Design team finds success at double (From Gazette & Herald)

Design team finds success at double

ONE of the North's top architectural practices at the cutting edge of building design is to be found in the top floor of the successful Maltings complex in Malton.

Bramall Blenkharn, which moved to Malton five years ago from York, is now set to double the size of its beamed-office complex in the former brewery.

When it became established in 2000 it had four employees. Today it has 11, said Ric Blenkharn, who had been in practice in York for several years before being joined by Mark Bramhall, who also sits on the York Conservation Area Panel.

Their work has just won the Royal Institute of British Architects' White Rose Award for the best residential design - the state-of-the-art Sylvan House, Middlecave Road development in Malton. It is the latest of a catalogue of awards, which have been given to the practice, including for the visitor centre at Scampston Hall.

Now, said Ric the practice is working on a £15m regeneration scheme at Swarcliffe, Leeds. Some 80 per cent of Blenkharn Bramhall's work is in the residential design field and it particular specialises in work on listed buildings.

Ric, who has been in practice since 1987, said: "I often use the analogy of cars when considering the evolution of housing. Henry Ford didn't stop with the Model T. Thankfully, we now have safe, ergonomic vehicles with every gadget imaginable, air-conditioning and satellite navigation are common in many cars.

"Cars are now designed in a hi-tech environment and built with fastidious care, researched in a wind tunnel and tested to extremes.

"Let's see some of this thinking in the housing world. It seems strange to me that we embrace technology but still wrap it up in a pastiche skin. It's like a Model T packed with all mod cons."

Pioneering Ric added: "We face a conundrum, matching needs against aspirations. Let's have some inspiration in the places we live. It is possible - it is a challenge worth taking."

The practice's impressive portfolio includes several award winning schemes - Cross House Lodge, Harome; Bridge Terrace, Marton; The Reading Room, Welburn; Belle Vue Street, York; The Cottage, Malton; The Maltings, Hambleton Court, Norton; Scarborough Business Centre; The Courtyard, Goole and Our Celebration, premises for employment in the community for sufferers of schizophrenia, in York.

The practice has seen its workload soar in recent years, working in an area from the Scottish Borders to North Wales and The Midlands.

"Malton is a splendid place to be based. We have a fine quality of life, and are able to live and work in some of the finest countryside anywhere," said Ric, whose wife Judith is also in business in The Maltings, in an enterprise called simply 'B' which specialises in interiors.

Updated: 15:35 Wednesday, February 02, 2005