journal | 56three

56three love to share our creative journey with you at every stage.

Our journal is a place for us to show you our work-in-progress, inspiration and ideas through images, photographs and sketches.

We're pleased to have submitted a planning applica

We're pleased to have submitted a planning application for a new student accommodation building for Zone Developments. The proposed building is located in the centre of Northampton on the Drapery – the main historical shopping street. The building replaces an existing department store and will deliver over 200 spacious student studio flats gathered around a central south facing courtyard as part of the town centre’s regeneration and rezoning masterplan. A rooftop terrace will offer views across the town to the south and west and amenity and social spaces are located to bring activity and life to the historical pedestrian vennel linking the Drapery to College street.

For: Zone Developments

With Scott Hobbs Planning Limited,

PRP - Structural Engineers,

Nick Haynes - Heritage Consultant,

Sweco - Transport / Noise / Ecological Consultants,

Accon - Environmental Consultants

Images by En Aim Ltd

#56three #regeneration
#Northampton #planning #residentialproperty
#btr #pbsa

Each member of the 56three family produced a sketc

Each member of the 56three family produced a sketch of their favourite building on the run up to Christmas and we have decided to sell framed copies of each with all proceeds going to charity.

Our daily sketches concluded on Christmas day with a drawing by Rick’s daughter Jess (7 yrs) of her dream house. We all have a vision of our ideal home, a place to be warm and safe. Our charity of choice is Social Bite, an inspiring organisation doing so much to tackle homelessness, providing a route to a home, warmth and safety.
Our wonderful sketches will be framed and delivered to your door for £25 each. If you want to buy one (or more!) please email Ros.Donaldson@56three.com and confirm the drawing(s) you want.

Let’s raise as much money as we can!

#56three #advent #sketches #charity #fundraising #socialbite #giveback #homelessness #support #donations #community #edinburgh #advent #architecture #building #team #architect #design #architecturefriday

Everyone at 56three would like to wish you all a M

Everyone at 56three would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to working with you in 2021. #architecture #56three

Christmas day and the final sketch from the #56thr

Christmas day and the final sketch from the #56three advent sketchbook. We finish with young Jess Palmer, age 7, who has drawn her perfect house. The world is a canvas for your imagination.
Merry Christmas from the 56three family.
#56three #adventcalendar #25

Euan’s sketch shows the Museum of Modern Literat

Euan’s sketch shows the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany by David Chipperfield Architects. The museum overlooks the Neckar Valley, housing some of Germany’s most influential literature artefacts. The museum provides panoramic views across the landscape, with points throughout the building to admire and connect with these views. The building’s contrast of in-situ concrete colonnades with a softer timber inner skin creates a lasting presence on the site, emphasising the preservation of its items within.
#56three #adventcalendar #architecuralsketches #24

“RIP to an iconic and stunning mainstay of the G

“RIP to an iconic and stunning mainstay of the Glasgow skyline. Years on, the future of the site is still under debate and I only hope that whatever replaces The Mack plays ode to the bravery and ingenuity of Mackintosh’s craftsmanship.” Jess
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #23

“After Kevin sketched my first choice of MVRDV’s Netherlands Pavilion, my thoughts took me to a more classical architecture with Michelangelo’s dome on St Peter’s Basilica. The overall building is a masterpiece created by a number of renaissance architects over 120 years; however, the dome’s prominence on the Rome skyline always stays in my mind. Once inside the scale, light and proportions are awe-inspiring, embracing your senses regardless of your religious affiliation.”, Richard
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #22

“Foster + Partner’s spectacular glazed roof at

“Foster + Partner’s spectacular glazed roof at the British Museum is a fantastic example of how new architectural intervention can rationalise and enhancing an existing space. In 2000 the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court was cleared, and the elegant glass and steel roof was installed creating a new focal point for visitors. Opening this space revealed the classical beauty of the existing buildings that had been hidden for so long and created a space for people to mingle, breath and be inspired. For me the latticed glass roof is reminiscent of a frosty spider’s web, which catches the sunlight on a clear winter’s morning. I find that The Queen Elizabeth II Court is a great place to spend a morning thinking and sketching - trying to capture the light and many shadows which dance over the buildings and people housed within.”, Esther
#56three #adventcalander #architecturalsketches #21

One of the buildings that inspires Paul is The Ful

One of the buildings that inspires Paul is The Fuller Building, now known as the Flatiron Building. A landmark building in Manhattan, which has been called "one of the world's most iconic skyscrapers and a quintessential symbol of New York City". The building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick Dinkelberg, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city upon its 1902 completion, at 20 floors high.
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #20

“The barbican is a building I love to visit each

“The barbican is a building I love to visit each time I go to London. A marmite development, concrete metropolis, brutalist playground. If you know someone with ‘the key’ the gardens are wonderful to explore along with all the elevated walkways which link the many parts together.”, Alex
#56three #architecturalsketches #adventcalendar #19

We are thrilled to have received Planning Approval

We are thrilled to have received Planning Approval for our Francis Gardner Apartments student accommodation scheme for Empiric Student Property. The new building will be located in West Hampstead, London and will provide 88 new bedrooms, a gym, entertainment rooms and a rooftop lounge enjoying views across London. A great team effort.
#JellyJuice CGI #empiricstudentproperty #scotthobbsplanning #quantumconsulting #planning #highdensityliving #studentaccommodation #residentialproperty #btr #pbsa

“I’ve always loved the stylish simplicity of A

“I’ve always loved the stylish simplicity of Art Deco, from the sleek spire of the Chrysler Building to the massive scale of Battersea Power Station. Being a born and bred Lancastrian, my favourite however is The Midland Hotel in Morecambe. Completed in 1933, abandoned in 1998, left derelict for 8 years, before being refurbished and re-opened in 2008, it is a stunning example of the genre both externally and internally.”, Rick
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #18

“The branch of DZ Bank is one of the first build

“The branch of DZ Bank is one of the first buildings that really caught my eye in Berlin and is also one of the most interesting buildings of Frank Gehry. Strict regulations apply to works built in the centre of Berlin, which made it impossible to provide a sculptural envelope such as at the museum Guggenheim Bilbao.

I love the fact that each of the facades have scales independent of one another, therefore the proportions of each are in accordance with immediate urban area on both the Pariser Platz and Behrenstrasse sides. My sketch is of the ‘Grand Atrium’ which is where the traditional Gehry style of architecture takes place. This area which has a curved glass roof and a floor, also of curved glass serves as a curious solution to the notice of meeting and conference space for the building.”, Lewis
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #17

Visiting New York in 2015, Amy was enamoured of ‘The High Line.’ Originally part of Manhatten’s transportation system as a freight rail-line, it was operational between 1934-1980. Once de-activated, the line became redundant and nature began reclaiming it.

Alongside other designers, New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro saw the opportunity to transform the forgotten infrastructure into a garden walkway. To maintain open space surrounding ‘The High Line’, incentives were provided to limit development in the immediate vicinity. This action prevented other buildings from expanding around it naturally. The site’s ground floor has been activated by the creation of new circulation routes, increasing footfall whilst visually activating the upper floors of surround buildings.

The walkway itself frames and make accessible views never before seen by the pedestrians of New York City. This, in itself, is really quite remarkable.
#56three #adventcalander #architecturalsketches #16

“I have always liked trying to figure out when a

“I have always liked trying to figure out when a building was constructed, but there is little trouble knowing the period when the Empire State Building was built with its the iconic lines and simple but effective details. I can think of very few buildings that sum up so effectively the ambition of a city and a generation.

Built in 18 months by over 3500 workers, the plans were revised several times in order for it to be the pinnacle building in the ‘race to the sky’. I first visited New York when I was 15 years old and this piqued my interest in how buildings are built and their iconography. To me this building remains timeless.”, Matt
#56three #architecturalsketches #adventcalendar #15

“The high density low-cost housing of Amsterdam’s Borneo Sporenburg Island has been a regular attraction since my first visit to the development site in the late 90s. Individually designed family homes on standardised plots creates a lively and characterful neighbourhood with animated street elevations leading to internal courtyards and large areas of glazing opening out to the water. I could have picked any collection of houses from the streets or waterfront to sketch, given the wide variety of designs and architectural styles. A post pandemic pilgrimage to my favourite district in my favourite city is on the cards…”, Gordon
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #14

Kevin was inspired by MVRDV’s entry to Expo 2000

Kevin was inspired by MVRDV’s entry to Expo 2000, the first World Expo of its kind, held in the outskirts of Hanover, Germany.
The exhibition looked to capture a vision of how to manage the balance between man, nature & technology in the future.
The ‘Dutch Pavilion’ created a mini ecosystem, in a series of layered landscapes, that tried to counter future issues like population density, ecology and congestion.
#56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches #13

“I have always been drawn to the peacefulness of

“I have always been drawn to the peacefulness of Luis Barragan’s work, whether it be his buildings or landscapes. They evoke a calmness and quietness by cleverly using structure to play with light, space and sounds. In all areas of his work Barragan creates flowing spaces designed to draw you through and experience interchanging rooms of light and shadow, colour and reflections. The Fuente de los Amantes (Source of the Lovers Fountain) is just one of these examples, where structural walls are formed to create outdoor ‘rooms’ whilst playing with sound and reflections on the water.”, Claire
#56three #adventcalander #architecturalsketches #12

Today Neil brings us Leça da Palmeira swimming

Today Neil brings us Leça da Palmeira swimming pools in Porto by Alvaro Siza.

“I was told to look at this by my architectural hero Tony Fretton when I was a student (“Siza has all the answers” he said). Siza designed this when he was only 26!

It seemed amazingly profound from studying the sparse photos and plan. Visitors descend a slow ramp then slip between tall rough concrete walls and under dark timber enclosures, gently guided on a journey from the bustling waterfront esplanade into a simpler world where everything is elemental - the vast blue sky, the pools nestling amongst the rocks, the swelling immensity of the sea and the distant horizon beyond.

Twenty-odd years later it was great to finally visit and find it crowded with laughing families, romancing young couples, larking teenagers, and yelling kids eating ice creams – full of life, sun and joy.

The architecture recedes and is barely visible - but shapes everything.”

#56three #architecturalsketches #adventcalendar #11

“Peter Zumthor has been my favourite Architect f

“Peter Zumthor has been my favourite Architect for as long as I can remember and the Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, one of my favourite buildings. I love the way he designs spaces and how they should interact with a person. The emotions that surround the places he can create, and his sensitivity to the places that will become part of their surroundings. I think his material knowledge and the skill of carving of light from darkness within spaces is magical. When I was working in Germany, I went on a 'Zumthor pilgrimage' backpacking around Europe and it was as exceptional as I could have hoped it would be. To interact with these spaces and his playful use of textures which entice you to engage with them on a sensory level - he makes you want to touch them and to see the changes in light, which must be felt to be really understood. Whilst sitting in silence next to a stranger, enjoy the ambience and silence of the small chapel, we both felt a truly special connection to the building. No words needed to be said between us but the appreciation of experiencing the calmness of the space together.”, Andy #10 #56three #adventcalendar #architecturalsketches

Manchester Victoria Point 5's entrance enhancement

Manchester Victoria Point 5's entrance enhancements after the major remodelling of 133 bedspaces to provide the development's flagship rooms looks great at night to help residents find their way home. #PBSA #Manchester @empiricstudentproperty @_hellostudent

Load More… Follow on Instagram