Publications

Getting Real

August 23, 2010 in News, Publications

For some the recession has been a trial for 18 months or more. For others it has become a way of life and who live in expectation that things will soon return to how they were. For those who are perhaps a little more realistic, we are no longer in a recession and this is how we can expect life to be for many years to come.

This is not a pessimistic view borne out of desperation but a view which should be embraced and viewed with a great deal of optimism. It is a time for change and attempting to improve the way our service is provided in both existing and new markets.

Architecture and the way that architects carry out our work also have to change. This change is desperately needed if the proffession has any chance of surviving in any recognised form.

To do this it is perhaps better to look to the past history of architecture and discover all over again how buildings used to be procured and in doing so discover the key words of architect as ‘master builder’, service and quality of design and technical ability.

I realised this many years ago and set out the Johns Practice stall on the basis of good service, quality of both design and technical ability, and a flexible ‘can do’ approach.

This ethos has served us well for many years and I fully expect it to continue doing so for as long as I am at the helm of this practice with the fantastic team I have in place.

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Lifetime Homes Revised Design Criteria has been published.

July 14, 2010 in News, Publications

To meet the future requirements of our ageing population, In 2008 the Government published ‘Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods: A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing society’. It established the Government’s clear objective of making Lifetime Homes the norm for all newly built housing by 2013. The strategy gave a commitment to ensure that all new publicly funded housing is built to the Lifetime Homes Standard by 2011.

The revisions to the Lifetime Homes criteria published on 5 July 2010 have been introduced to achieve a higher level of practicability for volume developers in meeting the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes. The revisions will also facilitate the adoption of Lifetime Homes design as a requirement for all future publicly funded housing developments.

The revisions are the result of work by the Lifetime Homes Technical Advisory Group representing a cross-section of practitioners involved in housing design, housing development, access consultancy and provision of adaptations.

Developments proceeding within the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) should continue to use the 16 Design Criteria (for Code purposes) employed in the 2009 section of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

This is because the technical guidance within the CSH has yet to be updated to reflect the revisions to the Lifetime Hones Standards.

Schemes proceeding independently of the CSH and submitted for planning approval after 5 July 2010 should incorporate the 16 Design Criteria from 5 July 2010 (REVISED).

For more information visit www.lifetimehomes.org.uk

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Corporate Responsibility

June 24, 2010 in News, Publications

The objective of our Corporate Responsibility approach is to fulfil our social responsibility and obligations without compromising our values in the activities that we do.

Our governing principles are at the heart of everything we do and being socially responsible is, therefore, about living those values.

We are committed to ensuring that this responsibility is embedded in the way we do business and should be part of our natural thinking processes.

We aim to create a balance between the development of opportunities with our clients; stimulating and rewarding our staff; working with and supporting our local communities; and sustaining the environment in which we operate.

We are consistent in providing a reliable service which enables the client to put their trust in us, resulting in a positive, long term and long lasting client relationship.

We set out to always be truthful in what we do and the ways in which we carry out our work ensuring that overall quality of service is maintained and constantly being improved upon. All staff are kept fully informed by regular staff meetings weekly and we operate a rigorous QA system.

All staff are repeatedly trained and monitored on the importance of client relationships and are actively involved with many of the in house campaigns such as charity events and golf days

We aim to create, develop and lead highly motivated teams who have up to date competencies and skills and live by The Johns Practice values.