Architects & Designers
FEATURED PROJECTS
01
Craneburg Construction, a major contractor in Nigeria, approached Highly Creative Minds for a solution to their overcrowded headquarters accommodation in Lagos. The brief developed as requiring the re-location, with minimal disruption, of their senior management team into a new block alongside the current offices with a dedicated entrance and conference facilities also to be included. Taking form as a three-storey block with a deep cantilevered front façade acting as a Porte cochere to the entrance the design showcases their construction skills by adopting a fully exposed fair-faced concrete frame internally and externally. Extensive façade glazing as well as a skylight and glass enclosure to the stair flood the interior spaces with natural light delivering a comfortable and spacious working environment.
02
LONDON WC1N
This significant re-configuration of a redundant warehouse occupying a double-fronted plot involves the creation of a four-storey residential block. Two studio apartments flank the central entrance at ground level that lets on to a lift and spiral stair serving the upper three storeys that are configured as a triplex-apartment whose fully open-plan top floor spills out to a full-width roof terrace. Works are progressing on site for the shell construction as well as the fit-out of the two ground level units and a planning application is nearing resolution to add a landscaped roof terrace.
Working closely with the client Highly Creative Minds roles include the design of the front façade along with developing construction detailing for the external envelope and key internal features.
03
PORT HARCOURT
Currently under construction the 17-storey, 12,200+m2 GLA, Stock Exchange tower was actually begun in the 1990s with its concrete frame reaching 5th floor level before the project was abandoned. To avoid attaining new planning consents HCM was tasked with the re-design / modernization of this building while retaining the general massing of the original. A complete new façade design and roofscape were devised, the latter delivering a twin-peaked arrangement to give it a distinctive silhouette. Port Harcourt generally has a low-rise character and the resurrected Stock Exchange tower will form a dramatic new intervention on its skyline.
04
LAGOS
In the mid-1980s the IMB Plaza office was constructed on what was then the coast road in Lagos’s Victoria Island district. The Pyramid-like building, clad fully in blue glass, became something of a local landmark and a backdrop to many beach parties. Unfortunately, the intervening years were not kind and after changing hands a number of times it finally became derelict and sat empty for a long period.
05
EPSOM
One of the main attractions for the regenerated Horton Chapel arts centre is to be its café area, which will act in both a supporting role to the various art and education activities and provide a distinctive draw to the building for local residents. HCM was appointed to create the café space, which occupies what was the chancel / altar areas in the chapel neatly defined by the rood screen into a distinct space.
06
Farnham
This 1930s detached property, despite its relative proximity to the town centre is in a very secluded area but the new owners wanted to modernise both the look and feel of the property to suit a 21st as opposed to early 20th Century living style. The creation of an additional bedroom, creation of a home office and the greater interaction of the living spaces with the garden were also high priorities. After developing various design options that ultimately involved the addition of side, rear and roof extensions HCM undertook planning application for this significant re-modelling. As the site is located in close proximity to areas of wildlife / biodiversity interest a number of environmental surveys and reports, including a full bat-survey, needed to be commissioned as part of this process.
07
LONDON
West London’s Hanger Hill Garden Estate is a very well-preserved example of a Tudor Revival housing estate from the inter-war period. It has been a conservation area since 1969 and is the subject of a number of design controls regarding extensions. HCM was appointed to undertake a project to both expand and modernize the internal arrangement of one of the terraced house on the estate. Careful consideration was required to ensure that the massing of the extension blended with the period architectural style of the neighbourhood externally whilst the interior delivered the understated modern interior desired by the client. Planning consent was achieved in late 2020 for this project.