Our projects in this field of work are nearly always about improving the quality of public realm, whether associated with culture, community or congregation.
The practice’s diverse range of projects, new build and refurbishment, demonstrates an ability to understand the ever more sophisticated expectations for a public building and the need to understand critical aspects such as flexibility, accessibility and sustainability. Many of these projects have involved close collaboration with a community or church congregation where our skills at consultation and the promotion of collective contribution have resulted in completed buildings that instil a sense of shared ownership with their users.
Lee Boyd has successfully worked with many public funding bodies such as the Lottery and is familiar with the requirements to provide a robust case for taking a public project forward, often integrating the input of an extensive design and economic team.
Churches
Many churches are facing an uncertain future with dwindling congregations and finite buildings that are no longer fit for purpose and likely to have been constructed in days when inclusiveness was not so important.
Nonetheless there are genuine opportunities for congregations to revitalise not only their building but the manner in which the Church is perceived by making facilities more accessible, flexible and welcoming.
Lee Boyd has considerable experience working with Churches to tackle some of these challenges and as a result has a good understanding of the limitations and possibilities for church buildings, the factors that affect progress such as consents and funding and the need to engage with the congregation and building users at different levels to provide a backdrop of collective contribution to the future of their Church.
Community, Visitor and Charity
Public expectation for such facilities is higher than ever and the demands for buildings in this realm to be increasingly flexible, inclusive, robust and highly sustainable and yet still affordable, attractive and comfortable ensures that the process from inception to completion is complex and challenging.
Using our experience Lee Boyd can help clients to fine tune their brief and ensure collective responsibility by assisting with stakeholder and community consultation.
We can work closely with potential funders and ensure that their award criteria is met first time round and we can support consultants to develop business planning that is complimentary to the brief.
Much of our work has involved period buildings where there is a need to balance the essential architectural character with the need to provide modern facilities, addressing the challenges of access, sustainability.
Museum & Exhibitions
The dynamic modern museum is often far removed from the early Victorian forerunners and yet interactive technology is not necessarily the only answer to the provision of accessible and engaging interpretation or display.
Lee Boyd believe that interpretation should work at various levels and not only at the simplest and most legible level, which is often exclusive in modern displays.
Lee Boyd can work with interpretation consultants, archivists and curators to conceive an appropriate framework for any collection and will develop a consistent language of display that translates from spatial control to the very mounts of the objects themselves.
We have experience working with artists, including Andy Goldworthy and the late Eduardo Paolozzi and specialists in the field of conservation, case design, display, graphics and audio visual.
University
The Cafe, ECA
The Cafe, ECA
Ashworth Laboratories
Ashworth Laboratories
Lee Boyd has undertaken a range of Educational projects, all of which have involved the adaptation or upgrading of existing buildings. Changes to legislation, such as those set out under the Equality Act, has been the catalyst for a number of these projects, where existing buildings require to be brought up to current standards for accessibility by improved access into and around buildings, improved wayfinding, and reconfiguration of toilets, for example.
Universities are increasingly competing for students both at National and International level. This requires a focus not only on the teaching standards but also the quality of facilities and the wider university environment. Our work for the University of Edinburgh at the ECA café provides a good example of this; the upgraded canteen not only expanded the food on offer to include more diverse and international offering but also expanded the use of the space to a much wider range of functions, supporting student learning with attractive study spaces for both individual and collaborative working.