News
September 2010. New Associate Joins Swindon office
Christopher Stanley Associates have a new member of the team joining the office in Swindon. Peter Marchment joined CSA in September and brings a range of skills and experience which further strengthens the business.
After training in Cheltenham and gaining experience with local partnerships Peter spent 5 years with Batterton Tyack as an Architectural technician, where he gained vast experience of the housing and care centre sectors of the construction industry. He also he made a significant contribution towards updating their IT operations.
Peter now re-joins CSA having previously worked for the business 3 years ago. As an associate he hopes to play a major role in developing new and existing client work in the years ahead.
Director Justin Dowling is very pleased with CSA’s new associate. ‘’ This will be Peter’s second stint with Christopher Stanley, his experience, technical knowledge and enthusiasm to develop new business is one of the reasons we are so pleased to welcome him back ’’.
September 2010 .Location Location Location
Christopher Stanley Associates have relocated to new offices in Swindon. The new HQ is based at Kembrey Business Park and is ideally situated to service new and existing clients in the South and South West regions. The move forms part of a strategic plan by CSA to promote an already established Design and Build practice that can now offer clients a ‘one stop’ service covering all the disciplines they need for projects of all sizes, through to the construction stage.
Of particular interest is the growing demand for ‘Green Technology’ in both commercial buildings and residential eco homes. One of our brand new projects Tan Y Bryn Gardens, Llwydcoed will making full use of these services
We are upbeat about the direction CSA is taking. ‘’It has been a very difficult 24 months for construction following the economic downturn but CSA has looked at what the market now demands and we believe the range of services we can offer makes us an attractive partner in a competitive world’’.
September 2010. A New Dawn in Devon
Christopher Stanley Associates have opened a new office in North Devon and welcome Adrian Cann as a new Associate. The addition of Adrian to CSA is a key part of the strategic plan to develop new projects and business in the region.
Adrian brings 20 years of experience to CSA and he knows the region extremely well. He was born and grew up in North Devon going on to study civil engineering before moving into architectural and engineering design. Adrian has worked with many of the major housing developers such as Persimmon, Barrett, Wimpey and Redrow Homes.
Adrian also brings an impressive range of knowledge and expertise to CSA which include concept layouts, estate planning, house type design, working drawing packages & local building control/NHBC approval, S38 highway design works, S104 sewer design works & sustainable urban drainage schemes.
Adrian adds a number of strings to our bow and enhances the range of services we can offer clients in the South West which is exactly what we need to be doing during this challenging time for the construction industry.
April 2010. New Charles Church Project
Following our success on Phase 1 of Kingshill North at Cirencester we are once again pleased to announce will be working with Charles Church on Phase 2 of the development to produce the construction drawings and details.
The development will consist of both affordable and open market 2, 3 & 4 bedroom homes designed in a traditional Cotswold style. The affordable element will be detailed to meet the requirements of Code for Sustainable Homes (level 3) and the Housing Quality Indicators (HQI).
For more information on this development please visit Charles Church website.
April 2010. Approved Document L 2010 and SAP2009 published.
The long awaited Approved Document L 2010 and corresponding SAP2009 documents have now been published and come into effect on 1 October 2010. There are some significant changes to both the legal requirements and the technical guidance, here's our bullet point changes:
Legal requirement for new build:
Regulation 17C applies, for CO2 emission rate calculations to be carried out and given to the Building Control Body, along with a list of specifications used in the calculations before the start of building work on the erection of a new building. This is in addition to the CO2 emission rate calculation required to be submitted after completion of the work.Changes in technical guidance:
The annual CO2 emission rate of the completed dwelling is now calculated using SAP2009 and must not exceed the target set by reference to a notional dwelling with an additional overall improvement of 25% relative to 2006 standards
The notional dwelling now includes a party wall heat loss of zero, meaning that the targeted improvement of 25% is in addition to treating party walls between connected dwellings against heat loss.
Secondary heating is counted as part of the annual CO2 emission rate of the completed dwelling only when actually provided for and credit is allowed wherever low-energy lighting is installed.
Some of the reasonable limits for building fabric and services performance specifications are strengthened.
Revised guidance is provided for avoiding thermal bridging at construction joints including the option of adopting a quality assured accredited construction details scheme approach.There are more detailed changes in the body of the document which will have a significant impact. We’ve already highlighted the following:
U-values must be calculated in accordance with BR443 and stated u-values represent an area weighted average. In practice this means your u-values will have to be significantly better than the limiting standards to achieve the TER.
Air pressure testing will become more important since the test results used for subsequent house types incurs a increase of 2.0m³/m²hr meaning the default compliance level is now 8m³/m²hr. The improvement in emissions, in our opinion, makes the default figure of 15m³/m²hr redundant for small developments.
Thermal bridges are significant in reflecting overall thermal performance and three options will exist; quality assured construction details (in the same manner as Robust Details), non-accredited construction calculated in accordance with BR497 or to accept unaccredited details with a default of y-value of 0.15.
February 2010. SMAS Work Safe Qualification
Christopher Stanley Associates are pleased to announce that we have passed the SMAS Work Safe Consultant Health and Safety Assessment which is recognised under the Safety Schemes in Procurement forum.
The scheme was launched online in May and is an agreement between assessment schemes, trade federations representing both clients and suppliers, and the HSE, to simplify the pre qualification stage of procurement, reduce duplication and improve standards of health and safety in the industry.
Lord McKenzie, the minister for health and safety said “The SSIP demonstrates very well how partnerships can be fostered. It has not only been backed by Department for Work and Pensions and the HSE but other Government departments, such as Business, Innovation and Skills, have also supported it.”
We are delighted with our recent accreditation as it will further enhance our reputation as a professional architectural consultancy.
January 2010. Tender Win
Christopher Stanley Associates are pleased to announce that we have won the tender to produce the construction drawings for Phase 1 of Charles Church’s brand new development at Kingshill North in Cirencester.
The development will consist of both affordable and open market 2, 3 & 4 bedroom homes and apartments and has been designed in a traditional Cotswold style. The affordable element will be detailed to meet the requirements of Code for Sustainable Homes (level 3) and the Housing Quality Indicators (HQI).
