The Practice Ethos

Nick Shipp Architects operates to provide successful creative architecture, through elegantly functional design.

The Practice's Aims

The aim of the practice is to introduce Clients into an environment in which they feel comfortable to contemplate and explore the potential of any given brief for a building.

This process affords circumstances within which pre-conceived ideas and ideals can be reorganised, enabling Clients to realise the underlying potential of their brief, transcending both their ambition and aspirations of the initial idea.

The result of this journey is the realisation of a tangible product which is of distinct architectural merit, providing immense pleasure and well being to all those who come into contact with it.

Method

The practice achieves successful creative architecture through vigorous commitment to design, cost and time control. These remain prerequisites on any project, ensuring cost certainty and added value. The efficient yet elegant technical design solutions address and resolve environmental issues as part of a responsible and forward looking strategy within the practice. An NSA devised system regulates quality control to provide the support necessary for our project management structures as well as best practice management administration procedures. NSA provides full architectural services on all types of building categories, supported by a commitment to the Client which ensures a successful professional working relationship, as together we procure the project.

Our design solutions always appraise the appropriate use of materials as well as aesthetic appearance, that in 2007 goes further, to include a sustainability audit covering energy use in procurement, transport, construction and use - all inclusive in a carbon index factor.

Practice Profile

NSA is a Royal Institute of British Architects chartered Architectural Practice founded twelve years ago in London by the principal architect, who sought the freedom to address Architecture on his own terms. It evolved from ARCC Architecture, a design practice formed by a group of young London Architects in 1989.

Since establishing a successful practice in London, NSA has opened a new office near Bath, where NSA's headquarters are now based.

Over the twelve years NSA has built up a diverse portfolio of successful buildings. Gaining valuable wide-ranging experience and knowledge during this period; this forms the foundations on which NSA's judgement is based, proving a crucial asset as part of any procurement strategy.

The practice exists to thoroughly enjoy the creative fruits of its work whilst steering a path to fully achieve its growth and success potential.

Seven Premises behind our Designs

Premise 1. To rise above Clients aspirations for design, meeting budget and programme perameters.

Comment. This prerequisite for the success of all projects is in a nutshell what we do and attempt to get better at doing with each completed project. Premises set out below describe the character of our architecture, as it is moulded and honed to suit the unique peculiarities of every design.

Premise 2. To evolve an 'environmentally sustainable' strategy that considers all aspects of building, from materials procurement or manufacture, to transport, costs in use, and energy efficient design that includes wind, solar and a variety of other forms of economic energy generation and conservation.

Comment. In the UK, we have fallen well behind our neighbours in Europe, and as exigently high energy consumers, our buildings, transport systems, working practices and lifestyle choices will necessarily be revolutionized to meet the global distress that our children's children will otherwise have to cope with. It's on the agenda whether we like it or not! Our design solutions always appraise the appropriate use of materials as well as aesthetic appearance, that in 2004 goes further, to include a sustainability audit covering the efficient energy usage of the building from conception.

Premise 3. To integrate the design with its natural context (aspect, sun angles etc.) using relationships between design and context to inform the building. This interplay is timeless and will always be an inextricable part of the end result, giving the building a sense of place and a reason for being. (Unless the world falls over- which would be bad luck)

Comment. This ensures that from a design point of view, the building is contextually responsive to the many demands made on its siting. Landscape is part of this and our work is designed to maximise this aspect.

Premise 4. To understand the often missed qualities of the use of artificial and natural light in buildings, and to use both to discreet effect.

Comment. Lighting in buildings is obviously an essential part of their use, whether free or paid for. Maximise the free, but also use it to discreet effect in tandem with understated artificial lighting design that increases the romance [fun] of space as well as provides appropriate light for the necessary practical applications.

Premise 5. To develop our understanding of form and space in design and to combine this with the interesting textural effects of the various materials to bring both harmony and diversity in an original palette.

Comment. The solid and void relationship is a fundamental in the built environment, often over-looked. Design needs to be broken down to its fundamentals; by doing so interesting and far reaching interplay's can be achieved. Our Interior design is inherent in the architectural design.

Premise 6. To articulate an understanding of the inherent language of materials. Capturing and purveying this through elegant and practical detailing and connection solutions necessary in all designs.

Comment. We often say that the beauty is in the detail - get that right and the remainder of the design falls into place. Only partly true we know, but without an approach to the act of joining materials elegantly, and indeed practically, we cannot claim the design merit we strive for.

Premise 7. To enjoy the rewards of our work.

Summary Proposal

We are:

14 year old practice with a listing of highly successful architectural work in the residential and leisure sectors. Other projects in education, office, retail, interior design, landscape design have also been successfully completed.

We aim:

to provide, above all a design service that is an imaginative interpretation of a Clients brief.

We listen:

very carefully to this brief to convert initial ideas into an exciting scheme that has delight at its heart. Effective Architecture results from a detailed analysis and thorough understanding of a Clients brief and personality (individual or corporate) and the skill imagination and ingenuity needed to find enlightened architectural solutions of elegance, that are functionally connected and budgetary controlled. All projects form a triangle between the demands of design quality, cost and time, we understand how to manipulate this formula to suit our Client's needs.

We have:

delivered design with a 100% success rate through the planning system, unless clear indication leading to an Appeal has been advised.

We were:

located in Parsons Green, London for 12 years where we continue to maintain an office overlooking the river in the prestigious Piper Building.

We are now:

Located at Haugh, Bath, in offices converted from a cow byre, where the staff have access to the latest computer and communication soft and hardware. An exceptional working environment enhances the production of high quality work.

We will:

Upon an interesting description of any future project, meet any prospective Client for an initial meeting at no cost to discuss proposals, work on a keen hourly rate to arrive at a feasibility stage result and pursue the project following agreement of a fee proposal to meet the demands of a brief to create good architectural design that meets cost and programme requirements.

We work:

To make the lives of our clients more successful, enjoyable and rewarding for the lifetime spent on our planet. The buildings live on into the indefinite future and are designed, like ourselves and so much good architecture, to grow old gracefully.

We embrace:

steps into the future with current regulations to help the world meet the demands of finite fossil fuel resources, into sustainable energy demands that include solar, wind and water electrical generation, sustainable water supply and disposal and a now essential interdependence on non-fossil fuels. For every 'solar' house built in the UK, the Germans build more than one thousand houses, encouraged by an attractive pay-back structure.

We conclude that:

Architecture and the service of 'design' that we offer our clients is inextricably associated with the development of style and an experience for design solutions that evolve with each new project. The learning curve is a part of our own experience, and we aim to join with our clients on an enjoyable and mutually beneficial programme to create buildings of beauty, concerned with a parallel concern for practical efficiency in design, and without ever forgetting that the budget, however open, must be controlled. We welcome approaches by architects and designers who have been able to identify with the sense of positively for the future, a belief in best design and a commitment to teamwork, procuring architecture, within a proactive and fun atmosphere.