Architecture
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I have been working in Architecture almost since
leaving school in the mid-8os. After leaving School I studied at
colleges in Barnstaple and Exeter gaining practical City and Guilds
qualifications in Carpentry and Joinery, Masonry, Building Services and
Decorating whilst also studying for ONC and HNC Building Tecnology. I worked initially for Clive Jones and Associates
where we specialised in Environmentally Conscious Architecture, a long time
before it became fashionable. We worked on projects designing
extensions and refurbishments to Cheshire Homes in Devon and South Wales and
several Medical Centres as well as lots of bread and butter Barn Conversion
jobs. We counted ourselves to be extremely lucky to have our office in a
Victorian Summerhouse overlooking Lynmouth Bay, we
froze in winter and boiled all summer but had some great times, often working
late into the night making models of projects. We even had a model we built
exhibited in The Royal Academy of Art in London. Clive’s enthusiasm for all
things 'Green' gave me a good deal of experience in this area, we attended
many seminars and site visits to view cutting edge projects in places like
The Centre for Alternative Technology and it is something I take interest in
to this day. I worked with Clive for 10 years before becoming self-employed
when the practice moved to Bideford. After a couple of years self-employment designing
and working 'on-the-tools' on building projects I was asked to go and help
Jonathan Rhind Architects 'for a week or ten days',
or so Jonathan said when he called. I was there for nearly ten years! I
worked with a great team at JRA where we specialised in Conservation work. I
ran projects on large country houses, churches, and castles amongst others.
This was very different work to that I had been used to and a steep learning
curve. A lot of our work involved working on site with contractors to solve
the problems that naturally arise whilst repairing complex old buildings,
this gave me a great insight into the use of traditional materials, detailing
and techniques. Whilst at JRA I was also on the design team for some very
fast track modern restaurant and hotel projects, the nature of these projects
meant that detailed design was done mostly on site as we went. We used a lot
of high quality high value materials in these projects and a lot of purpose
made items and I have retained some good contacts from this time. I left JRA
to work in our family business and spend more time at home in 2003. Since selling our family business I have been
self-employed again and now work freelance for a number of Design and
Property Companies throughout the South of England as well as on projects for
private individuals throughout Exmoor and beyond. - Services: Measured Survey Work using laser
and traditional methods. Architectural Drawings for Planning, Building
Regulation, Listed Building, Environment Agency Applications etc and also
publicity or management uses. Drawings are prepared using AutoCAD software
or traditional pen and ink as is appropriate. Photography. Website
design. I have been using AutoCAD for years and have to
finally reluctantly admit it is far better than drawing by hand. I have
amassed a huge database of traditional building details on computer file I
can call on making design work on traditional buildings particularly
efficient. Increasingly Planning Authorities are asking for a great deal of
detailed information on Joinery and the like and to reproduce drawings of
this complexity can take a lot of time, having this information easily to
hand saves time and money for clients. - Current Projects: I am currently working on
several projects for an Exmoor based property company as well as private
commercial and domestic scale projects. |
When I get time
I'll add some photos to this page....
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©Will Bowden 2008