News

August 2010                                                     Sarah Volunteers in Kenya

Sarah Daly, managing director enjoyed a holiday with a difference this year by volunteering for an HIV Orphan Project in Mumias, Western Kenya. As well as helping the charity to appraise future building requirements, Sarah was able to indulge her first love, photography, and to document many aspects of life at the day care centres and in Kenyan life.

"The trip was amazing," said Sarah. "Moving and inspiring; but it is always incredible how much you can learn from people who have so little materially." Sarah's pictures can be viewed in two albums on The Nasio Trust facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=203670&id=185499856835&page=2

May 2010      Sarah Joins Gloucestershire First Partnership Trust Board

Sarah Daly, managing director of Heath Avery Architects has been invited to join the Partnership Board of Glos First, the organisation which drives the economic development strategy for the county on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council.

The invitation follows Sarah's call to the 'thought leaders' of the county, to take a more strategic view on how sustainability is integrated into economic development. David Owen, Chief Executive of Glos First, responded by inviting Sarah to join the Board in order to ensure that sustainability is embedded into all external engagement.

"This is a great step forward," said Sarah. "There is still an enormous amount to do to ensure all the sectors understand the implications of changing legislation and how this will affect the economic prosperity of the county."

May 2010                                        Wins Dursley Community Hospital

Heath Avery is delighted to have been appointed D&C Architect on the Dursley Community Hospital in the team alongside contractor Seddon.

The project has a very challenging schedule with the team due on site in early June with completion set for June 2011. Heath Avery has good experience of hospital projects as Technical Director, Malcolm Sutton has been involved in several BUPA hospitals during his career.

"We are really pleased to be partnering with Seddon on this exciting project for NHS Gloucestershire" said Malcolm. "We look forward to introducing some of our cutting edge thinking on sustainability into the delivery of the project."

"This is an especially exciting time for the practice," added managing director, Sarah Daly "because we have a full workload and a very promising pipeline of forward projects. This is certainly giving our practice a vote of confidence in what is still a very tricky market."

April 2010                                          Sarah Takes to Political Platform

Sarah Daly was invited to join the prospective Parliamentary Candidates for Cheltenham in a live, pre-election debate hosted in front of an open audience at Trinity's centre.

Sarah was invited to present an a-political perspective as a prominent member of the business community.

March 2010                                            New Offices for Heath Avery

Heath Avery have moved to swish new offices. Maxet House is a newly-launched refurbishment of a Grade II listed 1930s building and will offer the practice a range of fantastic state-of-the-art facilities in a low carbon workspace.

"Our new landlords are totally committed to ensuring it is a carbon neutral workplace," said Sarah "with visions for the rest of the industrial estate too. Maxet House is a perfect example of how to create a beguiling, yet sustainable and affordable working environment with first-class accommodation both indoors and out."

"This move not only gives us superior quality studio space with plenty of natural light and ventilation, we will also have access to additional theatre space for up to 40 people with video conferencing – so we will be well-placed to host larger meetings, events and seminars more sustainably. Just yards from the mainline train station, we will have excellent cycle/shower provision, first-class bus links and speedy access to the town centre via the Honeybourne Line. For those coming from further afield there is plentiful, secure parking."

For our new address see contact. All other details will remain the same.

March 2010                                           David Heath & Rod Smith Retire

It was definitely the end of an era when Heath Avery said a heartfelt farewell to founder-director David Heath and senior architect Rod Smith at a celebration in Cheltenham's stylish Hotel du Vin.

All present staff, and many old faces, joined an invited group of clients and business friends to wish David and Rod success and happiness in their new ventures. Their wives, Angela Heath and Rhona Smith were also presented with flowers and thanked for their supporting roles over the years.

February 2010                                Bristol School Sports Hall Opening

Stephen Vaughan (architect) and Kevin Truss (senior technologist) were delighted to attend the Grand Opening of the new sports hall for The Ridings' Federation Winterbourne International Academy near Bristol.

The superb new building, opened by English batsman Marcus Trescothick, was built at a cost of about £2.3m under a D&B contract with Thomas Vale.  

February 2010                                 National Speaking Engagements

Sarah Daly will be undertaking several high profile sustainability speaking engagements in March & April at Ecobuild and the IHEEM conferences.

She will be chairing the ‘Beyond Construction’ session with a stream called ‘Creating an eco-centric business: understanding the new eco-nomy’ and joined on the podium by Paul Kelly, External Corporate Affairs & CR Director at Asda; Ramon Arratia, European Sustainability Director of InterfaceFlor; and Jonathon Porritt of Forum for the Future and non-Executive Director of Willmott Dixon Construction.

On Thursday 4th March, Sarah will be presenting a seminar entitled ‘Marketing Sustainable Benefits to Clients: presenting Return on Sustainable Investment (ROSI) and Whole Life Value.’  In this cutting edge session, Sarah will demonstrate how new metrics can be applied to show Breeam Outstanding buildings can return double the value of standard construction in just five years. This is proven through the eyes of developer, investor, owner-occupier and tenant scenarios in the case study of one fictional new office building. The principles could be applied to and worked through most sectors but the seminar is an introduction to Heath Avery’s innovative ROSI Calculator to help clients understand the short, medium and long-term implications of capital and operational budgets.

Sarah will be joined by Georgina Smith, Sustainability Manager for NHS Gloucestershire who will be talking about ‘Measuring the financial value of health and productivity benefits caused by more sustainable buildings.’

Jon Bootland, Director of the Sustainable Development Foundation will also be speaking in the session on ‘How non-carbon related benefits of a sustainable building add to the bottom line.’  For free registration to the conference, seminars and exhibition log onto:www.ecobuild.co.uk

Later in March and April, Sarah will also be speaking for the Institute of Health Energy & Estate Management (IHEEM) at their three conferences entitled Planning to achieve Carbon Reduction Commitment Targets for Healthcare Premises.

Sarah will present in London, Leeds and Birmingham on the topic of ‘The Challenges & Opportunities of Sustainability for the NHS’ alongside David Pencheon, Head of NHS Sustainable Development Unit and other senior speakers from Arup, BRE and Ernst & Young. www.iheem.org.uk/events

December 2009                           Multimillion contracts with Wycliffe

Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, with whom the practice has a long-standing history, has confirmed six projects in a multimillion pound investment programme.

The contract includes two boarding houses, a medical centre, classrooms, a science lab and some temporary accommodation.

"The really challenging part of this job is the timescale," said creative director Charles Cox. "All the buildings, bar one, need to be completed by 20 August, and the biggest building needs to start on-site in August. We will be calling upon our able team to pull all the stops out to deliver this for the client."

December 2009             Feasibility for Code 6 development, Shropshire

Heath Avery is busy undertaking a detailed study into a Code 6 development in Shropshire for a client with Outline Consent. The team is evaluating a range of design and construction methods on behalf the client who is taking the first steps in greening up a large estate.

The contract includes two boarding houses, a medical centre, classrooms, a science lab and some temporary accommodation.

December 2009                       Sarah shortlisted for Green Guru Award

Sarah Daly, managing director of Heath Avery Architects, has been shortlisted for a 'Green Guru' award by Building magazine. The event was run on 8-9th December with an online seminar featuring the biggest names in sustainable design at 'Sustainability Now'.

Sarah was nominated by a colleague for her work in new service design, seminars, presentations and events, articles and book contributions. Sarah is also driving 'Green Gloucestershire' a campaign to create a Low Carbon County by a joined-up approach across all sectors.

November 2009                         Sustainability book launch at LSE

'Climb the Green Ladder' a book by Amy V Fetzer (pictured with managing director Sarah Daly) and Shari Aaron, was launched at the London School of Economics on 23 November.

Heath Avery was invited to contribute to the book via an introduction to the authors by Martin Horwood MP. The company is mentioned about six times in the book including several case study contributions about how the company is developing a sustainability culture. Heath Avery also describes how it is transforming in anticipation of an evolving market with the innovative development of Sustainability Auditing services and fast-track training in all aspects of green design and construction well beyond current legislation.

The book explores how individuals can make a huge difference, in terms of sustainablity in their own organisations, whatever their role or position. Innovative ideas increase job satisfaction and raise the person's profile, frequently resulting in promotions.

Climb the Green Ladder by Amy V Fetzer & Shari Aaron is available on www.amazon.com price: £8.50

November 2009                               Sustainability Masterclass for NHS

Sarah Daly is presenting a Sustainability Masterclass as part of a national conference entitled: ' NHS Innovate 09' to be held at The Centaur, Cheltenham on 4th and 5th November.

Hosted by NHS Gloucestershire, the event will feature keynote speakers from across the UK at what promises to be one of the key health service events of the year to promote innovative practice. Sharron Davies MBE will be chairing the plenary sessions.

'High Quality Healthcare for all’ sets out the Government’s vision for the NHS and makes significant reference to the need to unlock local innovation to drive forward improvements in quality and value for money.

Sarah’s presentation on sustainability comes out of the work Heath Avery is doing with NHS Gloucestershire in the field of reducing energy and carbon whilst also addressing issues to do with health and wellbeing and increasing productivity in the workplace. The combination provides compelling benefits for organisations looking for multiple paybacks.

“I will also be gazing into my crystal ball,” says Sarah “To predict what innovations will be changing our homes and workplaces over the next few years and how this will redefine our attitudes and perceptions in a world that is increasingly dominated by sustainability.”

Sarah is currently finalising speaking engagements on sustainability issues at some other major events including several sessions at EcoBuild 2010 at Earl’s Court, London on 3-4 March.

October 2009                                               'Communicator of the Year'

Heath Avery Architects has won the 'Communicator of the Year' category in the Gloucestershire Business Awards. The submission was based on the firm's change of strategic direction in 2008-9 which was kick-started with a change of premises, rebranding, new website, 30th birthday celebrations and promotional materials alongside a wide-ranging internal and external communications plan.

Internally, managing director, Sarah Daly, worked on the culture of the business to create a 'learning environment' where everyone became part of a drive to become 'the most sustainable architectural practice in the south west'. This involved extensive training, knowledge-sharing and a new approach to how the business itself is delivered more sustainably. The company also launched a new range of Sustainable Consulting services in December 2008 to assist companies in the assessment and prioritisation of any issues relating to their buildings and estate.

The external communications has focussed on raising Heath Avery's profile, primarily in the context of sustainability. The company has had numerous authoritative articles published in national journals, presented at seminars and conferences and contributed to a book on sustainability. Several directors sit on a range of key groups including the Regional Centre for Sustainable Excellence - Business & Education; and Vision 21.

August 2009                          Green Shoots for Sustainable Architects

Heath Avery Architects is predicting a more confident quarter with several new projects underway and a more buoyant order book.

The Heath Avery team is designing a salt depot in Amesbury for Wiltshire County Council. This is the first of a series of depots which includes salt storage, a gritter store and welfare rooms for the staff.

The scheme also includes a major Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDs) system which allows sludgy water from road gulley clearing, plus foul and surface water, to be recycled ecologically through straw swales onto a salt marsh wetland and eventually into a pond where the filtered water can be used again for drain cleaning. Heath Avery Architects is working on this project in conjunction with Britannia Construction.

There are four new and on-going education projects including additional amenities for The Ridings High School in Bristol, to provide changing facilities, a plant room and external environmental improvements. This is in addition to a new Sports Hall which is nearing completion with contractors Thomas Vale.

Heath Avery has also been awarded the contract to produce the production information for Speller Metcalfe on the Noah’s Ark Children’s Centre, part of Queen Margaret Primary School in Tewkesbury. This scheme will extend the current facilities to provide permanent accommodation for the pre-school, linking it to the children’s centre.

There is also a major grant-funding application in process to Sport England on behalf of Beaufort Community School in Gloucester for a major swimming pool project.

Work is due to complete around Christmas for Cheltenham Bournside School with the extension of G-Block, which houses the ICT facilities and an International Baccalaureate suite. The contactor is Barnwood Construction.

“This flurry of activity seems to indicate a return of confidence in the market,” said Sarah Daly managing director of the Bath Road practice. “There are still many other projects in abeyance, but I think our focus and hard work over the past few months is finally yielding results as the projects start to flow again.”

July 2009                             National Reputation in Sustainability

Sarah Daly, managing director of Heath Avery Architects, has been busily presenting seminars and writing authoritative articles on sustainability for a variety of audiences.

Seminars and workshops have included two consecutive events to construction professionals at BPE Solicitors:an all-day event at Malvern St James School; Implications & Opportunities in the NHS for the Institute of Health, Energy and Estate Management, presented at Gleeds in Bristol ~ which has led to an invitation to the national conference in Harrogate in October.

Sarah will also be a judge in the Go4SET Awards sponsored by British Energy which is a competition involving 19 teams of school children to look at energy and water reduction in schools.

Recently published articles include return on sustainable investment for Funding for Independent Education (June '09)and sustainable masterplanning for Bursar's Review (Summer '09).

Sarah is also a major contributor to a book which will be published in October '09. Entitled Climb the Green Ladder by Amy V Fetzer and Shari Aaron, it is available to pre-order from Amazon.

March 2009                                                Quarry Cottage & Estate Lodge March  2009Climb the Green Ladder

A traditionally designed, Cotswold house of exceptional quality, Quarry Cottage (above) was built by Cartwright Construction of Tetbury on the site of an old stone quarry, at an approximate cost of £1.2m. Now complete, the house is designed to modern constructional and energy standards, but employs traditional vernacular detailing built by experienced craftsmen.

The Estate Lodge was built on the site of a derelict cottage and is situated near the source of the Thames. It is a traditionally-designed house built by Cartwright Construction as a home for workers on the client’s farm. It is due for completion in July 2009 at a cost of approximately £150k.

Southernwood Eco Home

March 2009                                                       Porritt Praises Practice

World-renowned environmentalist, and recently retired Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, Sir Jonathon Porritt, visited Heath Avery to hear about the company's innovative approach to driving change via Sustainability Audits.

Jonathon was most enthusiastic about Sarah Daly's market-led approach:

"It was great fun meeting up, and I was really inspired by what you’re seeking to do here. I much enjoyed your presentation. 

I really like the idea of taking this “holistic approach” to the estate and people’s organisations, and I think that’s got a much greater likelihood of success."

Jonathon has also agreed to work with Heath Avery in the autumn, after he steps down as Chair of the SDC, when he is keen to engage with the education and healthcare sectors in particular.

"I was also very interested to see your thoughts and ideas about a “Return on Sustainable Investment”.  That’s absolutely the way this argument is now going to have to be sold to all sorts of very hard-pressed public sector bodies, as it will be hard for them to do it on any other basis.  It’s still quite a sales job required!"

Heath Avery has indeed embraced the sales challenge and is currenly developing change programmes in key sectors and is also partnering with the University of Gloucestershire and Regional Centre of Expertise for Sustainable Education. Heath Avery's ROSIE Futures programme (Return on Sustainable Investment in Education) is in progress and variations aimed at health and commercial sectors are about to be launched. (for more information see Sustainability Audits)