A Welsh architect has called for design and sustainability standards to push further boundaries in Community focused projects such as schools, hospitals and social housing - despite rising pressures in costs and environmental performance.
Dennis Hellyar Architects (DHA) has become an important player in the social housing sector in Wales, delivering projects valued in the tens of millions in the last two years.
As the cost of buying a house rises beyond the reach of many, the Barry-based firm is proud to be working closely with leading Welsh housing associations creating innovative and well-designed social housing to meet modern needs.
Working mainly with Housing Associations Hafod, CCHA and Tai Tarian, DHA is helping create hundreds of affordable homes at Sanatorium Road, Canton, Ffordd Y Millennium in Barry and Longcross Street in Cardiff and other developments around South Wales.
DHA was launched ten years ago by Dennis Hellyar after gaining wide ranging experience with leading architectural firms. He had been responsible for the innovative St Teilo’s Church in Wales High School in Cardiff, and the major redevelopment of Loudoun Square in the Butetown area in collaboration with CCHA, Cardiff & Vale Health Board and Cardiff City Council.
In the last decade he and his team have brought design flair and sustainability expertise to the social housing sector, and as a result have a large portfolio of successful projects. In the last two years the firm has delivered social housing projects worth £60 million in South Wales alone.
The success has partly been due, he said, to the fact that DHA represents the new breed of smaller, more agile architecture practices flourishing in the present business climate. “It used to be the case that a sizeable project would have a ‘big name’ architect associated with it.
“But things have changed and now all firms have access to the same software and other capabilities as larger consultancies. Developers are finding that in many ways a small, more nimble and flexible studio can offer an attractive alternative.”
He believes the drive toward mass output has a blind spot - that thoughtful and creative design and place making can be overlooked in public funded, community centred projects such as schools, hospitals, social and affordable housing, in favour of efficiency and process.
He asks whether a short-term factory manufactured building, constructed to last two to three generations, has a lower carbon footprint than its humbler, traditionally-constructed predecessors delivering structures serving four to five generations. He takes the long term view and questions whether we should design for even longer building lifetimes with greater future adaptability.
The team at DHA emphasises the architectural and mindful ethos of the practice. “We aim to establish a vision, adopting a collaborative approach, backed up with strong technical knowledge and delivery, to turn ideas and thoughts into finished projects”.
As well as social housing, DHA has completed many other projects including the sympathetic design of a chapel of rest for Cwmbran Funeral Directors VA Peterson, an extension to the Eryl GP Surgery in Llantwit Major, the refurbishment and remodelling of Freudenberg’s offices at Baglan, as well as a range of commissions for private properties around Wales.
“I am delighted with the progress we have made since launching ten years ago and am looking forward to deepening and strengthening our relationships with housing associations and other developers,” said Dennis Hellyar.
