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Our yoga studio had a guest slot on BBC local news last week in a feature on flooding and flood resilience. The building takes an innovative approach to being sited in the Thames floodplain; the discreet grille at the base of the façade conceals valves which allow floodwater (but not vermin) to run through the building. The interior finishes are all flood resilient - including the scrummy polished concrete floor.

There was an article too: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rgmr1310xo

#floodresilience #flooding #riverthames #floodplain #resilience #designforresilience ...

AJA were invited, at short notice, to submit a sketch proposal for a new teaching building at an historic school in Oxford, chock full of listed buildings.
Our design retains and reclads an existing ‘50s block and then extends it. The spirit of the chunky, archy, buttressy context is invested in a new masonry skin which has the depth to act as a brise-soleil for the south-west facing windows.

#designinspiration #architecture #architectinoxford #schoolbuilding #inspirationalspaces #learningspaces #sketchproposal #brick #arch #buttress #brisesoleil ...

A quick raw study of a new façade which has lots of depth for solar protection.
AI is a marvel, but there is still a place for sketching by hand as a swift and powerful design tool.

#sketches #design #drawing #byhand #designtools #sketching ...

“A green marvel in every sense….It shows a way in which architectural enjoyment and sustainability can go together…..”

Rowan Moore, The New Review, The Observer. Read the full article via the link in our bio.

#rowanmoore #sustainable #sustainablearchitecture #sustainableliving #origami #sculpture #copperbottom #architectinoxford #Oxford #design #dreamhome #green #metallicorigami ...

Classical music is perfectly pleasant on Radio 3, but hearing a full orchestra in the flesh is bone-shakingly awesome.
Classical architecture is perfectly pleasant on the high street but a visit to a pukka Greek temple is gut-thumpingly visceral and humbling.
This is the second temple of Hera in Paestum, photographed last week. I am still recovering.

#greekinspiration #temple #bluesky #februarysunshine #wintersun #fullorchestra #paestum ...

Our habitable power station is featured in Dezeen today. Follow the link in our bio to read the article.

#powerstation #dezeen #copperbottom #renewableenergy #solarpanels #poweredbysun #copper #oxford #architectinoxford #solaredge #design #dreamhome ...

Preview of our Portland stone proscenium.
Crisp.

#portlandstone #crisp #view #wintersun #wintersky #preview #lightfilledspace #architecture #dreamhome #architectinoxford #proscenium #glassandstone #glassandlight ...

Mega oculus work in progress.
Our project in Wolvercote is designed around this eye-popping view.

#portmeadow #views #houseswithviews #workinprogress #Oxford #architectinoxford #dreamhome #wintersun #oculus #roomwithaview #housewithaview #dreamingspires #wolvercote ...

Merry Christmas everyone!

#christmaslights #snow #whitechristmas #dreamhome #light #glowing #architectinoxford #Oxford #architecture #design #adrianjamesarchitects ...

The Architects’ Journal is featuring Copper Bottom this week.

You can read the article, with lots of photos plus plans and elevations, here:
https://tinyurl.com/mr3anmbe

or follow the link in our bio.

#copperbottom #copper #thesundaytimes #brick #dreamhome #architectinoxford #wintersun #emptynesters #origami #bricksteps #viewsofoxford #architectsjournal ...

Here is our Copper Bottom project as featured in The Sunday Times this weekend. There is a longer article online: https://www.thetimes.com/article/355c96bf-9b66-44be-b2ba-4f483ada9ba6
or you can see more via our website – just search for Adrian James Architects or follow the link in our bio.

#copperbottom #copper #thesundaytimes #brick #dreamhome #architectinoxford #wintersun #emptynesters #origami #bricksteps #viewsofoxford ...

Antidote to the current grey skies - a façade detail from our Sunnymead Twosome.
Louis Kahn said it best; “The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building.”

#sunonbrick #wintersun #wintersunshine #details #louiskahn #architectinoxford #Oxford #brickfacade ...

And now, the reveal…

The pair of houses making up the Sunnymead Twosome are not equal, but this is only clear at the rear. The larger house occupies three of the four tiered volumes.

Find out more via the link in our bio.

#twins #Oxford #architecture #architectsinoxford #brick #modernhome #light #dreamhome #design #symmetry #surprise #wintersun ...

We’ve just finished Sunnymead Twosome: a pair of semi-detached houses with a symmetrical façade. But there are hidden complexities to the homes behind; they are not, as the façade suggests, a pair of identical twins. Less Ronnie and Reggie Kray, more Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny de Vito.

Find out more in our next post. Or, if you can’t wait, follow the link in our bio to see more now.

#twins #Oxford #architecture #architectsinoxford #brick #modernhome #light #dreamhome #design #symmetry #surprise #wintersun ...

As an antidote to the current gloom, here is a preliminary, and not strictly accurate, AI visualisation of a villa we have just started designing for a hillside location in Lazio, Italy.

#novembersun #italy #villa #dreamhome #banishthegloom #design #architect ...

Why copper?
1. Copper doesn’t corrode away: the surface oxidises, stabilises and then stays that way, basically forever.
2. The copper used for roofing and cladding is both 100% recycled and 100% recyclable; a perfect material for the circular economy.
3. The verdigris hue of patinated copper is bewitchingly beautiful. The finish on Copper Bottom is slightly less turquoise and more lime than standard prepatination. We have chosen a finish in harmony with its verdant setting.

#copper #verdigris #coppercladding #inthesun #verdant #prepatinatedcopper #recyle #circulareconomy #oxfordshirecountryside #CopperBottom ...

The interior of Copper Bottom is all about those architectural chestnuts: space, light, order – and materials. The heart of the house is the lofty, luminous double-height gallery which serves as entrance hall, dining room, and stair lobby. And the focus of that space is the weighty exposed purple brick pier which acts as hearth, stair wall and thermal heat sink, helping to keep the house a steady temperature through the year.

For more pictures of the interiors at Copper Bottom visit https://adrianjames.com

@gc.interiors

#CopperBottom #doubleheightspace #design #interiordesign #lightfilled #views #copperbottom #brick #thermalmass ...

Copper Bottom is fully and holistically sustainable. With an array of 37 photo-voltaic panels on the roof generating up to 16kW, it is a habitable power station generating renewable energy well in excess of the modest demands of the building itself, which is a highly insulated and airtight passive house. The PV feeds a 20kWh battery and if any power needs to be drawn from the grid it can happen overnight when the grid is green.
The carbon footprint of the building’s construction is very low. There is minimal concrete in the ground, and above ground the superstructure is all carbon-capturing timber. The compact and efficient cuboid form is constructed from SIPs and then clad with a system of lightweight timber trusses supporting a plywood skin. This skin is in turn clad in 100% recycled copper.

#recycled #copper #sustainability #sustainablebuilding #sustainablebuildingmaterials #sustainablearchitecture #solarpower #solarpanels #sustainable #energyefficient #carboncapture #timber #insulation #battery ...

The dynamic sculptural form of Copper Bottom derives from the uses it serves. The design takes what is normally considered a constraint – the need to prevent summer solar gain - and turns it into an opportunity for architectural expression. The form acts as a brise-soleil on three facades and a porch on the fourth. The roof plane cantilevers far out to bar high summer sun from the large south-facing windows. The skin pushes out at the waist to protect the east and west facing windows from low sun. On the north facade the bulging waistline shelters the entrance.

#copper #selfbuild #sustainable #Oxford #architecture #design #brick #green #solar #brisesoleil #solargain #sunprotection ...