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A Century of Memories: Exploring the Harry S Fairhurst & Son Architects Archive
Fairhurst Architects: A Century of Memories | Manchester It was fascinating to review the family archive of Fairhurst Architects, formerly Harry S Fairhurst & Son Architects. As Harry S Fairhurst’s great grandson…
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Le Moulin Tarn: Rediscovering a Historic Watermill Landscape
Former watermill, Le Masnau-Massuguiès, Tarn, France It was a pleasure to collaborate with an old friend and local architect, Nigel White, to undertake a site survey of this remarkable former watermill complex,…
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RIBA Stage 4 Design | Sydenham Homes
At Mark Fairhurst Architects, RIBA Stage 4 design represents a critical stage where concept ambition is translated into buildable reality. At this stage, concept ambition is translated into buildable reality. In particular,…
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Lime Render Brick Preservation: How Toulouse Protects Historic Masonry & Heritage
During a recent visit to Toulouse, I explored how lime render brick preservation supports the city’s famous pink architecture. I spent the day walking through La Ville Rose with conservation expert Nigel…
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Roppongi Hills at 20: A Compact City Revisited
Introduction It was a pleasure to revisit the Roppongi Hills mixed-use development in Tokyo during a recent trip to Japan. While working at Conran & Partners, our team designed three of the…
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Enhancing Heritage Value Through Minor Building Alterations
Carrying out even modest works in a Conservation Area needs care. The goal is to preserve or enhance its historic and architectural character. However, small changes like new windows, façade cleaning, or…
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Walthamstow Mixed-Use Development | 13 Hoe Street
13 Hoe Street, Walthamstow – Contemporary Mixed-Use Development A New Landmark for Walthamstow 13 Hoe Street is a contemporary Walthamstow mixed-use development, providing nine new apartments alongside a ground-floor retail unit. The…
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Sustainable Infill Housing in Sydenham
We’re excited to share our latest project of infill housing in Sydenham, a sustainable and carefully designed development that replaces four derelict garages with two high quality, two-bedroom homes. Unlocking Potential in…
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Designing for Daylight & Sunlight
We explain why designing for daylight matters, how we work, and what we’ve learned from a range of London projects…
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Successful Amendments to Hotel Planning Application
We are pleased to announce that key amendments to our planning application for the hotel development at 384-398 Commercial Road, E1 0LR, have received approval. This milestone marks significant progress for Mark…
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Sustainable Homes in Westminster’s Dorset Square Conservation Area
Mark Fairhurst Architects have received approval for three new family sustainable homes in the Dorset Square Conservation Area. The Westminster sub-planning committee unanimously approved the design after consultations with local residents, groups,…
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Principal Designer Services: New Role Under the Building Safety Act 2022
A new role of the principal designer has been created following the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022, which now encompasses responsibilities under the Building Regulations in addition to the existing…
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Whole Life Carbon: Understanding Assessments in Planning
Why Whole Life Carbon Matters in Planning We have witnessed a significant shift in the construction industry towards more sustainable practices. Among these practices, Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessments (WLCA) have emerged as…
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Altering Classic Mid Century Houses: Woodsford Square, Holland Park
Woodsford Square is a post‑war housing development of 131 terraced homes on Addison Road in Kensington and Chelsea. Built during a period of modern change, the scheme stands in contrast to the…
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Crafting Visions into Reality: A Simple Guide to the Early Stages of Successful Home Improvements
Starting Your Home Improvement Journey Embarking on a home improvement project can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re unsure where to begin. Whether you are planning a refurbishment, an extension, or a complete…
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Site Development Appraisals: Maximise Land Value & Potential
What are Site Development Appraisals? Site development appraisals are an assessment of land or property to determine its suitability, value, and potential for development based on planning, design, cost, and location factors.…
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Co-Living: A Popular Living Approach in Cities
Co-living has become increasingly popular with the rise of people living in cities, housing shortages, rocketing rental prices, and widespread awareness of the impact of climate change. While communal living is a…
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Returning Home to Clapham: A Clapham Home Renovation
Introduction This Clapham home renovation was designed for a client returning to London after 10 years abroad. However, the property had been rented and required refurbishment. In addition, the growing family needed…
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Designing Within Historic Sites: Balancing Conservation & Modern
Introduction to Designing Within Historic Sites Designing within historic sites requires a careful balance between heritage conservation and modern development. Architects must understand the historic significance of a site while creating spaces…
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Approach to Sustainability
Sustainability is considered at all stages of the RIBA Plan of Work and is an integral part of the design process at Mark Fairhurst Architects. We analyse reuse of existing buildings on…
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The Old Printworks, Nettlefold Place
We have designed the change of use and alterations to an office building into a two-bedroomed maisonette and ground floor one-bedroom flat both with private terraces, in West Norwood, London, SE27. A…
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Why Hire an Architect?
If you want your building project to maximise the potential of a specific plot of land, building or spaces and exceed expectations an architect will help you appraise your site or building.…
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Maximising space with structural ingenuity
Knolly’s Road, a residential project in West Norwood, Lambeth demonstrates how thoughtful structural alterations and amendments can transform a living space into a light, spacious and flexible space. The clients, Sue and…
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Yes in my Backyard
Hafer Road was recently featured in a BBC news clip about a small pressure group called London Yimby (Yes in My Back Yard) which are encouraging teams of homeowners in suburbs to…
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Energy Conservation for Homes
This summer we experienced higher temperatures than usual creating a need for cooling at home and workplace. We face an uncertain winter with energy prices soaring. This has brought into sharp focus…
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Building Information Modelling at MFA
We use BIM to streamline the production of drawings and information to provide quality and efficiency within our work streams. We offer our clients this service giving them the opportunity to improve…
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Mixed use office and residential development, London
The brief was to redevelop an existing office building located within an industrial estate to maximise the lands development potential. Working closely with the client, Grade Planning, ReForm Architects and the London…
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New Boutique Hotel Proposed for Tower Hamlets
Mark Fairhurst Architects has developed a design for a new, 101 room boutique hotel in Tower Hamlets for Ziser London. The site, on Commercial Road between the Isle of Dogs and…
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Renovating a Grade II Listed Terrace in Bloomsbury
Leigh Street was set out on former agricultural land owned by the Worshipful Company of Skinners who granted builders permission to build a new row of terraces in 1809. Originally occupied as…
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Considering Building a Basement?
Basements provide valuable additional floor area to provide a range of accommodation: office space, conference facilities, cinemas, recording studios, gyms, guest bedrooms, utility rooms, swimming pools etc. Basements can optimise floor areas…
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UK Government prioritises ‘beauty’ in proposed planning rules
The UK government has recently issued a response to a report by the Build Better, Build Beautiful Commission in support of their recommendations which include a ‘fast track for beauty’, standard requirements…
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Backlands Development, Crystal Palace, Bromley
When approached to assess the potential to develop a vacant backland in Bromley near Crystal Palace, we saw an opportunity to transform the derelict site into a high quality, sustainable, residential development…
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Academic Technical Building Study: Koops Mills
Following a recent 30 years reunion since Mark graduated from Newcastle University we were approached by a current third year architecture student Daniel Mijalski there regarding one of our completed projects…
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VuCity: A Virtual Parallel World
VuCity is a software that contains a virtual 3d model of currently 18 major cities in the UK including: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Belfast, Bristol, Liverpool, Brighton, Cambridge, Sheffield, Oxford, Cardiff,…
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Planning a Creative Sustainable Environment in West Norwood
Mark Fairhurst Architects is working with landowners, Norwood Planning Assembly, Norwood Works and other stakeholders in West Norwood at transforming the former industrial area in the town centre into a new creative…
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London Festival of Architecture Pecha Kucha
Mark Fairhurst Architects were invited in June to participate in a public consultation looking at the ‘Power of Norwood High Street’ organised by A Small Studio in conjunction with Norwood Works (BID)…
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Mews Development for Slough
Located in the heart of Slough, Mark Fairhurst Architects has recently designed a residential development set between existing residential and commercial properties on a former car park back-land site. The flats are…
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Two New Mews Houses, 42-43 Chagford Street, Westminster, NW1
Mark Fairhurst Architects has designed two new town houses for a mews site in Westminster NW1. The houses will have four and five bedrooms with areas of 239 and 270 square metres…
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Civic Trust Awards Assessing
The Civic Trust Awards was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. The aim is to encourage the very best in architecture and environmental design,…
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RIBA Client Advisers
‘RIBA Client Advisors are highly trained, experienced architects and construction professionals who can advise on how to get the best out of all phases of your project, including the procurement process. Having…
