Build Sustainable Awards 2016

Build 2016 Sustainable Building Awards 8 In 2011, after spending decades in the construction industry as a quantity surveyor, listening to people making the same comments about the poor quality of certain fixtures and fittings – drain covers (internal & external), floor registers, recessed manhole covers, bi-fold door channels, fan plates, shower bases, sink strainers and much more – John resolved that he would reinvigorate the market, challenge the norm and develop quality products which combine high specification utility, with aesthetic appeal. Case Study Anne-Marie Powell was invited by the Royal Horticultural Society to design its ‘Greening Grey Britain’ garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. It sought to demonstrate attractive, effective rainwater harvesting solutions. The garden launched the ‘Greening Grey Britain’ campaign for the Society at Chelsea, to persuade the public that paving over front gardens for parking has consequences that reach far beyond the aesthetic, therapeutic advantages of front garden plots, which have been shown to benefit whole communities, not only individuals. Alongside many ideas for front garden spaces at home, it was decided to include an attractive, desirable drain-channel cover to collect rainfall run off from hard landscaping materials. Anne-Marie Powell Gardens turned to Lateral Design Studio for help. The final selection was of Lateral Design Studio’s Cast Iron ‘Minnione’ cover at the show. It demonstrated that drainage can be an attractive feature, and even had IP68 channel lighting within the garden environment, directing runoff to a soakaway or rain garden, without contributing to local flooding. Indeed, the cover was admired by all who saw it, including The Royal Family, and Anne-Marie Powell is now specifying several of Lateral’s covers into her current schemes. The landscape products have won the very first Society of Garden Designers Product of the Year 2014, and have been used in three RHS award winning gardens at Chelsea, Hampton Court Flower show, plus the BBC Gardeners World 2016. They are now installed in the RHS garden at Harlow Carr for all to see. Rumors are Laterals exquisite covers will be soon in installed in yet another RHS garden in the south West. Case Study Lateral Design Studio was commissioned by BDP Architects and Grosvenor Britain and Ireland to design and deliver a bespoke channel gully with frames to meet current bylaws, but also to contribute to the bespoke character of Motcomb Street in Belgravia, within Grosvenor’s London estate. The design and the finished look were extremely important for the design team to meet their clients brief. The design needed to continue the style of the historic Victorian castings found elsewhere in Belgravia. The cover would need to have the street name and area clearly displayed. The casting was to reflect the history of the Victorian foundries and their craftsmen who toiled over the detailing and insuring the finished castings reflected their artisan passion. A suitable method of pre-aging had to be found to finish the casting so not to look like the usual hulk of black cast iron so commonly found in our urban streets today. The casting was designed in London and cast by a foundry in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, making it a truly British product. John is proud to have his and his company’s name cast into history within the castings for posterity. So what is next for Lateral Design Studio? John is currently working on bringing out new products that will continue to change devalued functional items and continue to transform them into masterpieces. He is currently working on a range of projects with design teams and craftsmen, on new products and projects ranging from station signs for a major rail infrastructure project, to being invited to work on producing the most exquisite high value handcrafted sculptured pieces for a commissioned bath. John says that drains are not his passion, but that they were a good place to start Lateral Design Studio’s modern Renaissance revival. Lateral Design Studio, will continue taking mundane components, and transforming them into the masterpieces in their own right. The Aquaduct range is produced for internal use, including, but not limited to, kitchens, bathrooms, wet rooms, showers, air vents and floor registers. Aquaduct designer drains are available in square, combined, linear and round ranges and are made from reclaimed stainless steel and are suitable for internal and external usage. Aquascape meets external and landscaping needs. The distinctive linear range looks stunning set within patio, hard landscape areas or for urban drainage solutions, but equally the designs look fabulous in a wet room or spa setting. As the creative powerhouse behind Lateral Design Studio’s innovative repatriation of art with utility, John was always innately drawn to the construction industry, learning construction drawing at school, and starting work in a building/hardware store at 16, and memorising the product names and specification of all the shop’s products, including brass compression fittings, in a matter of months. Upon leaving his homeland in the Republic of Ireland, John set out to seek his fortune in London. There, he spent a few years advancing his knowledge of building and construction before establishing Ormond Construction Ltd in 1989, quickly winning an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 2011, after spending decades in the construction industry as a quantity surveyor, listening to people making the same comments about the poor quality of certain fixtures and fittings – drain covers (internal & external), floor registers, recessed manhole covers, bi-fold door channels, fan plates, shower bases, sink strainers and much more – John resolved that he would reinvigorate the market, challenge the norm and develop quality products which combine high specification utility, with aesthetic appeal.