Monday 31 August 2009

A Word of Warning

ferguson design studio rounded off the month with a new appointment for an unusual house extension in Dunblane. We were initially invited to come to the clients’ home as their ‘architect’ had gone AWOL – their original plans were for internal alterations to expand their kitchen/dining area. After constructing the initial drawings for building warrant, their ‘architect’ simply disappeared, ignoring all calls and emails for months - leaving the client confused, at a loss what to do next and out of pocket.

A quick search of the register revealed no such ‘architect’ exists. This could be for a number of reasons
1) He has not paid his registration fee
2) He is not qualified
3) He has been struck off

Our advice to any client would be to search the Architects’ Registration Board to check that the person you are dealing with is truly an architect. The ARB can offer advice and support in situations such as the one mentioned in this post.

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Lights out at The Lighthouse

We were saddened to hear of the troubles facing the Lighthouse in Glasgow. It has been a nodal point in Glasgow’s architecture scene and its presence will be missed. We were only beginning to get involved in SUST and are disappointed that this may be discontinued. We had early plans for our first birthday celebration and the Lighthouse was one of our favoured venues for this event. The seminar series will be missed, as will the exhibitions, and we sincerely hope that some form of resolution can be arrived at to protect the key activities of the building. As one commentator said, “I…hope that the … attention deemed worthy of Diageo … will be focused on the Lighthouse, to ensure that Scotland does not lose this vital resource.”

It is, all in all, a sad and unfortunate symptom of the current climate.

BD Lighthouse article

Friday 21 August 2009

Friday Fun

Friday found ferguson design studio tucking in to a bit of research for funky stable/barn conversions - much more enjoyable than our Monday/Tuesday activities!

However, during this research session, we uncovered an unusually designed home in Japan…this home exhibits contemporary style and detail but it was designed entirely with the owner’s cats in mind
but be warned - the website is written in Japanese!

Thursday 20 August 2009

Approval All Round

This morning’s post brought us the satisfying news that the building warrant application for the Business Centre in Clydebank had finally been granted! A very simple sub-division of an existing office unit, the approval brings to an end a longer-than-expected dialogue with West Dunbartonshire Council on fire-proofing.

We also had a very productive meeting with Stephen Ng of Cubic Design yesterday afternoon and intend to put the wheels in motion for our e-marketing in the very near future.

If anyone is interested in receiving a ferguson design studio monthly e-newsletter, please get in touch!

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Two Days Dull...

ferguson design studio have spent the past two days in what could only be described as ‘in-house administration’. We took a strategic decision to spend a couple of days tending to our books and filing, in light of a brief spell of inactivity on the job front! Apart from the initial dimensional survey of Laxton Drive – for which we were appointed last week – we have been holed up, studying our financial forecasts. Needless to say, this is not the most interesting activity!

Tomorrow afternoon we are due to meet with a gentleman who will advise us on email marketing. As a young firm eager to push forward with our ecology manifest, we wish to keep as much of our communications as paper-free as possible and are considering embarking on a selective email marketing campaign. The gentleman is from Cubic Design and runs an award winning business on email marketing…we hope some of his business success rubs off on us!

Friday 14 August 2009

First Edition

Welcome to ferguson design studio’s newsreel. Here you will be able to a daily account of what ferguson design studio have been up to, including new appointments, project progression, bid/competition entries and events.

As this is the first post, let us bring you up to date with what we have achieved since starting up five months ago in March 2009. To date, ferguson design studio have 12 live projects; 9 domestic, 2 commercial and a local authority bid (news on that at a later date!). These include the following:

Drylaw Crescent
Refurbishment of a 3-bed semi-detached house involving updating the kitchen, adding a utility space, a fourth bedroom and en-suite. We are in the process of applying for planning permission.

Waterside Road
An extension to a 3-bed detached house to incorporate a new utility space and a "sun-space" to the rear. We are awaiting confirmation of the planning consent.

Boghead Road
A two storey extension to a 3-bed detached house to incorporate an extra bedroom, study, wet room and enlarged kitchen area. We are in the process of applying for planning permission.

Dyke Farm Road
An extension to a 3-bed cottage to allow for an additional bed room and the creation of a 'family zone'. We are yet to be formally appointed for this project.

Lilybank Avenue
An intervention to an existing 3-bed townhouse to open up their dining space, creating a transitional 'indoor/outdoor' room that flows into their rear garden. We are awaiting confirmation of the building warrant approval.

Shinn Forth Road
A new build 3-bed bungalow, with full disabled access as the client is restricted to a wheel-chair. We are in the process of applying for planning permission.

Waterside Cottage
A full internal refurbishment of an 1890’s miner’s cottage, renewing the period features of the property and updating the bathroom and kitchen areas. This scheme is in progress.

Business Centre, Clydebank
Subdivision of an existing office unit into two separate offices. We are awaiting confirmation of the building warrant approval.

Commercial Unit, Muirhead
Subdivision of the existing office and refurbishment of the retained half to a 'boutique' standard. We are awaiting confirmation of the building warrant approval.

At the time of writing we received confirmation of our appointment of a further domestic job:

Laxton Drive
An extension to an existing 3-bed semi-detached house to extend the family area and incorporate a new utility room and downstairs toilet. We have just been formally appointed as architect for the project.

…and we are currently started work on another new build:

Earlston House
A detached, 2 storey addition to a 6-bed manor house set on a ½ acre, this will incorporate accommodation for 3 cars and a woodshed on the ground floor and an office/flat on the first floor. We are yet to be formally appointed for this project.

News on our potential local authority bid will be forthcoming...

At the time of writing, ferguson design studio had also become registered as an RIBA Chartered practice. Keep reading our daily posts to be kept up to date with all ferguson design studio's news!