10:57am Tuesday 9th February 2010
Devereux Architects is fast gaining a reputation for its innovative designs, both in the region and on the world stage. As part of this month’s Success feature, in conjunction with the North-East Chamber of Commerce, Lindsay Parker talks to two of its directors.
THE office belonging to Devereux Architects’ Teesside arm, just off Sedgefield High Street in County Durham, is everything it should be, given the business it houses.
A grade II-listed building, it is the village’s former red-bricked magistrates’ court. But where once there was a dock and benches, now the interior is bathed in light. Walking across the polished parquet floors, the crisp white walls display colourful artwork and the black leather sofas make an inviting style statement.
“It wasn’t easy to renovate, given the challenges that listed buildings have but, as you can imagine, we’ve done listed building work before. We’ve even still got the original cells downstairs from the old magistrates’ court,” says Andy Gregory, one of seven Devereux directors based at the regional offices in Teesside and Newcastle, and responsible for the firm’s primary education and public sector work.
Devereux is perhaps better known in the North-East under its former name, Dewjo’c Architects – after the initials of its partners (the apostrophe was for O’Connor).
Dewjo’c was established in Middlesbrough in 1900. Initially, its main design work was for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, much of it on Teesside. But as it grew, it attracted experts in a number of fields, from the public health arena, to education and from transport to retail developments.
It is these areas of expertise, rather than becoming known for one or two fields, that has served Dewjo’c well over the years.
“It meant that we never had all our eggs in one basket, which has helped us at times when other practices in the North-East have suffered,” says Peter Swift, commercial director at Devereux’s Newcastle office.
The success as a business was also strengthened last April when the firm merged with Devereux Architects. Devereux has offices across the UK and Europe and, with Dewjo’c included, is now the 14th largest practice in the country.
The parent company, PM Group, meanwhile has offices across the world, including Singapore, Russia and Bucharest.
Devereux employs 60 people at its Newcastle and Teesside offices who are part of a 250- strong workforce internationally. Devereux’s national and international turnover for 2008 was £13.6m.
“We were well known regionally as Dewjo’c, but we’d reached a plateau and we needed to broaden our horizons. The merger gave us the opportunity to be part of a bigger picture and put us on a national stage,” says Mr Gregory.
“Now we’re looking at being involved in £30m academies and £80m hospitals.”
Major projects on the horizon include a £70m leisure and hotel redevelopment of the Newgate Shopping Centre, in Newcastle, and a hotel and office development next to Gateshead’s Baltic centre for contemporary art.
The firm has also designed and is designing buildings for Darlington Memorial Hospital, Newcastle General Hospital and NETPark, (the North-East Technology Park) in Sedgefield.
The architectural world has changed greatly since the company’s beginnings. Today, when dealing with the major hospital builds or new school projects, the company is more likely to deal with contractors rather than the client directly.
“We work very closely with contractors with very, very big budgets,” says Mr Gregory. “We can be looking at £100m or even £400m packages of work.
Stockton Borough Council is spending about £180m on its schools and new academies, North Tyneside about £100m and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council about £90m, so the way we align ourselves with a contractor is very important.”
Other changes stem from trends in design. From the concrete office blocks and retail shopping centres of the Sixties, today’s buildings use a number of new materials. There appears to be more emphasis on light and space – buzz words for the Grand Designs generation.
“There’s a much greater emphasis on design today,” says Mr Gregory. “I think clients used to be more accepting of design that wasn’t iconic but, over the past ten years here, there’s been a real emphasis on lifting our design quality.”
Mr Swift agrees: “I think clients demand more aesthetically. Also, over the past five years, sustainability has really taken off with clients looking for zero carbon buildings, for example.
“I’m still very much involved in the design of buildings. It’s incredibly important to keep close to it because the buildings are our image. If the buildings are poor, it’s a reflection of how we run our business.”
Mr Swift believes one of their best buildings is Monkseaton High School, in North Tyneside.
Commissioned by North Tyneside Council, the £22m oval-shaped building is a 360- degree learning and teaching environment. The school’s sport hall sits in the centre around which are triangular classrooms, meaning that the teacher is always the focus regardless of where he or she stands in the room.
The interior allows staff to keep a watch for anti-social behaviour or bullying. Thought has even been given to the toilets – no longer the long, cold spaces and haunt of many a bully.
“They’re in singular pods, so the aim is to reduce the chance of bullying, give privacy and prevent graffiti, with the idea that you’re less likely to carry out graffiti if you’re on your own,” says Mr Swift.
The school opened last October, but the eye-catching design of the building has caused mixed reactions.
“It has been quite controversial. It has coloured boxes on the roof, which are windcatchers and one child said ‘oh look, Santa’s dropped all his presents on the roof’,” says Mr Swift, smiling.
But perhaps for contemporary design to work, there has to be a period of time for the community to fall in love with it. One only has to look at Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North. Initially lambasted by some, it is now celebrated as an iconic landmark.
“It gives people something to attach themselves to and I think that’s the same with Monkseaton,” says Mr Swift.
“We enjoy our buildings being talked about. Design should stimulate discussion.
Otherwise, the world would be a very dull place.”
ANOTHER talked about building in the North- East is the Devonshire Building, home to Newcastle University’s Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability.
Built in October 2003, the building, which uses solar panels, is designed to capitalise on the local climate by being predominantly lit by daylight and naturally ventilated.
The building became the first of its type to receive an excellent BREEAM rating (environmental assessment method for buildings around the world), which was presented by energy Minister Steven Timms.
It has also won several awards, including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Renaissance Award for Sustainability and Building of the Year in 2004.
Devereux is passionate about sustainability and has its own sustainability champion, Mark Siddall. He is the key figure behind introducing PassivHaus design into the practice.
Originating in Germany, PassivHaus is a system that allows the sun, internal heat sources and ventilation to heat the home. Compared with conventional buildings, a PassivHaus needs 80 to 90 per cent less heating energy.
Devereux is working with property business Gentoo on a 28-unit bungalow scheme in Houghton-le-Spring, which is believed to be the first large scale, certified PassivHaus scheme in the UK.
“It’s not about solar panels and windmills, but upping the insulation to ensure that no energy is lost,” says Mr Swift.
“It’s a very simple concept really – more insulation, no draughts and a reduction in thermal bridging. Now we need to move that concept forward and introduce it to commercial buildings, schools and hospitals.
“There is a small premium for creating buildings with this kind of technology, but then you have to compare that with the lifetime energy savings you make once it’s been built.”
It’s a balancing act, he says, as with all things client-related.
“There will be clients who will take a leap of faith,” he adds.
“But I think we will see more of this type of forward-thinking.
You can’t hold back progress.”
Just like, it seems, you can’t hold Devereux back.
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