Robin Snell and Partners

A new indoor and outdoor tennis complex for a private members club, located on a sloping site in a dense residential area.

The conservation and refurbishment of a striking 1960’s Art School building required a full overhaul of the building fabric, services and the way in which the interior spaces were used. Invited Competition, 1st Place.

The Cadogan Café is designed to sit in the Duke of York Square on the Kings Road in Chelsea. Invited Competition Design Submission.

The Northern Architecture Centre is conceived as a glass exhibition enclosure shaded by an external, structurally independent, fabric roof parasol. RIBA International Competition: 1st Place.

An interest in modular construction, the efficient use of materials and expression of engineering as an integral part of the architecture has always underscored our work.

A new generation of prefabricated and demountable Real Tennis courts for the Tennis and Rackets Association.

The pavilion concept investigates the requirement to construct a variety of elegant pavilions at National Trust properties throughout the country to improve visitor facilities, such as new Cafes, Visitor Reception buildings and Shops in very sensitive locations. It takes the form of a demountable sustainable building system using timber sourced locally from National Trust properties where possible. The principle of this idea has been utilised by the National Trust.

We were asked by the National Trust to investigate the possibility of developing our Pavilion Concept for use at Knole to provide temporary café facilities as the existing tea room is unable to cope with demand. The building is capable of removal and relocation to a different property in the future if required. Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent has been received.

Use of Carbon Fibre in construction.

“…We have reinvented a local tradition of innovative long-span timber roof system, the Belfast Truss, for the ARCC Campus project. A net-zero energy, net-zero carbon pavilion providing flexible design studio space for innovative start-up companies in rural Cambridgeshire. It produces a simple open-plan area, more akin to a garden structure than an industrial scale building…” Robin Snell, Specification Today 13.02.19

“…There seems to be an emerging understanding that the Nine Elms Pimlico Bridge Project is more than just a new bridge, but part of a serious solution to tackling London’s rapid expansion and the fundamental issue of providing a safer, less polluted and sustainable quietway system of moving through our great City for the future…” Robin Snell, ‘Cycling & Connectivity – Cities in Motion’ Symposium, 14.07.2017

“…Robin Snell and Partners were chosen for the sensitivity of their approach to Matcham’s famous theatre as well as the breadth of their vision in seeing opportunities for the ultimate transformation of this much loved building…” RIBA Press Release 08.04.15

“…We are in the 18th century, when landowners employ architects to improve their country estates, dotting eye-catcher buildings about to add Arcadian interest…” RIBA Journal 01.10.14

“…There is a new candidate for the accolade of the Most Beautiful Opera House in the World…” Daily Telegraph 06.07.11

“…The idea is to be understated – a bit like a traditional Japanese tea house or the London cabbie cafes…” Building Magazine 27.03.09

“…a growing number of organisations are recognising the real benefits not only of reducing running costs, but of more efficient resource utilisation, increased productivity, recruitment, retention of staff and the major public relations benefits that are derived from what we have come to call ‘sustainable’ developments…” Sustainable Architecture, 2007

“…A unique cladding system whose ventilation and glazing can be adjusted depending on climatic and geographical circumstances…” Building Magazine, 03.03.06

“…The bird has landed. Imagine concorde touching down at Heathrow and you have some idea of the form of the new Water Activity Centre at Whitlingham Country Park…” Architects’ Journal 22.09.05

“…The composite has characteristics quite different from those of the separate materials…” Architects’ Journal Feature 23.03.06

“…Snell has punched through the Arnolfini’s floor slabs and reworked the circulation to give the famous Bristol gallery room to breathe…” RIBA Journal 01.11.05

“…a good tent just looks ‘right’. It possesses visual dynamism, lightness and openness, rhythm, harmony and elegance. The form requires no explanation, it simply ‘feels’ appropriate and has the power to excite. Perhaps these feelings stem from these early connections…”

“…An elegant unified design which relates well to the surrounding streetscape…” The Royal Fine Art Commission’s Annual Report 1999

“…The building is all about being open, like a big shop window… The idea is that there is minimum boundary between inside and outside…” Building Magazine 25.09.98

“…a transparent glass enclosure shaded by a structually independent roof ‘parasol’…” Architects’ Journal 18.05.95

“…Tensile-fabric canopy gives a welcome for all seasons…” Architects’ Journal Feature, 20.04.95