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Tucked away in Birmingham’s Cannon Hill Park stands a hidden piece of the city’s medieval past. The Golden Lion is a rare 17th-century timber-framed building; originally built in Deritend and moved to the park in 1911 by the Birmingham Archaeological Society to save it from demolition. Over a century later, the building itself is now at serious risk. Empty and unused for over 40 years, the Grade II-listed Golden Lion has deteriorated significantly. With growing concerns about structural failure, vandalism, and arson, Birmingham Conservation Trust (BCT) was approached by Birmingham City Council and Historic England to lead efforts to secure the building’s future. We were appointed as architect and lead consultant to deliver a feasibility study, an essential first step in safeguarding this historic site. Working with a team of specialist consultants, we assessed the condition of the structure, identified urgent repair needs, outlined a longer-term conservation strategy, and explored future uses that could bring the building back into public life. The findings are now guiding the next steps. BCT has applied for £300,000 to fund the first stage of emergency repairs, and plans are underway to raise a further £425,000 for essential follow-up works. The Golden Lion is not just a rare survival of medieval Birmingham - it’s also a pioneering example of early conservation thinking. This new project builds on that legacy, combining thoughtful planning with collaborative heritage expertise to give the building a future. The feasibility study marks the beginning of a longer journey, and we’re proud to have helped lay the foundations. The Golden Lion could once again play a role in the city’s cultural and community life - an inspiring reminder of what thoughtful conservation can achieve.
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Magdalen College Oxford Chapel Organ Oliver Architecture was incredibly pleased to receive the Oxford Preservation Trust Small Project Award 2024 alongside an amazing project team for the new Chapel Organ at Magdalen College Oxford! Magdalen College’s grade I listed Chapel is a major architectural set-piece, used on a daily basis, since construction in 1474-80 by master-mason William Orchard. The Chapel has been at the physical, cultural and spiritual centre of the College for over five centuries. The Chapel has housed a number of organs of different design over the centuries, the most recent being an attractive Gothic Revival case designed by Julian Bicknell in 1986, mounted on the 1829-34 L.N. Cottingham stone screen which divides the Chapel from the Ante Chapel, and integrated with Cottingham’s stone chair case. However, the Bicknell organ was acknowledged to be too small musically for the space, being only half of that originally planned, and it was noted that it was considerably smaller than the previous organs. The College therefore decided to create a new organ case, to contain a new, larger instrument, to suit the scale of the Chapel whilst being integrated with the setting. Following a review of potential organ builders, the highly regarded Hermann Eule Orgelbau of Bautzen in Germany were appointed to design, manufacture and install the new organ. Eule’s Stephan Thurmer worked on various options, with input from Oliver Architecture, to create a solution which met the technical requirements of the College whilst respecting the location. A new stained oak case was created, in a Gothic Revival language to suit the Chapel, integrated with the stone chair case, and leaving the stone screen unaltered. The new organ case has been sensitively designed and crafted to harmonise with the existing space. The design was very carefully considered in order to achieve the right balance in terms of scale and setting. It veils the west window from the east, while maintaining the sense of space flowing between the Chapel and the Ante Chapel. This is the latest organ to contribute to the College’s rich heritage of worship and music-making, with many remarking that to hear the organ in Chapel, or even whilst walking through Cloisters, is one of the great pleasures of College life. Magdalen College Chapel is among the most active in the University, with around fourteen services a week during Full Term. The space is publicly accessible with services open to members of any religion or of none, to members of College and to the public.
While the Chapel exists mainly to offer a place of worship for the College’s students, fellows and staff, in reality, the congregation extends far beyond these communities, and includes many groups of people, some from other colleges, others from the local community, and some from further afield. There is also a weekly series of organ recitals which are free to attend on Saturday lunchtimes, featuring the College’s organ scholars as well as visiting organists. The new organ enables a centuries’ long tradition to live on, to be enjoyed not only by students and staff, but the public as well. The instrument provides a broader tonal palette than its predecessor, which makes it ideal for accompanying the Choir in a wide repertoire, as well as offering a more extensive range of colours for organ voluntaries and recitals. Thank you to all the design team members SFK Consulting, Magdalen College, University of Oxford and Herman Eule Orgelbau for making the project so successful!  Congratulations to Charlotte Davies and Lewis Hobbs for being successfully elected onto Birmingham City Council's Conservation and Heritage Panel (BCHP). The panel of professionals across Birmingham meets monthly to provide valuable feedback to planning officers regarding projects that will directly impact the cities rich heritage.
The panel is not a decision-making body however the expertise shared by the panel members is used to aid the planning committee make decisions on the increasingly complex and large schemes being proposed as part of the regeneration of Birmingham. The panel provides a resource of knowledge ensuring all schemes are balanced in their approach to maintaining and developing historic buildings and settings. Both Charlotte and Lewis are passionate about Birmingham's built environment and are looking forward to the opportunity of bringing skills they have both learnt in practice to the applications posed to the BCHP. To mark the 150th anniversary of the Birmingham Architectural Association, architectural practices across the city were called upon to get creative with model making.  Each practice taking part, was assigned a building with only one proviso; it had to be designed by a Birmingham architect. We were allocated The Old Cavalry Barracks, also known as Duddeston Barracks (and since demolished in 1932) designed by architect, John Rawstorne. The next task was to choose a medium of our choice and start model making! This was a whole team effort and a wonderful opportunity to use everybody's creative skillset outside of project work.     We’re thrilled to be celebrating the rich legacy of the Birmingham Architectural Association and showcasing the talent and creativity of our team. You can see all the models on display at the BAA dinner.
Magdalen College and Pembroke College, Oxford University: A roadmap to achiveing Net Zero Carbon23/2/2024  71 High Street, Magdalen College, Oxford As conservation architects who specialise in historic buildings, our motto is very much that ‘The greenest building is the one that is already built.” At the core of our business is challenging the idea that traditional buildings are not obstacles to sustainability – they can be highly energy efficient with the right design. Our experience has taught us that we need to take a pragmatic approach to understanding the energy performance of a building so we can recognise where there is capacity for improvement and the grounds for change. This is very much the case at the University of Oxford, namely Magdalen College and Pembroke College, where we're currently working with the University on sustainability upgrades. Both colleges are undertaking a masterplan which will set out the roadmap to achieving Net Zero operational carbon and Net Zero indirect carbon, as well as significantly increasing biodiversity across the College sites. Magdalen College includes an array of heritage buildings of high architectural value but low-carbon efficiency. Decarbonising these buildings is a complex and multi-step project, but the investment will improve comfort and functionality, as well as the College’s aspirations for net zero. Magdalen College commissioned a high-level report into decarbonising its buildings in April 2022. Carbon emissions estimated at around 2152 tonnes CO2 per year in 2022 were dominated by space heating, especially of pre-1900s buildings. Recognising the challenges of upgrading listed buildings, the report identified the potential to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 through a combination of heat-pump technology and building fabric upgrades. There is also a 5-year decarbonisation plan for College.  71 High Street, Magdalen College, Oxford Univeristy, prior to works starting on site. One of the College’s projects, 71 High Street now functions as student accommodation and dates from c1772. The building has functioned as flats or student accommodation for a number of years, and the project is addressing energy efficiency by introducing sustainability upgrades. These include:
 Works progressing on site  Lead detailing above window with riven lathes  Sheep's wool therma fleece is being used throughout the 71 High Street building to improve thermal values. Our philosophy and approach is very much about understanding buildings in a holistic way, treating each one individually and this is very much the case for our work at Magdalen and Pembroke Colleges.
Stay tuned for more project progress as the project develops. |