News

“Stonewood Design’s Nicola du Pisanie wins 2023 RIBA South West Project Architect of the Year for The Newt’s painstakingly reconstructed and reimagined Roman Villa Experience

This is one of the most ambitious such schemes ever undertaken in the UK.

Painstaking research was carried out to reconstruct the villa, including research trips to Pompeii and beyond. Drawing from the findings of the excavated site, the villa was erected with immaculate attention to detail, using techniques and materials from the period to ensure that the final building is as authentic as possible. Materials were locally sourced: 600mm-thick walls are constructed with local limestone, and the blue and white lias roof tiles were made specifically for the project. Impressively, a hypocaust heating system has been recreated which heats the bath house (floors and wall) and pools to a constant temperature. The replicated mosaics – one depicting the goddess Diana, another purely geometric patterns – are well executed, as are the small details such as the gutters and spouts of the roof.

The whole ensemble of museum and villa has been followed through with a notable level of skill and commitment, with the opportunity to embrace and recreate a significant period in British history being grabbed with both hands. The process of constructing the project has positively enhanced knowledge of crafts, skills, and techniques of the Romano-British period which have subsequently been vividly brought to life, creating a visitor experience of national interest and importance that is both engaging and educational.”

Under the reflected light of Venus and Jupiter earlier this year, the RIBA South West Award 2023 judges visited the Roman Villa Museum. 

Last night the project received a RIBA South West Award 2023, with Nicola du Pisanie being awarded the RIBA South West Project Architect of the Year Award 2023.

Judges' Citation

This week, on behalf of Stonewood Design, Hana is working in South Africa with architecture students from the design/build unit at the @uniofnottingham as a tutor on their Pre-School project in Limpopo.

The studio aims to design/build meaningful projects that are simple – buildable – fun – and empower students and end users to take pride in their project. 

The design/build studio is a network of teachers, makers, designers and students who work together to learn, question, and make. Stonewood Design are part of this creative network, along with long time partners The Thusanang Trust, @educationafrica, and @studio8fold.

Over more than a decade the studio has worked to be a positive contributing member of the communities in and around Hanertsburg, Limpopo South Africa. The projects focus on this area in particular as it the long-term relationships, knowledge and experiences that we have gained over a decade that allow us to continually improve, and to learn from our partners from a position of trust. This trust – placed in us from kids, parents, teachers, and our partners is our most important asset – and we continue to try to deserve this trust with every project.

Students, enrolled in an architecture course at @uniofnottingham, spend the Autumn semester designing the creche proposals from concept to detail. These are reviewed by structural engineers, early childhood education experts, and ultimately the head teacher. Students in the Spring term raise the money to travel and support the build, and in March/April, students commit to two weeks of construction. After a combined effort of four to six weeks, the creche is opened by the local government.

Shortlisted for the 2023 RIBA South West Awards.

Nicola du Pisanie will be presenting the project this Thursday 23rd February at Design West in Bristol. See https://www.designwest.org.uk/whats-on/the-newt-somerset/

Romance, Romans and Ruins….

The Story of Gardening museum is awarded Bronze at the @worldarchitecturenews awards in the Civic: Libraries and Museums category. We were in very good company on the shortlist and congratulations to @olsonkundig for the gold award and @snohetta for the silver.

The Roman Villa and Museum beautifully described by Eleanor Young in this month’s RIBA Journal.

See the full article here: https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/reconstructed-roman-villa-museum-the-newt-somerset-stonewood-design-heritage

Office visit to Kingswood Prep School, a project which we are very proud of. The tones of the external materials looking beautiful in the sunshine.

A lovely evening spent, as an office, with our wonderful clients Jane and Steve, at one of first and most formative projects, Myrtle Cottage Studio.

Our new project, The Roman Villa Museum, opens this week.

From a simple, elegant glass elevation, the Roman Villa Museum focuses its view towards a landscape which reinterprets the ruins of Hadspen Roman Villa.

Hadspen Roman Villa was discovered in 1832 . Excavations of the site took place between 1968 and 1970. This revealed structural remains, pottery, coins and part of a mosaic floor which suggested a substantial Villa. Further excavations in 2015 revealed the true extent of the Villa and its outbuildings. It had been built, adapted and enlarged from the 3rd to the 5th centuries AD. 

The Roman Villa Museum conserves and displays these archaeological finds in order to extend our knowledge of Roman Britain. A portion of the Villa, including the bath house, is on view in the centre of the Museum. 

A full scale reconstruction of the Hadspen Roman Villa is viewed at all times from the Roman Villa Museum.

The remaining part of the Villa remains have been re-buried for preservation.  Playful landscape design above allows visitors to appreciate the full scale of the remains below.

The reconstructed Hadspen Roman Villa enabled us to explore, through detailed research of Roman building techniques, our passion for craft, context and history in the creation of a 1:1 artefact.

The success of such a unique and ambitious project relied on the close working with our sister company Stonewood Builders.

It’s 6 months now since we launched our DO LIFE policy as a practice. This has included working 4.5 days per week. It’s been such a success for us. We are working smarter, having fun and delivering wonderful projects.

Visit to one of our new museum projects, due to open very soon.

Building Stories is a weekly series of live digital and in person talks where architects reveal their RIBA award-winning building.

Architects Nicola du Pisanie and Mark Thomas, engineers Henry Fagan and Andy Jarvis, and 3D modeller Chris Bisset will be presenting on May 3rd – part of a series celebrating RIBA award-winning buildings.

Hosted by Jo Bacon (Allies and Morrison), our special guests will share the unique stories behind The Story of Gardening and The Viper, followed by a live interactive Q&A session.

Out now on Hoxton Mini Press

After our visit to Jamie’s Farm we went next door to our clients, Real World Studios. We did an office walk-around our two projects, both of which are due to start on site this summer; Timber Yard is a development of 20 residential units, in partnership with Stonewood Partnerships; Millside is a co-working space.

We took a trip to visit Jamie’s Farm, which is a charity which we support as a business. Jamie’s Farm acts as a catalyst for change, enabling disadvantaged young people to thrive academically, socially and emotionally. They do this through a unique residential experience and rigorous follow-up programme, combining farming, family and therapy.

Jamie's Farm Website

New video clip of Matter Studio.

After close consultation with Historic England, Planning Permission is received.

Masterclass from Sean Sutcliffe at Benchmark Furniture

Wings Museum submitted for planning.

See full description in Projects

Westonbirt Walled Garden School submitted for planning.

See full description in Projects