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John Lyall Architects
Contemporary Architecture Practice in London, England, UK Design Firm Information
post updated 24 Apr 2021
John Lyall Design News
6 May 2011
Modernism at English Sea-side in Kent
John Lyall Architects receive planning permission for Chatham’s Historic Wharf for a site owned & developed by Medway Council, Kent and A2 Dominion Housing as well as the Watts Charity.
The Medway waterfront at Holborn Wharf is tantalisingly close to Chatham’s High Street and the Town Centre. Most residues of site industry from the 19th century long since cleared and the site for many years has held no physical charms, and is better known locally today for its public car park.
picture from architect
This Planning Application represents an energetic and carefully considered initiative to bring public activity and historic lanes down to the waterfront itself, and create a ‘sense of place’ along the line of the historic wharf. A truly mixed-use development is proposed which brings together new apartments – including social housing, hotel, leisure and business activities for locals and visitors alike.
The shops and restaurants will not be on a scale to compete with Chatham High Street, and that is not the intention. However, the proposed scheme will create a lively ‘destination’, which will attract people to stay, have a meal or drink and enjoy the views of the river. Commercial tenancies and site management will ensure there is activity on the site throughout the day, evenings and the whole week.
Future phases, which are also outlined in the design and access statement, suggest the scale and massing of compatible development on the adjacent Staples site, a smaller water pumping station and a refurbishment of the Sun Pier. Also in accordance with Medway’s adopted master plan, some modest-sized development on the South side of Medway Street is envisaged to eventually happen. This development scheme integrates sites owned by Medway Council, A2 Dominion Housing and the Watts Charity. It will also anticipate the future requirements of adjoining owners.
The scheme is well serviced and easily accessible. It will also incorporate its own car parking. Above all it will provide a safe, attractive, animated waterfront landscape for the pedestrian: with places to sit and enjoy watching the world go by. The scheme is the first key piece in the Chatham Waterfront ‘jigsaw’ which will provide a street layout and massing concept enabling residents and visitors to enjoy the open space and views of the river and surrounding hills. The scheme will provide an on-going strategy for subsequent regeneration, whilst enhancing the already valued Waterfront Park and Sun Pier area.
John Lyall – Key Projects
Featured Buildings by John Lyall Architects, alphabetical:
The Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich, UK
2009-
photo : Richard Bryant
The Jerwood DanceHouse
London Olympics Pumping Station, England
2010
image from Olympic Delivery Authority
London Olympics Pumping Station
More design projects by John Lyall Architects online soon
Location: London, England, UK
John Lyall Architects Practice Information
Architect studio based in London, England, Uk
John Lyall RIBA FRSA, Architect
John Lyall has devoted much of his career to the integration of cultural buildings into commercial development. He trained at the Architectural Association. John Lyall subsequently worked for Cedric Price and Piano + Rogers, and then formed the firm of Alsop & Lyall with Will Alsop. John Lyall Architects was created in 1991. His practice has gained an international reputation for successful mixed-use urban regeneration schemes and arts buildings. John Lyall Architects work started on the Ipswich Waterfront in 2002.
John Lyall’s interest in dance began 25 years ago at London’s Riverside Studios, where he was a resident architect with Will Alsop. This was the period when Riverside was leading the way with new contemporary dance in the UK, hosting Dance Umbrella and providing a workplace for Michael Clark, Rosemary Butcher, Gaby Agis and others. While at Riverside Studios, John Lyall master-planned new studios at Riverside which emphasised dance. The scheme was never realised.
However, 1982 he did design and build Sundance Studio, a professional dance rehearsal space in Hammersmith.
Later, during the 1990s, John Lyall was invited to collaborate with Rosemary Butcher on d2, a dance piece for Christ Church Spitalfields. This was followed by two other works: 3d and Body as Site, which were performed at diverse venues including Tate Liverpool, Guildford Cathedral, Tramway Glasgow and in the Gulbenkian Galleries at the Royal College of Art. John Lyall also led student dance and architecture workshops in London and Edinburgh.
John Lyall is a registered Client Design Adviser and also serves on CABE’s national Design Review Panel. John Lyall is a design advisor for English Partnerships, CABE and the British Library. His publications include ‘John Lyall: Contexts and Catalysts’ published internationally by L’Arcaedizioni and he contributed a chapter to the Architectural Press publication, ‘Context; New Buildings in Historic Settings’.
British Architecture
Heather Cottage, Berkshire, Southeast England
Design: Spratley & Partners
photograph © Peter Cook
Cottage Property in Berkshire
Turn End Houses, Buckinghamshire, Southeast England
photo : Richard Bryant _ Arcaid
Turn End Houses
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Website: n/a when checked 24 April 2021, previously www.johnlyallarchitects.com
