Wednesday 1 March 2017 marked the start on site of a new kennel building for Happy Landings Animal Shelter, a project Alchemilla Architects Ltd has been involved with right from the start, five years ago. The new kennel is the first phase of a larger re-development of the popular and well known shelter. A new cattery building and reception area are also part of the plan. The buildings have been designed to be as energy efficient as possible, whilst giving the animals the most comforting environment, with their carers being able to concentrate on their welfare.

Alchemilla Architects Ltd are currently working on a barn conversion called “The Cowshed”, which will be featured on Channel 4’s “Grand Designs” on the 14 October 2015. The young couple asked us to help them turn their designs into buildable reality as well as recommending measures to make their home as sustainable as possible. The project was and is a fun challenge, tackling the usual budget restraints and helping the inexperienced client to carry out a large proportion of the work himself. This included hands-on help with the straw-bale walls and some mud-plastering.

For the second time Wiebke Rietz of Alchemilla Architects had two of her photos chosen for the top 20 of the “Zumtobel Photographic Competition”. The competition is run by the Zumtobel lighting company every year. There is no prescribed subject, but a central theme of the photo has to be light. To ensure a level playing field all competitors are provided with a disposable camera with which all photos have to be taken. 

One of this years “winning” entries was a photo taken indoors where the sun, at certain times of the year, throws an attractive pattern through the trees and the window frame onto the wall.

As a reward all top twenty competitors were invited to a very pleasant lunch and prize-giving ceremony at The Zetter Hotel in London