Brink Architects

14/04/2025

Project 0117 - Top Station

For over half a century Brackley Central Station, known locally as ‘Top Station’, was at the epicentre of Brackley’s community. Today, the Victorian station sits forgotten and discarded, no longer needed or cared for.

Brink Architects have been instructed by Blencowes Accountants to bring life back to the station, to preserve it as a testament to Brackley’s past and to re-establish its place in our town’s future.

26/02/2025

0075 – Pre App, conservation area in the shadow of a Grade I Listed Building

You get out of a pre-application what you put in!

Pre-application advice is a service provided by the council, outlining how they are likely to determine any subsequent planning application. Within their response they will highlight any changes that they deem necessary in relation to planning policies, giving your scheme the best chance of being granted a planning permission.

We frequently recommend to our clients the benefits of preparing pre-apps for contentious sites. Unfortunately, putting a solitary red line boundary around a site plan returns little to no more information beyond that which an architect should already be in a position to advise.

With this in mind, a balance has to be established to ensure that enough design/information is provided within the pre-app to allow the clients to determine the full development potential, and the planning officers the ability to assess this against acceptability.

At the early stage of the project the client will wish to limit costs which in turn limits the available time the architect has to convey all the relevant information that enables both client and planning officer to establish the viability of the scheme.

At Brink Architects we will use a range of media from hand sketches to digital renders to convey the proposals within the immediate and wider context of the site. This allows us to be more efficient and the planning officers the ability to provide meaningful feedback.

In short, you only get out of a pre app what you put in.

12/02/2025

Brink is delighted to announce that we have successfully achieved planning consent for a new self build on a challenging site.

The challenge was to achieve a high level of accommodation across the site on one level all whilst minimising the impacts upon the surrounding plots.

14/01/2025

0062 – 5No New build Dwelling Houses - Ashton

Working with Bacchus Town Planning Limited we are delighted to have provided architectural services for the consent of 1No circa 350m.sq traditional dwelling houses and 1No 190m.sq house outside the village confines in Ashton.

Chris Paige artists impression was used to convey how the plots would sit within the context of the adjoining development.

The proposals sat to the outskirts of Ashton and was surrounded by open countryside, as such our approach had to be sensitive.

30/04/2024

https://brinkarchitects.co.uk/portfolio/brackley-town-centre/

Project 0096 – Brackley Town Centre

What about the parking? - following feedback with regards to parking please see how this has been addressed by clicking on the image below or by downloading the brochure from our website.

Being saddened by the decline of my local town centre I decided to use our skills as architects to see if I could help turn it around. It’s not a straightforward task which is exactly what made it such an interesting challenge. Biggest question is how do you draw people back into a diminishing town centre in 2023? It’s a question which every small market town is trying to solve and if we Brackleians can be the one of the first across the finishing line then even better!

My team and I therefore dedicated a lot of time and thought about how this can be achieved and after a lot of work we eventually had a full proposal document. The next step was to share this vision with other locals with the hope that it would generate debate and ideas within our community which we could then help to build on. Now, this isn’t as easy as you’d think, especially for a business who doesn’t tend to engage with social media.

It’s definitely been a learning curve! We found that rather than take time to digest the proposal as a whole, people preferred to view the short ‘walk through’ reel and comment. As a result the discussion went down several unnecessary rabbit holes, especially in regards to parking - all of which were fully addressed in the downloadable design proposal. These entrenched positions did little to bring about a united push towards the common goal of improving our local town centre which we had been aiming for.

We’ve therefore been rethinking how we can share ideas in a way which is more easily understandable and digestible. As a first step towards this, I’d like to share with you our latest reel which should help people see how we’ve worked more parking into the town centre. It’s important to note that the colour of the pavement or location of a bench are not critical at this stage, these proposals should be viewed in broader terms i.e the principle of a pedestrianised town centre, reduced speed limits, safer transition between Magdalen top and bottom site , relocation/increase in parking etc.

It’s accepted that this is an ambitious proposal but we have to start the conversation somewhere and I think we can all agree that doing nothing will only result in continuation of the current decline. Our town centre isn’t growing but our town is. When thinking about where we go from here, I would ask people to think about how they would like to use the town centre. We won’t encourage new businesses in until it’s seen as a destination – chicken and egg. Yes it may be costly but it doesn’t all have to happen at once. We can start chipping away that the improvements together.

Note: Brink Architects have not been paid or instructed to produce this scheme, we are not affiliated to any other businesses or organisation.

12/03/2024

Project 0096 – Brackley Town Centre
Notwithstanding a few years away in my 20’s, I grew up in Brackley and now live and run a business just a couple of miles away. I’m proud of my town and wish to see it go from strength to strength. Unfortunately over the years I have witnessed the decline of our town centre and market. For this reason I have decided to use my skills to create a design proposal which I hope will generate engagement and further momentum to change the way we use and spend time in our town centre.

We have a wide High Street and Market Place lined with attractive historic
buildings. This provides the perfect platform for us to re imagine how we might use it.

By building pedestrian friendly spaces that can accommodate community events and provide a great place to hang out it will become a destination hub increasing retail occupancy and spend.

I believe a bold approach to the redesign is required which will take both time
and money but Brackley is worthy of both.

Brink Architects have not been paid or instructed to produce this proposal, we are not affiliated to any other businesses or organisation. My sole aim of creating this concept design was to help with the regeneration of our town centre.

Download design proposal
https://lnkd.in/eh-42UjW

12/03/2024

Brink Architects are delighted to announce the decision to grant planning consent for phase 2 of the development creating 136 unit scheme on St James View, Brackley.

This project presented a number of significant challenges with substantial sewer easement running the length of the site, gas mains that required diversion and consideration of important local landscapes/setting.

We have enjoyed our involvement with this scheme from master planning and design of new bespoke house types through to the completion of a detailed working drawing package. We very much look forward to seeing the progress on site by Lagan Homes who have produced a fantastic phase 1.

12/03/2024

Brink Architects achieved planning consent to convert upper floors of a prominent building in the centre of Brackley into residential accommodation. We always enjoy working in our local town and this late 17th century building was no exception. Its unique to the town, being the only historic Brackley building with an exposed mansard (often referred to as a Gambrel roof). As an interesting historical side note at the time it was built it faced the towns ducking pool.

12/03/2024

Project 0043

Location - Brackley Town Centre

Description - Proposals for the conversion of an industrial northern lights building to flats

12/03/2024

0077 – Tanworth-in-Arden
We have been using VR headsets for a few years now and have found no other technology allows one’s clients to get such a comprehensive, immersive, and realistic impression of the future place.
As a result the we obtain clear feedback on the design development. Virtual reality has been a game-changing tool that makes things easier for all involved in the project design, generating a truly memorable experience and a deeper emotional connection to a project.

12/03/2024

0073 – Manor Fm - Barn Conversions
Brink Architects are delighted to announce the decision to grant consent to convert a range of historic 18th and 19th century barns into high end large residential dwellings.
We are particularly happy that the more recent steel frame barn was included within the consented courtyard scheme. More often than not these structurers are not considered worthy of retention which is unfortunate as they play an important part in telling the story of the evolution of our agricultural built environment and as such should not be dismissed.

12/03/2024

0076 – Summer House Extension and Refurbishment

Planning consent granted for a small but fun project which required an existing art deco summer house within the grounds a listed building to be modified and extended to provide wine cellar, bedroom, en-suite and kitchen at sub floor level. In addition, a new terrace to serve the summer house that was converted as a bar and entertaining space with a fully openable façade.
The challenge was to provide a significant amount of additional accommodation and not detract from the appearance of the existing summer house or setting of the walled garden which formed part of the structure.