Dan and Danni went to Christ the King Church in Sonning Common, Reading yesterday for a site visit. We are currently working with ODS to upgrade the church with a new front extension, replacement roof and internal alterations to provide it with a new lease of life. It was great to see the new photovoltaics in place.
It's great to see this project that we co-designed in the Architects’ Journal. We worked as the council’s architects alongside the developer’s architects JTP LLP with consultation by Transition by Design Co-operative and landscape architecture by Ireland Albrecht Landscape Architects to develop the design. We're delighted to see planning permission being granted and look forward to seeing the project progress.
Follow the link to the article here.
Our director and Chair of RIBA Oxfordshire Dan had a great time yesterday representing RIBA Oxfordshire at the RIBA South Awards. It was great to see inspiring architecture, interesting ideas and innovative solutions in a fantastic backdrop of Bombay Sapphire Distillery.
Youngs Way in Littlemore has now welcomed its new residents. Jessop and Cook designed these affordable homes and steered the project through RIBA Stages 1-3 for OXPlace, on behalf of Oxford City Council. These 10 new council and shared ownership homes on a former depot site were designed sensitively and sustainably to help provide much needed homes in Oxford. It takes a ‘fabric first’ approach, with enhanced insulation and air tightness standards to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. Living spaces face southwest to maximise sunlight. The new homes are heated by air source heat pumps, incorporate rooftop PV, EV Chargers, bat, bug and bee boxes and were constructed with highly insulated timber frames.
Martin went on an interesting trip to the London Stadium for a Principal Designer (BSA) site visit last week! We have experience on acting as building safety act principal designer. If you require a principal designer for your project- please get in touch!
This week, we have a work experience student from Wallingford School joining us. We took this opportunity for a team visit to East Oxford Community Centre. We have been working with ODS on this project; they are constructing the centre for Oxford City Council. The new community centre will provide halls, offices for various community groups and meeting spaces when complete in the coming months. The new centre is formed of the revitalised existing Victorian building and the new timber frame addition- we can’t wait to see it complete!. If you’ve got a community project you want to move forward, please get in touch!
We are thrilled to be part of this project to re-shingle a 167-year-old church spire at St Mary the Virgin Church in Whitchurch on Thames.
The spire was originally built in 1858, and with the original timber shingles now in a state of disrepair, the church is looking to secure funding to replace them. To help them with their “Save Our Spire,” mission, we produced various images and display boards, including joiner photographs of the existing spire to demonstrate the existing condition, and a digital render of the proposal using our 3D model of the church.
This week is Global Asbestos Awareness Week. Asbestos within existing buildings has a large impact on our work. We recently completed works for the lighting project at the Harris Manchester College Chapel and the archive information available was important not for the history of this Grade II listed building but also provided key information on presence of asbestos.
One of the documents was the 1891 Specification by Worthington & Elgood Architects, and states
"Lay in sheets of thick asbestos felt (nett value 8d. Per yard superficial) between the joist and boards of all the above floors, properly lapped, and leave same perfect (...)". The same felt was also used in the Chapel ceiling.
The historical information allowed us to rethink the cable routes for the new lighting very early on in the project and was included in the listed building consent application. A full Refurbishment and Demolition Survey was carried out before works started and confirmed that the Chapel was indeed built to specification.
Its interesting to see asbestos being used in 1891, well before it’s heyday of the 1930s-70s, highlighting than R&D surveys are always important.
Last Thursday lunch time, we gathered to enjoy the sun with some good food and cakes (baked superbly by Aline and Rob) to wish Juliet well as she prepares to go on Maternity leave soon.
It’s great to see significant progress at The Church of Christ the King, Sonning Common.
A temporary roof has now been installed, and works to strip back the existing felt are now complete. The contractor can now start with fixing the new insulation and the photovoltaic panels which will make the church more efficient and sustainable.
Away from the office, it’s been a busy few weeks for the J&C Team
Barnaby, our Part II Assistant recently played the trumpet for the Oxford Brookes Musical ‘Legally Blond’, It was a roaring success with the audience enjoying the performance.
Rob, one of our Project Architects ran his first half-marathon (Retford Half Marathon) on Sunday, he was happy with his time, but in need of rest now.
Steph, our practice development manager and architectural design assistant has been busy with the start of the semester for her RIBA Studio Architectural degree course.
It was great to have Arron Twamley and Nigel Hawkey from Arc Planning in the office today to give us a CPD on national planning policy, updates, and insights in the Oxfordshire context. Thanks for coming in and helping us understand planning in greater depth!
As RIBA chartered architects we're required to show that we meet mandatory competencies of the RIBA, these relate to things like Health and Safety, sustainability and accessibility. Recently the RIBA introduced the health and safety test for all members. All of Jessop and Cook's RIBA members have passed the test!
We always consider health and safety whilst designing and have significant experience with both (CDM and BSA) principal designer roles, find out more here. If you need any support for your project- please get in touch.
Magdalena Cheda introduced the office to ‘Greasy Thursday’ a polish tradition of eating doughnuts the last Thursday before lent! We enjoyed eating them to celebrate!
Fantastic to see this great project at Harris Manchester College complete. The new lighting scheme in the Chapel helps highlight the Victorian Splendour and especially the William Morris designed stained glass.
Shout out to the team from Harris Manchester, Darke & Taylor Ltd and Richard Ward (Oxford) Ltd. for the great result.
Harry and Barnaby went down to Cherwell School recently to attend their ‘World of Work’ day, providing year 12 students with an insight into a day in the life of an architect! Hopefully it inspired some to consider architectural practice in the future!
In Partnership with Oxford City Council’s developer OX Place, we have worked on a programme of extension and alteration projects on council houses in and around Oxford.
These involve extensions and alterations, and even the creation of new dwellings, to provide much-needed affordable homes in our city, particularly for people with large families. They have taken existing homes with large gardens or on awkward corner plots and densified them by increasing the number of bedrooms or adding new houses. The programme is now near completion, having started in 2017 and has provided 4 new dwellings with providing 14 new bedrooms and upgrades to 9 existing homes providing 13 new bedrooms.
These projects include:
New 3-bedroom dwelling and retrofit at Pauling Road,
Extension at Sparsey Place adding 3 bedrooms
Extension at Valentia Road adding 3 bedrooms
Extension at Union Street adding 2 bedrooms
Loft Conversion at Weirs Lane adding 1 bedroom
2 New dwellings (3 and 5-bedroom) and retrofit at Sandy Lane
New 3-bedroom dwelling and retrofit at Foxwell Drive
Extension at Westlands Drive adding 2 bedrooms
Extension at Kempson Crescent adding 2 bedrooms
We aimed to use holistically sustainable construction throughout, with new dwellings utilising timber frame construction and featuring low-carbon technology such as air source heat pumps and PVs.
We hope all the new tenants enjoy their homes and we are proud to have helped tackle the housing crisis through utilising previously underutilised sites to densify the city and provide oxford with new social housing.
Find out more here.
We are delighted to be a part of this project to create a new Youth Hub at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre.
Based on a feasibility study we completed for Oxford City Council, the project has progressed with backing from the Youth Investment Fund, and we have continued developing the design to provide young people with a space to explore fresh opportunities and improve their well-being.
ODS have now started work on site, and local partners are exploring how they can use the new Leys Youth Hub to expand and diversify the current youth offer. A timetable of activities, advice clinics, and education, employment and training (EET) opportunities is being developed.
With help from skilled youth workers, this will provide a positive environment and a safe space for young people to play, develop, learn skills, and grow.
It’s been a pleasure working with Ben’s Cookies on refurbishing their cookie-emporium in the Grade II listed Covered Market, Oxford. Oxford was the original Ben’s Cookies location and we’re happy to have been a part of it’s revitalisation. We are also very grateful for the cookies they gave us on completion!
If you have a refurbishment project you’re thinking about- please get in touch.
It’s always a pleasure to do site visits in the centre of Oxford, especially when we get to explore new corners and discover different views of buildings that we all know and love!
We are delighted to have designed a new plaque to recognise the major benefactors who have given generously to St John’s College over the centuries. The stone is Lavoux Fin, which was selected by the college fellows, and hand carved by OG Stonemasonry. St John’s College is open to visitors daily and you can see the plaque in the passageway opposite the porter’s lodge. The project has been on the drawing board since 2020 and was recently installed, with stone cleaning and repairs to the passageway planned next.
With the new year approaching, Jessop and Cook gathered to celebrate the past year at our Christmas Party.
After started proceedings gifting each other Secret Santa presents and then cracked on with an enjoyable J&C Christmas Quiz; won by Barnaby, Dan, Magdalena and Kim. We enjoyed a tasty meal at Permit Room (Dishoom) and a few drinks at the Xmas Market.
As we do every year, Jessop and Cook donate to a charity at Christmas. This year we've chosen Oxford Mutual Aid for their vital work, especially at this time of year
We also reflect on the past year, which marked 50 years since John Cook and Graham Jessop established the practice, celebrating with friends, family and colleagues in September. We look forward to next year and the adventures it brings!
Please note that the office will be closed from the 23rd December until the 2nd January. We wish all the clients, consultants and contractors we work with a restful festive break.
Once again, our team members are donating Christmas presents to ‘Children Heard and Seen.’ Through this initiative organised by Blake Morgan, we provide gifts to children impacted by parental imprisonment who might not otherwise have a gift. We hope they enjoy their presents this year!
Rob (one of our architects) tutors at Oxford Brookes University. On Monday he arranged for students from Unit D (undergraduate architecture year 2s) to visit East Oxford Community Centre. It was great for the students to see a live construction site, a new sustainable timber-frame Building being built, and the retrofit of the existing centre with natural breathable materials! Thanks to ODS for facilitating (especially site manager Dean) and to Harry from Jessop & Cook, who gave us a great, informative tour.
It was great to take part in Beard Construction’s Cyclathon yesterday. Jessop and Cook joined other consultants, contractors and Oxford institutions to cycle for 6 hours on a static bike at Iffley Road Sports Centre. Unfortunately, our combined 110 miles meant we came last and got the wooden spoon, but it was great to raise money for Oxford University Sport and Community Partnership- we’ll have to start training to get a better result next year!
We have just submitted a planning application for this extension and alterations project in East Oxford. The proposal is to split an existing three-bedroom terrace house into two one-bedroom flats, providing much-needed, high-quality housing in Oxford. As shown in this 3D sketch, this would be achieved with a loft conversion and new extension at the rear with playful massing and varying types of brickwork.
AFTER
BEFORE
The last of this group of council housing schemes for OXPlace is getting ready for handover to a new tenant. The site was part of a group of infill opportunities for development to increase the housing stock for council tenants for Oxford City Council. The property in Littlemore, Oxford was a unique challenge working with a post war concrete frame, and the new works were delivered by ODS. The new extension and alterations provide additional bedrooms and a modern open plan kitchen diner, new bathroom, and ground floor Wet room.
Last Tuesday, the team gathered to share the designs for the new community centre in Blackbird Leys with the local community. It is expected to go to planning soon. We have been involved with many other consultants on the proposals for the centre, which is part of the wider regeneration scheme. Find out more here.
Works to the Harris Manchester College Chapel are ready to begin now that the scaffolding is in place. It is an impressive structure and the views from up there are unique. Also, a good opportunity to check out in detail the Morris & Co stained glazing, but that will have to wait for another day. The focus of the site visit was to discuss the new lighting scheme to the lovely grade II listed Chapel with contractors Richard Ward Oxford and Darke and Taylor.
Continuing to reflect on our projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s half century, we’re looking at the Foundation Stage Classroom (Completed 2009) at Marcham Primary School, Oxfordshire.
Jessop & Cook were appointed to design and deliver the new classroom in a very tight time-frame. The project involved partial demolition of the existing building and the new build consisted of the new classroom and toilet facilities. The extension is a contemporary design using sustainable materials. The timber framed building features an indoor/outdoor canopy. Learn more here.
Jessop and Cook celebrated our 50th anniversary with friends, family, collaborators, and colleagues on the 27th September. A big thank you to everyone who joined us at the Bullingdon Community Centre (a Jessop and Cook-designed project) to enjoy cake, drinks, food (from Damascus Rose Kitchen), activities, and music. Special thanks to Alex Singleton for the engaging and fun art workshop, and to our very own Barnaby and friends for the fantastic live jazz music.
It was wonderful to have our co-founder, John Cook, with us to celebrate, and to take a moment to reflect on the life of Graham Jessop, who sadly passed away earlier this year. We are grateful that his sons could attend to honour his legacy.
We hope to see you all again in another 50 years for our centenary celebration!
It’s exciting to see the final prefabricated insulated timber frame panels going in at East Oxford Community centre! Now we’re based nearer the site, we had 360 degree coverage of the panels going in and could appreciate just how fast they were getting on the roof. Next will be the tidying up of taping up the Smartply OSB airtightness boards internally and sealing the weathertight breather membrane externally before external finishes start. A big benefit of offsite timber frame is that it is also able to weather the crazy rain recently for a few months while external finishes are applied, and quickly get a roof on the building to allow internal works.
Continuing to post previous projects to reflect our last half-century! This week we’re looking at Donnington Doorstep Centre in Oxford. Completed in 1991. The centre designed by Graham Jessop now provides space for a family centre, providing much needed community premises. Find out more about our community projects here.
After a lot of teamwork, we have gained planning permission for the extension and reordering of the Grade II listed St John the Baptist Church in Kidmore End. The proposed extension is to the west of the existing Porch and facilitate an accessible toilet and much needed storage space. Internal alterations include removal of part of the pews and reordering of the west end of the Nave to provide more storage and servery facilities. The scheme also improves the access to the church by removing the steps into the Nave.
Many thanks for the support of the PCC and the design team: SKP3, Fraser Walker Associates, Lawfull Associates (Consulting Engineers) Ltd, SJ Stephens Associates and ADAS.
Continuing to reflect on our previous projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s 50th anniversary; this week we’re looking at Kennington Village Hall in Kennington on the edge of Oxford; completed in 1988 for Kennington Parish Council. The new community centre provided a Hall, youth building, Library, kitchen, and committee room amongst other facilities to provide space for community activities and many different users in the variety of spaces. The development utilised a brownfield site to provide the well-used facility. Find out more about our community projects here.
Yesterday, several Jessop and Cook team members attended a RIBA Oxfordshire tour of Rhodes House, Oxford. It was an insightful tour of the original building by Herbert Baker from nearly a century ago and the new restoration and sensitive insertions by Stanton Williams. Mat Davies from the Rhodes Trust gave a great overview of the works, the high and lows and the showed us around the fantastic result.
Continuing to reflect on our previous projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s 50th anniversary; this week we’re looking at Hexham Rd Community Centre, Reading; completed in 1998 for @readingcouncil. The new community centre continues to provide space for community activities and many different users in it’s variety of spaces. The beautiful sketch describes how the design follows the sun, shades from intense heat and relates to the surrounding massing. Find out more about our community projects here.
We celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, and whilst going through our archives we found this watercolour sketch of a proposed project at Blackfriars Priory, University of Oxford. The unrealised scheme (which we successfully got planning permission for) from the early 2000’s would have expanded the student accommodation, teaching rooms and priory facilities for the private hall.
Last week, Jessop and Cook embarked on a summer social, enjoying the sun, drinks and good chat whilst punting; some of the more experienced punters showed the way, whilst others punted for the first time.
Continuing to reflect on our previous projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s 50th anniversary; this week we’re looking at Bullingdon Community Centre, completed in 2022 for Oxford City Council.
The existing community centre was well used but due to an old quarry below, it had issues with subsidence and was being supported by 7 props. The trustees of the community centre were involved in the design development of the project from inception and a local Information event gave the local community an opportunity to comment on the design proposals. The building’s timber frame was fabricated offsite (from Timber Innovations ). The design took a fabric first approach with high levels of insulation and excellent air tightness. There is an MVHR system, solar panels, and no gas on site, all to reduce the building’s in-use carbon footprint, and make energy bills affordable for the association.
The building is now providing much-needed, high quality spaces for the local community to use. It was great to work with ODS as contractor, Stantec as Structural & Civil Engineers, PYC offsite consultants and West & West Ltd for M&E. Find out more about the project here.
Photo Credits: Dan Paton Photography, Gareth Du Plessis, Harry Tuke
The timber frame from WB Timber is being erected for the new extension at East Oxford Community Centre. The internal refurbishment, alterations and thermal upgrade of the retained building is also going at pace. Working with ODS who are constructing the centre, we are delivering for Oxford City Council. Utilising a timber frame instead of traditional masonry or concrete will vastly reduce the carbon embodied within the build. If you’ve got a community project you want to move forward, please get in touch?
We continue to look back on our previous projects to reflect Jessop and Cook’s 50th anniversary this year. This week we’re looking at All Saints’ Convent in Cowley, Oxford; completed in 2006. The development includes a new accommodation and conference block, and the alteration and refurbishment of existing buildings to provide guest accommodation. The site is within the walls of the listed 18th century St John’s home. The construction utilises high quality materials, innovation and sustainability; The pitched zinc roof of the accommodation block is a contemporary interpretation of a lead standing seam roof and the pitch matched that of the existing St. John’s home. Find out more about the project here.
We continue to reflect on our previous projects to recognise Jessop and Cook’s 50th birthday. We’re looking at the Gibson’s Garage development in Basingstoke completed in 2007. We developed proposals for d by Kingfisher Housing Association for this disused garage site. The high-density, low-parking housing scheme consists of 1 and 2-bedroom flats. The design emphasises an active streetscape and aims to improve natural surveillance. The scale and massing were informed by neighbouring properties and reflects local character. Find out more about the design and project here.
We continue to reflect on our previous projects to recognise Jessop and Cook’s half century.Today, it’s the St John’s College’s Gardeners’ Facilities in Oxford, completed in 2017. St John’s College required dedicated and improved welfare and work facilities for their gardeners’ and ground staff. The small enclosed site is in the north-east corner of the listed Fellow’s Garden and is almost entirely bounded by listed late-medieval stone walls. The client’s desire was to keep the new structure unseen from the gardens, the scheme features an integrated greenhouse, shower/changing room, toilets, break room, a small office and an external store. Rooflights bring natural light into the space making it bright and welcoming. Learn more here.
We continue reflecting on our projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s 50th birthday. This week, we’re reflecting on, the Cardiac Science Centre, Oxford. Built in 2003 for the University of Oxford; it extends the existing Physiology Department, providing a new entrance, and additional research laboratories and office accommodation. The four storey glazed entrance incorporates lightweight curved cladding and a brise-soleil to provide a distinctive new façade. Find out more here.
It is with great sadness that we announce that our founder Graham Jessop has passed away.
Graham, alongside John Cook, founded Jessop and Cook Architects in 1974. The pair met when working at Architects Design Partnership in 1965 where they built their relationship and the start of their own practice. Graham remained at Jessop and Cook until 2000, when he ventured to practice on his own. Graham also worked at Jefferson Sheard Architects, Leslie Martin, and practiced abroad in Denmark.
This year is Jessop and Cook’s 50th anniversary, and it is especially sad that Graham won’t be present for our celebrations, however we will be sure to celebrate his life and his excellent contribution to the field of architecture.
We often consider window improvements as part of our many alteration and thermal upgrade projects. For a deep dive into the details, last week our Heritage Consultant Aline went to the conference “Through the Looking Glass: A Future for Historic Windows” at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester.
The panels and discussions covered all things historic windows, including history and significance, repairs, retrofitting old windows, and new windows in historic buildings. It also included a tour in Cirencester historic centre and drinks at Corinium Museum.
The drive for the organisers of the conference was the need to consider this important section of the fabric of our historic buildings and how they can be included in the thermal upgrade of the existing building and contribute to the decrease of their carbon footprint.
We continue to reflect on our projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s half century. Next off, it’s the Crescent Resource Centre, in Lower Earley, Reading. The main community centre was completed back in 2003, but Jessop and Cook have helped with a series of alterations, additions, and changes in subsequent years as well.
The centre was conceived as a local landmark; located in an area which previously lacked any community facilities. Local community groups hold meetings, run courses and host events in a series of office and meeting rooms, a large hall and an informal area used as a café and exhibition space. A voluntary partnering agreement was set up between the client, contractor and design consultants. A good collaborative working relationship between all parties was established, and this allowed all parties to work together to achieve a high quality building which also represented very good value for money. Learn more here.
Harry had a great time getting stuck in (the mud) at a workshop by the amazing Grzegorz Gorski from Earth Safe Design who’s constructing a straw bale ceramics studio in Marston, Oxford. It helped him learn more about building with straw and the ‘tricks of the trade’. At Jessop and Cook we’re also looking to use regenerative materials like straw to build out of- if you’re thinking of embarking on a project using straw bale construction (or another sustainable technique), please reach out to us!
Thank you so much to Michael Huth for organising, check out the Net Zero Skills Hub at Abingdon and Witney College and many other great events they have on. Grzegorz is also looking for more people to come and learn with him on the site too if you’re interested.
We continue reflecting on our projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s 50th birthday. This week, we look back at Blackfriars, St Giles, Oxford.
Jessop and Cook have been helping the Dominican Friars at Blackfriars Private Hall (Part of the University of Oxford) care for their Grade II listed buildings since the 1990s. We have completed numerous projects there, from revitalising the Chapel Ceiling to Roof and Leadwork repairs.
Dan has attended the HSE’s training to further solidify our knowledge of the Building Safety Act. If you need any guidance or support relating to this, please get in touch with us; the new legislation is wide reaching and impacting every project.
We are continuing reflecting on our projects to celebrate our 50th. This time it’s Floyd’s Row Homeless Centre in Oxford (2020) for Oxford City Council.
The project completed with Transition by Design converted the existing 1930s employment centre to provide a centre for homelessness services. The design involved substantial consultation with service providers and people with lived experience of homelessness.
The design involves natural surveillance, informal separation of spaces and homely features. Learn more here.
It’s great to see the expert installation of the internal woodfibre insulation and levelling plasters at East Oxford Community Centre by AMC Build for Oxford Direct Services. This will vastly reduce the heating costs in the existing centre while ensuring the brick walls remain breathable to avoid moisture risks. Pavadry is a great woodfibre insulation solution when you need a robust drylined finish and creates a useful service cavity without compromising the airtightness and insulation. There is also a waterproof cork plinth at ground level that is also breathable. Many thanks to Unity Lime for the supply and endless advice (Apparently we may have bought up the nation’s supply of Pavadry sorry!)
Looking forward to the windows and other details coming together.
As promised, we are reflecting on our projects to celebrate Jessop and Cook’s half century. First off, it’s The Foundation Stage Classroom (Completed 2013) at St Mary’s Infant School, Witney.
Situated to the rear of the school, the scheme replaced a 1940's canteen with a contemporary foundation stage teaching space. Consisting of three offset elements; they reflect the multiple pitched roofs of the main school in a playful manner; creating an enclosed secret garden. Complementing the existing School whilst developing its own identity. Internally the main teaching space provides a light and airy variety of spaces to create an engaging environment for the children. Learn more here.
Checking historic drawings and other useful information (such as Specification and Committee meetings minutes) to understand the history and significance of a building is part of our tasks as Heritage Consultants. And it is also incredibly fun, at least for Aline, who was at Harris Manchester College Archive yesterday doing just that as part of our appointment to carry out alterations to the Chapel. Looking at the original drawings by Worthington & Elwood for the Harris Manchester College Chapel with the building in view was definitely the cherry on top.
Tahima had a great time on SPAB’s Surveying Traditional Constructed Buildings course at Hardwick Hall on Friday. She spent the morning having interesting lectures and talks including from Alan Gardner (The National Trust‘s senior building conservation manager), and the afternoon getting some hands-on experience. This training will boost Tahima and our team’s understanding to help you with our client’s projects!
It’s great to see the completion of this socially rented home in Northway, Oxford. We’ve taken an existing 3 bedroom house and added a large 2 storey extension to add 2 bedrooms, helping fullfil Oxford City Council ‘s need for more larger council houses. The building has been designed to be functional, sustainable and adaptable.
We worked for OxPlace on behalf of Oxford City Council, with the project being built by ODS. These projects are part of a wider programme of 10 unique infill sites we have been working on with OX Place to deliver, either providing new homes or large extensions allowing for more/bigger houses for social rent in the city. If you want to read further; here’s some more info.
It's not every day you get to explore such a cool Victorian attic. Harry was down at East Oxford Community Centre yesterday reviewing progress and explored the attic space to finalise insulation requirements. We are working for ODS to deliver the upgraded community centre (retrofit and new build elements) for Oxford City Council.
As Jessop and Cook are 50 this year, we’re looking back and reflecting on this half century.
Since being established by John Cook and Graham Jessop in 1974, a wide ranging team have produced some interesting projects helping to define the local cityspace and hopefully provide spaces for Oxfordians to inhabit, interact with and appropriate. Join us for some throwbacks and reflections on projects past over the next few months by following us on our social media pages.
We’re all looking forward to going to Oxford Brookes Architecture School’s end of year show on Friday 24th May at 6.30pm. It is great to see the future of the profession and the creativity from 1st year undergrads to postgrads.
J&C’s Dan as RIBA Oxfordshire Chair will help judge some of the prizes., and we will also see the work of Unit D Undergrad Y2-3 (whose Tech tutor is J&C’s Rob Goacher) as well as the work of our RIBA Mentorship scheme mentees this year.
We hope to see as many of you there as possible!
We had a little bit of fun on Monday morning, despite the stormy weather! As part of one of our conservation projects, we carried out a stone cleaning trial using the gommage system by Thomann-Hanry and Aline was there to see how it works. This system (which is new for us) is a non-abrasive system using ultra-fine dry particles of aluminium silicate and uses much less water when compared with other systems.
Plenty to consider and happy to have another option for cleaning masonry in our arsenal!
We are proud to have just finished another social housing project on behalf of Oxford City Council!
This one involved renovating an existing block of flats in the New Hinksey area, creating an additional unit, and installing new Air Source Heat Pumps to achieve efficient, sustainable heating for every flat. ODS just handed over the project, which will help the council to provide much-needed social housing for the city.
Jessop and Cook are delighted to be part of Blake Morgan’s construction industry initative with the charity Children Heard and Seen (CHAS) to provide Easter Eggs for children impacted by parental imprisonment. Building on the successful Christmas present scheme, we’ve provided some eggs for Children would might not normally get one.
We hope they enjoy these chocolate treats!
Steph joined our practice last year and at the start of March she officially began her journey to become a qualified Architect; enrolling in the RIBA Certificate in Architecture (Part 1) which is a four-year course ran by RIBA Studio, delivered at Oxford Brookes University School of Architecture. The programme is for students currently in practice, who would like to work towards qualification. Whilst working full time in practice, with Office Mentor, Juliet Burch; She will work at her own pace (mostly) and apply knowledge gained in practice to academic projects (and vice versa). Even though this particular route to qualification requires a significant amount of self-discipline and time management; Steph is excited and ready for the challenge! We all wish her luck!
Steph’s role has also evolved over the last eight months, including her recent appointment as Practice Development Manager. This new role will utilise her Procurement background as she works closely with the directors to develop our business model to achieve such milestones as the ISO9001 & ISO14001 certifications. She’ll carry out this new role in tandem with my current position as Assistant Architectural Designer.
It's not every day you see your project from above. Whilst conducting a site survey for another project we snapped a picture of the new extension in Northway, Oxford which is currently on site.
The project is a large new extension to a socially rented home in Oxford for OxPlace on behalf of Oxford City Council, being built by ODS. These projects are part of a wider program of 10 unique infill sites we have been working on with OX Place to deliver, either providing new homes or large extensions allowing for more/bigger houses for social rent in the city.
If you want to read further, here’s some more info.
Jessop & Cook are excited to be working with ODS on this project. Acting as the contractor's architect we are collaborating to ensure we deliver a sustainable community centre based on principles of retrofit first and utilising low-carbon timber frame construction for new-build elements.
It will be fantastic to see the project complete and the Cowley Road community and local groups and organisations get an upgraded centre to use and benefit from.
As 2024 is our fiftieth anniversary, we're using the opportunity to look back on some projects of yesteryear.
The Gibson’s Garage was completed for Kingfisher Housing Association in Basingstoke. The disused garage site was transformed into a dense ensemble of 1 and 2 bed apartments. The layout takes the form of a perimeter block, reinforcing the street frontage aiming to improve natural surveillance. The scale and massing was informed by the heights of the neighbouring properties. The building uses a simple palette of familiar domestic materials - facing brick and slate. The composition is broken up using areas of stack-bonding and protruding gable/party walls helping to give the elevations a refined modern appearance.
Find out more here.
If you're interested in a new residential project, please get in touch!
It is nice to see our design for 10 affordable homes at Lanham Way start on site. Working for OxPlace we received planning permission in 2022. The Brownfield development in Littlemore follows the principles of a fabric first methodology, which strives to significantly reduce the building’s fabric heat loss. It also incorporates other renewable technologies.
In conjunction with Adrian James Architects , we organise Oxford Architects’ Drinks a few times every year. This is an informal event for architects and students in the Oxford area to come together and share their progress, pains and experiences over a refreshing drink. We’re meeting tomorrow (28th Feb) from 6pm at the White House (Tap Social) on Abingdon Road. If you’re an architect in Oxford; please feel free to join us!
We are very excited to start working on repairs and restoration of the Oxford Town Hall elevations. We are working closely with Oxford City Council to get the most out of this project and enhance the Grade II listed building which is so important to the city. The Revit model is here and works are now officially on our “drawing board!”
It was fantastic to attend the launch of the OPT Awards 2024 which was hosted at the Bullingdon Community Centre. We were honoured to have received a plaque for the project at the OPT Awards 2023. The project is a new build sustainable community centre in Wood Farm, Oxford for Oxford City Council completed by ODS. During the process we engaged in significant engagement with the local community association who manage the building and the different user groups, we hope the project is being well used and well loved by the community.
If you have a community project you need a hand with- please get in touch!
As 2024 is our fiftieth anniversary, we're using the opportunity to look back on some projects of yesteryear.
The project for Fritwell Primary School was completed in 2006 for Oxfordshire County Council, though the School had to raise money in order to build it. This was achieved by selling some of the land adjacent to the school for housing, which we obtained planning permission for.
The project consisted of internal alterations to the existing school building, including a replacement kitchen and a new build to house three new classrooms, a staff room, a headteacher’s office and a new reception. Externally the project included extensive new landscaping and an external link canopy to connect the new building with the existing school.
The project won the RIBA South prize for best educational building.
Find out more here.
If you're interested in a new educational project, please get in touch!
Tahima took our RIBA mentees to site today; this time they saw the progress on new extensions in Oxford for OX Place on behalf of Oxford City Council, Hopefully they found the site visit interesting! The projects are for new large extensions to improve the living arrangements of an existing homes. These projects are part of a wider programme of 10 unique infill sites we have been working on with OX Place to deliver, either providing new homes or large extensions allowing for more/bigger houses for social rent in the city. If you want to read further; here’s some more info.
It is always rewarding to help bring new much needed affordable housing for our local community.
Blackbird Leys leisure Centre on BBC News!
It's great to be involved in the Blackbird Leys leisure centre youth hub project! After completing a feasibility study last year, we are now cracking on transforming the centre to provide increased provision for the community.
Last year, Jessop and Cook started teaming up with Speakers for Schools, linking disadvantaged students with businesses for work experience opportunities. This is a valuable addition to our educational outreach provision. Here is the advert for the placement if you would like to share.
Things are moving forward for the new Blackbird Leys Community Centre and Public Realm. While the old centre is being demolished, the team are busy engaging with the community on what the new centre should offer. Come and join us on the next event or share your views online here.
For the umpteenth year in a row, Jessop and Cook Architects are taking part in RIBA Mentoring for Oxford Brookes University Architecture Students. Tahima Rahman will explain and explore the professional with them and take them on a site visit in February as well. We hope the students learn as much as we do from the programme!
50 years ago, John Cook and Graham Jessop set up the practice on John’s 30th Birthday (Happy 80th John), It has been an exciting and interesting journey ever since with a whole host of team members, projects and stories.
We’ll be celebrating more later this year and posting insights from the last half-century as well.
Jessop and Cook are delighted to have worked on behalf of Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL) to deliver this recently completed laboratory refurbishment in Reading. The project involved internal alterations and the fit-out of highly specialist new interiors and mechanical and electrical equipment to create a new scientific research facility. Please get in touch if you have any refurbishment projects in mind!
Getting back into the swing of things, Aline and Dan visited Exeter College for a site visit this morning. They were inspecting the hall, where Jessop and Cook are working alongside dpa Lighting, Richard Ward Oxford, and Darke & Taylor to fix the new lighting scheme at the grade I listed 17th century Dining Hall.
With the new year approaching, Jessop and Cook gathered to celebrate the past year at our Christmas Party.
After Juliet summarised personal and practice highlights, we gifted each other Secret Santa presents and then cracked on with an enjoyable J&C Taskmaster organised fantastically by our very own little Alex Horne; Martin Shaw. It was won by Rob (individually) and Kim's Killers (Aline, Steph and Rob (group)). We enjoyed a tasty meal at Pierre Victoire and a few drinks at the Duke of Cambridge.
As we do every year, Jessop and Cook donate to a charity at Christmas. This year we've chosen; Crisis for their vital work, especially at this time of year
We also look forward to 2024, which will mark 50 years since John Cook and Graham Jessop established the practice, stay tuned for how we're going to celebrate this anniversary.
Please note that the office will be closed from the 22nd December until the 2nd January. We wish all our clients, consultants and contractors we work with a restful festive break.
Danni has joined us as an architectural designer, starting a couple of weeks ago.
Previously, she primarily worked on residential design, having had the privilege of helping homeowners rediscover their passion for their homes through producing drawing packages and 3D modelling for home extensions and conversions. She’s eager to apply and expand her skills at Jessop and Cook, working on a variety of projects to expand her knowledge and explore diverse ideas and techniques surrounding innovative and sustainable design. During her free time; you’ll find Danni either dancing in a muddy field or at a gig with friends or trying to see as much of the world as possible.
Our copy of the new Pevsner guide for "Oxfordshire: Oxford and the South-East" arrived in the office this week and, to our delight, Jessop and Cook is mentioned twice! We are very proud to be included in this edition.
First mention is the Brownlow Building and the Chapel on the grounds of the Grade II listed St John's Home on St Mary's Rd, Oxford. These two new structures were completed in 2004 and designed by John Cook himself. The other is the church extension and reordering project for the Grade II listed St John the Evangelist Church, Stoke Row completed in two phases in 2013 and 2017.
Last week we held our first engagement event for the members and local stakeholders of the Restore Recovery Group at Fleet Meadow Allotments, Didcot. The charity approached us in 2017 and it has been a long road to get to where we are now. We are so pleased with the turnout last week and have the exhibition running all week with a chance to leave feedback in person or online.
We were excited to hear talk about Oxford City Council’s push for zero carbon homes by 2025 on BBC Radio Oxford this morning!
Jessop and Cook have been working with Oxford City Council, several university of Oxford Colleges and lots of individuals, families and organisations on the best way to decarbonise your home, building or institution. If you’re thinking about how you can decarbonise and make your home/building more sustainable and cheaper to run and want to chat- please get in touch! We’re also happy to chat about new net zero and sustainable buildings from community centres to houses to commercial premises. We have lots of experience with conservation projects, charities and community groups and links to a fundraising specialists which can help with fundraising for building works for these groups too.
It was great to have an environmental sustainability workshop by Adam from AD Frameworks today, he really made us think! It was insightful and thought provoking to consider holistically our contribution both as Architects and the buildings we design and as a company ourselves.
Jessop and Cook went to the Oxford Preservation Trust Awards 2023 yesterday evening, and the Bullingdon Community Centre won a plaque! Juliet and Harry accepted the award with Douglas Kerrigan from Oxford City Centre.
The new community centre replaces the much loved former building and is managed by a devoted group of trustees with support from Oxford City Council. It was great fun to develop the design and finishes with the association. The building’s timber frame was fabricated off site. The design took a fabric first approach with high levels of insulation and excellent air tightness. There is an MVHR system, solar panels, and no gas on site, all to reduce the building’s in-use carbon footprint, and make energy bills affordable for the association. The building will provide much needed, high quality spaces for the local community to use. It was great to work with ODS as contractor with big shout out to the site manager Dean, Stantec as Structural & Civil Engineers, PYC offsite consultants and West and West for M&E.
It was great to have work experience in the office over the last few weeks from Cheney and Cherwell Schools! We set them to work imagining how they would design a new community centre in Oxford and were very impressed by their work and hope to have inspired some future architects.
It was great to get the Architects’ Journal AJ Specification through the post today - Tahima had a blast from the past as it featured a project she worked on whilst at Nottingham University during her undergraduate degree.
“Project Aga Sikolo was a live build architecture studio unit for second year students. The project was to design, fundraise and build a dining hall for the children at Khomotso Creche, South Africa to complete their school which was started with 3 small classrooms and a toilet block by previous students. The design for the dining hall was based around the concept of sharing a meal under the shade of a tree, which developed into a tree inspired column which we made on site and hoisted into place to create a canopy overhead. University of Nottingham runs a live build project in developing countries every year and it is one of my proudest achievements.” Tahima
We are working with the parish of St John the Baptist Church, Kidmore End to make their beautiful Grade II listed Victorian building more accessible and flexible to use and to provide much-needed toilet and servery facilities.
Following a detailed feasibility study, the preferred option was developed and presented at community consultation last Saturday. An extension next to the Porch in the same materials as the church will provide the new toilet and storage space and a small dormer window will retain natural light to a partially retained window. In the nave a few pews will be removed to allow for flexible space and purpose-built storage at the end wall will also house the new servery.
Tahima and Barnaby went to see the progress at the new Oxford Brookes Development of the Headington Hill site a couple of weeks ago week hosted by contractor Willmott Dixon. The site tour was led by Architect Glen Moses of ADP Architecture who explained the design process and challenges. We especially loved the atrium with staggered voids in the floorplate to spread the light and view of activity through the depth of the building. The buildings tuck beneath the tree line with a curtain of foliage at every window and a promise of views over Oxford during winter months. Thank you to Constructing Excellence and Women in Property for arranging another interesting site tour, we love learning about other projects and are hoping for an invite to come back and see the finished build!
It was great to attend the Structural Timber Awards 2023 yesterday. It was great to see Bullingdon Community Centre as a finalist in the Retail and Leisure Category. We were also finalists for Architect of the Year.
Thanks to everyone involved, from the client Oxford City Council , Contractor ODS and timber frame manufacturer, WB Timber (with whom it was great to catch up last night). Unfortunately we didn’t win, but fingers crossed for next year…
Over the last few years we have started using structural timber more and more in projects and we’ll continue driving this throughout our work.
We are delighted that another 2 of our extension projects have now been completed for Ox Place to provide socially rented accommodation for Oxford City Council. We have been working with ODS to deliver these.
Last week, we signed off the completion of a brand new 3 bedroom timber frame sustainable home, alongside internal alterations and refurbishment to the existing neighbouring 2 bedroom house at Foxwell Drive, Northway. This new home increases density and uses left-over space on a large corner plot to provide a climate conscious property with low running costs (helped with an air source heat pump and PV panels).
The second project coming to completion was a new large extension to improve the living arrangements of an existing 3 bedroom home and provide 3 additional double bedrooms and a ground floor wet room and accessibility to be a lifetime home. The design is based on an open plan living space along the street to active the frontage, maximise natural light, and create generous social areas for family living.
Both these projects are part of a wider programme of 10 unique infill sites we have been working on with OX Place to deliver, either providing new homes or large extensions allowing for more/bigger houses for social rent in the city. If you want to read further here’s some more info.
It’s always rewarding to help bring new much needed affordable housing for our local community.
Groundworks have started on site in Littlemore for one of our extension projects for OxPlace (on behalf of Oxford City Council). The new works by ODS will transform the living spaces in the existing dwelling with a new open plan kitchen dining room, a new ground floor Wet room for accessible living and 2 new bedrooms. The house is one of the original post-war Airey Houses which has a concrete frame and very little insulation. The project will retrofit internal insulation as well as blown mineral wool insulation and a new boiler to help improve the efficiency and comfort of the home.
Interested in finding out more about Airey Houses? Here is a short video of how this style building was constructed.
Welcome Stephanie! Steph has joined us as an assistant architectural designer, starting a couple of weeks ago. She has a wide range of experience especially in procurement and we hope she enjoys it here.
Several team members from Jessop and Cook have let their creative juices flow, entering EHSmith Architecture’s ‘Draw on a Brick Competition’ in collaboration with Wienerberger UK . Here are their entries!
Good luck everyone!
Tahima went to a great Constructing Excellence Oxford Club event at Blenheim Palace yesterday, hosted by Blenheim, Nick Cox Architects and Savvy!
It was great to see the works to the orangery roof, re-roofing the failing former glass roof and improving energy efficiency helping to decarbonise the palace.
Aline gave a great tour and talk on the porter’s lodge at Exeter College yesterday for G4C Oxford (Young Professionals in Construction Networking). Thanks to everyone who came along!
It’s been over a year since Exeter College Porter’s Lodge refurbishment was completed!
By installing a new platform lift, automated sliding door and an intercom panel with braille signage and an induction loop we have improved the accessibility for all, while the breathable wood-fibre internal insulation (IWI) and bespoke secondary glazing significantly reduces the demand for heating and cooling, and therefore the overall energy consumption. It’s the first Grade I listed building in Oxfordshire (and as far as we know only the second in the country!) to have IWI installed, paving a way for other users/owners of historic assets to consider this approach.
We’ve delighted to giving a now sold out G4c Oxford (A networking group for young professionals in the construction industry) a tour of the building on August 16th to help show how to decarbonise a heritage asset.
Photo Credit Dan Paton Photography
