Journal

Cooto be included in the Dezeen Hot List earlier this week DezeenCredit for this must of course go to The Boundary rather than to my architectural endeavours, although nice kitchen extension I think you'll agree.

http://www.dezeen.com/deeenhotlist/2016/henry-goss/

Dezeen Hot List

Cool to be included in the Dezeen Hot List earlier this week. Credit for this must of course go to The Boundary rather than to my architectural endeavours, although nice kitchen extension I think you'll agree.

Finally! here is the Lode House extension completed. 4 years and one seriously dedicated client and project manager (both cousins of mine) and they have the kitchen of their dreams for a fraction of the price something like this would typically cost. It's been a really interesting experiment seeing what can be achieved where quality and cost are the driving forces and time is completely open ended. Wouldn't be for everyone but it has certainly paid off on this instance.

See the Dezeen article for further info

More Images at Henry Goss Architects

St Pancras International Railway Station is undoubtedly an architectural triumph.  A monument to the golden age of steam and a continuing jewel in the crown of the European wide rail network.  The recent £800 million renovation and extension has breathed new life into William Henry Barlow’s audacious 74.83m spanning arches and Gilbert Scott’s 60 million Nottingham bricks as well as providing a state of the art new terminal building bringing London into the 21stCentury of high speed rail travel.

season-greetings/

The “elected representatives” had made up their minds: “I’m perfectly open to modern design, but this just isn’t good enough.”  With dread in my heart and my client’s sighs in my ears behind me I waited for the vote. 

It suddenly became clear that a recommendation for approval from the planning authority and general endorsement from all statutory consultees amounted to nothing in the face of small minded conservatism and apparent disregard for the local authority constitution. 

Henry Goss Architects' Staithe End Project has been featured on Dezeen Magazine's website

Henry Goss Architects has received planning permission for a private house in Christchurch, Dorset, overlooking Christchurch Harbour.  The planning comitty approved the scheme by a margin of five to three.

http://www.henrygossarchitects.com/contemporary-one-off-house-architecture-projects/staithe-end/

http://www.henrygossarchitects.com/contemporary-one-off-house-architecture-projects/staithe-end/

Inspiration can be found in many places and arguably in no greater place than in people.

As a young(ish) architect working with Rick Mather, (albeit for a relatively short period of time) one may assume that it was professional inspiration which was his principle contribution to me.  Although his architectural abilities were indeed considerable– it is as a man that he really influenced me. 

All Together Now

The built environment can be experienced in many different ways, part of it’s diversity is the very fact that people see and use it in different ways. A child will see opportunity for play in a puddle or under a park bench differently to a pensioner.  Some may see a bridge as a means by which water is crossed, others may view it as a diving platform. A low wall may denote a boundary or a seating area, a roof top a rain shield or a parkour playground.

Who hasn’t, at some point, winced at the esoteric language adopted by many professions?

This ranges from the banal local authority spiel of synergistic, blue-sky-thinking stakeholders to the more niche and necessarily specific vocabulary of the scientific community. The architectural profession is by no means immune to this and such words as horizontality, verticality, curvilinear, materiality and, it pains me to write, coolth, are in common usage. I’ve no issue with making full use of the language and indeed I often indulge in the (over) use of it, as these blogs clearly illustrate. There is, however, a limit, and the self-aggrandising tones adopted by many often shroud a topic in ambiguity rather than clarify it, which – one should never rule out the possibility – may well be the intention.

Following on from the internationally acclaimed series of short films by Billabong entitled ‘I Surf Because’ documenting the motivations of famous surfers http://www.isurfbecause.com/  I felt that it might be interesting, (if a little less glamorous) to ask the same question of architects.  This may initially appear a banal and ludicrous comparison but as a surfer and Architect I have often recognised similarities in the drive and single-mindedness which often elevate both activities to an obsession.

Henry Goss Architects and Strom Architects' entry for Fort Alber design competition recently uploaded to henrygossarchitects.com.  See also stromarchitects.com

Farthings, Henry Goss Architects' replacement dwelling project on the North Norfolk coast, has received planning consent.  Following a rather less than straightforward planning application period during which there was major local opposition form residents due to the contemporary nature of the project, the LPA and all statutory consultees unanimously agreed that it would make a positive contribution to the area and granted planning permission under delegated powers.

Construction is due to commence in Spring 2013

My experience of competitions is varied and illustrious: I must have been involved with about 25 in the past two years. Very impressive, I hear you cry… that is until you realise that this experience extends only to the registration procedure and the reading of the first three pages of the often woundingly long PQQ. It is around this point that, with a deflated feeling of inevitability, I spy the dreaded phrases: ISO 14001, Quality Assurance Accreditation, ISO 9001, BS, IIP etc. I close the web page, revoke the Twitter feed announcing my imminent ascension to architectural superstardom and return to the overdue door schedule.

Henry Goss Architects has just submitted a three bed replacement dwelling, 'Farthings', for planning to King's Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council (Application No: 12/01591/F) The application is due to be determined by 29th November 2012

All designers are opinionated. It must surely be a prerequisite for any creative person to establish a position from which to create. This requirement is all the more significant for those who happen to be practising disciplines which also combine an artistic facet — thus adding an additional layer of complexity to the already challenging considerations of practical problem-solving.

I’m not talking about having a break from work, going on holiday, change-is-as-good-as-a-rest kind of thing, but really tried to get away from your self. If the answer is yes, I suspect you may have concluded, like me, that it is ultimately an exercise in abject counterproductive futility.

“Loopy, quite, quite loopy! Grown professional men!” was Mother Goss’s email response to yet another all-nighter. Well, quite. I couldn’t agree more and I am the first to lambast those who perpetuate the culture within the profession, and yet there I was again, buying wholeheartedly into it — and possibly even leading the charge.

Construction is a perilous business.  The standard figures trotted out by the Health and Safety Executive bear testimony to the myriad hazards which anyone who so much as sets foot on a building site is exposing themselves to.  The variety of accidents which may befall the average tradesman whilst carrying out their basic duties reads like a list of arcane torture techniques: electrocution, amputation, crushing, waterboarding...?