From train buddies to merging firms

Practice Name BCHN Architects
Based Shrewsbury
Founded April 2023
Main people Barbora Bott, Michael Cruise, Paul Harries, Mark Newall

Where have you come from?
We are a new practice that has been formed following the recent merger of Baart Harries Newall Architects and Bott Cruise Architects.

Mark Newall and Paul Harries trained together at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff and spent the early part of their careers working in London. Mark worked for Fitzroy Robinson and Paul for Aukett Associates, who coincidentally also merged later on.

In the 1990s, Mark and Paul both moved back to Shropshire to form Baart Harries Newall Architects, which grew out of an established practice that originated in the 1960s. Over nearly 30 years, BHN Architects designed and delivered a wide range of RIBA Award-winning projects, including schools, company headquarters, community buildings, churches, housing, manufacturing facilities, shops and restaurants.

Before setting up Bott Cruise Architects, both Michael and Barbora worked for 15 years in Birmingham, working on a wide range of landmark projects.

As a studio director at Glenn Howells Architects, Michael led the team that designed the National Memorial Arboretum Remembrance Centre in Staffordshire, which was longlisted for the Stirling Prize.

BCHN (former Bott Cruise work) A concept residential scheme for a former pub site in the West Midlands

Barbora was a senior architect at Associated Architects where she worked on a number of education projects, most notably the transformation of Yarm School in Yorkshire, a relationship that continues to this day.

Barbora and Michael were ‘train buddies’ on their daily three-hour commute to and from Birmingham and often discussed their vision to establish a design studio in their home town, which they set up in 2022.

Barbora and Michael were ‘train buddies’ on their commute to and from Birmingham

Having known Mark and Paul for many years through their mutual involvement in Shropshire Society of Architects (a local branch of the RIBA), the two practices agreed that a merger would bring together an array of complementary skills and expertise and provide a platform to develop new ideas and extend our reach into new sectors and geographies.

BCH Architects’ Concord College Student Canteen. ‘[A] building of great delicacy… a delicate, single-storey Miesian pavilion with glazed walls sheltered by an overhanging roof.’ Architects’ Journal 2002.

What work do you have and what kind of projects are you looking for?
We have a strong track record in education, residential, community and civic buildings and the reuse and restoration of historic buildings. We recently completed a nursery school in Telford, we have two boarding house projects on site at Shrewsbury School and a project on site in Walsall remodelling an existing school for Special Educational Needs provision. We have also recently achieved planning approval for a dining hall extension at Yarm School.

In addition, we have ongoing work on numerous conservation-led projects and have recently completed a planning application for the conversion of a number of redundant farmyard buildings into residential units.

We are aiming to grow our portfolio of work in the residential (including build to rent, retirement living and student housing) and commercial sectors having gained extensive experience of this type of work while working for our previous practices.

What are your ambitions?
We have developed a strong reputation as a practice rooted in high-quality design. We are looking forward to building on that legacy and creating a new future-focused practice that continues to make a really positive contribution to the built environment for generations to come.

We would also love to grow the team and welcome energetic and talented designers to our studio in Shrewsbury.

What are the biggest challenges facing yourself as a start-up business and the profession generally?
The aftermath of Covid-19 and Brexit are having a lasting effect on the building industry. Skills shortages and escalating costs in construction are having a negative effect on taking some projects beyond planning.

Escalating costs are having a negative effect on projects going forward

The major challenge we all face, however, is how we tackle climate change, both in terms of mitigating its existing impact as well as developing approaches that will create a clear and practical pathway to the design of high performing zero energy buildings. It is a journey the entire industry must embrace with the utmost urgency.

Which scheme, completed in the last five years, has inspired you most?
We really admire the New Library at Magdalene College by Níall McLaughlin. Much of our own work is set in historic contexts and we know how difficult it is to make architecture that is both sensitive to the context but also contemporary in feeling. The new library is an exemplary example of beautifully crafted contextual design with wonderful internal spaces.

Source:Nick Kane

RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist 2022: The New Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge (by Níall McLaughlin Architects)

How are you marketing yourselves?
We’ve built up a strong network of industry contacts over our combined 100-plus years working in architectural practice!

We’ve formed a relationship with local marketing company 80 Voices, which has vast experience in the architectural sector. It has helped us create a new website and is bringing us all up to speed with the benefits and opportunities around social media.