Care Home Planning Appeal

The date has been set for the planning appeal relating to the proposed St Joseph's Care Home development in Horsforth, Leeds. The design for the innovative, sustainable care village for the elderly was disappointingly refused planning permission by Leeds City Council in June 2011. The scheme, won in competition by Architecture 519, features two interlocking, curved buildings, punctuated with an organic, curved chapel building. The Client for the development, the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, a catholic sisterhood, is hoping for a positive resoltuion to the outstanding planning issues to enable it to continue to provide care for the elderly in Horsforth following the closure of the former convalescent home in 2007.

Sustainable Housing at Rowan Park

Rowan Park in Mitcham is taking shape with the first blocks of houses nearing completion. Architecture 519 has been appointed to deliver the 200 unit scheme which provides sustainable apartments and family houses on a former school site. The contemporary designs are derived from Crest Nicholson's £60k Housing Concepts. As well as the housing, Architecture 519 will be delivering a new-build doctor's surgery, community hall, meeting rooms and the conversion of the former school buildings, within a new parkland setting.

Architecture 519 - Consultant of the Year

Architecture 519 has been recognised by one of our Clients, Crest Nicholson (South) Ltd as their 'Consultant of the Year.' At an awards ceremony and lunch on 24 February 2012, Andy Brown, Director (pictured) and Lee Connolly, Technical Director, picked up the award from Dave Huggett, the MD of Crest South. Architecture 519 has worked with the team at Crest South on prestigious ressidential projects such as Acton West Central, Heath Road - Twicknham, Priory Point - Reading and Rowan Park - Mitcham and it is in recognition of the excellent work undertaken by the Architecture 519 team that the award has been given.

Work starts on Chiswick High Road site.

Demolition work has started to make way for a new development by Linden Homes. Architecture 519 has been appointed to deliver the new landmark scheme comprising of 19 high quality luxury apartments. Work will begin shortly to form the basement car park with an anticipated 12 month build programme. The scheme will have inset balconies, frameless glazed openings and sliding timber louvred screens, as well as a contemporary rendered facade. The ground floor will be retained as commercial space.

Centenary Quay, Southampton nears completion

The first phase of the Centenary Quay project in Woolston, Southampton is nearing completion on site. Architecture 519 was appointed by Crest Nicholson Regeneration to design the scheme, which provides 85 apartments and 78 houses. The last two blocks of houses are now well underway with completion of the phase expected later this Summer. When completed, the site will have 1600 new homes and a range of commercial and retail space.

TED : Geoffrey West - The Surprising Math of Cities and Corporations

A few of us in the studio regularly look at a great online resource of talks by inspirational speakers. We thought it would be interesting to drop a few of these onto the blog from time to time.


TED is a nonprofit enterprise devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. TED believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. They offer free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.


Here’s an interesting talk that one of our Directors spotted recently which is a great introduction to the sort of things available on the TED website www.ted.com enjoy!


Physicist Geoffrey West has found that simple, mathematical laws govern the properties of cities -- that wealth, crime rate, walking speed and many other aspects of a city can be deduced from a single number: the city's population. In this mind-bending talk from TEDGlobal he shows how it works and how similar laws hold for organisms and corporations.

Sustainable Saltaire Bid Success!

Andy’s Sustainable Saltaire initiative took a big step forward in January after becoming one of the few successful community groups to be awarded just under £50,000 grant funding from the Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF).

Partnering with CO2Sense, Bradford Environmental Action Trust, Maslan Environmental and Bradford Council, Sustainable Saltaire will develop a ten year strategy to create a more sustainable community. This will include engaging with the local community, undertaking renewable energy feasibility studies, home energy surveys and training for local energy champions.

“Just as Saltaire was a model for Victorian industrial villages we can be a model for sustainable communities of the future. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the village”

Belated Birthday!

January has proved to be a busy month for A519, so much so we haven’t been able to announce our 3rd Birthday, which was on the 5th January! We celebrated this by further strengthening our current team of dedicated designers and technicians. We would like to thank everyone for their continued support and are looking forward to another successful year.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2012!

Leeds Sustainable Development Group

David Lumb, a director of Architecture519 and a member of the Academy of Urbanism is the co-ordinator of a growing number of active contributors to the Leeds Sustainable Development Group who are committed to breaking down barriers and encouraging collaboration. The group is working towards establishing a shared vision for Leeds and in particular they are developing a sustainable framework for the future development of Leeds City Centre South.

Willesden Green Cultural Centre

Architecture519 and AHMM are pleased to announce they have been selected for the Willesden Green Cultural Centre Redevelopment in Brent with Galliford Try Regeneration.

AHMM are leading the masterplan, which incorporates a new 4,000+ sq. m. library and cultural centre, with approximately 90 residential units by Architecture 519. A compact, atrium-centred scheme with a dramatic presence on the High Road will replace the existing 1980’s library, creating a community landmark in Brent. Activating the ground floor will be a café, children’s library and ‘creative cluster’ of large spaces tied into the masterplan through a significant new public space by Gillespies Landscape.

The team, supported by URS Scott Wilson for structure and services, expect to submit a planning application in the spring, with completion in 2014 for the entire site.