, E and W) located above a pub on Liverpool Road, to an 85-strong practice in a new penthouse office on John Dalton Street, AEW has come a long way in the past 30 years and we are proud to celebrate this milestone Birthday.

During this time, the practice has continued to develop and progress through the skill, dedication and hard work of a fantastic team of people and through some great leadership, including other former directors Andy Critchlow, Nigel Machin and Steve Burne.

Since the current Senior Leadership Team took the mantle in 2020, we have continued to build on the strong foundations laid before us, and despite the many obvious challenges of the past few years, the practice has gone from strength to strength. We have grown, diversified our sectors, broadened our client base, and put sustainability at the heart of everything we do, both as a business and in our enhanced service offering. Whilst we have grown, we have strived to keep the AEW values and family ethos and continue to be one of the Best Places to Work in Property.

To celebrate these achievements and to thank those who’ve worked with us along the way, we hosted a party on our terrace for some of our clients, staff and collaborators. From a timeline of our achievements, sharing staff photos through the years and guests including old and new staff, we took the opportunity to showcase our work and relationships from the past three decades as well as toasting our Birthday with a drink or two.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the event, and to everyone who has chosen to work with AEW over the past 3 decades, we couldn’t do what we do without a huge team effort.

Here’s to the next 30 years!

(Photography: Dave Phillips Photography)

May 2022 saw Caddick Construction commence construction at Arden Square, our second commission for Radius Payment Solutions, which has seen us design a 44,300 sqft office on the last remaining plot in Crewe Business Park.

The building is four storeys high and comprises two wings of workspace which flank a central amenity space. This area offers a barista coffee station and pizza bar, vertical circulation, breakout spaces, meeting rooms and a roof top ‘sky bar’ all arranged around a conical 4 storey atrium. The Star Wars themed bar provides event space for staff and customers which spills out onto a roof top terrace.

“Development of this exciting new building is key to our commitment to maintaining a great working environment for all of our employees,” said Radius Payment Solutions chief executive Bill Holmes.

“I’m particularly excited that it will incorporate state-of-the-art testing, warehousing and dispatch facilities for our telematics business, supporting our ambition to become one of the true global leaders in this high-growth market.”

Completion is scheduled for summer 2023 and, when finished, will be close to Radius’ headquarters, which was also designed by Aew.

On Friday May 27th, we were delighted to see the opening of a new and improved Co-op in Steeple Claydon. The store has been carefully designed by Aew Architects, alongside a team of specialist consultants, to reduce carbon and energy use.

The 2,500 sqft store will support 16 local jobs and benefits from a wealth of sustainability features. Notably, 80%-100% of the foundations, superstructure, glazing, cladding and insulation materials used in the construction are fully demountable and able to be used again. Externally a living/green wall is incorporated to provide a local habitat for wildlife and lightweight PVs are installed on the roof to generate 24 MWh of electricity.

Further promoting sustainability to its customers, the store accommodates a recycle unit for ‘soft plastics’ where the community can recycle various packaging. Compostable carrier bags are also available for shoppers who forget their reusable bag.

Following it’s opening, the store’s energy performance will be monitored on an ongoing basis, with learnings taken from the build. The ambition is for learnings from this project to be used on future stores as part of the activities and measures in place to enable Co-op to achieve its ambitions to be net zero for its direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2040.

On Thursday 12th May, we attended Place North West’s Industrial + Logistics event. The conference, which was jointly sponsored by ourselves, Harworth, JMW, Waterman, Panattoni and Lexington, covered topics ranging from what’s driving record take-up to sustainability.

The audience first heard from Andrew Lynn, partner at DTRE who shared an overview on the market and results from recent research. This was followed by a panel session on the ‘State of the Market’.

Next up was panel session ‘Go Big or Go Home’ with Aew Director, Alan Lamb joining to discuss issues ranging from the planning process to what logistics developments may look like in 15 years. On the latter topic, Alan responded - “It’s tall buildings, it’s buildings that are designed to be adaptable, it’s buildings that need to be sustainable and energy generating… we can’t build rubbish now that we need to retrofit in 15 years – we should be building something now that we’ll be tweaking in 15 years.”

Read the full summary and view photos from the event on Place North West.

Thank you to everyone who attended and please get in touch if we can assist with any of your future industrial projects.

For the third time, an intrepid group of walkers took on the Cumbrian Challenge on the 14th May in support of Walking with the Wounded.

The charity provides early intervention programmes and speed up access to therapy to help change the lives of veterans and their families. They support those “who have fallen the furthest, men and women struggling with mental health issues, unemployment, homelessness or caught in police custody.”

We pulled together three teams to take on the challenge and help raise much needed funds for the charity, all taking on a walking route around the Lake District alongside teams of veterans. They all completed “The Tougher” challenge climbing 13 peaks over 32km with a 1885m ascent.

See our teams' fundraising pages below:

Team 1 (Dan, Josh & Sam) - https://join.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/fundraisers/aewteam1
Team 2 (Charlotte, Melinda, Cameron & Ryan) - https://join.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/fundraisers/aewteam2
Team 3 (Andy, Phil, Peter & Tom) - https://join.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/fundraisers/aewthree

Rob Foster, Social Value Committee Chair said before the event “We can’t wait to take on the Cumbrian Challenge once again this year. This event always causes a buzz around the office and it’s great to see so many new participants getting involved this year. Volunteering our time and raising money for charities and community projects is a key part of our Social Value Agenda and we’re delighted we can support the valuable work Walking with the Wounded do.”

As we continue our journey to embed more sustainable practices into all that we do, we’re proud to be able to share our updated Carbon Report.

In 2020, we committed to monitoring our carbon footprint, setting reduction targets and progressing on a journey to become net zero carbon as a business. In 2021, we updated our commitments to net zero carbon to align with the latest science under the UN Race to Zero through the SME Climate Hub. As such, we have incorporated our scope 3 emissions into our targets two years earlier than our previous commitment and have set a short-term reduction target to half our emissions by 2030, plus a long-term target for a 90% reduction by 2040.

Our Carbon Report for 2021 shows that we are on track to meet our carbon reduction targets, so far achieving a 21% reduction compared to our 2019 baseline year.

Our updated goals show a significant uplift in the level of our ambition and mark a commitment to long term emissions reduction rather than a reliance on offsetting. However, we stand by our original commitment and have begun to offset our residual emissions from this year, again moving faster than our initial plans. We have chosen to purchase Verified Carbon Standard carbon offsets to be Carbon Neutral in operation and also to invest in UK woodland creation and peatland restoration which has biodiversity, flood prevention and amenity benefits as well as longer term carbon benefits.

We look forward to continuing to monitor and report on our progress against our ambitious targets and working towards B’Corp Certification and ISO 14001 Accreditation in the coming year.

Read our full Carbon Report here to see our progress against our targets.

A huge congratulations to Emily, Kate and Michael for passing their final RIBA examination and interview!

All three are a fantastic example of our student development and mentoring programme. Emily and Kate first joined us for their Part I placements in 2017, before returning to the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) and gaining a Distinction in their Master’s Degrees. They then re-joined us in 2018 as Part II Assistants. Michael meanwhile joined the Practice in 2019 as a Part II Assistant following completion of his Master’s Degree, also gaining a Distinction from the MSA.

During their time with the practice, all three have worked on a wide range of projects across all our key sectors and followed our Part I and Part II pledges, which provide a clear programme of coaching, mentoring and continued learning to support the achievement of professional chartership status.

“We are extremely proud of Emily, Kate and Michael for passing their RIBA exams following a difficult 24 months. All are a great asset to Aew and we look forward to continuing our support of their development throughout their careers.” Colin Savage, Commercial Director.

Continuing our Frameworks success, we’re delighted to announce that we have secured a place on the Architectural Lot of the Rise Framework.

The Rise Framework is free to join, efficient and fully Public Contract Regulations (PCR) compliant – essentially providing a one-stop-shop for clients' capital works and services needs. The Framework is capable of supporting the delivery of projects ranging from £50k to £15m within the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside and North Wales. Rise are innovative in their approach, reinvesting their profits into the local communities of their clients to deliver social value.

The contract adds to a growing number of frameworks to which we are appointed, see full details here.

We look forward to working with Rise and their clients over the next 4 years.

Following a planning application late last year, we were delighted to see Flintshire County Council grant our project for Industrie Cartarie Tronchetti (ICT) planning approval last month.

Our proposals for ICT comprise a new 1.3m sq ft manufacturing facility on a 23.74 ha site within Flintshire’s Northern Gateway area. The proposals for the facility have been carefully designed to allow for its phased development, with the delivery of the manufacturing, storage and distribution areas as well as ancillary buildings and plant carefully timetabled to meet the commercial needs of ICT. The proposals also include a purpose-built office building.

It is hoped that redeveloping this part of the former RAF Sealand site will result in the creation of over 400 jobs and provide a multi-million pound boost to the area’s economy. The Welsh Government has provided £5m towards the facility as part of a larger investment to move the development of the Northern Gateway forward.

We are working alongside BWB, RPS, Curtins, Cundall, Amion, Tyler Grange, Spawforths, SGi Consulting Engineers, Arcadis and Barry Chinn Landscape Architects on the scheme.

We are delighted to announce we are now able to offer our clients both BREEAM Accredited Professional and BREEAM Assessment services, further broadening of sustainability offer.

These new services will be delivered by Sustainability Manager Peter Bartley. Peter has over 14 years’ industry experience providing energy and sustainability consultancy services across a broad range of sectors. He has specialist experience carrying out whole life cycle assessment, dynamic building modelling and advising and informing BREEAM and net zero strategies. He has also been at the forefront of whole life cycle assessment methods since 2018.

As a BREEAM Accredited Professional, Peter is available to offer sustainability advice on new build and refurbishment schemes, guiding through the assessment process and helping to achieve sustainability and BREEAM goals. Furthermore, as a licensed BREEAM Assessor, Peter can also manage the formal assessment process and apply for certification on behalf of our clients.

Integrating BREEAM services into our Architectural offering allows us to engage with BREEAM at the earliest opportunity, designing in sustainability from the outset and facilitating the highest levels of certification.

If you’d like to learn more about our BREEAM services and how we can work with you, please get in contact.

We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for ‘Architects Practice of the Year’ in the Insider North West Property Awards 2022.

The aim of the awards is to highlight “the best deals and developments of the past year – and salute the resilience, tenacity and drive of the people who are making them happen.”

This is the third time we have been shortlisted in this category and we are delighted to see the team being recognised in this way following a highly successful 12 months. We have continued to work on a diverse range of projects across the North West and beyond for both new and long-standing clients. We have added strength and depth to the business with the addition of Sustainability Manager Peter Bartley and eight internal promotions.

Additionally, we have continued to deliver a positive impact on the environment, the community, our clients and our employees. Recent highlights include joining the UN Race to Zero through the SME Climate Hub, the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, undertaking the B-Corp assessment and broadening our services to offer BREEAM and Passivhaus expertise. We have also committed to becoming net zero carbon by 2040.

We have been resilient and successful through unprecedented times... we have an amazing team, many established clients across a diverse range of sectors, robust systems and are in a strong financial position.” Andy Rainford, Managing Director

For a full list of the finalists in all 14 categories, please visit Insider.

We recently supported McDonald’s, ‘Class of Your Own’ (COYO) and Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Glasgow, to provide a free virtual work experience programme for young people in Scotland. The initiative, which is part of My Climate Path, a COP26 educational legacy project led by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and funded by the Scottish Government, challenged young students to design a net-zero McDonald’s restaurant for their local community.

130 students from eight local authorities signed up to the initiative, which aimed to encourage sustainable thinking and provide insight into careers in construction and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). During the week, pupils were introduced to the concept of a ‘net zero’ design and were asked to design an inclusive, modern restaurant. Pupils produced a written report and submitted this for moderation. All pupils who successfully completed the course received a “DEC CONNECT Award” endorsed certificate, a valuable material for their CV and future job prospects.

As long-term partners of McDonald’s and ongoing supporter of COYO, we were invited to assist in the preparation of information videos for the programme and attended virtual workshops throughout the week to share our retail design and sustainability knowledge with students. Representatives from across the practice took part, ranging from our Sustainability Manager Peter Bartley to Trainee Architectural Assistant Johan John – a former COYO student himself.

Andrew Rainford said “We are committed to protecting the environment through our services and business activities and were honoured to be invited to work with partners, McDonald’s, Class Of Your Own and My Climate Path, to help guide the industry’s next generation in sustainable design. We shared our architectural, interior design and sustainability knowledge and expertise with students and were delighted to see their final net zero restaurant proposals!”

Gareth Hudson, Development Director at McDonald’s UK, said: “We’re so pleased to have been able to work on such a beneficial project with such talented students around Scotland – whilst helping to support their education. At McDonald’s, we believe that our food needs to be served in restaurants that are truly sustainable. We believe Net Zero is the future, and we recently demonstrated this with the launch of our Market Drayton restaurant, but we still don’t have all the answers. We’re always looking for ways to improve, which is why projects like this are so important. We were blown away by the standard of entries and hope to be able to take some of them forward into future McDonald’s design and development.”

As part of the ongoing COP26 educational legacy, My Climate Path, DYW Glasgow will run another week of the free virtual work experience programme in March 2022 following such a successful launch. See further details.

We are delighted to welcome Stewart Grant to the team to provide strategic business advice and support as we look to continued improvement and further growth in the coming years.

Stewart is a highly experienced Architect and a knowledgeable and respected property industry business consultant. He is grounded in managing the operational aspects of architecture practices and is passionate about creating the right opportunities for businesses and individuals to develop.

Stewart’s initial remit at Aew will include advising on our:

• Business Plan/Strategy
• Management Development Programme – including soft skills, coaching and mentoring
• Sector and service planning
• HR activities – including collating staff feedback
• Business Development Strategy

Alongside further investment in our people, processes and systems, we hope to harness Stewart’s skills and experience in the coming months, to develop and implement a robust new Business Plan going forward.

We recently featured in Place North West with a profile of our new office at Trinity Manchester.

In the words of Place "The award-winning architectural practice has crafted a new home with Instagram-worthy views, implementing its sustainability principles while offering seamless hybrid working integration."

To read the full article visit the Place North West website.

Following his completion of the Passive House Institute’s final exam, we’re delighted to announce that Architect Dan Sutton has become a Certified Passive House Designer.

This qualification is testament to Dan’s hard work studying Passivhaus design, as well as his extensive experience working on some of our most high-profile accommodation projects across the North West.

It has been ten years since the UK’s first Passivhaus building and since then, uptake of the ultra-low-energy design approach has increased, with over 1400 certified Passivhaus ‘units’ completed to date and 7,000 currently under development. Most of these buildings in the UK are commissioned by housing associations and ecologically concerned private clients and we look forward to working with both in the future to deliver more sustainable homes.

Supporting Dan to undertake this training and qualification is a further demonstration of our commitment to energy efficiency and taking action on climate change. These inhouse expertise also broaden our sustainability offer which already includes BREEAM Accredited Professional services and whole life-cycle assessments.

If you’d like to learn more about our Passivhaus design services and how we can help you, please get in contact.

We're delighted to announce that we have made a number of strategic promotions as we look towards another year of continued growth.

Danielle Purves and Alex Southall have both been promoted to the role of Director, joining Managing Director Andrew Rainford and Directors Colin Savage, Alan Lamb and Phil Hepworth to lead the practice.

Alex originally joined Aew in 2005 as a Part I and since then has risen through the practice, becoming an Associate Director in 2017. With a strong track record in the sector, Alex will co-lead Aew’s growing portfolio of industrial projects. He will also continue to lead the practice’s work with Ronald McDonald House Charities UK nationwide.

Danielle also joined Aew in 2005 as a junior interior designer, working her way up to becoming an Associate Director in 2010. Danielle has worked extensively with longstanding clients McDonald’s Restaurants and Domino’s Pizza during her career and will now take the lead in the practice’s retail roll-out work. She will also continue to lead the practice’s interior design team, working across all sectors.

The appointments to Director level are reinforced with several other Senior Leadership Team and management promotions. Ben Robinson and Dave Somers have been promoted to the role of Associate Director and Hannah Cook and Ben Smith have been made Associates.

Elsewhere, Peter Bartley has joined the practice as Sustainability Manager and Dan Sutton has become an Accredited Passivehaus designer, to support us to achieve our net zero carbon targets and help diversify our sustainability service offer.

Andy Rainford, Managing Director said “It’s fantastic to recognise the significant contribution of two longstanding members of the team with their promotion to Directors, which really reflects our strong culture of development and progression from within. Both Alex and Danielle have excelled in client service and project delivery over many years and will add strength and diversity to the board.

“The Director appointments are accompanied by further thoroughly well-deserved promotions across the practice, as we both recognise the specialist skills, knowledge and experience of our team and also bolster our management structure as we continue to improve and grow the practice.”

The senior leadership team restructure is a key part of our growth strategy, allowing us to better manage our 80+ strong team and better service our projects across the North West and beyond.

Our Pioneer Place scheme reached another major milestone last week, with the project partners breaking ground on the mixed-use development. The project is being delivered in a public-private partnership between Maple Grove Developments and Burnley Council with construction by Eric Wright Construction.

We originally secured planning approval for the site in 2020 but, due to changes brought about by Covid-19, worked with the project partners to revise our proposals which were approved in March 2021. We’re therefore delighted to see the scheme take this next step forward with work starting on site. In total the project comprises a seven-screen cinema with five new food and beverage units, all centred around new public realm and a refurbished Curzon Street car park.

Nik Puttnam, senior development manager at Maple Grove Developments, said: “The partnership with Burnley Council has overcome a great number of challenges to reach this point and the project team must be congratulated for their unwavering commitment to the scheme and to the continued regeneration of Burnley town centre.

“Our vision to create a leisure quarter that will diversify the evening economy here in Burnley is finally being realised.”

Burnley Council leader Cllr Afrasiab Anwar said: “It’s fantastic to see this major project get underway. Burnley Council has been determined to forge ahead with this exciting and ambitious project and now it is becoming a reality.

“Pioneer Place will bring new visitors to Burnley town centre during the day and into the evening, deliver new jobs and support the growth of the rapidly-expanding UCLan campus. It will help diversify what the town centre has to offer to residents and visitors alike and help boost the local economy.”

We’re delighted to announce that our 24-apartment scheme on Manchester’s King Street has received planning approval from Manchester City Council.

Together with client DTZ Investors and Project Manager Cogent BC, we have developed proposals to reconfigure 58-66 King Street to bring city-centre living to the famous shopping destination. The scheme includes 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments over four floors. The apartments will offer luxury accommodation for rental.

The new development includes the refurbishment and conversion of a former retail and office unit to the upper parts of three historic buildings into residential accommodation including a new entrance and ancillary space at ground and basement level, high-end finishes and new mechanical and electrical services.

The works will be in keeping with the buildings historical nature, character and listed status of 62 King Street by retaining the existing features.

Tom Royston from DTZ Investors said: “It is our vision to create a brand for King Street where all components are complementary. We are delighted that the residential scheme we have submitted for planning has been approved. This scheme not only mirrors our vision for the brand and our retail and office space offering but also adds another aspect to the famous district.

“City centre living is on the rise across Manchester. King Street offers a mass of amenities in its immediate surroundings which will make it a brilliant place to call home. Most of the residential offering features high-rise towers so we hope to offer something a bit different with character on King Street.

Director Phil Hepworth said of the milestone: “With the aim to provide luxury accommodation befitting this prestigious address, our design strategy has been to utilise the existing building and layout to its maximum advantage, retaining as much of the historical building and its features as possible to create a unique residential offer. We’re delighted to see the scheme now achieve planning.”

Following approval, work is set to start on site in Spring 2022 with completion scheduled for Q3 of 2023.

­­Working with developer Quorum, we have submitted a planning application for two industrial units on a three-acre site off George Richards Way in Broadheath, Altrincham. The site was formerly home to the Cartwright Trailer Company.

The first of the proposed buildings will offer 37,000 sqft of space, including room for offices and a mezzanine. The second will offer 25,000 sqft.

The architectural language of the units is in keeping with other industrial units in the surrounding area and has evolved to address issues of scale, materiality and creating visual interest in line with relevant planning policies.

“These two new units will provide best in class accommodation aimed at the increasingly active SME market,” said Knight Frank industrial and logistics partner Sam Royle.

“They will help meet increasing demand across the South Manchester market where there is a distinct lack of available modern stock and record low vacancy rates,” he continued.

If the application to Trafford Council is successful, Quorum plans to start work on the site in summer 2022 and complete both units in early 2023.

We have started 2022 as we mean to go on by taking part in “Red January”. Our team have been challenged to exercise every day to help ensure a happy and healthy start to the year.

To make things interesting, over the course of the month, we will run or walk the equivalent distance of Route 66 – 2,448 miles. With the health and wellbeing of our team more important than ever, this is a great way to enable everyone to work together and stay active.

As well as our teams health and wellbeing, we are supporting the environment and converting healthy habits into seedlings using the AtlasGo app to record our distance throughout the month.

See the Red January website for more details on getting involved.

The RIBA have developed voluntary performance targets for operational energy use, water use and embodied carbon. The performance targets align with the future legislative horizon and set a challenging but achievable trajectory to realise the significant carbon reductions necessary by 2030, in order to have a realistic prospect of achieving net zero carbon for the whole UK building stock by 2050.

By signing up to this challenge we will be encouraging our clients on our most significant projects to attempt to meet these targets and to carry out light touch post occupancy analysis to verify this performance following the first year of occupation.

The benefits to our clients of having projects that meet the in-use energy and water consumption targets include:

• Supporting net zero business models and buildings’ role within these.
• Demonstrating progress against client’s ESG commitments.
• Leadership ahead of business-as-usual approaches.
• Potential for reduced capital costs in face of rising material prices as embodied carbon targets push towards leaner and more efficient designs using less material.
• Reduced whole life operating costs as buildings are more efficient and cheaper to run.
• Accurate forecasting of expenditure in face of rising operating costs since targets are performance targets of actual use.
• Increased levels of occupant comfort and satisfaction driven by focus on quality and commission required to meet performance targets.
• Greater insight and clarity of client’s own environmental and carbon footprint.
• Mitigates risks of non-compliance with any future regulations and mandatory performance declarations.
• Provides the opportunity for recognition of exemplar building portfolios, future rounds of RIBA Awards submissions will require information on performance against the Challenge to be submitted.

We have reached practical completion at our industrial scheme Warrington South on the Appleton Thorn Industrial Estate. Working for client Mileway, we have helped transform the site to deliver a 50,400 sqft warehouse unit.

The high-quality unit has been carefully designed to meet institutional standards, which we have tailored to address local market conditions through close liaison with the client, design and agency teams. In addition to warehousing space, the unit benefits from first floor offices, extensive yards and car parking facilities. The scheme is fully let.

This our first completed scheme for Mileway, but we continue to work together on a 76,550 sqft industrial development at the Norquest Industrial Site in Birstall, Leeds which is now on site.

Building on our commitment to inspire the industry’s next generation, we’re delighted to announce that we have “adopted” Ashton on Mersey School under the ‘Class Of your Own’ (COYO) programme. For the next three years, we will support COYO’s ‘Design Engineer Construct!’ initiative which helps young people “discover unique pathways into architecture, engineering and construction careers”.

Together with the School, we have established an after-school architecture club and will be delivering the COYO “A Home for Everyone” DEC Award to help introduce the students to architecture and the wider construction industry.

We are utilising our Sale West masterplanning project which is near to the school, as a case study and training aid. We have recently given students a walking tour of the estate, which is undergoing a phased regeneration designed by Aew for Irwell Valley Homes, to explain the scheme and allow students to select a site for their housing project. Students then met with the main contractor, Seddon Construction, who showed the students the houses that were nearing completion and explained the benefits of working on site and potential career paths.

As the school year progresses, we plan to host a series of sessions with the students ranging from inclusive design to interior design which will help them develop their housing proposals. This will be complemented by practical skills such as digital and physical modelling to help them communicate their final work.

The adoption is the latest in a series of support with have provided to COYO. We have previously hosted two of their students as Trainee Architectural Technicians, both of whom have now progressed to completing a Degree Apprenticeship in Architectural Technology whilst also working at Aew. We have also recently supported their contribution to the ‘My Climate Path’ COP 26 education legacy initiative for students in the Glasgow city region – guiding them to design a Net Zero Restaurant for long-standing Aew client McDonald’s.

We look forward to continuing with our partnership in the coming years and to working closely with COYO and the teachers and students at Ashton on Mersey School.

We are proud to be a long-term partner of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). We are their retained architects where, throughout our 16-year partnership, we have designed and delivered new Houses across the UK for the families of sick children being treated at nearby hospitals.

This work has helped us recognise the amazing work the charity does in providing home-away-from-home accommodation to families. We’re therefore committed to raising funds and supporting RMHC and our team jumped at the chance to work with RMH Manchester once again this Christmas. Together we:

• Volunteered at and sponsored tables at the Manchester Gala Dinner
• Undertook window painting for the RMH Manchester ‘Christmas Bedside Appeal’
• Decorated Christmas Trees throughout RMH Manchester
• Produced and sold Christmas cards and decorations
• Hosted a Christmas jumper day, lunch and raffle – welcoming guests from RMHC and the Steve Burne Charitable Trust to join us

Together we raised £656, which Aew have committed to double to £1312 – this will pay for a family to stay 52 nights at the Manchester House.

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for having us on Wednesday, we had a really great time meeting the team and seeing your new office. You all put in so much effort for the Christmas Jumper Day, raffles, food and fun! Thank you!” – Kathryn Tighe, Corporate Partnerships – RMHCUK

We spent Friday 19th November supporting “Football Shirt Friday” in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

We believe our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees and welcomed the opportunity to support this cause once again by donning our favourite strip.

We held a football themed sweepstake and quiz and wore our favourite football shirts (some more niche than others). Most importantly, together we raised £470 – well done to the whole team!

Why not join in next year? Full details available here.

With the current focus on climate action during COP26, we have updated our business net zero ambitions to join the UN Race to Zero. We want to make sure that our corporate targets are robust, align with the current science and that our commitment helps drive global leadership on climate action.

Our commitment to the UN Race to Zero through the SME Climate Hub ensures that our targets cover our complete scope of business emissions including business travel. We’ve taken the step to include business travel in our carbon reduction targets ahead of our previous commitment to do so by 2023.

Our initial targets committed us to halve our office emissions (scope 1 & 2) by 2025, and we remain on track to meet this target. However, we are now also including all of our business travel (scope 3) and are committing to halve these total emissions by 2030. We are also committing to a long-term net zero goal of 2040, 10 years before the 2050 Paris targets, in line with The Climate Pledge.

We had committed to use credible offsets to compensate for our remaining carbon footprint from 2025, and will continue to do so, but want to demonstrate that a science-based net zero goal must include significant emissions reductions before any residual emissions are offset. As such we have shifted our net zero commitment to 2040 at which point, we will have reduced our emissions by 90% in line with the definitions of our SME Climate Hub and The Climate Pledge commitments.

We will fully detail our progress towards these goals and the context of our enhanced commitments against our initial targets in our next annual Carbon Report for the 2021 calendar year.

Although it is really important for Aew to show climate leadership and reduce our direct and business travel emissions, our annual corporate emissions could be as little as 2% of the embodied carbon of one of our major projects. So, to bolster our existing commitments to Architects Declare we have also joined the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge to help support our clients in setting ambitious but achievable performance targets for embodied carbon, operational energy and water use on our most significant schemes.

We signed up to UK Architects Declare Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in September 2020, and with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) currently running in Glasgow and highlighting the need for urgent action, we have been reflecting on our progress against this commitment one year on.

We have made the decision to publish our review to be fully transparent about how we are evolving to embrace regenerative architecture and embed more sustainable practices in everything that we do. You can view our full statement here.

We intend to update this document annually to record our continuous improvement along this journey for reducing the downstream environmental impacts of our projects. We similarly publish an annual carbon report to be transparent about our journey to become a net zero business for our corporate impacts.

We have appointed Peter Bartley as Sustainability Manager to lead this process and with this appointment have brought in significant experience in delivering Life Cycle Assessment and carrying out operational energy simulations. Alongside our investment in additional software capabilities, we can now integrate analysis of whole life cycle carbon across our projects from the earliest design stages.

Over the next year, we aim to work closely with our pioneering clients to push the boundaries of environmental performance and work towards the RIBA 2030 Challenge, net zero and beyond.

To find out more about UK Architects Declare and to learn more about how signatories can convert their declaration into meaningful actions and build momentum within their practice, view their latest Practice Guide 2021.

We are delighted to announce we have strengthened our Management Team with the recent appointment of Sustainability Manager, Peter Bartley. The senior appointment forms a key part of our growth strategy and push to offer a wider range of sustainability services.

Peter has over 14 years’ industry experience providing energy and sustainability consultancy services across a broad range of sectors. He has specialist experience carrying out whole life cycle assessment, dynamic building modelling, advising and informing BREEAM and net zero strategies. He has been at the forefront of whole life cycle assessment methods since 2018.

“We’re delighted that Peter has joined us at what is an exciting time for the company. In March 2021, we declared our commitment to become a net zero carbon business and we believe Peter’s appointment will be integral to achieving this milestone. His skills will also allow us to diversify our sustainability service offer and he will work closely with teams across the practice to embed sustainable practices in everything that we do.” – Andy Rainford, Managing Director

If we can help you with any sustainability queries on current projects, or you want further details on the sustainability services we offer, please contact us.

On Thursday 21st October, we attended Place North West’s Future of Retail + Leisure event. The conference, which was jointly sponsored by ourselves and Kuits Solicitors, covered topics ranging from the evolving demands on town centre retail to convenience versus sustainability.

The audience first heard from James Tootle of Bruntwood Works who gave an update on the company’s project to redevelop Stretford Mall. James then joined a panel to discuss the future of retail and leisure.

Up next was Aew Director, Phil Hepworth who discussed changes in consumer behaviour and updated the audience on our town centre regeneration proposals for the Merseyway Stockport, Oldham Spindles and others. He discussed the common themes and challenges we’re facing and how we’re working with our clients to overcome these.

Speaking of Spindles, Phil said the site has “too much retail space and too high a vacancy rate”. Our proposals aim to consolidate retail space and introduce a complementary mix of new uses ranging from a new market and event space to civic offices and a heritage archive.

Phil then joined the second panel session to discuss retail and leisure as regeneration tools. Issues ranged from the anticipated return to high street shopping to the pros and cons of public funding.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event, please get in touch if we can assist with any of your future retail, leisure or mixed-use projects.

Read the full event summary and view the presentation slides on Place North West.

On Friday 22nd October, we supported Breast Cancer Now once again, taking part in their "Wear It Pink" campaign.

We believe that our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients, business partners and our employees and welcomed the opportunity to support such a great cause again this year.

We hosted a spooky Halloween themed Bake Off and wore pink to raise vital funds for this amazing charity! Together we collected £280 which Aew doubled to bring our total to £560.

See some of our spooky cake creations on our instagram page here.

On Friday 15th October we held our annual End of Year Presentation to review and celebrate our performance over the last financial year and share our plans and look forward to the next. We hosted the event in our new office for the first time, with the whole team in attendance, before heading out for a party at Impossible.

Despite the obvious constraints, FY 2020-2021 saw us deliver another strong performance. Below we summarise our year in numbers:

• 6% increase in net turnover
• 216 new projects
• 963 live projects
• 80 strong team of amazing people delivering fantastic projects for our clients
• 4 Promotions and 2 of our team became qualified Architects
• 82% ‘exceptional’ overall Net Promoter Score from our Annual Client Survey
• £6,605 pounds raised for charitable causes
• 11 people trained as mental health first aiders
• 5,588 sqft – the size of our new office
• 3 – the number of DPS & Frameworks we’ve been appointed to
• 5 – our position in Property Week’s “Best Places to Work in Property 2020”
• 44 new laptops and 36 remote desktops - investing in hybrid working

Managing Director, Andy Rainford concluded the presentation “We have been resilient and successful through unprecedented times. Whilst apart we have managed to remain together and delivered our goals.

“The year ahead will undoubtedly have its challenges, but we have an amazing team, many established clients across a diverse range of sectors, robust systems and are in a strong financial position.

“We are confident, but we must stay focused, strive for continuous improvement and live our values.”

With our expanded team and a strong pipeline of work, we look forward to another successful year in FY 2021-2022.

Following another successful financial year for the practice, we asked 147 of our clients to give us their honest feedback on our performance over the last 12 months as we look to continually improve our service offer and project delivery.

We asked a series of questions about our team and our work and used the Net Promotor Scoring (NPS)* system to evaluate the responses - which have turned out to be “Exceptional” across all areas:

• How would you rate our contactability and attitude? (NPS - 78)
• How would you rate our knowledge and skills? (NPS - 87)
• How would you rate our design quality? (NPS – 81)
• How would you rate the quality of our technical information? (NPS - 84)
• How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend, colleague or industry peer? (NPS - 81)

We also invited our clients to share further comments and are delighted to share the following highlights:

“The attention to detail and accessibility to the right staff makes a difference. Working with a practice that both cares and has the technical capability to deliver is refreshing and actually quite rare these days as practices rarely have both.” – Gareth Smith, StepPlaces.

“I have always found Aew to be pro-active in finding solutions to issues on projects, prepared to roll up their sleeves and be a team player…” - Nik Puttnam, Maple Grove Developments.

“…Aew are always the first name on our recommended list.” - Tom Smith, CBRE

For each response received, we made a £10 donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities on the respondents behalf. These donations will help provide free 'home away from home' accommodation to the families of sick children being treated in nearby hospitals.

Thank you to all our clients who took part this year.

____

*Net Promotor Score (NPS) is an internationally recognised client feedback system, whereby clients rate us from 0 (not at all pleased) to 10 (extremely pleased). The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of ‘Detractors’ (0-6) from ‘Promotors’ (9-10) multiplied by 100. Whilst NPS scores vary across industries, a positive NPS (i.e. one that is higher than zero) is generally deemed ‘Good’, an NPS of +50 is generally deemed ‘Excellent’, and anything over +70 is ‘Exceptional’.

Following a busy period of bidding, we’re delighted to announce that we have secured places on two industry leading Frameworks – Cutting Edge and Fusion 21.

We are appointed to the Architectural Services Lots of the Cutting Edge Framework. The Framework aims to support the delivery of social housing developments including affordable housing, affordable rent, affordable shared ownership, outright sale and older persons housing across the north of England. This is the first time we have been appointed to the Framework.

We have also been appointed to the Architectural Lot of the Fusion 21 Framework for the second time. The Framework is designed to support public sector organisations, including housing, education and healthcare providers to deliver their capital work programmes.

Phil Woodhead, Category Manager at Fusion 21 said - “We are delighted to welcome all of the new suppliers onto the framework, including Aew Architects. The tender process was highly competitive and the process has identified the best consultants for our members to use.

"A further, real benefit to our members and their communities is the social value delivery that is aligned to organisational priorities and can be monitored and reported against for all call offs.”

We look forward to working with the members on both Frameworks over the next 4 years.

We spent Friday 24th September raising money and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support by hosting a Coffee Morning in our new office!

We believe that our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees and welcomed the opportunity to support Macmillan again this year.

We baked (and bought) cakes, took part in a sweepstake a quiz and a raffle and are extremely proud to have raised vital funds for this amazing charity!

Why not join in next year? Full details available here.

We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for ‘Architects Practice of the Year’ in the Insider North West Property Awards 2021.

The aim of the awards is to highlight “the best deals and developments of the past year – and salute the resilience, tenacity and drive of the people who are making them happen.”

This is the second time we have been shortlisted in this category and we are delighted to see the team recognised in this way following a highly successful 18 months. Despite 2020’s challenges, we have continued to work on a diverse range of projects across the North West and beyond for both new and long-standing clients and remain on track to achieve a 5% increase in turnover for this financial year.

Furthermore, we have continued to deliver a positive impact on the environment, the community, our clients and our employees. Recent highlights include our commitment to becoming a net zero carbon business by 2025, achieving Investors in People ‘We Invest in Wellbeing’ silver and being named one of Property Week’s ‘Best places to Work in Property’ for the third consecutive year.

For a full list of the finalists in all 15 categories, please visit Insider.

Further to our ongoing regeneration work on the Sale West Estate, we have made a commitment to deliver a range of social value benefits to the community alongside our client Irwell Valley Housing Association and main contractor Seddon. Our latest contribution has seen us donate laptops to Local Big Initiative “Our Sale West”.

In addition to fuel and food poverty, there are also many people who are at a disadvantage due to technology poverty with limited access to IT. To help mitigate this issue in the local area, we have donated 21 of our laptops to Our Sale West to support their Tea and Tech Club and their computer loan scheme. In addition to supporting digital connectivity in the local area, the initiative has also helped us meet our sustainability commitments by diverting waste from landfill.

AEW Director Colin Savage commented “We are pleased to be able to donate these computers, supporting a great initiative which makes IT accessible to all members of the community in order to help them access education and employment and connect to valuable services via the internet.”

We look froward to continuing to support the local community as the Sale West projects progresses.

Following close working with Oldham Council and CBRE, we were delighted to see the Council launch its transformational proposals for Oldham Spindles this summer. Our designs for the 450,000 sqft shopping centre include a new market, flexible offices, event space and a heritage archive.

The acquisition of Spindles by the Council in November 2020 was completed with the aim of bringing forward the redevelopment of the shopping centre. The site presents an excellent development opportunity to repurpose a significant space in the heart of the town centre.

Our brief was to explore the potential for complementary alternative uses. The aim to reduce the amount of retail space and strengthen and improve the retail offer, whilst utilising redundant space for complementary alternative uses.

A major part of our proposals includes the provision of a new market. Above the market hall would be a large split-level events venue with roof-top views of the borough. The plans also accommodate a new heritage archive designed to showcase artefacts from Oldham’s arts and heritage services.

The Spindles proposals are part of Oldham’s Creating a Better Place strategy to create more than 2,000 new homes in Oldham town centre, 100 apprenticeship opportunities and 1,000 new jobs. Creating a Better Place also aims to unlock £285m in investment for the town.

Oldham Spindles is the latest in a number of town centre regeneration projects we are working on across the North West with other ongoing commissions in Radcliffe for Bury Council and at the Merseyway shopping centre for Stockport Council.

We’re delighted to announce that we have moved. As of Tuesday 7th September, our new office can be found at:

7th Floor, Trinity Court
16 John Dalton Street
Manchester
M2 6HY

Despite growing as a practice, we have reduced our office size and instead focussed on providing a flexible, collaborative space which champions our “Together we” culture. Our new office, which has been designed by our inhouse interior design team, offers a range of workspaces, enhanced IT hardware and improved video conferencing facilities - all aimed at better supporting our hybrid working arrangements.

The seventh floor also offers a bright floorplate with fantastic panoramic views across the Manchester skyline and three external balconies. The building meanwhile offers a range of amenities from car parking, bike stores and showers to an onsite coffee shop.

“We are thrilled to be in our fantastic new home, which will provide us all with the highest quality environment in which to work and collaborate, along with promoting the health and wellbeing of our team. We look forward to welcoming you to our new office soon.” Andrew Rainford, Managing Director.

For the second time, an intrepid group of walkers from Aew have taken on the Cumbrian Challenge in support of Walking with the Wounded.

The charity provides early intervention programmes and speed up access to therapy to help change the lives of veterans and their families. They support those “who have fallen the furthest, men and women struggling with mental health issues, unemployment, homelessness or caught in police custody.”

Aew pulled together three teams to take on the challenge and helped raise much needed funds for the charity. All took on a walking route around the Lake District alongside teams of veterans. Team 3 completed “The Tough” challenge climbing 9 peaks over 25km with an ascent of 1700m. Meanwhile, Teams 1 and 2 took on “The Tougher” challenge climbing 13 peaks over 32km with a 2000m ascent.

To donate to any of our teams please visit their fundraising pages below:

• Team 1 (Dan, Rob, Rob & Ross) - https://join.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/fundraisers/aew1
• Team 2 (Matt, Anna, Eleanor & Jonny) - https://join.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/fundraisers/AEW2
• Team 3 (Mark, Melinda, Stephen & Naeema) - https://join.walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/fundraisers/AEW3

Rob Foster, Social Value Committee Chair said before the event “We can’t wait to take on the Cumbrian Challenge once again this year. Volunteering our time and raising money for charities and community projects is a key part of our Social Value Agenda and we’re delighted we can take on this challenge to support the valuable work Walking with the Wounded do.”

We are delighted to announce that we are soon to relocate to Trinity Manchester. Our team are taking the 5,588 sqft seventh floor of the John Dalton Street building, which was recently renovated by Helical.

The relocation has come at the right time, enabling us to consider our ongoing office requirement in response to the change in the ways of working brought about by Covid-19. We have fully embraced hybrid home / office working, seeing this as not just a temporary fix, but a long-term shift to offer a better work / life balance for our team - demonstrating our core values by putting wellbeing first.

“We wanted to provide the highest possible quality environment to encourage our team back to the office.” Says Andrew Rainford, managing director “We conducted a survey to find out what our people wanted from an office and Trinity ticked all the boxes - striking the right balance of space, cost and quality.”

We have worked hard with our team to understand what the future work environment looks like and to identify the key functions of our office, which have informed our interior strategy. Our response has been to reduce our office size and instead focus on designing a flexible, collaborative space which champions our “Together we” culture. We have invested significantly in technology-enabled workplace infrastructure, that supports individual and collaborative work now and into the future for both our team and our clients across the office and remote locations.

Trinity provides fantastic panoramic views across the Manchester skyline with 3 private external balconies which will provide a balanced sanctuary away from our busy city centre location. Additional amenities include bike stores, showers, and an in-house coffee shop.

The fit-out will be an opportunity for us to showcase our in-house interior design expertise to our clients, leading by example through reimaging the office environment for the post-pandemic workplace.

Danielle Purves, associate director and interior design lead said “Developing the right strategy and best approach to our move has allowed us to take a hybrid step change to our new office environment. For the interior aesthetic we set about forming a palette that seamlessly complimented the natural and open penthouse space. We layered into our designs a consideration for sustainable design, embedding our core principles into the spaces. We have incorporated natural, warm materials to create an interior that represents us as a practice. All specifications considered longevity and varied functionality to best suit our agile workstyles and provide flexibility in everyday use.”

Richard Dinsdale, director at Edwards & Co said “We are delighted that AEW Architects have chosen to relocate their business to Trinity, which further enhances the strength and diversity of the building’s tenant profile. With their creative influence, we expect their new penthouse office to sit amongst some of the most special working environments within the city.”

Our innovative fit-out is being delivered by TMT Commercial Contractors Limited, with work scheduled to complete in late August and we are aiming to move in September 2021.

We look forward to welcoming you to Trinity soon.

A £40m Levelling Up Fund bid, aimed at creating a new civic hub in Radcliffe and upgrading Bury Market, has been lodged by Bury council.

Working closely with the Council and CBRE, we have supported the development of proposals for the new civic hub which is located in the heart of Radcliffe on the south block of the existing 1960s town centre precinct.

Our plans propose a new purpose-built, high-quality development including wet and dry leisure, library, and learning facilities, as well as office accommodation for council and NHS services. The hub will also offer retail units, food and beverage outlets and community events space.

The refurbishment of the Radcliffe market basement, the adjacent market chambers building, the realignment of the public plaza and access to the river via a new balcony also form part of the bid and are key components of the scheme.

The chambers will provide a mix of retail, food and beverage and co-working space with views over the river. The market basement will provide much needed events space for the Market, unlocking the potential for the already highly successful market to expand its offer and cater for events it currently struggles to accommodate. The public realm will be redesigned to allow for external events and spill out for the proposals. New food and beverage space opposite the market will front a widened public realm activating this currently functional link.

“We are hugely excited and privileged to have been involved in this ambitious scheme. It is yet another example of a local authority taking control of the destiny of its towns to halt the decline of the high street with a game changing, innovative public facing building.

“The proposal seeks to kickstart the ambitious SRF masterplan by providing a new purpose built, 360-degree development and refurbishing underutilised existing building stock both seeking to compliment and build on the success of the rejuvenated Radcliffe Market. A reimagined library offering, enhanced public services, flexible community space and fully accessible state of the art leisure facilities alongside coworking and event space will help drive ‘whole day’ footfall into the area benefiting other local businesses and breathing life into the town.

“The building form, design and materiality seek to bring a bespoke modern focal point to the centre which is context driven to create a street scene which is distinctively Radcliffe.” -Phil Hepworth, Director

The £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund was announced at the Budget in March and councils can submit one bid of up to £20m for each Parliamentary constituency it has.

“Response, recovery and regeneration are the overriding priorities for the council,” said Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, leader of Bury Council…With these bids we are stepping up our ambitions to create the largest regeneration in a generation for the people of our borough.”

The council is expected to learn the outcome of its bids this autumn, and if successful, the funding would cover almost two thirds of the costs of both projects.

We’re proud to be supporting The University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) recently launched degree apprenticeship in Architectural Technology following calls from industry.

The University has introduced the degree apprenticeship route on the back of feedback from several regional businesses who want to develop their employees’ skills through study alongside on-the-job training.

Two of our team, Trainee Architectural Technicians Johan and Louis, will participate in the inaugural course. Both joined Aew through a partnership with the ‘Design Engineer Construct!’ (DEC) Learning Programme and it’s therefore fantastic to see both wanting to progress their architectural studies whilst continuing to work with us.

Commercial director of AEW Architects Colin Savage said: “A key priority in our current business plan is to ensure we continue to invest in our people and provide the appropriate support, training and opportunities for our future generations.

“It’s therefore great to be involved in this pioneering new course which provides an alternative route to becoming an Architectural Technologist. We look forward to supporting our degree apprentices to complete their studies.”

More information about UCLan’s new degree apprenticeship in architectural technology can be found on the UCLan website, or by emailing uclanapprenticeships@uclan.ac.uk

In May, we were delighted to see the completion of recladding works at two towers in Salford for which we’ve provided architectural services – Canon Hussey Court and Arthur Millwood Court – for contractor Casey and landlord Salix Homes.

Works at the two, 15 storey towers involved a complex programme, carried out under Covid restrictions, and included the removal and replacement of the existing cladding system, the installation of sprinklers and the refurbishment of communal areas.

The completion of the two towers is the culmination of Salix Homes’ cladding remediation programme. The Landlord were commended for their work by Dame Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG) and lead for the Government’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety following the Grenfell Tower Tragedy.

In a letter to Salix Homes, she said “As a social housing provider, it was clear to the ISSG that you have made a concerted commitment to address building safety. It was evident to us that there is a sense of genuine responsibility to put things right, supported by Salix Homes’ participation in the Early Adopter programme.”

This is the latest in a programme of recladding projects Aew are providing architectural services for. This has included the refurbishment of Albion Towers and Fitzwarren Court, also for Casey and Salix Homes, and a strong future pipeline of 16 towers. Notably, we have recently secured planning for the following:

• XQ7, Salford (1-Tower, 12-storeys)
• Advent One, Manchester (1-Tower, 6-storeys)
• Advent 2 and 3, Manchester (2-Towers, 6-storeys)
• Century Buildings, Manchester (1 Tower, 7-12 storeys)

For further details on how our team can help you meet your commitments to Building a Safer Future, read our summary here.

Following extensive work with Stockport MBC and advisors CBRE, we are delighted to see planning submitted for the redevelopment of the former BHS store in Merseyway, Stockport to improve the elevational appearance and create four retail units.

Planning permission is sought for elevational changes to deliver modern shop fronts at 22-34 Merseyway, and the removal of a canopy at 18-20 Merseyway. Our plans will also see the former department store divided into four smaller retail units to help bring the space back into use.

Externally, we propose the removal and replacement of the existing façade panels and glazing and the installation of a new double-height feature frame, cladding system and wall glazing in line with the wider Merseyway re-fronting strategy. This new frontage will wrap around the building to the Deanery Way elevation.

The remainder of the Deanery Way elevation is to be repaired and cleaned, including a set of 1970s concrete relief murals commissioned by BHS. At the Prince’s Street elevation, access is to be reconfigured to correspond with the internal alterations.

Stockport’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration Cllr David Meller described the BHS scheme as an “important strategic project” for the town and is the latest in several commissions we have with the Council and CBRE.

Since 2019, we have been working closely together to develop a vision for the town centre’s regeneration with a focus on the Merseyway. The aim is to transform the prominent town centre location with new shopfronts, improved public realm and community facilities. To date our work has included achieving planning consent for the redevelopment of Adlington Walk and the former Next and M&S units as well as helping secure £14.5 million from the Future High Streets Fund.

We look forward to seeing the scheme and the wider vision progress.

Our Glass Futures project took another major step forward this week, with planning permission granted for the 160,000 sqft research and innovation facility. We worked closely with client Network Space and end user Glass Futures to prepare the proposals and are delighted to have secured consent.

The £54m development will revive a 6.6 acre site, once home to United Glass, and will accommodate furnaces, a container glass production line alongside office, training and laboratory space. It will also allow for the future installation of a float glass production line. The facility will be used to deliver industry- and government-backed Research & Development projects focused on decarbonising glass production and will also provide a platform for the industry to test and trial their own commercial ideas.

The project team comprises an innovative partnership between Network Space, Glass Futures, the global glass supply chain, St Helens MBC, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and UKRI (UK Research and Innovation).

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Glass Futures has the potential to put our region at the forefront of the Green Industrial Revolution and make us a global leader in new technology.

“When complete, this project will help take St Helens proud history in glass making and bring it into the 21st century, creating lots of local jobs and drastically cutting carbon emissions.”

Bowmer + Kirkland has been appointed to build the facility following an open procurement process through the North West Construction Hub. Work is expected to begin on site this summer with completion targeted for December 2022 and the facility to become operational in 2023.

This year we’ve decided to super-size Mental Health Awareness Week, with a full month of activities and support for our team.

As members of the Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum (AMWF) and having recently gained Investors in people ‘We Invest in Wellbeing’ Silver, we believe safeguarding our team’s mental health is critical. This is why we have committed to a month of activities spearheaded by our Social Value Committee; these include:

• Regular Wellbeing tips
• Weekly photography competition focusing on themes such as “joy” and “adventure”
• Wellbeing walks around the city for those in the office

Furthermore, aware of the benefits of exercise on mental health, we have also launched our latest fundraising event for the Steve Burne Charitable Trust. The ‘Aew Walk, Run, Cycle & Swim’ is aiming to get our team to travel the equivalent distance that it would take to walk between each of the Ronald McDonald Houses we have delivered across the UK – 1,100 miles.

For full details on the event and to sponsor our team, please visit our Just Giving page here.

We’re delighted to share the news that the Aew designed South Gate, delivered by Contractor Casey for client One Manchester, has won ‘Affordable Housing Scheme of the Year’ at the Northern Housing Awards.

The aim of the awards is “to promote and celebrate innovative affordable housing providers, projects and services in the North that are helping to create great communities where people love to live.” we’re therefore delighted to see the scheme recognised in this way.

Our role on the South Street sites saw us design 8 new homes for affordable rent on one infill site and 27 homes on another in Openshaw, Manchester. The latter site comprised 12 shared ownership family houses and 15 contemporary bungalows.

With the end users of the bungalows to be those with dementia, these were designed using Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation (HAPPI) principles. The homes sit around a secure shared courtyard and garden enabling residents to live independently whilst using the external space for recreation. Each bungalow features large, glazed windows to flood the living spaces with daylight and provide a strong visual connection with the raised beds, sensory planting and summer house in the garden. A varied colour palette aids memory and way finding.

The judges said South Street is “a wonderful, integrated generational scheme that really embeds the needs of residents from design through to delivery and management.”

Congratulations to all the winners!

We are delighted to announce that our 173,000 sqft industrial scheme for Network Space “Raven Locks” has reached practical completion. The industrial scheme occupies a 14-acre site in Little Hulton, Salford.

Raven Locks comprises six warehouse units – three detached and self-contained ranging from 29,500 sqft to 61,000 sqft, aswell as a terrace of three further units ranging from 11,000 sqft to 19,000 sqft. Despite only recently completing, 100,000 sqft of the speculative development is already under offer.

Using our wealth of industrial knowledge and working in close liaison with the client and letting agents, we successfully maximised the development potential of the site whilst carefully considering the setting of the buildings. We also ensured the adaptability of the units and external areas to accommodate developing technologies to improve the development's letting potential.

The company’s development director Joe Burnett said: “We have seen a great level of interest in the scheme, which is testament to its quality and desirable last-mile location, as well as the depth in the market for this type of industrial space.

“By bringing this longstanding brownfield site back into use, it will bring a positive socioeconomic impact to the region by creating timely job opportunities for the local workforce that has been hit by the pandemic.”

This is the latest in a number of projects with Network Space, with other ongoing projects including the landmark Glass Futures facility in St Helens.

Rochdale Riverside Phase 2 took a major step forward this week with Rochdale Council approving plans for the mixed-use development. We have worked closely with clients Gener8 Developments and Kajima to develop the scheme, which forms part of the wider £400m town centre revamp, in collaboration with Rochdale Development Agency and Rochdale Council.

We have designed the 43,000sqft landmark office building which sits within the wider £50m mixed use scheme, along with 242 homes and a 147-bedroom Hampton by Hilton hotel.

The five-storey office building optimises the extremely constrained site, with high-quality office space wrapped around an efficient central core, maximising natural daylighting and passive ventilation. Futureproofing was a key driver, with flexible BCO compliant floorplates designed to suit open plan office, sub-division into smaller workspaces or future conversion into residential apartments.

The contemporary building form and elevations are carefully composed in response to the Town Head Conservation Area, adjacent listed buildings and the wider Rochdale town centre masterplan.

Mike Smith, founding partner at Genr8 Developments said “This is another significant step forward in the wider regeneration of Rochdale. This scheme will deliver high-quality hospitality, living and working space in a sustainable, thriving, and eclectic neighbourhood. Having a major brand such as Hilton as part of the development at this stage is extremely exciting.”

Contractor Willmott Dixon is on site preparing the site for the main phase of construction.

In recognition of World Autism Awareness Week, we spent the 31st March hosting our annual “Onesie Wednesday” in aid of the National Autistic Society.

We believe our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients, business partners and employees and welcomed the opportunity to support this cause once again.

Despite working from home, we still managed to “get together” to hold a sweepstake and raffle and play some virtual bingo, all whilst wearing our favourite onesies! Most importantly, together our team raised £270 which was matched by Aew, bringing our total donation to £540.

Well done to the whole team for their fundraising and to the Social Value Committee for organising!

Following close collaboration with client Maple Grove Developments and Burnley Council, we are pleased to announce that our revised proposals for Pioneer Place, Burnley have been granted planning consent by the Council.

The project is being delivered in a public-private partnership between Maple Grove Developments and the Council. It is expected to generate 120 news jobs, 180 construction jobs and £1.35m in gross value add to the local economy by providing a fresh day- and night-time leisure destination for the town and a quality food and beverage offer.

We originally secured planning approval for the site in 2020 but, due to changes brought about by Covid-19, have worked closely with the project partners to revise our proposals to provide a flexible new leisure development which responds to current market demand. Our new proposals retain a seven-screen cinema at the heart of the development with five new food and beverage units centred around a new public realm and a refurbished Curzon Street car park.

Nik Puttnam, senior development manager at Maple Grove Developments, said: "The importance of a vibrant town centre can’t be underestimated as we emerge from the Covid pandemic. With planning now secured we are looking to appoint Eric Wright Construction over the next couple of months and start on site this summer and Pioneer Place opening in spring 2023.

"We have interest in the restaurant units from regional and national operators and from independents, which are attracted to having a presence in this growing University town."

We look forward to seeing the scheme progress in the coming months.

On the 23rd March 2020, Boris Johnson announced a UK-wide lockdown to help curb the spread of covid-19. Whilst we had been preparing for that moment for a few weeks - buying a few extra laptops, stress testing the VPN, and rolling out Microsoft Teams training - it was still unbelievable that we opened 65 satellite offices overnight.

We quickly and successfully transitioned to home working but 1-year on we’re now looking back to see what we’ve learnt and how that can drive improvement going forward. We recently undertook a survey with our team to understand the highs and lows of home working and what the future working week and office environment may look like. We share our findings below:

• When we asked staff what the biggest benefits of working from home were, key themes included:
  • Not having to commute – saving money and time
  • Spending more time with families
  • Increased productivity and less interruptions
  • Increased physical health and improved diet
  • Improved work/life balance
• However, working from home wasn’t without its challenges, common issues were:
  • Balancing and separating work with home life
  • Missing the opportunity to collaborate in person with the team, clients and consultants
  • The absence of everyday/on the spot mentoring
  • Missing functional items such as printers and scanners
• Despite many welcoming the benefits of home working, our team still have an appetite to attend the office. But not all week. 77% stated they’d like to work in the office part time if our office was open today.
• The same is true of a non-covid world. The desire going forward is for a mix of office-based and home working. 79% of our team stated they’d like to work from home either 2 or 3 days a week.
• When we asked the team what they missed most working from home, the “people”, “camaraderie” and “atmosphere” were universally mentioned.

Our team are well equipped to work from home and have been doing so effectively and efficiently over the last 12 months. But virtual meetings cannot replace human interaction and we are keen to get back into the office, at least part-time, to experience the “buzz” of the workplace once more.

As we look to the next chapter of Aew and our planned office relocation we will look to incorporate much of what we’ve learnt. We will maintain benefits such as flexitime to support a positive work/life balance and will also aim to bring many of the aspects of working from home into the office environment. This may include offering a choice of work settings to allow for collaborative group or quiet individual working, providing sound-proof booths for video calls or external amenity space for staff to take time out.

We look forward to our phased return to the office in the coming weeks.

We are delighted to share the news that AEW Director Colin Savage has become a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT).

Colin originally became an Associate member in 1998 and a Chartered Architectural Technologist in 2004. Throughout this time, he has been embedded in the work of the Institute and has been awarded Fellow Membership in recognition of his significant contribution to, and excellence in, Architectural Technology. Colin is one of the first 60 Fellows to be named in this inaugural scheme.

Colin said of his Fellow Membership - “I am extremely honoured to be amongst the first members to be awarded the FCIAT designation. Continual personal and professional development is essential regardless of longevity in the industry and CIAT provide the governance and support to achieve this.

“My role at Aew allows me to work with a talented team of over 20 technologists who are at the forefront of delivering architectural technology. We work collaboratively, using the varied experiences of trainees through to chartered members, to support the profession. A high priority in our current business plan is to ensure we continue to invest in our people and provide the appropriate support, training and opportunities for our future generations.

“I look forward to using my Fellow Membership to continue to support and represent CIAT, its members and affiliates in the future.”

James Banks, CIAT Membership Director – “We appreciate and value the commitment and dedication to the profession and discipline of Architectural Technology demonstrated by Colin and Aew. Fellow Membership is an accolade of distinction and eminence which demonstrates the significant contribution to and excellence in Architectural Technology by Colin and Aew. We look forward to harnessing and evolving our longstanding professional and business to business relationship.”

We are proud to be a CIAT Chartered Practice. We currently have 10 CIAT members within our team with a number of others working towards Chartered Architectural Technologist, MCIAT status with the full support of the practice.

To see further details on the benefits of joining and qualifying with CIAT visit their website.

We've reinforced our Management Team, promoting three long-standing members of staff to new roles. Associate Dan O’Hara has been promoted to Associate Director whilst Architect Emma Thackstone and Architectural Technician Liam Barnett have become Associates.

Dan joined Aew as a Part I Architectural Assistant in 2010. He qualified as an Architect in 2015 and was promoted to an Associate in 2018. Dan works within Aew’s Industrial Team which has seen significant growth in the last 12 months and his promotion will see him take a broader role in managing projects for key clients such as Tritax Symmetry, Panattoni, Firethorn Trust and Quorum.

Emma also joined Aew as a Part I Architectural Assistant in 2010. Since qualifying as an architect in 2016, she has led the design and delivery of a number of very significant projects. This includes the recently completed, 62-bedroom Ronald McDonald House at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and the detailed design for PLP’s 832,000 sqft logistics centre at Knowsley.

Liam joined Aew in 2013, and since then has progressed from a Junior Technician to leading the new-build workstream for longstanding client McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd. Liam is a driving force for continuous improvement within our retail sector team and previously led the tenant liaison work for Derwent on Liverpool Shopping Park.

Andy Rainford, Managing Director has said of the promotions - “As we continue to progress and grow, we are always looking forward and are confident in making the appropriate changes to strengthen our management team at the right time. I’m therefore delighted to be able to announce the promotion of three longstanding, high performing members of the team.

“Both Dan and Emma originally undertook work experience placements with the practice before joining as Architectural Assistants and Liam joined us fresh from University - all three are fantastic examples of our culture of people development and progression from within.”

These promotions follow a strong period of growth for the practice, following the completion of an MBO by Andrew Rainford and Colin Savage in September 2020.

We are delighted to announce that our revised proposals for a 147-bedroom hotel, on a constrained site in Stretford, for client Create Developments have been approved.

This successful planning approval from Trafford Council follows an extensive amount of work with the client and the wider community to revise our proposals having had a previous 9-storey, 197-bedroom scheme refused.

We have been receptive to the Council’s feedback and our client’s brief and our new proposals comprise a 7-storey hotel building which carefully responds to the scale and character of its context. The facades are highly articulated with careful attention to detail including recesses, reveals and a change in materiality to provide visual interest and an increased sense of depth.

At ground floor we have proposed a warm and inviting public area, giving guests views across the depth of the building whilst creating an active and animated street frontage. The upper floors of the hotel will largely consist of contemporary guest bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, along with a spacious fitness centre at first floor.

Cllr Dave Acton said the project, was “much improved” and praised Create Developments for engaging with local residents to address problems with the previous proposals. The scheme was unanimously approved.

We look forward to seeing the scheme progress.

Today we’re celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD). In honour of the event we asked our team to share suggestions of the women in the industry who’ve inspired them and why. We received a range of nominations and were delighted to see some of our own team identified as inspirations too, we share some below:

• Maddie Woodhead, Architectural Assistant (Aew) – “Maddie challenged herself to run 50 miles in February to raise £100 for Mind as part of their ‘Move for Mind’ campaign – and ended up raising £635!”
• Oi San, Architect (Aew) - “Oi San has been a huge inspiration to me personally. Her charitable work and work on dementia care is what inspired me to base my thesis project and research on designing for dementia”.
• Danielle Purves, Associate Director (Aew) - “Danielle has been with Aew for 16 years, during which time she has shown real commitment and dedication to the company... Danielle has also made a massive contribution to the culture of the practice, supporting the next generation by mentoring, nurturing and developing countless young people over the years.
  
  “Her energy, enthusiasm and positivity extends to the charity and fundraising work that she actively promotes and undertakes, particularly with regards to Ronald McDonald House Charities. This includes (but is not limited to) - walking up Snowden, making and selling Christmas Cards, wear-a-onesie Wednesday, football shirt Friday, sponsored walks and runs, volunteering time at the house to paint, clean and garden. She is always one of the first people to get involved!”
• Shivani Gunawardana – This is “My best friend who got me into architecture and has also recently appeared in the Architect’s Journal for leading the design of the Memorial for the MEN attack”
• Lucia Cano (The Merida Factory Youth Movement) – “An architect who inspired me whilst working on my thesis project at university ‘Designing with Young People.”
• Eva Jiricna – “Someone who has inspired me since my first year of university when we were given a mini project to design a staircase. She is very well known for pioneering structural glass staircases during the late 80s / early 90s as well as interiors. I think her work generally has a real elegance and precision to it.”

We also honoured the day by sending out a list of events in the coming weeks focusing on issues around gender equality in the construction industry which we hope will support our team’s understanding of the issues.

Supporting IWD and gender equality is a core focus of our Social Value Strategy and, more specifically, our pledge to promote equality and inclusion. Our commitment builds on last year, which saw us join the RIBA Inclusion Charter, and is our second event focusing on equality and diversity having supported LGBT+ History Month throughout February.

Following close collaboration with client Maple Grove Developments and Burnley Council, we are delighted that our revised proposals for Pioneer Place, Burnley have been submitted for planning.

We originally secured planning approval for the site in January 2020 but, due to changes brought about by Covid-19, have worked closely with the project partners to revise our proposals to provide a flexible new leisure development which responds to current market demand. Our new proposals retain a seven-screen cinema at the heart of the development with five new food and beverage units and associated customer parking, landscaping and public realm.

The project is being delivered in a public-private partnership between Maple Grove Developments and the Council. It is expected to generate £1.35m in gross value add to the local economy, by providing a fresh day- and night-time leisure destination for the town and a quality food and beverage offer.

Nik Puttnam, senior development manager at Maple Grove Developments, said: “Over the past year, working in partnership with Burnley Council, we have reviewed the development mix to ensure the scheme kickstarts the regeneration of the town centre post-Covid...”

Council leader Councillor Mark Townsend said: “…Having a multiscreen cinema in the town centre, along with new restaurants, will help draw in more visitors which will give a wider boost to other nearby shops and businesses. It fits in well with our ambitions to see Burnley become a university town with the expansion of UCLan and Burnley College.”

Subject to securing planning consent, Maple Grove Developments aim to start works on site in late summer and open the scheme in spring 2023.

We’re excited to be celebrating ‘LGBT+ History Month’ this February. Throughout the month, our dedicated Social Value Committee have been encouraging our team to engage with the event with a particular focus on the construction industry. To this end we have been closely following the work of Building Equality.

Building Equality is an alliance of construction professionals and organisations who are passionate about working together to drive LGBT+ inclusion in construction. Their “vision is to have an industry that is wholly welcoming, inclusive and supportive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender + other related communities.”

To date, our team have joined Building Equality’s Executive Panel to hear their 2020 Review, and are encouraging our team to join the following future events:

• Allies Toolbox Talk (Thursday 18th February) – Full details here.
• LGBTQ+ History & Me (Wednesday 24th February) – Full details here.

Supporting this month-long celebration is a core focus of our Social Value Strategy and, more specifically, our pledge to promote equality and inclusion. Our commitment builds on last year, which saw us join the RIBA Inclusion Charter, and we hope will be the first of many events focusing on equality and diversity throughout 2021.

Our Glass Futures project reached another major milestone last week with planning submitted for the 160,000 sqft research and innovation facility. We worked closely with client Network Space and end user Glass Futures to prepare the proposals.

The £54m development will revive a 14-acre site, once home to United Glass, and will accommodate furnaces, a container glass production and testing facility alongside office, training and laboratory space. It will also allow for the installation of a float glass production line. A primary aim of the facility will be to accelerate the de-carbonisation of the glass industry.

Catherine Chilvers, development director at Network Space, said: “As landowner and developer, we have worked in partnership with St Helens Council and Glass Futures to establish an effective public-private sector delivery model.

“The submitted planning proposals will regenerate the former United Glassworks site and enable industry-led research activity and training opportunities, as well as acting as a catalyst for further economic growth within St Helens.”

In further good news for the project, Bowmer + Kirkland has been appointed as Stage 1 contractor following an open procurement process through the North West Construction Hub.

We started 2021 as we mean to go on by taking part in “Red January”. We challenged our team to exercise every day to help ensure a happy and healthy start to the new year.

To make things interesting, over the course of the month, we aimed to run, walk and hike the equivalent distance of Land’s End to John O’Groats – 603 miles. With the health and wellbeing of our team more important than ever, this was a great way to enable everyone to come together (virtually) and stay active during the nationwide lockdown.

Why not join us next year and “get active every day, to beat the blues away”? Full details on Red January are available here.

Work has commenced at our Great Bank Road scheme for Panatonni, with Main Contractor TSL Projects now on site at the 21-acre plot at Wingates Industrial Estate. Upon completion, the new development will be known as Panatonni Park Bolton.

Panatonni is the largest developer of logistics facilities in Europe and we are proud to have achieved this key milestone on our first project together.

The overall development comprises a 77,756 sqft unit, which has been pre-let to delivery company Hermes UK, and a speculative 280,525 sqft unit. An outline application for a residual plot capable of accommodating a further 50,000 sqft of industrial space has also been submitted.

Dan Burn, Panattoni’s development director, said: “We are pleased to be working with Hermes on its new flagship depot in the region, as well as bringing forward such an exciting new speculative opportunity – the only development of its size and scale currently under construction in Greater Manchester…”

Our proposals are in line with Panattoni’s highly developed design principles. The buildings complement and enhance the existing industrial estate’s offering and have been designed to appeal to a wide range of potential tenants. The buildings are targeting a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating and will incorporate a range of sustainable features.

Both units are scheduled to be completed by June 2021 and we look forward to seeing the scheme progress.

We are delighted to have been named one of Property Week’s ‘Best Places to Work in Property 2020’. We have been recognised on the prestigious list for the third year running and are thrilled to have achieved a top 5 place in the UK.

‘Best Places to Work in Property’ is collated by Best Companies Group (BCG) on behalf of Property Week to determine the best employers in the national property industry. This year, we are one of only 28 companies who made the grade after detailed employer and employee surveys, which evaluate the business performance across eight key metrics: overall engagement; leadership and planning; culture and communication; role satisfaction; work environment; relationship with supervisor; training and development; and pay and benefits.

“We’re proud to have been recognised on the list again this year and to have made the top 5 for the first time. We are frequently told that working for Aew feels like you are part of a family. Our culture is built on our values and our people are at the heart of our business - we believe this award is testament to the success of this approach.” – Jane Pullen, HR & Finance Manager.

See the full list of winners here.

We’re delighted to announce that the sustainable refurbishment of the 23-storey Fitzwarren Court, Pendleton with client Casey for landlord Salix Homes has completed.

At one time, the Fitzwarren Court community were to be rehoused due to the planned regeneration of the area but were given a reprieve when funding was secured to modernise the blocks instead.

The exterior has been completely rendered and a sprinkler and fire alarm system installed. The building’s former façade has been replaced with a grey, green and orange render, as chosen by residents, while new kitchens, bathrooms, doors and windows have been fitted to all 135 apartments. Communal areas, the lobby and the grounds have also been transformed. We also created an additional ground floor apartment from an unused retail unit to provide accessible accommodation.

In collaboration with specialist fire engineers and the local authority, we led the re-design of the facade to provide a new high performing fabric. New heating to the apartments is provided by innovative ground source heat pump technology which we designed to route through the existing structure using our 3D capabilities.

“We’re delighted to have completed this project which has seen us deliver a highly sustainable refurbishment using innovative geothermal heating via ground source heat pumps and high levels of insulation. The aim was to help improve thermal efficiency, reduce energy costs and help tackle fuel poverty.’’ – David James, Associate

Fitzwarren Court is the second high-rise project we have completed with Casey, having previously undertaken the refurbishment of the 16-storey Albion Towers which completed in 2020.

We have a strong pipeline of similar work as an increasing number of clients look to meet their safety obligations following the recommendations from the recent Building a Safer Future Report.

Following the latest Future High Streets Fund announcement, we were pleased to see that £14.5m has been given to support the regeneration of Stockport town centre.

We have worked closely with Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and CBRE to prepare proposals in support of the FHSF bid and are delighted to see this milestone reached. The funding will be used to deliver ‘StockRoom’ as well as help realise the repurposing of the former M&S and BHS stores.

StockRoom will bring a learning and knowledge hub to the town centre - a future-focused community and public facing services hub - which can be used by the whole community. It will celebrate the culture and creativity of the town, providing a space that encourages people to tell their story and where residents can spend leisure time, learn and celebrate their heritage.

The Future High Streets Fund is a Government initiative intended to support the delivery of regeneration plans drawn up by councils for projects such as improvements to transport infrastructure, new homes and the transformation of underused spaces.

We look forward to seeing the projects progress in the coming year.

In late December 2020, we were delighted to see developer and client Gener8 Developments submit plans for Rochdale Riverside Phase 2. Genr8 are delivering the project, which forms part of the wider £400m town centre revamp, in collaboration with Rochdale Development Agency and Rochdale Council.

We have designed the 43,000sqft landmark office building which sits within the wider £50m mixed use scheme, along with 240 homes and a 147-bedroom hotel.

The five-storey office building optimises the extremely constrained site, with high-quality office space wrapped around an efficient central core, maximising natural daylighting and passive ventilation. Futureproofing was a key driver, with flexible BCO compliant floorplates designed to suit open plan office, sub-division into smaller workspaces or future conversion into residential apartments.

The contemporary building form and elevations are carefully composed in response to the Town Head Conservation Area, adjacent listed buildings and the wider Rochdale town centre masterplan.

Mike Smith, partner at Genr8 Developments, said: “This is a significant step-forward in the delivery of the scheme which will support the council’s ambitions for housing within the town and also provide a step change in terms of hospitality provision with the delivery of the new hotel.”

Rochdale Council leader Allen Brett said: “Creating high quality new homes and redeveloping eyesore brownfield sites is a key focus for us as we continue with our ongoing regeneration programme.

“The incredible financial challenges the pandemic has presented us has made this continued economic growth even more important.”

Contractor Wilmott Dixon is on site carrying out remediation work ready for construction to begin next year, subject to planning approval.

As a practice we are committed to continuous improvement. Throughout 2020, we have joined a series of industry-leading organisations and campaigns to help drive improvement in the way we work, our approach to sustainability and employment.

As a practice we believe that all our activities should have a positive effect on the environment. We are committed to good design that maximises social benefits for the communities in which our projects are based and aim to create sustainable solutions from the outset. To further our understanding on the topic we have joined:

• UK Green Building Council (UKGBC)
• Architects Declare
• Low Carbon Network (The Growth Company’s Green Growth service)

Elsewhere this year, and with the health, wellbeing and inclusion of our team more important than ever, we have committed to a series of best practice forums and charters, including:

• Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum
• Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter
• RIBA Inclusion Charter

Furthermore, in October we achieved Silver in the “Investors in People, We invest in Wellbeing” accreditation. We were delighted with the results with the assessors noting “the biggest area of strength is in Aew’s social wellbeing with positive relationships fostered throughout the business. Aew has an excellent and embedded approach to generating a culture of social wellbeing within the company.”

We look forward to learning more, sharing our knowledge and driving improvement in the built environment for the benefit of our clients and partners through these forums in 2021.

As part of commitment to driving Social Value, we’re delighted to announce that we have recently joined the Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA) Inclusion Charter campaign.

As a practice we believe that our activities should have a positive effect on the community, our clients, business partners and employees. By joining this Charter we hope to break down barriers and make architecture more inclusive, we:

• Acknowledge the urgent need for inclusion in the architecture profession and wider construction industry
• Commit to setting inclusion targets and an EDI action plan
• Commit to developing our workplace culture, talent pipeline and ways of working to support inclusion
• Commit to publicly reporting on progress of our EDI plan – recognising transparency and accountability are vital to drive cultural change
• Commit to embedding inclusive design in all our projects, and contributing to the development of inclusive environments

We have a key part to play in dismantling the discriminatory barriers that are preventing talented people from studying, practising and appreciating architecture and look forward to working with the RIBA and our fellow members to achieve this.

For further details on the Inclusion Charter campaign, visit the RIBA’s website.

Throughout 2020 we have continued to provide support to a range of charities and are delighted to announce that together we have raised over £6400 for various causes over the last 12 months.

This fundraising has been made possible by our Social Value Committee, who plan regular volunteer and fund-raising activities, and our team who’ve donated their time, money and support. The activities have also focused on helping keep our team connected and healthy during lockdown, with various virtual group events and individual exercise-based challenges organised.

Highlights have included:

• Christmas Card Sales, Xmas Jumper Day and Masterchef (Ronald McDonald House Charities) - £715
• Black Tie & Slippers Event Tickets & Donation (Ronald McDonald House Charities) - £1695
• Virtual Manchester Marathon (Steve Burne Charitable Trust) - £1165
• Wear it Pink (Breast Cancer Now) - £780
• Football Shirt Friday (Cancer Research UK) - £510
• 5 Million Steps Challenge (Ronald McDonald House Charities) - £1575

“Our team has done a fantastic fundraising job once again this year and a big thanks to everyone who took part, our family and friends and all our clients and business partners for their support. We hope in 2021 we can get back to not only providing financial help but donating our time for local causes too.” – Andy Rainford, Managing Director

To end the year, we’re fundraising one last time to purchase care packages for Manchester-based charity Lifeshare who help homeless and vulnerable people across Greater Manchester. See their website for details on how you can support them too this winter.

We did it! Our intrepid bunch of runners have completed their virtual Manchester Marathons for the first “In Your Own Time” event.

The team of 16 have each completed 26.2 miles of running, walking and jogging throughout October. Together they have covered over 419 miles and, in the process, raised over £1000 for the Steve Burne Charitable Trust, in memory of our friend and colleague Steve.

Each runner chose how they wanted to complete the distance – daily walks, weekly runs or big hikes – with everybody clocking up their miles in time for the 31st October deadline. This was a great way to get our team together (virtually) whilst promoting health and wellbeing.

The Steve Burne Charitable Trust supports charities such as Ronald McDonald House which offers accommodation for families who need to stay near hospitals while their children are being treated and the Christie Hospital, one of Europe’s leading cancer facilities.

We appreciate it’s a difficult time for many, but for those who would like to donate, your contributions are very much appreciated.

To donate, please click here - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/aew-architects1

We are extremely pleased to be part of the low carbon network, delivered by the Business Growth Hub’s Green Growth Service.

Their low carbon Network is mapping the products and services delivered by the local low carbon sector and helping to connect members with new business opportunities. The key aim of the Network is to enable companies to be better connected to new business opportunities and be better informed about what is happening in their sector.

To find out more about the low carbon network, click here.

We spent Friday 20th November supporting “Football Shirt Friday” in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

We believe our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees and welcomed the opportunity to support this cause once again by donning our favourite strip.

We held a football themed sweepstake and quiz, had a half-time virtual “pint” and wore our favourite football shirts (some more niche than others). Most importantly, together we have raised £250 which Aew have doubled to take our total donation to £500 – well done to the whole team!

Why not join in next year? Full details available here.

The draft Building Safety Bill

The draft Building Safety Bill is the Government’s legislative response to the tragic Grenfell Tower fire. Published in July 2020, the Bill represents a wholesale reform of the regulatory system for building control and safety in England. The Bill is founded on the recommendations of the ‘Building a Safer Future Report’, by Dame Judith Hackitt.  

Once finalised, it is expected the Bill will place new requirements on designers, owners, developers, contractors and landlords with a focus on “higher risk buildings”. We expect these to initially include accommodation buildings over 18m in height, with other buildings such as low-rise housing, shared accommodation, care homes and hotels to follow.

To help you understand the potential impact of the Bill on your business, we have outlined the key issues in a summary document available to download - here.

How can we help you? 

Progressive organisations are putting plans in place right now, to meet the upcoming reform head on.  

Based on our extensive experience across the accommodation and care sectors, we are well placed to help you meet these new obligations in the most effective and efficient way possible. We have an experienced architectural team specialising in BIM and information management and are currently supporting clients across the North to develop their internal processes and systems to meet legislative requirements.  

To find out more and discover how we can help you on your journey to a safer future, get in touch. 

We are delighted to announce we have strengthened both our architectural and central support teams with the recent appointment of Associate, Ben Robinson and Marketing Manager Jenny Bosworth. The senior appointments form a key part of our growth strategy following the recent management buyout.

Ben Robinson joins from PRP, where he gained extensive experience designing and delivering projects within the residential and community sectors. Ben has designed and delivered a number of notable schemes including, Willow Barns in Stoke-On-Trent; a RIBA Regional Award and Housing Design Award winning scheme and Limelight in Old Trafford; one of the first integrated hubs in the UK, which provides extra-care living with a primary care facility and a range of intergenerational council and social enterprise services for the wider community.

Jenny Bosworth joins from 5plus architects where she spent 3 and a half years leading marketing and business development on behalf of the practice. She also oversaw a number of successful bids including the landmark Salford Crescent and University Masterplan as well as gaining places on a range of frameworks for clients such as the BBC and the University of Leeds. Prior to this, Jenny worked for both Barratt Developments and Lovell working on a range of accommodation and regeneration bids.

“We’re delighted to have both Ben and Jenny join us at what is an exciting time for the company. With the ongoing evolution of the practice, we will be focusing on building on our current strengths and deepening our service and sector offering. These appointments will help us to develop our accommodation, later living and care portfolio through targeted bidding and successful design and delivery, as well as reinforcing our marketing presence.” – Andy Rainford, Managing Director

These appointments follow the recent recruitment of two Architectural Technicians Brandon Bardsley and Martyn Mounter and the return of three Part II Architectural Assistants - Kate Silvester, Emily Fettes and Matt Charnley. All three return following successful placements as Part I Architectural Assistants with the practice and having achieved Distinctions in their Masters.

“We believe their success and decision to return to Aew is testament to the quality of our graduate development programme which provides coaching, mentoring and continued learning as part of our Student Pledge. We look forward to supporting the achievement of their professional chartership status.” – Colin Savage, Director

We believe our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees.

Our annual award to recognise an outstanding personal contribution to good causes, is named ‘The Steve Burne Charitable Award’ to his honour Steve’s legacy. Steve, who sadly died two years ago, was not only at the heart of our Aew family, but tirelessly completed fundraising and charitable activities for Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Steve Burne Charitable Trust.

We asked our team to nominate and vote for a colleague who they thought should be recognised for giving back and helping others, and responses poured in.

At our End of Year Presentation, this year’s Steve Burne Charitable Award was virtually presented to Rob Foster, for his:

• significant contribution to Aew's Social Value committee including helping to drive our health & wellbeing initiatives and promoting the diversity agenda
• amazing charitable fundraising, including his latest Three Peak Challenge which helped raise £878 for McMillan Cancer Support.
• Work as a Committee Member of CIAT, supporting young professionals in the industry, including organising networking events and encouraging CIAT membership progression.

Well done Rob, a thoroughly deserved winner and a real inspiration to us all!

On Friday 16th October, Director Alan Lamb joined the Panel for Place North West’s Industrial and Logistics Conference. The event, which was jointly sponsored by AEW, Harworth and Turley sought to examine the biggest issues around industrial property: what is being developed and where, and what can we expect to see in the future.

Key questions:

• How have the Brexit timeline and Covid pandemic affected the regional logistics market this year?
• Why have several major schemes been called in, and what could help change that?
• Is automation and digital transformation changing industrial development?

Main takeaways:

• As their high street presence is reduced, retailers are looking to logistics to reinforce their brand values, and this is also supporting the region’s low-carbon agenda
• Quality industrial supply is at a historically low level, with an estimated nine months of grade A stock available in the North West
• There is growing momentum to push for green space and amenities at ‘big box’ locations, which might help schemes to achieve planning consent

Alan contributed to the second panel discussion where issues such as multimodal development, the green agenda and placemaking were raised.

“There need to be sensible conversations around Green Belt release, and taking a strategic approach to masterplanning and layouts, using whole sites. People can’t work from home in these jobs, they need to be given amenities, the better operators have been doing this for a while and it helps staff retention.

“Within buildings themselves, design changes post-Covid include larger staff amenity areas that five years ago would have been seen as a luxury. The importance of having flexibility and distinctiveness has been accelerated.

“We’re moving to a more mature view of making a building work long term, for it to be recyclable over time. In a buoyant market, with a lot of investment money, if we can’t do it now then when can we?”– Alan Lamb, Director

Industrial remains a key sector for our practice, working with private developers, local authorities and occupiers. Whatever the requirements, we use our wealth of architectural and masterplanning expertise to ensure we support and guide our clients in this fast-paced sector with support from our inhouse BIM and planning consultancy teams as required.

See the full Place North West summary here. We look f­orward to sponsoring the next event which will be held on the 31st March 2021, book your place here.

We spent Friday 23rd October raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Now on their “Wear it Pink” day.

We believe that our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees and welcomed the opportunity to support Breast Cancer Now again this year.

We wore pink, took part in a sweepstake, a quiz and played virtual Bingo and are extremely proud to have raised over £700 for this amazing charity!

Why not join in next year? Full details available here.

We are extremely proud to have received the silver level for the ‘Investors in People, We invest in Wellbeing’ accreditation.

We actively and positively promote wellbeing within the office as noticed by Investors in People - “the biggest area of strength is in Aew’s social wellbeing with positive relationships fostered throughout the business. Aew has an excellent and embedded approach to generating a culture of social wellbeing within the company.”

Fostering employee wellbeing is great for our people and also the business. Promoting wellbeing can help prevent stress and create positive working environments where individuals and organisations can thrive. Good health and wellbeing can be a core enabler of employee engagement and organisational performance.

We are committed to constantly improve and provide the best for our staff – read about our social value below.

A huge congratulations to Rebekah for passing her final RIBA examination and on-line interview, we couldn’t be prouder!

Rebekah is a fantastic example of our student development and mentoring program. She first joined us for a summer placement in 2014, completing her Part I year placement with us in 2015/6, before gaining a distinction in her Master’s Degree from Manchester School of Architecture, then finally re-joining us in 2018 as a Part II Assistant.

During this time, Rebekah has worked on a wide range of projects across all our key sectors and followed our Part I and Part II pledges, which provide a clear program of coaching, mentoring and continued learning to support the achievement of professional chartership status.

“We are extremely proud of Rebekah for passing her RIBA exam during these difficult times as we all work remotely from home. She’s a very talented individual is a great asset to Aew. We look forward to continuing to support her throughout her career” Phil Hepworth, Director.

We are proud to be sponsoring the Industrial and Logistics conference with Place North West on 16th October from 10:00 – 12:30. Our very own Industrial specialist, Alan Lamb will be one of the speakers.

Warehouse take-up, logistics trends, the impact of automation and e-commerce will be examined by a mix of experts at this conference. An increasingly popular sector for investors, the industrial sector still battles with lack of stock, and competes with the residential market for key sites.

Confirmed speakers include:

Clare Hayward, chair, Cheshire and Warrington LEP
Anna-Jane Hunter, Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport Rail Policy Group Member, formerly a director at Network Rail
Andrew Pexton, director, JLL, who leads the North West industrial and logistics agency team
David Diggle, director, Turley, who advised on a number of high-profile logistics schemes including projects at Birchwood Park and Logistics North
Sally Duggleby, head of industrial & logistics occupier advisory, Savills, and former head of real estate at Amazon
Alan Lamb, director, AEW Architects, who has extensive experience in master planning, distribution, warehousing, manufacturing and energy projects
Matthew Whiteley, development manager, Harworth, one of the leading land and property regeneration companies in the UK
Wendy Broomhead, director, Scott Hughes Design, an engineering design company specialising in sustainability

Book now https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/events/industrial-logistics/

Our practice is looking to its next chapter of growth with a focus on opportunity sectors such as logistics, later living and social housing, while maintaining the supportive company culture for which it is known, according to its directors.

At the end of last month, Aew completed a management buyout led by its new managing director Andy Rainford and director Colin Savage. The MBO is the second such deal in a decade for the practice – the first was led by former managing director, the late Steve Burne, in 2011.

In an interview with Place North West, Rainford and Savage explain why their strategy, as they take the reins from former majority shareholder and most recent MD Andy Critchlow, will never be about “ripping up the rulebook”. Rather, it is about “evolution, not revolution” in the words of Rainford, who defines his priorities as building on the strengths of the business and deepening its offering.

“The MBO stands us in very good stead to move forward,” said Rainford, who has been with Aew for more than two decades after joining as a graduate in 1999.

“[Critchlow] always had 2021 in his mind as the year he would end his career in architecture and move on to do something in a totally different industry. In fact, when Steve died, he was almost quite reluctant to take the reins as managing director, but he absolutely thrived in the role and has elevated Aew to a whole new level, and we’ve been fortunate to be part of that process.”

The MBO, under which Rainford will lead the business alongside Savage and directors Alan Lamb and Phil Hepworth, “provides the new-look board with a chance to come up with fresh opportunities for growth”, and implement strategies to achieve that growth in the coming years, added Savage. He joined Aew in 2017 tasked with expanding its activities in the fields of housing, public sector and regeneration.

Aew, which was founded in 1992 and employs around 65 staff, recorded net turnover of £5.1m in its last financial year to end of June, up slightly from £5m the previous year. The gross figure for 2019 is higher, taking in around £600,000 of income from sub-consultancy fees.

The firm was on track for “a record year” in 2020 until the Covid pandemic hit, said Savage. “[The impact] was felt more in project delays than loss of work. Construction sites closed, planning applications were delayed or put on hold, and clients reassessed their financial position. Thankfully, that activity has come back.”

Aew is aiming for slight revenue growth in the next financial year despite current market challenges, according to Rainford. “We keep a close eye on our finances. At the moment, we can see the next five months through comfortably and we have a good pipeline of work beyond that.

“The three-month horizon is what most consultancy businesses focus on, and that’s true for us. Nothing ever stands still, and our future pipeline is strong.”

Aew has worked hard since the 2011 MBO to diversify its business – in particular, to reduce dependency on the retail sector. In 2013, retail work accounted for 85% of the practice’s revenues; today, it is more like 36%.

“This was done through strategic planning,” Rainsford explained. “We weren’t trying to shrink the volume of retail work, but rather to grow other sectors so we weren’t relying on retail so much.”

Aew’s retail projects are now increasingly integrated with larger, town centre regeneration and leisure projects, such as the Merseyway Shopping Centre revamp, which Aew has designed for Stockport Council, and Glenbrook’s STOK office scheme, also in Stockport, which has retail units on the ground floor.

Industrial is the “clear winner” driving Aew’s revenue growth today. The sector has swelled to account for 33% of the business from just 18-20% in the past year alone, as demand for logistics space soars on the back of e-commerce growth, especially during the pandemic.

Said Rainford: “There had been a dearth of industrial space coming to market in the two years after the Brexit vote because of related market uncertainty, but the rise of internet retailing coupled with an increase in logistics demand when Covid kicked in, has meant the sector has just grown and grown.

“We’ve had to almost double the size of our industrial team to 22 people to deal with the sheer volume of work, and we will probably add two more members of staff before the end of the year,” he added. Led by director Lamb, Aew’s industrial projects include Tritax Symmetry’s 158,000 sq ft warehouse in Middlewich, Cheshire, being developed on behalf of confectionery maker Swizzels Matlow.

The company is also designing facilities for aerospace giant BAE Systems, logistics developer PLP at Ellesmore Port, and Panattoni in Bolton, and has just finished the sixth phase of Birchwood Park in Warrington, on behalf of the Carrington/Himor development joint venture with which it has had a two-year client relationship.

“Industrial really is a very strong sector, in which we have a significant pipeline, and it will only continue to grow,” proclaims Rainford.

Meanwhile, Aew wants to grow its work with the public sector on town centre regeneration projects – it worked with Chorley Council on the £17m Market Walk mixed-use scheme, and is in talks to work with regional towns including Rochdale, Oldham, Bolton, Altrincham and Burnley with a view to “breathing new life into town centres”.

The company is also expanding its expertise in the ‘accommodation’ sector – encompassing everything from private residential and affordable housing, to senior living and care homes. This part of the business is headed up by Savage, whose team is working on the £11m Sale West Estate masterplan for housing provider Irwell Valley Homes, backed by Homes England, and Glenbrook’s The Trilogy build-to-rent scheme in Castlefield, Manchester, among other schemes.

An emerging sub-sector is ‘step down’ care for vulnerable young adults, such as those with severe learning difficulties. Savage said he is in talks with prospective partners in Ashton-under-Lyne and at Sale West to design such projects.

In pursuing such opportunities for diversification, both Rainford and Savage are adamant they would avoid a “scattergun” approach. “We want to focus on areas that we have solid expertise in, so that we can add real value,” said Savage.

Amid its quest to grow the business, Aew is set on maintaining a nurturing environment for staff, according to Rainford. “We’ve always believed in building people up from the bottom [of the ranks] and that ethos is still very much in place. We have a lot of very longstanding employees.”

Thus, keeping a grip on the company’s finances and putting in place flexible working arrangements to support staff during the pandemic have been crucial areas of focus for Aew’s board members in recent months.

Said Rainford: “We’ve maintained a profit throughout the Covid situation, and we have to. We have 65 staff and so 65 families, whose wellbeing and security we have an obligation to look after, and we take that very seriously.”

Aew has its head office in the Zenith Building at Manchester’s Spring Gardens. The office is currently closed and all staff are working remotely – a decision taken in the wake of the heightened Covid restrictions imposed on Greater Manchester last month – and Aew intends to consult with staff on their proposed working set-up ahead of a lease break in 2022.

“We are mindful that a lot of people are in a lot of different situations and we’ll be taking a balanced, sensible approach to make sure it’s working for all of us,” Rainford said. “We’ll almost certainly be moving offices at the end of that period and our new home will be an exemplar of a modern, sustainable workplace.

“I do believe the cat is out of the bag, though, when it comes to working from home, and it’s unlikely we will all be in the office full time.”

The priority here will be to ensure the younger generation of architects acquire the same set of skills as they would have from full-time office working, notes Savage. “The industry is changing so rapidly – with architecture compliance checks being mooted to ensure quality, new building regulations coming in and ever-evolving standards on environmental sustainability.

“We have to keep on top of these things and cannot afford to be behind the curve.”

Throughout the month of October we are taking part in the virtual Manchester Marathon, running hundreds of miles for the Steve Burne Charitable Trust, in memory of our friend and colleague Steve.

We are coming together (virtually) to run, jog or walk the marathon distance of 26.2 miles each - promoting exercise and mental wellbeing as well as raising money for a fantastic charity which is close to our hearts.

The Steve Burne Charitable Trust supports charities such as Ronald McDonald House which offers accommodation for families who need to stay near hospitals while their children are being treated, and The Christie Hospital, one of Europe’s leading cancer facilities.

We appreciate it’s a difficult time for many people, but for those who would like to donate, your contributions are very much appreciated.

To donate, please click here - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/aew-architects1

Andy Rainford and Colin Savage have successfully completed a management buy-out of Manchester based Aew Architects.

The move comes as former majority shareholder and managing director, Andy Critchlow begins a gradual exit from the industry. Rainford will head the new look Board as Managing Director with Colin Savage, Alan Lamb and Phil Hepworth alongside him.

Having been at Aew for the last 21 years, Andy Rainford says: “I’m delighted to be leading the practice. We have a great team, fantastic Client base and a very resilient business; working through covid disruptions has only proved this further. I am looking forward to continuing the progress we continue to make, focussing on future improvements and driving sustainability”.

Colin Savage joined Aew in 2017 after years of leading another practice. Colin says “Since joining Aew I have been amazed by the whole team who collaborate daily to deliver great service but always look to improve – I’ve immediately felt at home since joining. I am delighted to now have an opportunity to continue to shape and build such a progressive business”.

Andy Critchlow took control of Aew in 2017 as other equity directors from the 2011 MBO left; Steve Burne developed terminal cancer and Nigel Machin joined The Derwent Group as Development Director. Critchlow says “Aew has never been in better shape and it is testament to our continued work on succession planning that I am handing over the baton to Andy and Colin. They both understand Aew’s values and are passionate to continue the legacy of continual improvement. I’m looking forward to supporting them in the transition before deciding on my next challenge”

Discussion regarding the MBO began in January 2020 and completed in mid-September without external finance.

We asked 132 of our clients to give us their honest feedback about how we’ve performed on their projects over the last year, so we can continue to improve and provide the best possible service for our clients. We used a Net Promotor Scoring (NPS)* system to collect feedback on the questions below. The results are in, and the responses are overwhelmingly positive…

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“From my experience, Aew provide a 'best-in-class' architectural service for our industrial projects. The determination to deliver designs that respond fully to the brief and enthusiasm shown along the way is both refreshing and a pleasure to work with.” Joe Burnett, Development Director at Network Space

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• How would you rate our contactability and attitude? – Exceptional (+70 NPS)
• How would you rate our knowledge and skills? Exceptional (+80 NPS)
• How would you rate our design quality? – Exceptional (+70 NPS)
• How would you rate the quality of our technical information? – Excellent (+53 NPS)
• How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend, colleague or industry peer? - Exceptional (+83 NPS)
• Combined overall Net Promoter Score – Exceptional (+71 NPS)

Andrew Rainford, Director at Aew said "We are absolutely delighted with the feedback, which is a real testament to the exceptional commitment and hard work of our team over the last year. We certainly won’t rest on our laurels but will continue to improve and collaborate with our clients to design and deliver projects that exceed their expectations."

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"Good to work with and quick to respond. Good house type design." Pauline Terry, One Manchester

"The team were very professional, easy to work with and have delivered on the brief.” Ben Copeland, Argent Energy

"I like working with Aew as they are friendly and professional." Michelle Murray, Harworth

“I find your work very professional with outstanding communications at all stages." Emyr Jones, Managing Director at SGi

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For each response received we made a £10 personal donation on behalf of each client to Ronald McDonald House Charities, to help them provide free 'home away from home' accommodation to families while their child is in hospital.

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*Net Promotor Score (NPS) is an internationally recognise Client feedback system, whereby Clients rate us from 0 (not at all pleased) to 10 (extremely pleased). The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of ‘Detractors’ (0-6) from ‘Promotors’ (9-10) multiplied by 100. Whilst NPS scores vary across industries, a positive NPS (i.e. one that is higher than zero) is generally deemed ‘Good’, an NPS of +50 is generally deemed ‘Excellent’, and anything over +70 is ‘Exceptional’.

We recognise the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency and are committed to rapid change. Today we have signed up to Architects Declare and will be committing all haste in influencing, embracing and adopting change.

After an extended period of research and challenging of our existing business practices we are now ready to tackle every aspect of the ambitious declaration. From now on we will seek to:

• Raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the urgent need for action amongst our clients and supply chains.
• Advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative design practices and a higher Governmental funding priority to support this.
• Establish climate and biodiversity mitigation principles as the key measure of our industry’s success: demonstrated through awards, prizes and listings.
• Share knowledge and research to that end on an open source basis.
• Evaluate all new projects against the aspiration to contribute positively to mitigating climate breakdown, and encourage our clients to adopt this approach.
• Upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon efficient alternative to demolition and new build whenever there is a viable choice.
• Include life cycle costing, whole life carbon modelling and post occupancy evaluation as part of our basic scope of work, to reduce both embodied and operational resource use.
• Adopt more regenerative design principles in our studios, with the aim of designing architecture and urbanism that goes beyond the standard of net zero carbon in use.
• Collaborate with engineers, contractors and clients to further reduce construction waste.
• Accelerate the shift to low embodied carbon materials in all our work.
• Minimise wasteful use of resources in architecture and urban planning, both in quantum and in detail.

Get in touch to collaborate and help shape the future.

Chorley Council bought the shopping centre from Orchard Street Investments for £23m in 2013 and commenced a large-scale regeneration scheme in 2018 involving a £15m, 79,000 sq ft retail and leisure extension led by main contractor Eric Wright Group and designed by AEW Architects. Here, Conrad Heald of Chorley Council tells his interviewer, AEW director Phil Hepworth, how the scheme came to fruition and has rejuvenated the town centre.

• What is the role of visionary local authorities in creating vibrant and sustainable town centres?

Towns are places that need to change – there always has been change as demand shifts and technologies evolve with each generation. In times of economic stagnation and increasing risk adversity among developers, local authorities must intervene to ensure the relevance of their particular ‘place’.

In the recent lifespan of Market Walk, several private landlords have had ownership of the site since 2008 when I started work for the council and saw redevelopment plans fall through as financial markets crashed.

At that time, residents wanted all the major High St shops that weren’t represented in Chorley. As the years passed and chain stores went into administration, Chorley was more resilient because we didn’t have those stores in the first place, but it was proving difficult to get the private sector to develop regeneration proposals in such a climate.

The council is proactive in making things happen, so in 2012 we started the process of acquiring the centre to be the driver of the town’s destiny and deliver on those endless private sector promises of bigger, better stores and a leisure offer that residents said was missing from the town centre and that would stop them going elsewhere for their needs.

• How did you find the development process, including dealing with the AEW team?

The redevelopment of such a prime town centre site was fraught with problems as the enablement works were far reaching, such as providing replacement parking capacity before commencing the main site. AEW was responsive and adaptive in helping the council tackle such a wide variety of enabling schemes ahead of delivering the main development.

AEW’s use of 3D modelling assisted our stakeholder engagement and decision making process. Many stakeholders and colleagues struggle to visualise from 2D plans, so the availability of printed 3D images and the scheme in virtual reality are invaluable tools in decision making and bringing the drawings to life. It also helped everyone to understand the relationship between different elements of the scheme and the scale of elevations.

• How has the scheme been received by Chorley residents, and is there anything you would do differently?

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, tenants were all thriving and residents flocked to the new facility and, more importantly, new customers came to the town centre so that all the other businesses benefitted from the development. This was our intention from the outset, so satisfying to see it come to fruition. We aimed to provide quality large-format retail and leisure, different from what was on offer before, and that is what we achieved.

At the time of writing, we have exchanged on a lease with a national retail chain that will occupy two units, and are in negotiations with a local specialist restaurant that will further complement what we have and take us to 92% occupancy by floorspace. The scheme has a lettable area of 73,600 sq ft. New prospective tenants are also impressed with the facility when visiting to see it in the flesh, as opposed to in CGIs and brochure drawings.

Things we may have done differently, or added, in hindsight, include: putting canopies over unit entrance doors in consideration of typical British weather; rethinking the deliveries strategy for the cinema, which uses its public lift to take stock to the first-floor lobby; ensuring there is suitable acoustic treatment between floors in all areas rather than just the cinema, and considering alternative M&E routes should unit configurations change, which they did.

• Has the combination of retail and leisure interventions been a catalyst for wider regeneration and increased footfall in Chorley, for example in the evenings?

Most of the incremental footfall came in the evening and weekends, which, for Chorley, was typically where the market had been declining for several years previously. Any offer for cinema, tenpin bowling, adventure golf or a high street restaurant chain had to be sought outside Chorley and the development was key to retaining local spend with a more convenient location for our residents. Being in the town centre it has plentiful parking, bus station and railway station all on its doorstep.

The success of the scheme certainly gives the council more confidence in planning for further redevelopment and we currently have a Future High Street Fund submission underway for a new mixed-use civic square.

• How important is well designed public realm for the overall scheme and how people use it?

The public realm improvements are crucial to setting the scene for the development. Yet this part of a project can be quite subjective and often the first area to look to when making cost savings. The council was fortunate to already have a town centre public realm masterplan it was working towards, and the Market Walk scheme enabled a large proportion of that to be completed at the same time.

Town centres are increasingly becoming gathering places to dwell and enjoy company, so providing green and welcoming places to do that is essential. All food and beverage operators look for some external space attached to their units, so that is also important in the design stages.

Unfortunately, terrorism prevention and crime and disorder are important considerations now when creating places for people to gather in large numbers and a de-cluttering approach isn’t always achievable. Making the spaces available and accessible to all is also key when considering street levels and furniture placement.

• Chorley is a renowned market town. How does the development support the traditional weekly markets that have been held there for over 500 years?

The market traders have been very patient and supportive of the new development and their input was essential in achieving the finished. Before we could commence anything, we had to relocate the famous weekly Tuesday Flat Iron market off the Flat Iron car park and into the pedestrian streets of the town centre. Something that could have been one of the most difficult things to achieve was, in hindsight, one of the easiest parts of the project due to good planning and communication.

The traders were particularly concerned over the loss of nearby parking, which is one of the reasons the council committed to replacing it all, plus some, before starting to reduce the capacity of the Flat Iron car park to make way for the new development.

Now everything is complete, the new and old complement each other and offer a great diverse town centre offer to our residents and market visitors from far afield. The Covered Market is just about to undergo its own transformation, with a £600,000 investment planned to improve and upgrade the market in keeping with the Market Walk extension.

• We are in a challenging period for retail. How has Covid-19 and the economic slowdown impacted Chorley town centre?

Even before Covid, we were seeing a switch to convenience shopping rather than dwelling and browsing, so more experiential and leisure-based offers were needed to encourage shoppers to stay longer. Chorley’s famous markets were crucial to this and sustained good footfall by attracting visitors from across the region including many regular coach trips.

The impact of Covid-19 has been significant, however, as a market town with great connectivity and convenience shopping, Chorley has been resilient throughout and footfall is returning. The leisure operators in the new development were hit the hardest with the restrictions in place for cinemas and tenpin bowling having a significant impact, but the other new tenants such as M&S Food and Loungers have continued to thrive. The recent signing of new tenants in the current climate show the potential for Chorley as a destination and the confidence of both occupiers and visitors in what the town can offer.

While there is talk of the disruptive potential of retail technology, there is little evidence of it in traditional market towns other than contactless payments becoming more the norm now across all demographics. Retailers are looking for space where they can utilise multichannel opportunities such as click and collect or home delivery hubs from existing stores, but they still rely on day-to-day footfall through the front door. Town centres need to provide what visitors want, such as affordable and easy parking, to attract regular visitors.

• What’s next for Chorley?

In the short term, Chorley, like many towns, is in a recovery period and assessing the impact of Covid-19. Not only has the physical environment of shopping changed but so too have shoppers’ habits, with more people working from home and demographics that perhaps previously wouldn’t have entertained online shopping now being forced to do so, and perhaps even preferring them. There is a vast amount of re-education needed for business owners and visitors to keep everyone healthy, and local authorities nationwide are investing a lot of effort into creating an environment where people feel safe.

In the longer term, Chorley Council continues to invest in and have ambitious plans for a new Civic Square as part of its Future High Street Fund bidding process. This will drive civic quarter public realm improvements in a complementary fashion to Market Walk.

• What would be your top three pieces of advice to other town centres going through similar changes?

Be clear about what your vision is and why you are doing it, don’t be afraid of radical and controversial schemes if it is the right thing to do, and ensure good communication with all stakeholders about progress. If things go wrong or hit delays, tell people and explain why.

Conrad Heald is service lead, commercial and assets, at Chorley Council

The 190,000ft² business park in Wilmslow has been approved by Cheshire East Council planning officers.

We submitted for planning in October for the 10 acre site to include four development plots allocated for employment or business use, a multi-storey car park with nearly 600 spaces, along with a centrally-located park and green space.

Phil Hepworth, director AEW, said: “It’s an interesting time for workspace design as we have all realised, in a short space of time, the benefits of digital collaboration through Zoom and Microsoft Teams and the how that provides efficiency and the flexibility to manage our time. But we have also come to appreciate the need for the physical workspace and the benefits that brings in terms of physical interaction with others, health and wellbeing and mentoring the next generation. The future of the workspace is unknown but the need for it is certainly still there. The design for Wilmslow Business Park will provide exemplar facilities and open space. The masterplan flexibly allows potential occupiers to create a home tailored to their business needs and be part of a wider business community.”

We are proud to have co-sponsored Insider's Transforming Stockport for the Future Online Forum last week.

Thanks to a series of bold projects and a £1bn regeneration programme, Stockport has become one of Greater Manchester’s most exciting boroughs. Perceptions are shifting, and it’s an increasingly attractive location for businesses and residents alike. How can the town build on the progress made so far?

Insider’s Online Forum considered how the town can maintain the momentum, while providing an update on the major schemes and signposting the opportunities for investment. Insider assembled a panel of experts from the public sector, private businesses and the property industry, asking:

• How is the town’s commercial and residential property offer evolving?
• What next for the town centre in a post-Covid, post-retail world?
• What infrastructure and public sector investment is needed to drive growth?
• What can other towns on a similar regeneration journey learn from Stockport?
• Covid has disrupted and reconfigured how we all live and work – what could the ramifications be for places like Stockport?

The panel included:

• Caroline Simpson – Corporate Director for Place, Stockport Council
• Chris Lloyd – Investment Director, Glenbrook
• Phil Hepworth – Director, AEW Architects
• Tom Winney – Business Development Director, WFEL

Watch the full online forum on the Insider website - https://www.insidermedia.com/online-forums/insider-online-forum-building-on-success-transforming-stockport-for-the-future

We are delighted to be appointed by Efficiency North West on the EN:Procure framework for the Architectural Services lot. As one of only 70 successful consultants from over 600 tender submissions, we look forward to help maximise its positive impact in 4 key areas: Efficiency, Workforce, Communities, and Sustainability.

The new framework, with an estimated total value of £10.4m over 4 years, will provide a full range of leading edge, cost effective, easily accessible consultancy services for Efficiency North’s membership and customers in the social housing and wider public sector in Northern England.

EN:Procure Director of Operations Emma Mottram commented, “Following a detailed and challenging test of so many tenderers’ capacity, competency and efficiency we are delighted to have achieved such a diverse offer in the Framework, with a mix of larger national practices as well as smaller local businesses. We are very much looking forward to working with them to find solutions that meet the needs of our members and their communities in the current challenging economic climate.”

We are proud to be co-sponsoring Insider's Transforming Stockport for the Future Online Forum, to be held Thursday 20th August 2:00 – 3:00pm. The session will explore how Stockport has become one of Greater Manchester’s most exciting boroughs, thanks to a series of bold projects and a £1bn regeneration programme. Perceptions are shifting, and it’s an increasingly attractive location for businesses and residents alike. How can the town build on the progress made so far?

Insider’s Online Forum will consider how the town can maintain the momentum, while providing an update on the major schemes and signposting the opportunities for investment. AEW Director, Phil Hepworth, will join a panel of experts from the public sector, private businesses and the property industry, asking:

• How is the town’s commercial and residential property offer evolving?
• What next for the town centre in a post-Covid, post-retail world?
• What infrastructure and public sector investment is needed to drive growth?
• What can other towns on a similar regeneration journey learn from Stockport?
• Covid has disrupted and reconfigured how we all live and work – what could the ramifications be for places like Stockport?

Please click here to register for the event.

It is fantastic to see government funding has been secured for two of our projects, STOK in Stockport and Pioneer Place in Burnley.

STOK has been allocated funding from the £900m Get Building Fund which will allow for the 64,000ft² commercial scheme to be housed in the former M&S unit on Princes Street in Stockport.

The £3.6bn Towns Fund will support Pioneer Place; a town centre regeneration project in Burnley including a leisure space to attract more visitors and to grow the local economy.

Paul Dennett, the GMCA’s lead for housing, homelessness and infrastructure, said: “This funding from Government is a step in the right direction for our plans in Greater Manchester to bring new jobs and homes into our city and town centres. The announcement to support our ‘shovel ready’ projects demonstrates the Government’s confidence in our ability to deliver and it will support both our economic recovery from Covid-19 and our plans for homes, jobs and the environment.”

The STOK will embody the spirit of the vision for the Merseyway Centre, reimagining the former M&S unit, to provide a place to work, shop, and meet, right in the heart of Stockport’s core.

Collaborating with Glenbrook and Interior design specialist Incognito, the change of use planning application will introduce complementary uses to support the vitality of the town centre, improving foot fall and the overall aesthetic quality of the shopping centre.

STOK will provide 64,000ft² of modern office accommodation across two large, open plan floors with leisure and retail facilities in both the basement and ground floor. The building will include a central glazed atrium, three 9-person lifts, cycle storage, drying facilities and a second-floor outdoor terrace.

Glenbrook Investment Director Chris Lloyd said: “ We have been working closely with the Council to ensure the scheme complements the ongoing plans for Stockport town centre and are pleased to have made good progress under such testing recent conditions. This is another key milestone in the delivery of STOK which will provide much needed, flexible office space in the heart of Stockport which is arguably one of Greater Manchester’s most desirable towns for businesses looking to re-locate out of the city centre.”

We are extremely proud to support the Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum, having pledged our commitment to promoting better mental health in architecture.

The Architects’ Mental Wellbeing Forum was founded in late 2017 in an attempt to improve mental health within architecture. It was born out of a belief that we as an industry could all improve our understanding of mental health, and subsequently provide better environments for the mental wellbeing of people working in architecture.

As a result of a number of factors, such as a culture of long hours and perfectionism, architects are particularly vulnerable to problems with their mental health. This has been illustrated by the sad but noticeable increase in mental health problems reported by students in Architects' Journal surveys in recent years.

We are pleased to be a part of a forum that provides the tools and knowledge needed to make a positive impact within the industry. Supporting the AMWF will enable us to continue to promote better mental health at AEW and throughout architecture.

To find out more, please visit the AMHF website.

We supported Stockport Council in their £14.5m bid for Future High Street Funding to deliver their ambitious project for the town centre known as ‘StockRoom’ which will hopefully also see an additional investment of £8m in some of our other projects at the Merseyway Shopping Centre, including the re-purposing the former M&S and BHS buildings.

A statement from Stockport Council said ‘StockRoom will bring a learning and knowledge hub to the town centre - a future-focused community and public facing services hub - which can be used by the whole community. It will celebrate the culture and creativity of the town, providing a space that encourages people to tell their story, where residents can spend leisure time, learn and celebrate their heritage’.

Cllr David Meller, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy at Stockport Council said: “This exciting development will bring more people in to the town centre and more importantly, will be somewhere that local people can enjoy for years to come. It will also act as a catalyst to attract even more investment into the town and attract major businesses”.

As a UKGBC member, we are extremely proud to be working with Tritax Symmetry who have announced that all new developments within their portfolio will be constructed to net zero carbon in construction in line with the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework.

The primary focus of the framework is to set in place a path to achieve net zero carbon buildings in both construction and operation (in-use energy consumption), whilst beginning to provide direction for addressing whole life carbon in the industry.

As a practice we believe that all of our activities should have a positive effect on the environment. We are committed to good design that maximises social benefits for the communities in which our projects are based. We are committed to work with clients who also create sustainable solutions.

The full article can be found on Tritax Symmetry website - https://tritaxsymmetry.com/latest-news/net-zero-carbon-commitment-announced/

Throughout the month of May, we have spent our time walking, cycling and being active to reach a target of 5 million steps in the effort to raise money for Ronald McDonald House, Manchester and to remain active during our wellbeing month.

We completed a total of over 8 million steps and raised a fantastic £812 for the charity very close to our hearts, which AEW doubled to make a grand total of £1575.

RMHC provide families with a free ‘home away from home’ which enables them to stay close by while their children are in hospital across the UK. To find out more about the charity, please visit their website.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed and donated to make a difference.

We are thrilled that planning permission has been granted to enable much needed estate improvements and provide new homes for this great community.

The proposals for Sale West Estate will provide in the first instance, 79 quality family homes, improvements to existing car parks, improved highways, new safe quality play areas and enhanced amenity spaces. All 79 homes will be affordable and available for social rent. A further 184 homes could be provided as part of a second phase of development, which will be subject to a reserved matters application.

Claire Kilgariff, Associate Director at AEW Architects commented ‘Working collaboratively with Irwell Valley Homes, Nexus planning, Curtins, Exterior architecture and CPC, together we have delivered a scheme that is inclusive and sustainable and will transform the estate for it’s customers and the wider community.’

We are extremely proud to have been appointed by the Great Places Housing Group to it’s £750m Innovation Chain North (ICN) framework for the next 4 years.

ICN has been designed to support delivery of new homes across the north of England, not only to support Great Places’ very ambitious development programme but also those of other housing associations operating across the north of England.

We are one of 83 consultants from the 183 that applied to be successful, being selected based on our technical competence, price and commitment to social value.

Helen Spencer, Great Places’ Director of Development, said “We are delighted to be working with AEW on our new ICN framework. We are confident they will be able to work with us and the clients of ICN in delivering the sector’s extensive development ambitions in the North."

AEW Director Colin Savage comments “We are looking forward to working with the members and the customers of this significant framework to deliver innovative, high quality and affordable housing within their neighbourhoods.”

For a full list of successful companies, please see the ICN website - https://www.innovationchainnw.co.uk/icn

We are delighted that after much hard work and an on-line interview, Tom Fantom has passed his final RIBA examinations.

Tom initially joined us in 2015 as a Part I Architectural Assistant before re-joining the team in 2018 as a Part II Architectural Assistant, having completed his masters degree. He has worked on many different industrial projects during his time with us, including Birchwood Park and Carrington Gateway.

Our people are at the heart of the business and we are proud to share their successes and wish them continued success throughout their careers with us.

Throughout the month of May, we are focussing on creating awareness and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We supported the Mental Health Foundation’s Mental Health Awareness Week by focusing on the theme kindness by being kind to ourselves and to others by completing the kindness bingo. This included tasks like switching off your phone for an hour, writing down what you are grateful for and checking in with a family/friend. Our team also took part in different activities including desk stretches, yoga, meditation sessions and team workouts via zoom, not forgetting our ‘5 million steps for Ronald McDonald House Manchester’ challenge.

This has bought a huge positive impact to our wellbeing and we aim to continue to raise awareness throughout the year for mental health and wellbeing by supporting charities and volunteering.

Find out more about Mental Health Foundation by visiting their website https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

During the month of May, we are using our homes, back gardens and daily exercise time to walk, run and cycle, to reach a target of 5 million steps.

We have extended Mental Health Awareness Week hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, to an awareness month, where we will stay active for the positive benefit it has to people’s mental and physical wellbeing whilst supporting our longstanding charity partner, Ronald McDonald House Manchester, which remains close to our hearts during this unprecedented time.

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) provide free ‘home away from home’ for families with children in hospitals and hospices across the UK. RMHC provide free, safe, relaxing accommodation for parents during their child’s stay in hospital, all at no cost to the NHS Trust or families who stay, thus helping to keep family units together and encouraging families to support one another through what can be an emotionally challenging time.To find out more about the charity, please visit their website.

To donate, please visit the justgiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/aew-architects

It’s positive to see on-site construction activity continuing on many of our industrial projects, with great progress being made through the hard work of contractors and sub-contractors to implement site control measures that facilitate safe operations in strict accordance with Government guidance.

We have remained fully operational throughout the COVID-19 situation, working remotely via our robust and advanced IT systems. We have continued to collaborate with our clients, contractors and design teams with web based project meetings and design team workshops, holding virtual coordination / clash detection sessions with on-line sharing of our asset rich, 3D BIM models, and exploring innovative ways to manage the remote capture of on-site data.

Please stay in touch. We are encouraging our team to regularly talk to others in the industry to remain connected and ease the isolation.

If you have any questions regarding our approach or services, drop us a line.

Following HM Government’s publication of ‘Working safely during COVID-19 in offices and contact centres: Guidance for employers, employees and the self-employed 11 May 2020’, we have conducted an appropriate risk assessment. We will continue to fully work from home and await further evidence towards the eradication of COVID-19 before changing these working practices. Attendance of AEW staff to sites will be reviewed on a individual basis subject to the prior receipt of the Principal Contractor’s method statements and risk assessments in accordance with HM Government’s publication of ‘Working safely during COVID-19 in construction and other outdoor work: Guidance for employers, employees and the self-employed 11 May 2020’. The situation will next be reviewed in mid-June 2020.

Since the initial lockdown orders were announced we have fully worked from home and remained 100% operational for all services.

As part of our work with Stockport Council on the wider regeneration of the Merseyway shopping centre, we have designed a new Innovation Centre in the prominent former Next building.

The re-purposing of the redundant first floor retail unit to form a 15,000ft² coworking office, will create a flexible, collaborative and engaging community workspace incubator. The scheme will include coworking spaces, a flexible business lounge, divisible meeting rooms and smaller self-contained office units. The appearance of the unit will be significantly enhanced by alterations to the façade including new cladding and alterations of existing windows to create floor to ceiling openings to provide natural light to the building.

The scheme is part of a wider series of interventions proposed to transform this prominent town centre location, including new shopfronts, improved public realm and community facilities. The aspiration is to create a destination which is integrated into the town centre and attractive to both retailers and customers, with the introduction of complementary uses to support the vitality of the town centre, bring new users into the shopping centre and improve the aesthetic quality of the centre.

We are proud to have become supporters of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, which supports and promotes ethical and secure working standings for people across all districts of Greater Manchester. Our dedicated team have deep specialist knowledge, skills and experience of our sectors and services, collaborating with our clients, consultant partners and contractors from inception through to delivery, to maximise the benefits of good design for all. Supporting this charter will enable us to give them the best possible working conditions by reviewing and implementing flexible working, health and wellbeing initiatives and promoting people engagement throughout our practice.

The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, was developed through a process of co-design, involving the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), employers and employees from all sectors, as well as trades union employees and other experts. The Charter aims to improve employment standards across all GM employers regardless of size, sector or geography.

Following the successful design and construction of new Houses in Birmingham, Manchester, Southampton, London and Cardiff, we are delighted that our latest project for Ronald McDonald House Charities is now complete. The 62-bedroom Ronald McDonald House Oxford will provide invaluable support including free ‘home away from home’ accommodation for families whose children are undergoing treatment at the Oxford Children’s Hospital, Children’s Critical Care and Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) units on the John Radcliffe Hospital site.

With the continued spread of COVID-19, we'd just like to confirm that we remain fully operational and able to support clients on all matters.

For many years we have invested in robust and advanced IT systems and solutions, which have been thoroughly tested this week. Everybody at AEW is set up to work remotely, we all have;

• dedicated laptops
• secure VPN connections to our servers
• Microsoft Teams accounts
• access to specialist office resources via virtual desktops

With such flexibility in place and given the most recent Government advice of Monday 23rd March, we have decided to close our office until further notice to safeguard our people, restrict travel and encourage social distancing. The office phone line will remain answered 5 days a week, however post will not be regularly monitored during this time. If you intend to send hard copy mail, please contact your normal AEW contact or via reception on main@aewarchitects.com / 0161 214 4370 to arrange alternative delivery address details.

As with the rest of the industry, we are encouraging everybody to heed Government advice and stay safe by avoiding face-to-face meetings. Through our experience of collaborative working across the UK, ROI and internationally, we are well-placed to effectively connect remotely with our clients and industry colleagues. We are able to assist setting up virtual meetings via Microsoft Teams on our projects if this helps.

We do not foresee any significant issues in continuing to provide our services to you, but will be in touch if the situation changes.

Please stay in touch. We are encouraging our team to regularly talk to others in the industry to remain connected and ease the isolation.

If you have any questions regarding our approach or services, drop us a line.

Continuing our regeneration work at the Merseyway Shopping Centre, Stockport, we are delighted to be working with developer Glenbrook and interior designer Incognito to re-purpose the former Marks & Spencer building into a contemporary office-led mixed-use development called ‘STOK’.

Under the proposals, the 67,000ft² building would contain two open plan office floor plates at first and second floors totalling up to 32,000ft², linked to a spacious entrance lobby fronting Princes St via a new central atrium punched through the building, with new feature staircase, refurbished lifts, basement cycle storage and a second-floor roof terrace. The remainder ground floor and basement will provide flexible retail and leisure space, designed to meet a range of occupier requirements.

Chris Lloyd, Investment Director at Glenbrook “believes STOK will be a real game-changer for Stockport. The town centre itself has hardly any new office space, yet it is in perfect location for an office scheme.”

He added: “The final configuration of the space is flexible and will be led by the requirements of the occupiers, but we envisage it will be primarily office-led, with a smaller amount of retail and leisure space to complement the mix on Merseyway.”

We are proud to announce that we have become members of the Green Building Council. The organisation is compiled of over 400 organisations spanning the entire built environment sector who have committed to work together for a better built environment. As a practice we believe that all of our activities should have a positive effect on the environment. We are committed to good design that maximises social benefits for the communities in which our projects are based. We aim to create sustainable solutions from the outset, engaging with all stakeholders and driving social improvements including access, inclusion, health and wellbeing, amenity and whole lifecycle project ‘costs’ including energy usage.

Danielle Purves, Associate Director commented “Having worked at AEW for 15 years, I understand how important green and sustainable initiatives are for our clients as well as how we operate as a business. We have many clients at present who are striving for carbon neutral goals and long term, future proofed sustainable design. This is something we are passionately working with them on, across both architecture, digitisation and interior design which is my speciality. By joining the Green Building Council we look forward to sharing knowledge and leading continuous improvement for our clients and our future generations who will utilise the buildings and spaces we design.”

We are extremely proud to be shortlisted for the RICS Social Impact Awards 2020, for The Trilogy in the residential category, North West. The awards which are held regionally aim to recognise the transformational impact of the built environment across the UK. The Trilogy, which comprises of 232 residential apartments was not only fully let after 6 months but it continues to be the No1 rated apartment scheme by residents in Manchester on the HomeViews website, a national tenant feedback website.

David Brooks Wilson, Chair of the RICS award judging panel commented “The real estate sector is a vital part of our economy, and this year’s shortlist shows the power of built environment professionals to make a positive impact on society and our communities. It showcases the breadth of work and contributions that our professionals and wider industry make and the difference this profession can make.”

Good luck to all who have been shortlisted, to see the full shortlist please see the RICS website: https://www.rics.org/uk/news-insight/latest-news/press-releases/social-impact-award-shortlist/

We are delighted to have supported Tritax Symmetry in securing a deal to construct a new manufacturing plant for Love Hearts maker, Swizzels Matlow, at MA6NITUDE in Middlewich, Cheshire. The 158,000ft² facility represents a significant expansion of the confectioner’s current manufacturing capability and involves a significant additional investment in new plant and machinery. It will form the first phase of a potential 460,000ft² overall development for Swizzels at the business park.

David Nuttall, development director at Tritax Symmetry, said: “Bringing a well-respected and long-established company to Ma6nitude is a huge coup for both the scheme and the region. Swizzels’ decision to choose Ma6nitide as the location for such a significant investment in growing their business emphasises the quality of the site and their confidence in our ability to deliver this new manufacturing facility. This is also excellent news for Middlewich too, bringing a range of good quality jobs to the area.”

A planning application has been submitted.

We are continuing our 10 year partnership with Lineage Logistics, the largest UK provider of frozen supply chain solutions. We have worked with Lineage on their facilities nationwide, helping them set the standards in frozen food logistics. Our most recent work continues development at their depot in Heywood, where we have already completed a 100,000sqft cold store. Plans have recently been submitted for Phase 7 on this site consisting of a 75,000sqft extension to this facility, including a single skin cold store, loading dock and associated office space, which will provide much needed additional storage for this growing company.

Our Director, Colin Savage attended the University of Central Lancashire cJAM: Built Environment event last week. Colin got a chance to present to the students about architecture and his experience within the industry. The day also involved speed pitching, networking and a Q&A session.

We believe investing in the future is hugely important and actively commit our time, energy and knowledge into the next generation.

Colin Savage, Director comments “A fantastic day spent with the students from UCLAN. Some interesting pitches delivered by the students and discussions about the industry and what’s to come.”

We are proud to be working with Irwell Valley Homes on the regeneration of the Sale West neighbourhood. Our team engaged with the residents and stakeholders of Sale West in 2019 to gather valuable information about their needs & concerns. Using this knowledge, we produced an innovative, inclusive and sustainable masterplan to transform the estate for its customers and the wider community. A planning application will be submitted this month.

Sasha Deepwell, chief executive of Irwell Valley Homes, said “As well as the improvements to the existing homes and estate, the new homes will give local people access to a home they can afford within their community.”

We have positively kicked off 2020 with a wellness and wellbeing initiative to ensure a happy and healthy start to the new year for our fantastic team.

Throughout January we have had the opportunity to take part in a range of activities for all abilities such as yoga, simple desk exercises, wellness walks around the city and also 5k fitness runs.

A big thanks to our very own Matt Bell who organised many of these activities which have had a positive impact on our wellbeing and overall mental health.

We will continue to raise awareness for mental health and wellbeing by continuing office activities, volunteering and supporting charities throughout 2020 and beyond.

A change is coming.

New legislation, expected in the coming months, will force the owners of high-rise residential buildings (HRRBs) to hold robust digital information about their assets. For many building owners, this presents significant challenges. We need a culture change in how we design, build and operate HRRBs.

Building a Safer Future

In May 2018, following the Grenfell disaster, the ‘Building a Safer Future’ report, led by Dame Judith Hackitt was published. This report was commissioned to independently investigate the issues surrounding the current Building and Fire Safety Regulations. As expected, the findings of the report were damning.

Dame Judith found several areas of concern:

• the roles and responsibilities of those procuring, designing, constructing and maintaining buildings are unclear
• building regulations are ambiguous
• competence in the industry is patchy
• product testing, labelling and marketing are insufficient
• residents’ voices are not heard.

One example of her findings was of doors marketed as fire resistant for 30 minutes that failed subsequent re-testing.

Public consultation

The key recommendations of the report were the introduction of a new regulatory framework and the creation of a new Joint Competent Authority (JCA). The JCA will be formed from existing bodies including LABC, the HSE, and the Fire and Rescue Service. The regulatory framework will focus on the design, and construction of all multi-occupancy HRRBs. A digital record of the building will be used in regular ‘safety case reviews’, ensuring that these buildings are safe for their residents. Proposals in the ‘Building a Safer Future’ consultation incorporated recommendations from the Hackitt Report. A strong theme in these proposals, was for structured digital information to be the ‘golden thread’ throughout the life-cycle of a HRRB.

Access to information

Collating digital information on new-build HRRBs should be achievable for all owners with little effort. The supply chain in the construction industry has had several years transitioning to working in the age of information, providing this sort of data.

The challenge for many building owners will be two-fold:

• assessing what information is available for existing HRRB stock
• adapting business systems and processes to hold and maintain digital asset information.

Structured digital information has become commonplace in other sectors. Market pressures and the financial crash compelled retail and industrial property owners to innovate their business processes. Sadly, it took a tragedy for wholescale action to occur in the residential sector.

Governance

However, the move towards trusted structured information presents opportunities for building owners. The JCA will use the structured information as a basis for safety case reviews, but the main beneficiaries of this process are those concerned with governance, and of course, the occupants of the building. From a governance perspective, business processes based on secure access to a dataset will drive compliance. Building systems that need regular maintenance can be programmed into automated events. Responsibilities, statuses and reporting can be built into a transparent asset management system. Currently, asset management is often exceptionally fragmented, with compliance largely being achieved despite disparate knowledge across an organisation. A truly digital system can change this, offering dashboard-style management of not only an asset, but also a whole estate.

Finally, we must appreciate the resident. Anyone living in a HRRB should be able to instantly access information about the safety of their home. For example, when the sprinkler was last tested, the emergency escape strategy, what the building is made from… Most importantly, the resident should have a voice.

The new legislation is eagerly awaited by many.

Are you ready?

Get in touch to discover how we can help you and your estate meet the needs of the digital age by emailing mturner@aewarchitects.com.

Through our specialist knowledge and experience of working in the accommodation sector, we have been appointed to provide architectural services on a range of frameworks to assist our clients in delivering high quality, sustainable homes that meet the current and future needs of residents. By working within these frameworks with other design disciplines, we support innovation, achieve benefits from collaborative working, provide opportunities for sustainable job creation and training, whilst delivering efficiencies and value for money. Over the past 2 years we have worked closely with housing providers and their customers to design over 400 new homes and regenerate areas into sustainable and inclusive neighbourhoods.

We are currently engaged on the following Frameworks:

• Clarion DPS Framework
• Fusion 21
• Homes England
• JV North
• L&Q Framework
• MSV Framework

For the second consecutive year, we are honoured to have sponsored the Insider North West Residential Property Awards. AEW Director, Colin Savage presented the ‘Social Impact Award’ on the evening, which was received by One Manchester for their affordable housing scheme, Stoney Gate in Openshaw. The award, which was launched this year, looks to recognise a residential scheme that has had a significant positive impact on the local community, which is strongly aligned to our values and ethos when designing homes and communities.

We are also extremely proud to have been shortlisted for two categories at the awards, the ‘Architects Practice of the Year’ and our project The Trilogy, Castlefield was shortlisted for ‘Apartment Development of the Year (more than 100 homes)'.

The awards took place on the 23rd January at Manchester Central. Congratulations to all who were shortlisted and to those who won awards on the evening.

We are delighted to start the new year with planning approval for our town centre regeneration scheme at the heart of Burnley.

Collaborating with Burnley Borough Council and Maple Grove Developments, the leisure-led mixed-use scheme, which will include an 8 screen Reel cinema along with complimentary retail and leisure units, is designed to attract both local and national operators, varying the current offer, driving footfall, raising Burnley’s profile as a leisure destination and enhancing it’s night time economy.

Nik Puttnam, senior development manager at Maple Grove Developments, said: "This is a huge coup for Burnley; the town has been yearning for a strong leisure offer to attract more visitors from a wider area and increase dwell time and spend. We are talking to a number of national and regional leisure operators. Our next step is to appoint a contractor for the scheme with a scheduled start on site date of early 2021 and an estimated opening of Pioneer Place in November 2022."

Burnley Council leader Charlie Briggs added: "This is great news and a major step forward in this exciting leisure development. It will draw in visitors from a wide area which, in turn, will boost existing local businesses and have a positive impact on the local economy as a whole. Not only does it attract visitors but how great it will be for residents of all ages?"

Bernard Lam, Associate at Aew Architects, said. “We are extremely proud have collaborated with Maple Grove and Burnley Borough Council on this landmark project, to help revitalise the town centre and make it an attractive place for people to work, live, visit and invest.”

The last year has seen us continue to build on and strengthen our 23+ year relationship with one of the world's most recognisable brands.

To date, we have delivered 7,000+ new build and reimage projects with McDonald’s throughout the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Europe. Our partnership sees us continue to collaborate with McDonald’s to support their relentless drive to keep their brand relevant to customer demands. Our highlights of 2019 include:

• the conclusion of our work on the ’Experience of the Future’ programme which saw all McDonald’s stores in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland being updated to a new kitchen platform
• 74 commissions in the Republic of Ireland, including the opening of 3 new motorway services sites in partnership with Circle K
• the redesign of all existing McDonald’s ASDA sites, including 9 new in-store restaurants
• the delivery of 4 flagship high street stores including the reimage of 2 stores on Oxford Street, London and 2 new stores in London Bridge and Bond Street, Leeds
• the conversion of a former MJ’s American-style diner into a new 230no cover 2-storey drive-thru restaurant with family focus in Formby
• a further 11 new build store openings for McDonald’s across the UK
• the use of 3D REVIT software to visualise new development to support planning applications in sensitive locations
• the continued expert support and input on strategic documentation such as The McDonald’s Contractors Manual

We look forward to continuing our work with McDonald’s for many years to come.

We believe that our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees. This is never more important than in the build up to the festive period, where we have run three charity focussed activities, which the whole office has been involved in. We couldn’t be prouder of our AEW team who have donated both their spare time and money to these fantastic charitable causes.

Christmas Cards & The Big Lunch

We have designed and handcrafted Christmas cards to support our chosen charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities. Combined with the proceeds from our Christmas Jumper Day and Big Lunch, we raised over £737 to help RMHC provide families with a free ‘home away from home’ which enables them to stay close by while their children are in hospital across the UK. To find out more about the charity, please visit their website https://rmhc.org.uk/

‘In The Box Manchester’

We have also chosen to support ‘In The Box Manchester’. This is a combined Christmas campaign for Manchester charities, Centrepoint, Lifeshare and Barnabus. On Tuesday 17th December our team, organised by Liam Barnett, delivered over 20 boxes for this worthy cause. The boxes were filled with essential items to be distributed to adults in greater need this holiday period.

We believe that our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees.

As part of our ongoing commitment to support charities, our internal charity committee, who focus on maintaining and strengthening our social value contribution, have decided this Christmas we will be supporting ‘In The Box Manchester’. This is a combined Christmas campaign for Manchester charities, Centrepoint, Lifeshare and Barnabus. The campaign is headed up by football player Marcus Rashford to help local homeless people in Manchester, and members of the public are being encouraged to fill a shoebox of essential items to be distributed to adults in greater need this holiday period.

The following contents list has been collated in partnership with organisations who specialise in homeless care to guarantee the most urgent and essential needs are met. Alternative items are not prohibited, but they request that lids are not sealed when dropped to allow for suitability vetting process.

• Comb / Hairbrush
• Gloves / Scarf
• Hand Sanitiser
• Hand Warmers
• Hat
• Hypo-allergenic Soap
• Roll on deodorant
• Socks
• Thermal underwear/vest
• Tooth brush / tooth paste
• Wet Wipes
• Wind Up Torch

On Monday 16th December lunch time we will be taking our boxes down to the drop off point at Selfridges, Manchester Exchange. Thank you to Liam for leading the committee for us and all the hard work and energy the team are putting into this project and others. If any of our clients or contacts would like to help us with this please get in contact with Liam: lbarnett@aewarchitects.com.

We are extremely proud to be shortlisted for two categories at the Insider Residential Property Awards 2020. We have been shortlisted as ‘Architects Practice of the Year’ and our project The Trilogy, Castlefield on Ellesmere Street has been shortlisted for ‘Apartment Development of the Year (more than 100 homes)'.

We are honoured to be sponsoring and presenting the ‘Social Impact Award’ on the evening. The awards will be taking place on 23rd January at Manchester Central.

Good luck to all who have been shortlisted, to see the full shortlist please see the Insider website https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-west/shortlists-revealed-for-north-west-residential-property-awards

It’s great to know we're doing the right thing; creating homes that people love! The Trilogy, which comprises of 232 contemporary, high quality, sustainable homes is in the top 3 developments nationally and is the number one place to live in Manchester too. The whole team are extremely proud of this achievement.

Data has been sourced by up and coming website HomeViews, a website set up for residents and viewers to rate and review not just the property itself and its location, but also give feedback on the developer and the building’s management team, giving a true and real time insight into the overall developments and homes created.

One tennant on the website noted "Everything is perfect. It feels like a small community, has modern design and everyone is extremely helpful. It’s a lovely place to live and it feels like home already!”

The scheme was developed by Glenbook and constructed by Grahams Construction, and was a BIM enabled project.

We are delighted that South Gate, one of our most recent elderly living schemes has been featured by The Housing Learning and Improvement Network. The article focuses on creating independent homes for people developing or living with cognitive conditions in East Manchester. Read the full article here: https://www.housinglin.org.uk/Topics/type/Creating-independent-homes-for-people-developing-or-living-with-cognitive-conditions-in-East-Manchester/

We are delighted to continue our work with HIMOR, supporting them in the preparation of their new outline planning application for Carrington Village. We undertook an advisory role on the architectural master planning for the employment areas, where we utilised our specialist sector experience and in-depth knowledge of the site to collaborate with AECOM and the rest of the project team in designing the scheme which includes up to 620,000ft² of industrial & logistics space, up to 48,000ft² of offices, a relocated rugby club and up to 320 homes with a new district centre.

We spent Friday 18th October raising money and awareness on wear it pink day for Breast Cancer Now.

We wore pink, took part in a sweepstake, quiz and other activities within the office and are extremely proud to have raised over £200 for this amazing charity.

We proudly sponsored the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Property and Construction Annual Dinner and Awards on Thursday 3rd October. As well as the ‘Building of the Year Award’ being announced, we also saw the launch of the ‘Steve Burne Apprentice of the Year Award’. Our late Managing Director, Steve Burne, who passed away last year, was a high-profile Chamber member for many years, with roles as Vice-President of GMCC and Chair of the Property & Construction Group. This year the ‘Apprentice of the Year Award’ has been renamed in tribute to Steve to recognise his contribution and passion in supporting young people.

The award was presented to Abdul Tahir from the Mace Group, for the great example he has set to current and future apprentices. Abdul is part of the M-Futures scheme, meaning that he is enrolled on a two-year programme studying an HNC in construction and a L4 NVQ Diploma in Construction and Building Services Management and Supervision (sustainability). The M Futures programme consists of a group of employers that all employ an apprentice who is then rotated around the group of employers for four-month placements over the two-year programme. The runners-up for the Steve Burne Apprentice of the Year Award where Liam Gee from Three Sixty (Part of Stockport Homes Group) and Holleeann Walker from Laing O’Rourke.

We strongly believe in nurturing and supporting the next and are proud that Steve has been recognised by the Chamber.

We love a little bit a baking here at the AEW office, so when the annual Macmillan coffee morning marks its return every September our brilliant budding Mary Berry’s take the challenge of creating the most delicious bakes for the office. Thank you Meg and Naeema who spent time organising a bonanza of baked activities throughout the day! Including getting our newest members of the team Holly and James to give their critical verdict on any soggy bottoms!

Holly the newest member of our central resources team commented “It’s my first week and I think being asked to judge the bake off is a pretty good way to meet the team, luckily all the bakes were a pretty good standard, so we avoided any controversies. It was a great way to kick off my job here at AEW, and great to see the whole team getting involved. Everyone made me feel very welcome!”.

We are proud to have raised over £350 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Continuing our town centre regeneration work, Pioneer Place in Burnley, has now been submitted for planning. The proposed development represents a key stage in the council’s long-term ongoing masterplan to revitalise the town centre and is pivotal in progressing the Burnley’s future as an attractive place for people to work, live, visit and invest.

The leisure-led mixed-use scheme, which will include an 8 screen Reel cinema along with ten complimentary retail and leisure units, is designed to attract both local and national restaurants, leisure and retail operators, varying the current offer, driving footfall, raising Burnley’s profile as a leisure destination and enhancing it’s night time economy

The high-quality building designs, materials and enhanced public realm, will act as a focal point, enhance the arrival experience into Burnley, and improve legibility and connectivity throughout the town centre including, links to the bus and railway stations.

Collaborating with Maple Grove Developments and Burnley Borough Council, early public engagement and stakeholder consultation processes, were key to help us to tailor our designs to the needs of local residents, shopkeepers and businesses

Cllr Mark Townsend, leader of Burnley Borough Council, said: “Recent investments have already seen increases in the number of visitors to the town. Pioneer Place will build on this, by diversifying our offer and attracting even more visitors to our town centre. This will further boost the local economy and benefit local businesses.”

Councillor Asif Raja, executive member for economy and growth said: “Developments like this offer something for everyone. It will attract more visitors to the town which means more spend and a greater buzz about the place. If we don’t take actions like this to grow the local economy, we risk losing out to other places that do. Another added benefit of Pioneer Place is that it will help to attract more students to come and study in Burnley, which in turn will generate further economic benefits for the borough.”

We will continue to honour Steve’s legacy with our work and future fundraising for Ronald McDonald Manchester and the Steve Burne Charitable Trust.

We believe our activities should have a positive effect on the environment, the community, our clients and business partners and our employees. This year, our annual award to recognise an outstanding personal contribution to charitable causes, was renamed ‘The Steve Burne Charitable Award’ to his honour his legacy. Steve, who sadly passed away last year, was not only at the heart of our AEW family, but tirelessly completed fundraising and charitable activities for Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Steve Burne Charitable Trust.

This year, we asked our team to nominate and vote for a colleague who they thought should be recognised for giving back and helping others, and responses flocked in.

At our annual presentation Oi-San Iu was gifted this award for selfless volunteering and charitable work. Her works include; voluntary work with Manchester Alliance Church; volunteering with food banks, her youth work as a singing coach and supporting role at two camp trips this year.

Oi-San has also been a volunteer singer for the last years at the Overbury's Charity Music Night raising funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities and Martin House and is a volunteer Director of Bare Boards Opera, amateur and professional group, staring in Rigoletto at the Waterside, Sale.

Oi-San also provides support to Manchester Enterprise Academy, Wythenshawe students and has carried out multiple mentoring sessions with our students here at AEW. Well done Oi-San a thoroughly deserved winner and inspiration to us all!

Our Director Colin Savage took place in a round table hosted by Insider Media at Rendall & Rittner to debate ‘Future-proofing Residential Development’. Colin joined the group of industry peers and experts to discuss pressing topical issues in the residential sector from design to safety, legislation to changing consumer demands and much more in between.

“Being involved in these discussions is a fabulous way to engage with industry peers who have a great insight and impact in their professional field. Thank you to Insider’s Oscar Lynch who hosted the event, and for the opportunity to share my own experiences and knowledge within this forum, we look forward to reading the full round table article in your October 2019 edition.” Colin Savage, Director.

We are proud to have been part of the team to deliver the first phase of Scholar’s Fields in Wythenshawe for Wythenshawe Community Housing Trust, which comprises of 4 2-bedroom 3-persons apartments, 28 2-bedroom 4-persons houses and 12 3-bedroom 5 person houses.

When complete, the £19.6 million development will create 147 new family homes, making it the largest new build residential development in Wythenshawe since the completion of the garden city in the 1950's.

Whilst contemporary in its design and the high standard of accommodation provided, the scheme retains the scale and detail of the original garden city, integrating into the existing urban setting using considered layouts and a complimentary palette of materials.

“Scholar’s Fields is a significant development for Wythenshawe, and we are extremely proud to be involved in designing and delivering these homes for the local community. We look forward to continuing our work for the Trust under the JV North Framework on the future phases of this project.” Claire Kilgariff, Associate Director.

We are delighted to announce that Associate Directors Alan Lamb and Phil Hepworth have been appointed to join the AEW Board of Directors. Alan and Phil will join Managing Director, Andy Critchlow and Directors Andy Rainford and Colin Savage to lead our practice.

Alan joined AEW in 1997 and specialises in the industrial sector. His personable service and expert knowledge has directly led to continued commissions from many of the North West’s premier developers of strategic employment land.

Phil joined AEW in 2009 as a part II architectural assistant and his ambition, energy and talent has accelerated his development. He works across all of AEW’s key sectors including accommodation, retail, offices, industrial and sports & leisure.

The promotions follow an excellent year with increased revenues, significant reinvestment in business processes, procedures and automation that has led to a strong pipeline of work and future opportunities, all of which were shared at our annual ‘end of year’ presentation.

Andy Critchlow, Managing Director, comments "as we reinvest and grow its time to strengthen the board. We continually focus on developing our people and as a result have an amazing talent pool that share our values. I am pleased to welcome Alan and Phil to the board but more widely would like to congratulate everybody in the business for doing a great job, everyday."

Yet again, we have stuck to our strengths in retail, accommodation, industrial, offices and sports and leisure sectors. We have combined our specialist service with an increased market presence, sponsoring seminars, conferences and awards plus hosting our own specialist events has increased our audience and client base.

Following years in a support role to our people and projects, it is also great to see BIM Services being commissioned directly by Clients. Our team’s collaborative approach to understanding, collating and accessing information is timely in response to The Hackett Report and our industries need to provide The Golden Thread.

We were excited to co-sponsor Place North West’s ‘Future of Retail’ conference in September 2019 along with Bruntwood, Savills, WSP and TLT. We were joined by over 170 guests in discussing and debating the central theme of the high street and it’s future, along with the impact of Brexit on the overall retail sector itself.

AEW Associate Director, Phil Hepworth gave great insight as the opening speaker, focusing his talk on highlighting the changes in retail, specifically in town centres, and what architects are doing to make these locations more appealing for the new demographic. Phil noted that each town has its own unique selling point that makes it special and distinctive. He called this “an opportunity” for “the town centre to change its retail offer and connect to its key demographic. They can diversify their offer and increase footfall this way.” Councils in Stockport and Bolton are already doing this and tailoring their centres to its locality. This includes, in some areas, moving away from the retail-led aspect and shifting to more leisure-led areas dependent on what is needed in that area.

Phil envisioned city or town centres as being more connected to the local area, by both integrating with the people who visit, but also making the space better utilised. “By connecting schemes like Pioneer Place in Burnley to the high street and creating new public realm, it encourages people to spend more time there and enjoy it. A big thing about space is its management and curation so everything works conveniently together”.

Retail remains a key sector for our practice, working with private developers, local authorities and directly for some leading national retailers. We use our wealth of experience to ensure we support and guide our clients through this changing marketplace, whether it be town centre reinvigoration, out of town retail parks or bespoke retail roll outs and have an exciting project pipeline with our clients in this sector.

We have strengthened our BIM team with the appointment of Rosina Slavova as BIM Coordinator. Rosina will assist in the continued refinement of our BIM operations throughout the practice, providing support and advice to our internal design and technical teams, wider project design teams, stakeholders and Clients.

BIM Manager Mark Turner commented: “The growth of our specialist team is an indication of our commitment and success in BIM. We now support all AEW projects and are engaged directly by Clients for BIM services. In 2018, Mark Haworth joined the team to accelerate our drive in improving digital engineering design processes - Rosina will help us push even further and will support our ambition to provide an industry leading BIM consultancy service.”

We are proud to be sponsoring the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Annual Property and Construction Dinner & Awards 2019. The black-tie event, to be held at the Imperial War Museum North on 3rd October 2019, will see over 300 delegates from across the North West gather in celebration of the industry in our region.

Supporting the Chamber, the largest in the UK, is something that we have always done as a practice. Our late Managing Director, Steve Burne, who passed away last year, was a high-profile Chamber member for many years, with roles as Vice-President of GMCC and Chair of the Property & Construction Group. This year the ‘Apprentice of the Year Award’ has been renamed the ‘Steve Burne Award’ in tribute to Steve and in recognition of his contribution and passion in supporting young people.

We are delighted to have supported FI Real Estate Management Ltd in successfully securing planning consent for over 200,000sqft of industrial accommodation across 4 sites on Wrexham Industrial Estate. Using our wealth of experience in the sector, AEW collaborated with our client and the wider design team to maximise the offering on the sites, which includes 19 speculative new build units ranging from 800sqft to 70,000sqft. The buildings are designed to complement and enhance FI Real Estate Management’s substantial existing portfolio on the largest industrial site in Wales. The new developments, which are already in demand, currently sit on unused land on the site and will positively extend and increase economic and employment growth in the area.

We are extremely proud to have been involved with Birchwood Park for over 20 years, during which time we have worked closely with the Client to help shape this exciting and vibrant business park community.

Our designs of the latest phase of development, for which construction work recently started on site, have been evolved and refined through our experience, knowledge and collaboration with the client, design and agency teams to best meet current occupier demands and anticipated future market trends.

The project will deliver 170,000ft² of Grade A speculative industrial space across five new high-quality units, which are targeted at high value science and engineering tenants in Warrington and the Cheshire Science Corridor. The self-contained warehouses, ranging from 18,000 ft² to 58,000 ft², and featuring a high percentage of flexible office content, are set to complete in Spring 2020.

Martin O’Rourke, commercial director at Birchwood Park comments “Warrington has been crying out for industrial space of this size and spec for some time, and so we’re confident that the second phase of our Cavendish Warehouse development will meet the needs of businesses and plug this gap in the market."

“We’ve taken on board experience from the first phase of our development to ensure we’re able to offer greater flexibility when it comes to adapting this industrial space, to suit the needs of both our current or future occupiers”

The topping out ceremony for Chorley, Market Walk has taken place to mark the milestone of reaching the highest point in the construction.

We designed this scheme, responding to the needs of the local town and the council’s vision to enhance Chorley’s leisure and retail offer for this central district. As part of the design process we held public consultation events to listen and engage with local Chorley residents and businesses.

Using our understanding of the retail sector and experience in the leisure industry, we have helped Chorley Council breathe life back into the town centre, creating a vibrant mix of retail and leisure and refocussing the town centre as a destination for residents of Chorley and surrounding towns. The development will house a new six-screen Reel Cinema, a crazy golf complex, bowling alleys, M&S Food Hall, together with other retail, leisure and food/beverage outlets. The scheme will be completed in Autumn 2019.

“Following the council’s acquisition of the Market Walk shopping centre in 2013, we have worked closely with them and the appointed consultants to produce a scheme that will have a hugely significant and positive impact on the town centre.” Bernard Lam, Associate.

Bringing to life an underused vacant site in South Street, Openshaw with One Manchester.

Currently on site, the mixed use scheme of bungalows consists of 12 affordable houses and 15 bungalows aimed at people with early onset dementia. The bungalows, which are arranged around a central courtyard, feature large glazed windows to flood the living spaces with daylight and provide a strong visual connection with the raised beds, sensory planting and summer house. A varied colour palette has been sensitively developed to add interest whilst aiding memory and way finding.

This summer we held our first ever Sports Day! We took our fantastic team over to Didsbury Sports Club and had a wonderful afternoon of welly wanging, egg and spoon races, sack races and the ultimate teambuilding event – the three-legged race! From the outset our competitive and convivial teams worked together to create colourful team outfits, crack puzzles and hone their game strategies. One of the early highlights of the day really exhibited the power of working as a team, with the orange team and the green teams, led by Rob Dickson and Andy Critchlow, racing to get bonus points for being first to the Sport Club!

Health, wellbeing and taking care of our team is hugely important to us as a practice, and we look forward to making this an annual event. We are sure that some teams have already started practicing for next year. And a huge well done to orange colour team for coming first and to Wilson for being the overall sports day 2019 winner! The winning team’s prize was a £50 donation to a charity of their choice.

Great progress has been made on this vibrant mixed use project at Gatley Road, Sale for Laurus Homes. Consisting of 8 retail units, 28 apartments and 9 houses, it has been designed to to sit comfortably within the existing urban context and allows for completion in a phased sequence, allowing the demolition and clearance of the existing shops / apartments without disruption.

Our associate director Phil Hepworth on current office design trends:

We are currently working on several end user led high profile office projects. Each client has their own unique brief, however common themes immediately present themselves.

User experience

We design office space from inside out and outside in – collaborating with our interior designers really enhances our service. Clients appreciate that creating the right environment for their people can have endless possibilities. Following workplace analysis and stakeholder engagement getting to know the Client we design spaces to promote collaboration, efficient tailored workspace, focus areas, meeting spaces and group social spaces.

Wellness

Designing from a user perspective, wellness must be embedded into successful office space. Biophilic design and smart buildings are hot topics; facilities such as on-site gyms, access to the outdoors and social function spaces are becoming expected.

Flexibility

Given the pace of changing technology and user expectations, successful long-term office space must be flexible. Clients are keen to understand how designs today can evolve and flex.

Brand presence

Clients want to create an environment that presents their values. Our design decisions can enhance this and executed well, can create a sense of place and belonging to the whole organisation

Engagement

New offices should be exciting for the whole organisation. Clients are keen to include their people in decision making and shaping their future. Our engagement sessions and use of 3D technologies can make this accessible for everybody and real fun.

We have spent the month of May creating awareness for mental health and wellbeing. Different activities including a lunchtime walk around sunny Manchester taking in the beautiful city and architecture, a healthy communal office breakfast, bunches of beautiful flowers throughout the office and even taking part in meditation sessions. A big thanks to Melinda who has organised many of these activities and has had a positive impact on our wellbeing.

We will continue to raise awareness for mental health and wellbeing by continuing office activities, volunteering and supporting charities.

Interior Designers, Liz Durcan has been recognised by the Mix Interiors magazine’s ’30 under 30’ list of rising stars in interior design. Liz received the award on the final night of Clerkenwell Design Week to top off a fantastic and informative week. A huge congratulations to Liz and all the others who made the list!

Since joining in 2017, Liz has become a passionate and committed member of the AEW family, impressing us with her design skills, drive and enthusiasm. Liz works across all our sectors with direct interior design commissions and support to our architectural projects.

Most recently Liz has focused on commercial offices, completing workspace analysis and designing interior concepts for several large occupiers. Liz’s fresh, innovative design ideas communicated using 3D design and rendered walk throughs have gained amazing feedback from our Clients.

Read the full article here.

On a cloudy weekend in May, our awesome volunteers went on a little walk, well not so little really, a 16km and 32km mountainous trek in Cumbria for an amazing charity Walking with the Wounded. Our teams ‘AEW - Chafing The Dream’ and ‘AEW_New Generation’ not only supported this worthy cause by donating their weekend and heaps of energy, they raised over £2000 and Chafing The Dream also happened to come in 4th place overall out of 66, so pretty fantastic on all accounts! A great cause, a great weekend and a great outcome! Our team included members: Andy Critchlow, Eleanor Strange, Kelly Ward, Phil Millward, Rob Dickson, Daniel Sutton and Joshua Molesworth.

We regularly volunteer our time and skills to charities and community projects, it’s something we love to do and its part of who we are as a practice. Now, where do we sign up for next year…..?

We are currently working with CBRE and Stockport Council on the redevelopment of the Merseyway shopping centre, Stockport. Our specialist town centre, leisure and retail knowledge is being used on Adlington Walk, the first of a series of strategic interventions across the scheme, which is focused on improving access, facilities and customer experience.

Adlington Walk, which is a covered area off the main shopping mall linking to Chestergate, include plans to create community and welfare facilities in the town centre. Enabling the people that use the centre a more varied and useful visit, our designs include a soft play area, new seating, buggy stores, parent-and-child facilities, and a multi-faith prayer room. The designs also incorporate a focal lobby-style entrance, a new stair and lift core, overhauling existing retail units, public realm improvements, and new toilets which is all key in revitalising the centre.

Consultation events will be held on the plans at Arden Walk in the Merseyway between 10am and 4pm on Wednesday 22 May and Friday 24 May.

We are pleased to announce that Radius Campus, Crewe has won the RICS North West Awards 2019 for the Commercial category.

The awards took place on Friday 10th May 2019, they celebrate the most innovative projects in the region and their impact on local communities.

Radius Payment Solutions' new £14million headquarters comprises of 64,000sqft Grade A office space, with a real focus on the wellbeing of its team. The modern, unique office includes an on-site gym, café and relaxation breakout areas with Play Stations, pool and table tennis tables, giving staff the opportunity to relax within a working environment.

Phil Hepworth, Associate Director, commented “Designing offices for us is always about the people that use them day in, day out, focussing on the cultures that they bring, establish and grow within the business. I personally love the challenge of working with teams to create buildings and spaces that give them a sense of pride and enjoyment about being at work. We are delighted that Radius Campus has won this award, for our client and their fantastic team”.

Over the last week, we have completed two new drive thru restaurants, now open for customers in Formby and Aberdeen. With over 23 years’ experience, our national role for McDonald’s continues at strength.

In Formby we converted an existing two-storey diner into the largest McDonald’s Drive Thru’ building in Europe! In Aberdeen we delivered a model two-storey modular Drive Thru’ next to the ASDA superstore in Portlethen.

We are extremely proud that Dan Sutton and Florence Cooke Steed have both passed their final RIBA examinations. After much hard work, Florence received news last week, following Dan’s success at the beginning of the year.

Our people are at the heart of the business and we are proud to share their successes and wish them continued success throughout their careers with us.

We are thrilled to be taking part in the Cumbrian Challenge for Walking With The Wounded. On 18th May, two teams from AEW will complete a 16km & 32km walk in the Lake District alongside teams of veterans who are getting their lives back on track thanks to Walking With The Wounded.

Walking With The Wounded support veterans who are struggling with their mental health, who are hard to reach, socially isolated, homeless, in police custody... men and women with little to look forward to but who want to get back into society and employment.

Please support Walking With The Wounded by donating using this link. Every £675 can enable a veteran to access 1-2-1 private mental health therapy within an average of 4 days of referral.

We are absolutely delighted to have been named as one of Property Week’s ‘Best Places to Work in Property 2019’, being recognised on the prestigious list for the second year running!

‘Best Places to Work in Property’ is collated by Best Companies Group on behalf of Property Week to determine which are the best employers in the national property industry. This year, AEW are one of only 43 companies who made the grade after rigorous employer and employee surveys, which evaluate the business performance across eight key metrics: overall engagement; leadership and planning; culture and communication; role satisfaction; work environment; relationship with supervisor; training and development; and pay and benefits.

The property awards took place on 24th April at Grosvenor House, London. Look out for the May issue of Property Week to read more about it.

The delivery of Bolton’s £1.2bn masterplan for the regeneration of the town centre moved a step closer, as our designs for Church Wharf, a new £150m neighbourhood, were unanimously approved by Bolton Council’s planning committee on the 18th April. Working in collaboration with Muse Developments, our proposals for this key gateway site will help breathe life into the town centre by opening up access to the River Croal, creating outdoor space for everyone to enjoy and an attractive place for people to live, work and relax.

Church Wharf is the first project of this scale to be brought forward under Bolton Council’s wider vision to regenerate the town centre. It will create an exciting new area that will include a mix of over 350 homes, a hotel, offices and leisure and retail opportunities.

David Burkinshaw of Muse Developments said: “This is a huge step forward in delivering a new neighborhood at Church Wharf. With a focus on high quality design and architecture this gateway site will be transformed into a vibrant new area of the town.”

Bolton Council’s director of place Gerry Brough said: “We’re one step closer to achieving our vision in our £1.2bn masterplan... Church Wharf is fundamental to the regeneration of Bolton town centre... a key gateway into the town and of incredible strategic importance.”

Read the full article on Place North West https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/muse-takes-150m-church-wharf-to-the-next-stage/

At AEW, volunteering our time and skills to charities and community projects is part of who we are. Here is a roundup of our recent activities and events:

• National Autistic Society

We supported the National Autistic Society (NAS) on Friday 5th April as part of Autism Awareness Week. Our team raised money by wearing a variety of different colours and taking part in the office raffle and sweepstake. It was a huge success and we raised over £250.

• Dirty Reiver Bike Ride

Raising money for a charity close to our heart, Rob Dickson embarked on 200km off road bike ride for The Stephen Burne Charitable Trust.

• Blood Donations

Thanks to Associate, Dan O’Hara for organising or most recent Blood Donation Drive. This has become a regular part of AEW’s yearly calendar.

• Food Bank Collections

Our team continue to donate food to the Lifeshare project.

• Up and Coming: Cumbrian Challenge for Walking with the Wounded

We have two fantastic teams completing a walk around the Cumbrian peaks in Grasmere with like-minded people from the business community, for the Walking with the Wounded charity. The teams are in full preparation mode, and we’ll be sending out a donation link in the coming weeks.

With continued thanks to our amazing team who give their time and donations to these fantastic causes. We look forward to continuing our fundraising activities throughout the year.

In our 27-year history, we have seen a raft of changes, brought about by foreseen, and unforeseen circumstances. Place North West sat down with us to discuss the next phase for the business and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.

Our conversation wih Place North West....

Founded in 1992, AEW is based in Manchester, with 65 staff delivering services such as design, masterplanning and BIM, across sectors including residential, industrial, retail, offices, sport and leisure. Historically known for its industrial or out-of-town retail projects for clients such as Peel and Derwent, the past few years have seen an expansion into town centre regeneration work in Burnley, Bolton, and Stockport, as well as office projects, such as in Crewe for Radius and Wrexham for Moneypenny. Turnover is set to reach £6.5m this year.

One of the saddest and most significant events for the practice was the death of former managing director Steve Burne. Burne had led the business alongside Critchlow and Nigel Machin following a management buy-out in 2011. After a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2017, Burne exited the business to focus on treatment, and passed away last October.

Critchlow acknowledged the past couple of years had been “a sensitive time”.

“Steve was such a well-known figurehead in the market, and going through a period of terminal illness we needed to be very sensitive, both to the individual and in our business decisions in order to be sensitive to everyone else .

“We’re about putting people first, so as soon as he was diagnosed, the priority was getting him out of the business so he could get treatment and focus on that. Any business concerns were taken off him to give him the time to invest in himself, and we put practices in place so he didn’t see any pressure.

“Even in the most dire circumstances, Steve was putting the business first and ensuring succession was being thought of.”

Last year also saw the departure of fellow director Nigel Machin, who left in August to join long-standing client Derwent Group, leaving Critchlow with 100% ownership.

However, Critchlow had no inclination to run AEW solo, so the coming weeks will see Rainford and Savage come on board as minority shareholders.

“It’s down to the culture in which you’ve always worked. AEW has never been headed by a single person, it’s never been one person’s brainchild, it’s a collaborative approach,” Critchlow explained.

“The idea of maintaining and orchestrating control has never been in my psyche, and it’s been about sharing the opportunities available in the business, and mitigate any single person’s risk.”

Burne’s illness and Machin’s departure coincided with AEW’s 25th anniversary, what would have been a natural time to evolve the business, however changes were put on hold while the leadership team changed and adapted to the absence of Burne. In the past few months, AEW has seen an overhauled office, rebrand, other promotions, and the recruitment of Phil Sayle from Eric Wright as business development manager.

According to Rainford, “the business needed a refresh”.

“it’s what Steve would have wanted, for us to grow and succeed. It’s a testament to his legacy, that there’s a strong business plan and strong structure in place.”

Each director takes care of a separate stream of the business, however Critchlow said that “the logic is, it’s all connected, if we’re investing in people, we should turn out the best projects, and then if we have that sorted then performance should really look after itself.”

With a specialism in residential and social housing, Savage’s recruitment in 2017 brought new experience to the practice’s more established teams, and since joining, AEW has won places on four frameworks, for social and affordable housing, as well as increasing the volume of projects in this field with clients such as Trafford Housing Trust.

For Savage, AEW’s expanded residential offer hasn’t just acted as a separate work stream to the rest of the office. “We’ve seen a combining with existing commercial clients, so putting the two together has been very interesting. Particularly, commercial clients with landholdings looking to do other things with their stock, which adds to the work we’re doing increasingly with registered providers who need to do a lot more, be self-sufficient, and look at different ways to bring income.” Overall, AEW has 500 residential units on site, across different tenures, and a further 600 in the pipeline.

According to Rainford, the company has been intentionally diversifying its projects, but part of the battle has been perception.

“Historically, we’ve been very retail focused, and at peak, retail has been 65% of workload for the company, although externally perception may have been that we had more of an industrial focus. We’re now being a bit more targeted, growing that retail and industrial offer, but also looking at mixed-use, residential, and increased commercial developments. We’re not over-exposed in the city centre residential market, and we’re looking to be more active in peripheral towns.”

“Blurring the different sectors we operate in represents a blurring in the market,” added Critchlow. “It’s inconceivable to talk about a retail only, any scheme will have to have leisure in there, backed up by residential. Occupiers and employees are demanding retail space on their front door. Schemes need to be drawn from a variety of different component parts to be successful.”

Ensuring all schemes are held to a high standard, from sheds to offices and homes, is central to AEW, said Critchlow: “Some of our great projects could be big, rather dull-looking industrial sheds to other practices, but if we maximise the benefit of that to provide good employment space to the community in which it’s being built, and have brought good design solutions, then that’s a great project for us.

Commenting on AEW’s reputation as a delivery architect, he said: “We’ve previously talked ourselves down and beaten ourselves up about what the market thinks of us, but I’m proud that clients and contractors will come to us to deliver a project because of our technical expertise. But that’s not at the detriment to our design reputation.”

While AEW has a good regional spread of projects, historically it’s had fewer schemes in central Manchester. Work has included King Street Townhouse and a residential project for Glenbrook on Ellesmere Street, but is the practice looking to do more?

“We continue to bang on the door in Manchester, and deliver good schemes anywhere else. We can work in London across from the Houses of Parliament, or in Stockport across from the Town Hall, so would love to get the opportunities to do that kind of work in Manchester,” said Rainford. “But it’s incumbent on us to go out there, keep doing great work, and talk to people we haven’t done work with before.”

Asked about perpetual challenges for architects, of bidding for projects on frameworks, and facing pressure to deliver work speculatively, Critchlow said that while some frameworks had the right sentiment, many didn’t provide “a level playing field”.

“Some of the scenarios you pitch against on frameworks are make believe situations. Some people then pitch low numbers, because they know reality is not going to be anything like what they’ve priced, but they get their foot in the door, which is a cynical way of dealing with it.”

According to Rainford, AEW was firm that “we’re not entering into a race to the bottom with fees, we can’t compete with a two-man band, we’ve got to be profitable and be able to invest in our people, create the right environment and product. It’s not about being uncompetitive, but about not cutting our own throats. You can run around being busy fools, and not making much money.”

Overall, the practice was seeing “less pressure for large-scale speculative work. A lot of our clients talk about fees early on in projects, something which has changed recently.”

As AEW moves into its next phase, for Critchlow, his priority is “a focus on continual improvement, internally and externally.

“I’m a huge fan of British Cycling, and Team Sky’s 1% marginal gains, where everything is about, don’t beat yourself up about if you’ll be perfect tomorrow, but if you make a slight improvement to how you were today, you’re going in the right direction.

“If everyone in the company is doing that, then the opportunities are endless.”

To read the full aticle head to Place North West: https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/opportunities-endless-as-aew-looks-to-next-phase/

Practical completion has been reached on one of our most prominent sites across Manchester, which has been developed by Glenbrook. The Trilogy in Castlefield delivers aspirational living spaces of 232 high quality apartments over 3 interlinked buildings of up to 12 storeys for the private rented sector (market rent).

Constructed by Grahams on a constrained site, our design focussed on the emerging accommodation typology for the region, and encompasses resident amenities including a gym, concierge, basement car park and cycle storage. The project maximises design benefits of external space by creating an attractive courtyard terrace for residents and enhanced public realm.

I recently took part in a round table on ‘How can Britain’s built environment improve social inclusion.’

The third in the series of BRE’s “What Kind of Britain are We Building?” roundtables took place at one of Manchester’s most impressive new buildings, the Co-Op’s new HQ at 1 Angel, a powerful symbol of the city’s vigorous rejuvenation over the last three decades. Manchester is hardly recognisable from the down-at-heel metropolis it was in the 70s and 80s.

Just over 200 people lived in central Manchester in 1983 and that number is now between 30-40,000. There are currently eighty cranes on the city’s skyline and it was named by Deloitte earlier this year as one of Europe’s fastest growing cities.

There’s certainly a worry that the city’s economic strengths are not being converted into inclusive growth. The largest share of the £1.6 billion post-Brexit boost announced by the government in early March 2019 went to struggling towns in the North-West.

There are mounting concerns about the widening divides between the Haves and the Have-nots. Some 10,000 apartments are currently being built in Manchester City centre and another 9,000 are expected in the next three years. By contrast, rough sleeping is on the rise throughout the UK but the biggest regional increase is in the North-West where numbers have almost doubled over the past two years and quadrupled since 2010.

The theme for this roundtable discussion was “How can Britain’s built environment improve social inclusion?” When it was launched by the Blair government in 1997 the Social Exclusion Unit worked with a definition. Social exclusion is “What can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown.”

Three areas in Greater Manchester have been named among the poorest in England. Half a million are income deprived, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and one in four children still live in poverty. Despite its own rules, in the last two years, none of the 14,667 homes in large developments that were granted planning permission by the council’s planning committee, are set to be “affordable.” This is what has become known as “The Manchester Paradox.”

Colin Savage, Director "As designers we are in a unique position to contribute, influence and improve the communities in which we operate to ensure the built environment does not exclude parts of society. We should use our skills to challenge the private and public sector to eradicate the poor quality of old housing stock. This was built for a different economic age and creates redundant spaces with a migration of vulnerable people in many regions of the North West. Infrastructure, transport and IT needs an injection of capital spending to provide the basis of new developments. This should incentivise developers to focus on quality as well as quantity to ensure communities are diverse, sustainable and inclusive."

To read the full article http://jerichochambers.com/frameworks-to-build-a-better-britain-manchester/

As part of our commitment to invest our time, energy and knowledge into the education of the future generations of our industry, we are very proud to have taken part in the RIBA Student Mentoring Programme for our third consecutive year. The scheme, which was founded in Manchester in 2015, aims to enhance the students’ academic education by offering an insight and experience of design, project delivery and the day to day workings of an architectural practice.

Our team mentored 4 second year students from the Manchester School of Architecture. They have attended regular visits to AEW to gain an understanding of how our practice operates. The students experienced some of our projects through VR, attended a site visit, office briefings and design reviews, as well as receiving support on CV writing, interview technique and portfolio presentation.

The second phase of industrial units at The Quadrant, Birchwood Park is set to start on site next month with a completion date in early 2020. We have been involved with Birchwood Park for over 20 years with this being the sixth phase we have delivered.

It comprises 170,000ft² of industrial units on the Warrington Council owned park and will be a mix of two 18,000ft² units, a 24,000ft² unit and larger 50,000ft² and 58,000ft² units.

It’s part of our ongoing policy to always nurture and educate the next generation, it’s who we are as a practice. Last week our BIM Manager headed off to Bolton University to host a guest lecture on BIM for the Project Management students.

“As part of our role at AEW we always focus on sharing and imparting knowledge, not just to help each other but to ensure the next generation of property professionals are geared up to industry standards, work flows and expectations. Going back to Bolton Uni was not only a fantastic opportunity to meet a great bunch of students, but it’s close to my heart as that is where it started for me in higher education.” Mark Turner BIM Manager.

“Thank you very much for delivering such a fantastic lecture on BIM as a project management tool to our final year construction management students yesterday. As an alumnus and current member of our Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for construction, your guest lecture contributes immensely towards enhancing our curriculum. As you may be aware, engagement with industry is essential for us as it enables students to see the practical aspects of theories from industry experts like yourself.” Rukaya Dake

As part of our work at Church Wharf, Bolton, we have submitted a hybrid planning application for Muse Developments for this development. We are asking for full consent to start demolition and delivering infrastructure, as well as outline permission for later phases including 350 homes and 130,000sqft of offices and leisure.

Church Wharf is part of the £1bn wider regeneration plan for Bolton town centre, which is made up of various development zones. Church Wharf will comprehensively regenerate this important gateway, to create a vibrant place that will welcome people into the town to work, visit, and live.

For the full article head over to Place North West.

https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/plans-in-for-150m-church-wharf/

We are sponsoring Place North West’s ‘Future of Retail’ event in September. Get your tickets here: https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/events/future-of-retail-2019/

“From bricks to clicks, the death and rebirth of the High Street, and the rapid retraction of household names, replaced with booming ecommerce brands who occupy sheds rather than shops; retail is in a state of flux. Join us to debate its future, and learn how the property sector can be on the front foot with the ever-changing trends.”

Come and join our fantastic team! Please send your CV to jpullen@aewacrhcitects.com.

"Busy City Centre (Manchester) Architects with a buoyant workload can offer an immediate start for an experienced Architectural Technician. The successful candidate will be given significant responsibility and will have the opportunity to work on a multitude of exciting projects, spanning all commercial sectors in an energetic and stimulating environment. The ideal candidate will have 3 years + experience, will possess sound technical and construction knowledge, be proficient in the use of Autocad and Revit and be up to date with current building regs and codes of practice."

The second phase of Liverpool Shopping Park has been approved by Liverpool City Council. The scheme which will create hundreds of jobs, will include a leisure block comprising a six-screen cinema, a new state of the art Hollywood Bowl, as well as a gym and five restaurant units on the ground floor. A separate building will accommodate a 60,000sqft anchor retail store and a further 16 smaller retail units. This new phase will bring Liverpool Shopping Park’s total retail offer to in excess of 300,000sqft and will add new high street brands to the park, which includes Next, M&S Food Hall, River Island, H&M, TK Maxx and Smyths Toys. Ross Huntington, Associate Director said ‘This is another fantastic planning success for our long standing client, The Derwent Group and the city of Liverpool. The team are looking forward to starting on site in Spring/Summer 2019 and continuing our work on this iconic and exciting gateway scheme.’

We are delighted that Radius is in the running for three fantastic awards by the BCO and RICS. It is a finalist in the ‘Corporate Workplace’ North of England category for the British Council for Offices and shortlisted in both the ‘Commercial’ category and ‘The Design and Innovation’ category for the RICS North West Awards. The design of the building has allowed Radius to recognise and celebrate the heritage of the business and its future potential.

“The opening of the new HQ is a crucial moment in Radius’ history and even more important that it is based in Crewe. We have tried to build a mix of professional workspace with some nice relaxation and informal areas to create a great environment for our employees. We now have a unique, modern base which will further enhance our ability to attract new talent. Thank you to the team at Pochin’s and all other consultants on the project.” Bill Holmes, CEO at Radius Payment Solutions.

Continuing our work for McDonald's Restaurants Ltd, one of our most recent projects is proudly located within the London Bridge Redevelopment site, basking in the shadows of one of London’s most iconic towers, The Shard . The store was carefully designed to maximise the brands modern restaurant feel and hi tech ordering systems, while respectfully working with the Victorian railway features such as the original, magnificent brick arches. The final design incorporated an industrial feel with exposed ductwork and lighting to carry on the industrial heritage feel of this iconic site, which is owned by Network Rail.

Our commitment to investing in the next generation continues. We attended a great initiative called the ‘Employment Café’ set up by Manchester School of Architecture, where members of our team could meet with students looking to move forward in their journey to become architects. Overall the day was a great success, there was a fantastic turn out from both students and practices.

Our full proposals for the £150m Church Wharf project in Bolton town centre, which we are working on for Muse Deevelopments have now been revelaed. The scheme promises a placemaking and public realm-focussed approach to the underused and largely derelict site.

The project which is at pre-application stage, features a residential-led mixed use development including around 320 homes as well as the potential for a hotel, offices, and ground-floor retail and commercial space. There will be a mix of one, two, and three-bed flats along with duplexes and townhouses.

The full news article can be seen in Place North West

We are continuing our work with Peel, this time focussing on an industrial led project in Knowsley. Peel has put in an updated planning application for up to 800,000sqft at Knowsley Business Park, following the a lapsed planning application from 2015. Peel is still looking to build out the site, which is now primed and ready for development.

For the full news story please go to Place North West.

Our most recent project with RMHC has now started on site. The new 62-bedroom house, which started on site in December 2018, is due for completion by summer 2020. The facility will provide free ‘home away from home’ accommodation for families whose children are undergoing treatment at Oxford Children’s Hospital, as well as Children’s Critical Care and Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) on the John Radcliffe Hospital Site.

AEW are delighted to have been named as part of the Curtins team as one of twenty housing specialists selected by Homes England for their new Multidisciplinary Framework. The new framework will require the team to provide technical advice, services and design input that will help Homes England prepare brownfield and surplus public sector land for residential development.

The framework is open to registered providers, local authorities, healthcare trusts, colleges, schools, higher education providers, and all other government bodies.

During the next four years, the framework will enable procurement of £100m worth of services. It will support Homes England in achieving their objectives of accelerating the market by using their resources and influence to positively increase the scale and quality of housing delivery

Tony Dolan, Executive Director of Curtins, commented, “Curtins are really proud to have been successful on this framework, and to be working with organisations such as AEW who have a similar ownership structure, ethos and approach.

Colin Savage, Director of AEW commented, “We look forward to working with Curtins in assisting Homes England in accelerating to delivery of much needed housing. This framework sits perfectly with our work on JV North, Fusion 21 and Forviva frameworks together with private sector regeneration projects in Bolton, Stockport and Manchester.”

We are delighted and proud to announce that Radius Campus has been shortlisted for the British Council of Office Awards 2019 in the ‘Corporate Workplace North of England’ category.

The 66,000ft² state of the art global headquarters building, which officially opened on 11th December 2018, will accommodate over 500 people and includes an on-site gym, café and breakout areas with PlayStations, pool and table tennis tables, giving staff the opportunity to relax within a contemporary working environment.

Phil Hepworth, Associate Director at AEW Architects, said “from the outset the building design was about providing an inspiring space, which the people at Radius would be proud to call home. Together with the project team including Pochin, Radius and interior designer Space Invader, we created a flexible contemporary office building, with a striking exterior set in a mature landscape. Internally there are multitude of wellbeing facilities, meeting areas and work spaces, all connected by a highly glazed 17m high atrium at the heart of the building. Our tailored approach, using collaborative 3D modelling and virtual reality helped craft a bespoke yet BCO compliant building that will help Radius to continue to grow and evolve”.

Bill Holmes, CEO at Radius Payment Solutions, said: “The opening of the new HQ is a crucial moment in Radius’ history and even more important that it is based in Crewe. We have tried to build a mix of professional workspace with some nice relaxation and informal areas to create a great environment for our employees. We now have a unique, modern base which will further enhance our ability to attract new talent. Thank you to the team at Pochin and all other consultants on the project”.

Plans for Church Wharf, a new £150m neighbourhood in the heart of Bolton has been unveiled. Regenerating a fairly unloved and forgotten part of Bolton alongside the River Croal will create a vibrant and thriving community. Currently at the pre-application stage, Church Wharf will be a residential-led mixed use development including around 320 homes as well as the potential for a hotel, offices, and ground-floor retail and commercial space.

A fantastic project to be involved in working with Muse Developments and Bolton Council. A public consultation will be held later this month followed by a planning submission in spring. The full team on the project includes landscape architect CW Studio; planning consultant DPP; quantity surveyor Abacus; WSP on highways; and Scott Hughes Design as civil and structural engineer.

For further information on Church Wharf, visit https://www.churchwharfbolton.co.uk/

Over the last few months, the team at AEW have given up their spare time to design and handcraft Christmas cards to support our chosen charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities. Combined with the proceeds from our Christmas Jumper Day and Big Lunch, we raised £700 to help RMHC provide families with a free ‘home away from home’ which enables them to stay close by while their children are in hospital across the UK. To find out more about the charity, please visit their website.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed and donated to help make a difference.

Congratulations to Bilal who is now a Chartered Architectural Technologist, MCIAT.

Bilal joined AEW in 2016 as a Technician and has worked on key projects in the retail sector including refurbishment, new build and modular buildings for McDonald’s and Domino’s.

We are extremely proud of Bilal for his commitment and continuous development to technological design and look forward to supporting him in his career.

It is incredible to see the WW1 Chorley Pals Memorial complete in advance of remembrance Sunday. We are pleased to be a part of the town centre regeneration project with the memorial being the first area to be completed, marking this special occasion for Chorley. The 80,000 ft² shopping centre is currently on site adjacent to the memorial, consisting of a 2 storey building including new leisure facilities, office space and an improved public realm.

Lighting, new paving and benches and two interpretation boards (donated by Eric Wright Construction) have been installed around the statue. Each evening, the statue will be illuminated, courtesy of Chorley Council.

Last week we were delighted to help HIMOR celebrate the start of Future Carrington, one of the largest regeneration projects of its kind in North West England. It was fantastic to see Will Ainscough, Mark Booth and Andrew Bain of HIMOR together with Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston and Andrew Western, Leader of Trafford Council break ground to mark this special occasion.

Future Carrington will bring over 15,000 jobs and up to 7,000 new homes to the area in the coming years. The first phase, our 212,000 ft² Carrington Gateway scheme, which was granted Reserved Matter planning consent last month, will establish Carrington as a thriving business location. Work on the first new homes at Carrington Village will follow in the new year.

Dave Somers added, “We are extremely proud to have been appointed by HIMOR on a framework agreement to help realise their ambitious long-term vision for Carrington. The start of Carrington Gateway is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work from the entire team, but it is just the start of an amazing project that will create a lasting legacy for Carrington and the surrounding communities.”

AEW are currently involved in a series of innovative refurbishments of existing apartment blocks constructed in the 1970s. The blocks situated in the borough of Salford vary in height from 16 to 23 storey and have a combined total of 234 apartments within the towers which can accommodate up to approximately 624 residents.

These communities were once earmarked to be rehoused due to the planned regeneration of the area but were given a new lease of life when funding was secured to modernise the blocks. Working closely in collaboration with the client Salix Homes, the residents and main contractor Casey Group, some of the issues the communities were experiencing were:

• Original exposed concrete structure / windows and doors with no insulation and thermal bridging
• Out dated heating systems
• Fuel poverty
• Kitchens / bathrooms in need of replacement
• Fire prevention, detection and warning
• Undefined entrance areas
• Out dated communal areas
• Lack of shared space

Via client led consultations and buildability / cost advise from the contractor we combined this knowledge with our vast skills and experience in regeneration and refurbishment. This led to a design strategy which achieved a sustainable, safe and energy efficient outcome. This will ensure the communities will continue into the future and remain an iconic presence on the Salford skyline. Acting as lead designer we achieved this by:

• Designing a contemporary look to the facades using high performance external wall insulation without the need for cladding components
• Designing new window and door fenestration
• Contributing to innovative and sustainable heating via ground source heat pumps to provide low energy bills and eradicate fuel poverty. Using our 3D modelling we were able to determine efficient routes for the ducting
• Designing solutions to improve fire prevention throughout the buildings
• Designing contemporary and secure entrance pods
• Using our in-house interior design team, we have redesigned the internal environment of the communal areas
• Designed extensions to the ground floors to provide new community hubs for multi-use needs
• Included the wider community within the design to provide a coherent refurbishment to the houses in the neighbourhood
• Redesigned / upgraded external spaces and car parking
• Coordination of the design by consultants including fire engineers, geotechnical engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers and local authority building control

Our director Colin Savage commented

"We have found that working in partnership with the key stakeholders has led to a risk based approach. By identifying and taking ownership of the risks all issues were addressed through the design and construction phases. The outcome has resulted in a coordinated, efficient and cost effective solution which will provide a sustainable future for the apartment blocks."

AEW Architects undertook a clean up at Canada Street in Manchester on Thursday 19th July 2018 for the charity Walking With The Wounded.

The regeneration of the street was led by Colin Savage, Director at AEW, whilst working at his previous practice. The abandoned houses were transformed into a stunning village for war veterans on DIY SOS in 2015, helping veterans and their families reintegrate back into society.

Overgrown weeds and peeling paint to public areas left the street needing a makeover. Continuing our social value commitments, 50 AEW employees along with the help of residents spent the afternoon cleaning up the street; picking weeds, sweeping back alleys, painting the carpark fence and planting some beautiful plants for the residents to look after. Hard work paid off with the street looking transformed and happy residents when completed.

A visit from Lord Mayor of Manchester, support from Manchester City Council and donations from local florists created a fantastic buzz around the nearby streets of Canada Street.

"I want to thank all the team from AEW Architects for coming along to Canada Street to undertake the great work they did. Everyone wanted to be here and all had a smile on their face and were very hard working. Beneficiaries of Walking With The Wounded were involved on the day as well as some of the residents and feedback has been that it was ‘extremely amazing what the team came and did, they have now given us the impetus to keep our community clean and safe for all'." Gary, Associate Director at Walking With The Wounded

147 affordable housing units in Wythenshawe Town Centre has started on site for Garden City Homes. Colin Savage was thrilled to be on the MEA site and part of the joyous moment along with Garden City Homes and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.

McDonald’s has now re-opened on Oxford Street, London with a fresh new interior concept. A fantastic project to be involved in, refurbishing a flagship store in the heart of London.

On Wednesday 28th March 2018, AEW Architects took part in `Onesie Wednesday` to raise money for the National Autistic Society.

As part of Onesie Wednesday, staff donated money to wear their onesie's and took part in raffles and a sweeptake. A total of £310 was raised for the charity.

Autism is a lifelong disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. There are approximately 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined Steve’s Superhero Walk on Sunday 18th February. Approximately 600 people walked from the AEW office to Ronald McDonald House, Manchester with lots of fun activities and food once we arrived at the House.

We have raised a fantastic £17,025.70 so far from Steve’s #superherowalk.

Steve’s experience as Chair of Ronald McDonald House in Manchester, the love for his own family and understanding of the pressures and stress through illness has resulted in a new resolve: an aim to raise £250,000 to convert three spaces in the Manchester House into larger 6 person family rooms and to do it in his lifetime. The rooms will be named in Steve’s honour. For further information on Ronald McDonald House Charities, please see their website.

For other events taking place, please follow SteveBurneRooms on Twitter.

Colin and his six-strong specialist housing team joined AEW in May 2017 and currently have a number of new projects underway since the Government’s announcement of housing shortages. AEW currently work with clients such as Glenbrook, Trafford Housing Trust, Wythenshawe Community Housing, Trafford Hall Hotel, Seddons, Muse and CTL Estates, to name but a few.

Andy Critchlow, AEW Managing Director, said: “Colin and his team have made a seamless transition into AEW since joining us and are a perfect fit for our culture and values. Our accommodation sector now includes apartments, hotels, hospital accommodation, volume housing, social housing and private housing, and feedback from our clients has been extremely positive. As an experienced Director in other businesses, we welcome Colin’s strengths to our board.”

Colin Savage added: “Combining the team’s specialism and experience to AEWs renowned architecture skills, technological advances and resources, has enabled us to develop a unique offering in the accommodation sector. We are already working with a number of providers to deliver several new projects and I am very much looking forward to what the next twelve months will bring us.”

Top five tips for designing great places

1. Space Standards and internal layouts

Aim to exceed minimum nationally described space standards. Where dwellings are designed for wheelchair users refer to Cat 3 standards. Check local authority planning policy and funders requirements.
Adequate space provides layouts that can accommodate the correct furniture and provide layouts with regard to relationship between rooms. Ensure a balance of social space and private space. Build in flexibility to adapt the home in the future.

2. Place making

Establishing a strong sense of place creates a sustainable built environment which provides well designed homes and neighbourhoods. Respond to local character and history whilst promoting innovation through the design. Does the scheme take into consideration each of the key categories of built for Life standards.

3. Accessibility

Providing barrier free homes and environments benefits all users and visitors. Exceed approved Doc M 4(1) by referring to detailed publications such as BS8001, wheelchair housing design guide, lifetime homes, dementia guidance, RNIB etc. Engage with local groups to gauge opinion on way finding and accessibility. Auditing of designs at early stage will ensure that planning policies are considered and allowed for.

4. Communal Spaces

Design shared spaces that are secure, naturally lit and encourage social interaction within the building and outdoor amenity spaces. Ensure utilities and services are easy to maintain and accessible. Technology in apartment blocks in advancing at pace, ensure building is designed to embrace modern technology and infrastructure.

5. Design Team

Appointing the right team at the earliest opportunity is crucial to the process of delivering a successful project. This ensures the strategic brief is developed with shared visions and clear objectives. The team should have the correct skills appropriate to the size of the project and should include design team members, contractors and stakeholders. This will ensure that creativity and constructability is delivered in partnership with the community to create great places to live.

AEW are pleased to announce that Ronald McDonald House Evelina has won the London Construction Awards 2017 for the Architectural Design of the Year Category.

The LCA’s recognise achievements, developments and innovation within London’s booming construction industry. Ronald McDonald House is a great example of this, with the House being situated in the heart of London to support Evelina London Children’s Hospital. The House neighbours Grade I listed Lambeth Palace and Gardens, as well as the surrounding Conservation Area and listed buildings. It provides a welcoming, comfortable and inclusive environment, key to the Charities `home away from home` ethos, in supporting the 975 families expected to be accommodated each year.

The Duchess of Cambridge officially opened Ronald McDonald House, Evelina on 28th February 2017. Her Royal Highness met the families, staff, doctors and nurses from Evelina’s Children’s Hospital. The Duchess was then taken on a tour of the new £21m flagship house before unveiling a plaque to mark the official opening.

Ronald McDonald House Evelina London was designed and built to support Evelina London Children’s Hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, to provide a ‘home away from home’ for families of children staying at the hospital. AEW Architects have worked with Ronald McDonald House Charities for over ten years, and have completed five new builds as well as having a further two major projects with planning consent.

The £21m flagship House is situated in the heart of London, neighbouring Grade I listed Lambeth Palace and Gardens, as well as the surrounding Conservation Area and listed buildings. The design of the House began with a detailed contextual study of the immediate context, identifying key features which were integral to the fabric of the Conservation Area. The resulting design aimed to respond to, but not copy, these surroundings in a contemporary yet sympathetic manner, ultimately enhancing the sensitive and historic character of the area.

Please click here for further information on Ronald McDonald House, Evelina.

Moneypenny has been highly commended in the Commercial Category for this years Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Wales Awards 2017.

The RICS Awards took place on the 27 April 2017 and showcases the achievements of the most inspirational regional initiatives and developments in land, property, construction and the environment. Earlier this month, the project also won the Corporate Workplace Award at the BCO Awards 2017.

Moneypenny’s new headquarters opened its doors in September 2016. The new 91,000 sqft head offices in Wrexham, designed by AEW Architects have been said to rival the offices of Google and Apple, and boasts a tree house meeting room, nature trails, vegetable gardens and even its own pub.

We are delighted to announce that Emma Rayner has recently passed her final qualification and is now registered as a Chartered Architect with the RIBA.

Emma joined AEW in 2010 as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant, after studying at Newcastle University for three years. Emma then completed a two year masters course in 2011 at the Manchester School of Architecture before returning to AEW in 2013.

During her time at AEW, Emma has worked on the design and delivery of key projects including accommodation buildings for Ronald McDonald House Charities at Cardiff and Oxford, the latter undergoing a full CABE review.

Managing Director, Steve Burne comments “We are extremely proud of Emma for qualifying, which is a really difficult and challenging process, especially whilst carrying out an important job role. Emma is a great asset to the company and a very talented designer. We will continue to support her throughout her career.”

AEW Architects has completed the transfer of an experienced housing team from a well known practice based in Heaton Mersey, as the award winning practice bolsters its specialist accommodation sector offering and increases its capacity for project opportunities in housing design and delivery.

Already briefed on a series of housing projects, the new team of six brings a wealth of experience and expertise in this sector to complement the existing 71-strong AEW practice of architects, interior designers and architectural technicians. Headed up by former director, Colin Savage, the Housing team has a strong track record having won a host of awards for its multi-million pound schemes nationwide.

Upon securing the team, AEW managing director, Steve Burne, said: “Housing projects and Social Housing in particular was identified as a target area within our Business Plan, to complement our other accommodation work in apartments, hotels and hospital accommodation. To obtain a team of highly regarded specialists is a real coup for AEW and gives added diversity in this continually growing sector.”

Following recent BCO award success and RICS ‘Highly Commended’ for its commercial project, Moneypenny’s headquarters in Wrexham, North Wales, AEW will look to further increase its foothold across North West projects, in its specialist sectors of Offices, Retail, Industrial, Accommodation and Sport.

Colin Savage of AEW added: “Housing is a key driver in the Northern Powerhouse and Greater Manchester’s spatial framework agendas, which our clients have responded to positively in their development plans. Combining our housing expertise and experience with AEW’s renowned architecture skills, pedigree and resources, we are offering clients an enhanced service in delivering their goals. We are delighted to join AEW and be part of the practice’s next period of sustained growth.”

Yorkshire Water’s Bransholme Storm Water Pumping Station, Hull project won the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Yorkshire and Humber 2017 Award in the Infrastructure category.

Housed beneath a noise-reducing green living roof, the Bransholme upgrade quadrupled capacity to protect homes that had suffered severe flooding. AEW worked on the detailed design and delivery whilst working alongside GHD to design the superstructure, suspended floors and removable pre-cast concrete structures over the Archimedes screw pumps that support the living green roof.

The judges at RICS said: “Bransholme Storm Water Pumping Station is a superb example of contemporary engineering, designed and delivered with the passion and expertise typically associated with Victorian infrastructure. Innovative use of ancient technology combined with a bold and confident architectural response has resulted in a facility that is welcomed by the local community, not just as a ‘flood alleviation scheme’ but as a local landmark; a symbol if you will of a community that will not be defeated by flooding.”

Rob Dickson, Associate at AEW Architects commented “It has been a fantastic experience to work as part of committed and dedicated team. AEW are proud to have helped to deliver a facility that will help prevent up to 15,000 homes from being flooded.”

Congratulations to Bethany Roebuck who has passed her RIBA Part III examination in Professional Practice and is now a Chartered Architect.

Beth joined AEW in 2013 as a Part II Architectural Assistant, after studying at Northumbria University for five years.

During her time at AEW, Beth has worked on a wide range of projects including Liverpool Shopping Park, Rathbone Trade Park and Midpoint 18. She is also the office CPD Coordinator.

AEW Architects are very proud to be taking part in the RIBA Student Mentoring programme. The scheme was founded in Manchester in 2015 and aims to enhance the students’ academic education by demonstrating design in practice and offering an insight and experience of the business of architecture.

Associates at AEW, Alex Southall and Ross Huntingdon are mentoring Ceri Baxter and Jumana Taraz , who are second year students from Manchester School of Architecture. They will attend regular visits to AEW to gain an understanding of how a professional practice operates. The students will attend a series of site visits, project meetings and design reviews as well as receiving support on professionally related matters including CV writing, interview techniques, portfolio presentation and presentation techniques.

Andy Rainford, Director at AEW Architects commented, ‘as a Chartered Practice we are delighted to be able work with the RIBA and Manchester School of Architecture, to enhance and safeguard the future of our profession by inspiring, motivating and mentoring the next generation, which is one of our core values as a sustainable business’.

AEW Architects has won the Corporate Workplace Award at the BCO Awards in Manchester on 5th April 2017 with their project Moneypenny, Wrexham. The awards programme provides public recognition for top quality design and functionality and a benchmark for excellence in workplaces.

Designed by AEW, the new 91,000 sq ft head office was completed last year and has been said to rival the offices of Google and Apple and boasts a tree house meeting room, nature trails, vegetable gardens and even its own pub.

The brief for the project was to ignore the norm, rip up the rule book and create a space that inspires. The challenge was to create a happy workplace on a budget, and the achievement is clear for all to see. This project demonstrates that bespoke design does not necessarily have to be expensive.

The Award judging panel commented “Despite working within a tight budget, this building succeeds in setting a benchmark for the telecoms industry. Design touches, such as a tree house, demonstrate how fun can be functional, and that this spacious office has the wellbeing of the Moneypenny team at its heart. The judges loved the inclusive and collaborative spirit that shines through in every detail, right down to giving staff vouchers to decorate their own desks.”

Richard Kauntze, Chief Executive of the BCO, commented: “This year’s awards showcase the eminence and value of new office development. With Moneypenny, it is clear that the welfare of the workforce was at the heart of the approach and end product, and this focus has led to the innovative and cost effective design of numerous social spaces. Alongside the other buildings recognised at this year’s awards, Moneypenny sets a high standard of quality for future projects around the UK.”

The project team included Pochin’s Ltd, Hatrick Property as Development Director, Avid Property Consultants, Cundall, CW Studio and Todd and Ledson.

Moneypenny has been Highly Commended at the Mixology North16 Awards after being shortlised in the Large Commercial Interiors Project of the Year category. Mixology North16 Awards is the North’s most prestigious award ceremony and created for the dynamic and innovative interior design community.

Moneypenny’s new head quarters opened its doors in September 2016. The new 91,000 sq ft head office in Wrexham designed by AEW Architects have been said to rival the offices of Google and Apple, and boast a tree house meeting room, nature trails, vegetable gardens and even its own pub.