Mikhail Riches Architects, English design office news, Building photos, RHM architecture projects
Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects UK
Formerly titled RHM Architecture Studio based in London, UK
This Islington architects practice is now known as:
16 Jun 2017
Mikhail Riches News
Wimbourne St and Buckland St Housing Developments, Hoxton, Northeast London, England, UK
Mikhail Riches wins two competitions to design new homes for Hackney Council
Mikhail Riches has won two separate competitions to design new housing on behalf of Hackney Council. The practice overcame competition from over 50 competitors with a design for homes at Buckland Street in Hoxton and followed up with a proposal for homes at Wimbourne Street, also in Hoxton.
Building in Hoxton by Mikhail Riches Architects
Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects – Key Projects
Clay Fields – affordable housing, Suffolk, southeast England
2008
Devised by the Suffolk Preservation Society and Orwell Housing Association for an RIBA Competition the briefs aspirations were for an exemplary energy efficient and sustainable affordable housing. They were looking for a scheme which interpreted the distinctiveness of Suffolk in a contemporary way whilst reflecting the needs of people living in a rural environment, alongside an architecture that could demonstrate that affordable need not necessarily equate to bland.
Clay Field provides 26 homes in this rural village. Accommodation is arranged in terraces of three, positioned in distinctive groups around three communal gardens; a wildflower meadow, allotments and a playground in an orchard.
A shared biomass boiler, rainwater recycling and whole house ventilation are used but most importantly all houses face south and are highly insulated. Properties are of an unusual sprayed hemp construction with finishes of cedar and lime render.
Young families predominate and the landscape provides safe places for socialising and play. Tenants were involved in the project from the beginning and local school children visited site, learnt about sustainability and making homes as well as helping to plant the orchard where they now play. A Tenants Association thrives and allotments are all producing food.
photo : Nick Kane
Great George Street, Liverpool, northwest England
This project was won in a competition, which was judged by the residents themselves. The 10 families go back generations on this inner city site, which due to its proximity to the commercial centre is seeing massive, high-density development. Consultations identified fears about loss of community, desires for privacy and space, strange pets, and strong neighbourhood links. The housing is part of a larger master plan involving several Architects.
A difficult, overlooked, site, with a 2-storey car park wall to the rear, has generated a terrace of single-aspect courtyard houses ‘attached’ to their neighbours. The houses turn sideways away from the higher apartment blocks that overlook the site, and face onto private garden spaces at ground floor as a series of parallel brick gables. Large first floor roof terraces catch the midday sun.
The brief was to provide a mixture of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses, and roofs distort to accommodate diverse space requirements with attic rooms located variously around a central stair. ‘Tailored’ zinc standing-seam roofs sway from side to side descending the street, as houses look over each other, allowing long views out of the top floors. Eaves space is designed to meet each families needs; allowing 4 children to play, a nephew to sleep over, or a wardrobe for an adult son. The plan and section provide a flexible framework for very different families.
Greyhound Opening, Norfolk, southeast England
An RIBA competition-winning scheme for 3 different Housing Associations in the centre of Norwich. One of our main starting points was to make this a solar project – a total of 46 houses and 56 flats align in east west terraces. The scheme reinforces existing streets whilst creating a whole new piece of cityscape. Existing green links are reinforced and a landscape scheme extends beyond the boundaries of the site to include local roads and parks.
Mostly two storeys, houses are given the occasional dormer to provide a third bedroom. To harness the winter sun houses are spaced 15 metres apart, and north-facing roofs are pitched at 15 degrees. South-facing roofs allow for discrete photovoltaic or solar thermal on-site energy. There are safe places for children to play and all public places enjoy excellent natural surveillance.
A generous open plan kitchen-dining room forms the heart of every home, opening out with full height glass doors onto south facing private gardens, stoops or balconies. Double height living rooms successfully address the problem of how to bring natural light into a north facing room with clerestory glass.
Materials are typical of Norwich. A two-storey façade of local ‘white’ brick is built with traditional white lime mortar. This forms the backdrop to a palette of balcony recesses and dormers finished in a selection of subtly different colours, each one getting slightly lighter as you look up from ground floor to roof. Flats are accommodated in ‘large houses’, giving a continuity to streets.
Images / Information from Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects
More projects by Riches Hawley Mikhail online soon
Location: Islington, London, England, UK
Mikhail Riches Practice Information
Mikhail Riches Architects Studio based in Islington, London, England
Riches Hawley Mikhail was a young practice established in 2005 by directors Annalie Riches, Cathy Hawley and David Mikhail. As an architecture practice they were committed to a sustainable future and this is illustrated in their understanding of materials and technologies. Other current projects include new housing in Liverpool, London and Manchester.
London Architecture Designs
London Architecture Designs – chronological list
London Architect – design practice listing on e-architect
London Architecture Designs – architectural selection below:
King’s Cross Sports Hall
Architects: Bennetts Associates
photo © John Sturrock
King’s Cross Sports Hall Building
Kensington Memorial Park Masterplan
Design: Simone de Gale Architects
image courtesy of architects practice
Kensington Memorial Park Masterplan
London Architecture : key projects
Architectural Designs
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Website : www.mikhailriches.com