End of Autumn

Firstly, congratulations to New Zealand who won the Rugby World Cup at the weekend! The past few months have seen us working on several new Toro's Steakhouses across the country. In addition to their existing sites in Leicester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester, we have helped make the Coventry site happen. The Harrow branch is opening next, with two more northern sites in the immediate pipeline.

Well done also to our very own Vandana who took part in a charity walk for the Rik Basra Leukaemia Campaign in September. Organised by the FBBC and LLS, this was a 10-mile trek across the beautiful landscape of the Peak District. Altogether, the 80 or so walkers raised over £12,000 so well done to all of them!

We also gained planning permission in October for a client wanting to extend their residential property in a Conservation Area, next door to a listed building, which is no mean feat. On to the next stage now!

Keep your eyes on our social media for updates, we'll post here again soon.

Calling Part 2 Arch Assistants!

We're looking for a Part 2 Architectural Assistant to join our team in September. Is that you? If so, you must be proficient with AutoCAD, Sketchup and Photoshop. Previous experience within a practice is essential. Good sketching skills are a bonus. You will have the ability to communicate well with clients and other professionals in the build community.

 Attention to detail is essential, whether you're working on Building Regulations drawings or making a round of teas and coffees for the team.

We'd love to hear from you so send us your CV and portfolio with a covering letter to info@skmdesign.co.uk.

Summer Update

Well a lot has been going on since our last post! We have hosted a networking event at the amazing Roca London Gallery, completed several residential projects and even taken on new staff. Here's one of our latest and largest residential projects at a footprint of almost 5000 sq ft.

Photos from our event at Roca London Gallery, presenting to hoteliers and suppliers who attended the Sleep Event last year.

Take a look at our updates on Twitter @skmarchitects and our Facebook page to find out everything else we've been up to recently.

Winter Updates

We have now reached March, and things are not slowing down in the slightest! We have several private extensions that are due for completion this month, and have secured a number of commercial jobs outside of Leicester.

We are also in discussions with several hoteliers across the country, in the wake of our win at 2014's Sleep Event, which we are very excited about. Another client in Nottinghamshire is incredibly pleased with the progress of his conversion of a commercial premises to flats.

Hopefully over the next few weeks we can post up some completion photos, so watch this space!

We Won!

We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that we won the Sleep Set competition on 26th November! http://www.thesleepevent.com/Content/The-Sleep-Set-2014/4_9/ The team could not be prouder after all the hard work that was put into the project from the beginning of the year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in getting us there (and deepest apologies to anyone we may have missed out!):

Sponsors

Gira
Karndean Designflooring
Landau Parapan
Roca
Solus Ceramics
Vado

Product Suppliers

Altfield
Billi UK
Brintons
iGuzzini
Intecho
Gira
Jon Martin Architectural Ltd
Karndean Designflooring
KirkbyDesign
Levitas
Landau Parapan
NSI Limited
Perkins Stockwell & Co. Ltd
Roca
Solus Ceramics
Surelight
Vado
Villa Nova

Onsite and Offsite

Benchmark Construction
Hodgson Electrical
SAS Photography
Clickk Media
Castle Print Brokers

The Sleep Event

We can now give a sneak peek of what we are getting up to for the Sleep Event! Here are some of the materials we are featuring, without giving too much away...

It's all systems go at the moment, with a practise run of our room under construction and final details being sorted out. Don't forget to follow our updates on Twitter @SKMarchitects and #sleep14!

 

 

 

Autumn Update

Plenty has been happening over the past few months! Here are a few examples:

We finally received planning permission for the new build community centre for the Leicestershire Brahma Samaj on Leicester’s Belgrave Road. This will involve a demolition of the old dilapidated brick shell that is currently at the site, and the construction of a beautiful and tranquil building where the Brahma community, as well as others, can flourish.

We are also looking at the refurbishment of some local community centres, including the front façade of the multi-phased redevelopment of the Shree Prajapati Association hall. We completed the interior refurbishment back in 2012, with new front wall with railings and gated access. 

Also received planning permission for works to an industrial unit in Oadby, and even got a permission through today to erect a set of new flats in Evington.

There have also been a high volume of enquiries over the summer, both residential and commercial. Previous clients have also been returning to us with new projects, which is fantastic.

Our interior designers are busy preparing for the run-up to the Sleep Event in November and working on several homes that we are currently extending, as well as new shopfronts on Melton Road.

Happy Birthday to Us...

We proudly announce that SKM Architects Ltd officially turned 5 years old this May! The team celebrated with an afternoon tea at Leicester College’s Taste restaurant. Much tea was drank and cakes eaten!

The company has entered a particularly exciting year, gaining many industrial projects and a flurry of residential enquiries. We showed you the interiors of the large extension in Oadby in our last post. The external works have since been completed including the boundary wall, so we are delighted to be able to show you a before-and-after; let us know what you think!

  Some more completion images here:

 

We are also ecstatic to be selected as one of the 6 finalists chosen to exhibit a design-and-build concept hotel room at London’s prestigious annual ‘Sleep’ event this November. Our team have been working hard getting ideas and layouts together, meeting suppliers and sourcing innovative products.

Quick Post-January Update

The first post of 2014 brings us to our residential extension in Oadby which is externally almost completed (just a few things to add, such as cladding panels) and nearing completion internally. the majority of the kitchen has been installed and staircase has been varnished. Here is an overview of the internal works:

We have not yet shown any of our conceptual work for our Oxford hotel project, so here is an idea of the kind of ideas we were putting together. The left images are photos from the commercial project we completed for Brett and Randall Insurance Brokers' new offices; providing a certain degree of inspiration behind our hotel concept (images on the right).

Plenty more to add but that will come in the next post.

December: Pre-Christmas News

As we approach the end of ‘term’ this will be our last blog update for 2013. There is a lot going on at the moment, not least at Ross Walk as mentioned in our previous post. We are managing the project for Benchmark Construction, a local contractor firm with whom we have a strong, developing relationship. Here is a snap of how the works are progressing.

By the end of this month, blockwork on the ground floor will be completed, along with stud partitions on the upper floors and stage construction. Works also taking place this month are drainage connections, mechanical/electrical ducting and cabling, lift pits and the gallery space on a mezzanine floor, to name but a few. Interior finishes are planned for February onwards, with anticipated completion in May.

The residential extension in Oadby is now at the end of the construction phase, with interior fixtures and fittings being installed. Not only do we have radiators, bathrooms and bedrooms, but also a bespoke sweeping staircase that looks impressive even without its final finish. We are very happy with progress so far, the exterior is looking sleek and we hope to be able to show off some completion photos by March.

Our signage projects are moving along swiftly; we now have Spark Academy installed, complete with purple shutters! One of our favourite signage jobs so far! Final installation photos are on their way.

All work and no play makes for a dull company! So we have also made sure to have a bit of fun this month, and had our Christmas party with Benchmark Construction and PSG (The Property Search Group) on 4^th December at the City Rooms. Organised by the Fosse Business Breakfast Club, it was an evening enjoyed by all, but it seemed to end too quickly! Ticket sales and raffle proceeds went towards the Our Space Appeal.

Thus concludes our year; we wish you all a very merry festive season and we will be open for business again on 6^th January 2014.