Year Out at Purcell (2014-2015)

During my Year Out in practice I  had the amazing opportunity to
work on landmark projects such as Battersea Power Station and
Drapers’ Hall, as well as smaller scale but nonetheless interesting
and challenging ones such as Watford Museum and 40 Great James
Street.
The range of work that I undertook at Purcell varied from
heritage consultancy, including condition surveys for Battersea
Power Station alongside the Associate in charge of the project,
looking after the brickwork and heritage significant fabric repairs,
to developing masterplan investigations and feasibility studies.
I also had the chance to work closely with other professional figures such
as structural engineers and planners, to ensure we delivered great
proposals for our clients.
All of the drawings contained in this chapter have been produced
by myself following instruction by the Associate and/or Architect I
work with on behalf of ©Purcell, 2017. All photos taken on behalf of ©Purcell, 2017

Battersea Power Station, London, UK

The above drawing is part of the condition survey of Control Room A at Battersea Power Station. The pictures are of the existing original control panels within the room. Defects are identified on them with different hatches and colours depending on the type.

As part of Purcell’s work at Battersea Power Station we had to develop some brick panels samples for English Heritage to look at. These samples are necessary to ensure the correct repair of the building, avoiding the re-built portions of the fabric to look out of place. Th e power station was built over 3 different phases and for each phase have been used different type of bricks. The pictures and drawing on this page identify the types and quantities of brick proposed for the bricks belonging to Phase 2.

Drapers Hall, London, UK

Extract of Drapers Hall masterplan. The plan shows the existing horizontal circulation at ground floor level. It identifies the type of people that use specific routes, the change in levels and also the clashes between staff and visitors. As part of the masterplan Purcell was asked to identify specific issues within the existing buildings and to come up with proposals on how to address it. Following the masterplan Purcell was asked to look at a few of the issues and potential solutions identified. One of these issues was the Austin Friars good entrance.(next page). The entrance presents several steps and Purcell is proposing to open up the glazed area in the centre and hide a platform lift behind it. We also had to look at how to re-create the glazed portion without having a deleterious impact on the overall aesthetic of the elevation.

40 Great James Street, London, UK

40 Great James Street is a Georgian terrace in Holborn. Purcell was appointed by the client to completely refurbish the building. The below are part of the Planning Application drawing package that we are currently putting together. At the top can be seen the first floor plan as existing, whilst is the same floor plan as proposed. As can be seen There is the proposal to create a terrace towards the back as well as demolishing a hideous toilet cubicle adjacent to the staircase.

To ensure that the building structure is sound we had to work alongside the structural engineer and produce a structural investigations document in order to receive approval by the Conservation Officer to lift floor boards throughout the building. This page shows the drawing produced for the first floor with some pictures at the bottom showing the specific floorboards proposed to be lifted.

Watford Museum, London, UK

Extract of Watford Museum feasibility study. The page shows the proposed refurbishment of the ground floor and a new extension on the left-hand side. It also identifies some precedent studies that we were keen to use for the development of the space. On the next page it can be seen another extract of the document. This time it shows the existing, alterations and proposed massing of the building as well as the existing and proposed elevations.