A Farrell Grimshaw Partnership project. Windsor Road, Runnymede, Surrey.

The warehouse was a speculation on the part of McKay Securities. Planning permission had been agreed prior to the Farrell Grimshaw Partnership taking on the contract, but the site’s sensitive and historic location presented a number of challenges in the required scale of the building against the agreement to provide a low profile, protective colouration and minimal presence for the new structure. In the final design the concerns of the Thames Conservancy were addressed with a single storey unit standing only 7m high. In addition, the river frontage of the building included glazed residential units, which jutted out from the warehouse wall to attempt a more domestic scale and character from this view point. The Royal Fine Arts Commission and the Council for the Preservation of Rural England were equally satisfied with the olive-green cladding and bronze glazing which helped the building merge into the nearby meadow surroundings. The War Graves Commission, concerned about the view from the cemetery on Egham Hill, was also pleased with the result of the green spar roof chippings which helped the building blend with the surrounding deciduous trees.

Following completion, the warehouse was leased by Citroen as its main UK spare-parts depot

The Royal Parks cover 5000 acres of parkland and provide the setting for Kensington and Buckingham Palaces, London Zoo, and the Albert Memorial. They compromise Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Regents Park, St James’ Park, Richmond Park, Green Park and Bushy Park.

In 1992 Sir Terry Farrell joined the Royal Parks Review Group, a group set up in with the remit of producing a fundamental change and improvement in the Royal Parks and how they were run, aiming for excellence in the way they were kept, quality in what the parks offered, and better management and value for money. Sir Terry Farrell’s particular remit was to look at the large-scale design of landscape and buildings together, and his conclusions were published in 1996.

A core finding was that in the transition from private royal space to public space, the Royal Parks had suffered an identity crisis which benefited neither the Royal family nor the public. He proposed that whilst the royal family did not enjoy them as they used to do, neither did the populace experience them in their full splendour either. His recommendations addressed the way that the public were often funnelled through side entrances and diverted away from original grand entrances and grand routes. He argued that there was poor access in general from the surrounding roads, and a dominance of cars over pedestrian access. Finally, the clumsy dividing of public and private space resulted in the blocking of original vistas and schemes thereby diminishing the splendour of the original design.

Construction Partners:
Engineers: Bouygues

The Royal Institution was founded in 1799 and based in a row of houses designed by John Carr, with a façade added to the front of the terrace in 1838 by Lewis Vulliamy. The rooms behind remained largely in their original layout; they were poorly connected and, by the 1980s, were also run-down and confusing to visiting members of the public. Rodney Melville and Associates were initially tasked with conducting an Impact on Heritage Assessment which influenced the refurbishment plans based upon the Grade I listed status of elements of the building.

TFP were selected as architects for the redevelopment of the Royal Institution which ran from 1999-2008. In the final design circulation was reinvented and the difference between public and private spaces clearly demarcated. The aim was to create clear horizontal and vertical connections and, at the same time, re-allocate what had become a jumble of different functions to logical defined spaces. The result was a ground floor of interconnected public spaces, with a basement level public exhibition space largely focused on the Young Scientists Centre, a first-floor lecture theatre and library suite, whilst third floor offices and laboratories were located on the top floor. The director's flat was changed from the second floor to the fourth floor, replacing the caretaker's flat. The 'Sad' staircase nearer the rear of the building was refurbished and extended to the lower ground floor. Key to the straightforward zoning was provided by a rehabilitated rear courtyard of workshops which formed an atrium and central lift component and was glazed over.

Project Partners:
Engineers: Faber Maunsell
Quantity Surveyors: Wheelers Group

The client asked the Farrell Grimshaw partnership to design a flexible factory on the firm’s existing site on the west side of Bath. The firm’s main building, which included a monorail system for moving things around the ship floor, was to remain. On the end of this, Farrell Grimshaw Partnership added extra space that could be used for any type of production, a canteen, a kitchen, main entrance and reception area and lavatory facilities for the whole works. The structure the architects developed was a flat portal frame on a 30 x 60 foot grid – a rational extension of the 15 x 15 foot column spacing of the original accommodation. All services within the production area were overhead and followed the grid system for ease of access. The cladding was also designed to be completely flexible and interchangeable.

This masterplan was prepared by Terry Farrell in 2004 on behalf of the Welsh Development Agency. Although the WDA was abolished in 2006, the Welsh Assembly Government subsequently based their 2008 regeneration plans for the basin, then the last major derelict site of the inner harbour, partially on the original Farrell masterplan.

A collection of research notes, draft drawings and sketches, external reports and historic context material.

Administration files in relation to various public reports, consultations and presentations.

A large collection of masterplan, design, concept and feasibility reports and brochures produced for building projects involving Farrells.