For children to learn, it is essential that they take some risks and this is something pupils at Happy Days nursery, Eskbank are now able to do thanks to the new Halvorsen Architects-designed play area at the site. The playground was completed in June and the children are clambering excitedly all over the trees and […]
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) engineers CRA Ltd. area 130 sq. m. Happy Days moved in to Hardengreen House, Eskbank, Midlothian – a large Georgian house originally built in 1796 – a couple of years ago but have outgrown the premises. The house has extensive grounds, with fields in front and woodland
Last Wednesday I organised the latest community workshop at Newbyres castle – a 16th century ruin in the heart of Gorebridge. The day was lead by Piers Dixon, an archaeologist from Historic Environment Scotland, who was ably helped by two colleagues – Eva Boyle and Adam Welfare. The day started with a tour of the
Earlier this month I organised a CPD to unravel the complexities – claims and counterclaims – around the renewable energy sector. Several independent experts gave their views on how to sort through the issues and provided us with much food for thought. Thank you to all who contributed to an enlightening afternoon.
I recently attended the book launch of “100 Sustainable Scottish Buildings” by SEDA (Scottish Ecological Design Association). I strongly recommend it to everyone. As Robin Harper (SEDA’s patron) said “It is a celebration of new ideas, of ingenuity, imagination, philosophy and art, a tribute to creativity, joyfulness, human scale design, an expression of our dedication
Halvorsen Architects have just completed phase I of a new playground at Happy Days’ Eskbank nursery school. All the oak and larch trees were sourced from nearby woodland – trees that otherwise have no commercial value and were due for clearance. A tree lorry carrying all the wood just sneezed through the nursery gates and
Last week I was in Slovenia for a tour of Riko’s timber factory in Ribnica, about an hour’s drive south of the capital Ljubljiana. I was invited there to look at their facilities as I am intending to make the Woodland Nursery out of timber, or — more specifically — out of cross-laminated timber panels
Horntails, or wood wasps, have made their nests in the internal oak trees supporting the roof of Halvorsen Architects’ recently completed Happy Days nursery extension, along with several other species of insect! Rather than be alarmed at their new, uninvited guests, the creative and environmentally-friendly nursery has embraced the chance to study wildlife indoors and set their under fives a
client Genesis (J&T) Ltd (Trading as Happy Days Nurseries) engineers Gordon Eadie and Iain Thew contract value £150,000 area 48 sq. m. new build, 30 sq. m. refurbishment This is the first phase of the expansion of Happy Days pre-school nursery in Dalkeith, Midlothian. This phase includes a dining room, craft room and toilets. The
Extension to Happy Days Nursery, Dalkeith – Phase I Read More »
client private 14 Main Street is a listed Georgian house in the heart of Gorebridge’s old town. It falls within a conservation area that is part of the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) funded by Historic Scotland and Midlothian Council to help in the restoration of buildings. Halvorsen Architects acted as architect for phase I
Good article about new ways of looking at classroom design by John McDermott of the Economist. Just what I am doing for Happy Days nurseries.
This is an abridged version of an article for the next issue of Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers. If I had known how difficult this project was going to be, would I have still done it in the way I did? – absolutely! Genesis (J&T) Ltd., owner of a successful pre-school nursery chain in Midlothian asked me
Planning permission has now been granted for a new nursery building that we have designed for Happy Days, in Eskbank, Midlothian. Midlothian Council planners refused to give consent last December, but the Local Review Body (comprised of Midlothian councillors) overturned their decision earlier this week. Happy Days moved in to Hardengreen House – a large
Despite the bitter cold over 20 volunteers and archaeologists turned up this week to spend a day clearing vegetation around the little-known ruin of Newbryres castle in Gorebridge town centre. Newbryres castle was ‘adopted’ by the Adopt-a-Monument Scheme run by Archaeology Scotland last Summer. Last week saw the first community volunteering day, led by myself
I organised an afternoon of CPD talks last week entitled ‘Breathability and low energy retrofit’. The session, organised for ECAN and a joint event with CIBSE, was held at the RIAS, in Rutland Square Edinburgh and attended by about 30 architects, engineers and academics. It turned out to be a thought-provoking afternoon with some excellent speakers (see
Last week I spent another glorious day surveying trees in woodland near Abbey St. Bathans in the Scottish Borders. These are to be used as posts and beams in two new buildings that I am designing for Happy Days, a nursery in Dalkeith. But we’re not just looking for any old posts and beams – we’re
Halvorsen Architects was recently granted planning permission to enlarge Happy Days nursery near Edinburgh, for a design that reinforces the pre-school facility’s green ethos. The client, Genesis, which owns and operates several nurseries across Scotland’s central belt, chose Halvorsen Architects after seeing our timber building projects with local primary schools. Genesis promotes a healthy lifestyle
New build at Eco-Nursery using natural materials Read More »
45 Main Street is a listed Georgian house in the heart of Gorebridge’s old town. It falls within a conservation area that is part of the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) funded by Historic Scotland and Midlothian Council to help in the restoration of buildings. No. 45 used to be the town’s dairy. Halvorsen Architects acted as architect for the
Marijuana may be great for getting high, but the architectural value of cannabis is in the industrial hemp that forms a vital ingredient of products including hempcrete. Hempcrete is low-tech natural building material made from the chopped stalk of the hemp plant and a lime-based binder. It is carbon-negative in that it absorbs carbon dioxide
client private engineer CRA Ltd. contract value £70,000 area 55 sq. m. The client lives in a listed 1950s, Morris and Steadman house – the ‘Upside Down House’, and needed more room for an expanding family. After looking at various ways of extending the existing house in a bold manner, sympathetic to the original design,
Poet Melissa Bailey asked me to collaborate with her on the design an installation that represents DNA and it’s unchecked mutations that can lead to cancer. She wanted a sculpture related to her poetry and also a place where one could listen to the poetry. We asked genetic scientist Fiona Moorman to join our team to advise how best and
As part of the wood workshops I run with Stephanie Walker, Wooploft was one of the most ambitious. Pupils from Tynewater Primary School’s P7 class designed and built the structure in one year year under the auspices of International Year of the Forest, and with a grant from the Forestry Commission. The aims of
I have done several projects with children and schools with Gorebridge Community Development Trust. One of these projects – Wooploft – caught the eye of a new client, Genesis (J&T) Ltd. I am designing two additions to their Dalkeith Happy Days nursery – a dining room and a pre-school room. Happy Days is an Eco-School. All
This is an extension to a Georgian sandstone house in Midlothian, using a timber frame, timber cladding and large areas of glass. The cladding is Siberian Larch – a popular cladding material with architects because of its durability, cost and more consistent texture than its Scottish counterpart. The timber is untreated and will turn silver-grey
This project was for a client for an extension to and remodelling of house, Bristol that I had worked for in London. He had a similar situation in Bristol – a Victorian house that was too dark and pokey for his liking and an unused attic. In this case planning permission was not required as
