LOYN+CO ARCHITECTS

Every Autumn RSAW Design Week offers us the opportunity to connect with our colleagues and the public to explore and celebrate making architecture in and for Wales. Interviews, site visits and networking events facilitate understanding and collaboration, culminating in the Student Award Ceremony and Chartered Practice Exhibition, this year held in the Sbark / Spark Building at Cardiff University. We'll be there cheering on our very own Ollie Yellend, who is up for an award. Here is a taste of our board for the exhibition. #rsaw #designweek2024 #studentawards #exhibition #charteredpractice #sbark #spark #CardiffUniversity #cardiff #wales #cymru

On Sunday 6th October, one of our Directors, James, will be running the #cardiffhalfmarathon for @cerebralpalsycymru a charity helping children with CP and their families. Read about our connection with CPC (formerly Bobath) on James' #justgiving page; link below. Any small donation will be massively appreciated by James and CPC! https://lnkd.in/eZf9eXdh

There is nothing better than constructing hand-built physical models for exploring complex geometries and that is just what we’ve been doing this week for a series of sustainable woodland cabins we are designing. To resolve the roof geometry, we first tested our ideas through sketching and 3D modelling before building iterations in card to guide our understanding of the complex junctions, helping us to design beautiful buildable structures. #modelmaking #origami #rooflights #roofs #lightandshadow #junctions #complexity #buildability #architecture #loynco @seedlandscape

Every Autumn, Chris Loyn heads up to Machynlleth to teach at the Centre for Alternative Technology. Sketching is central to what we do as architects, and we enjoy the chance to share our knowledge and experience with the next generation. The scenery is not half bad either.   #sketching #sketchbook #pedagogy #cat #centreforalternativetechnology #machynlleth #sustainability #loynco #wales

As hard as we work, it is great to have a sunny afternoon to relax together and our annual summer BBQ provides just that. Thank you to everyone for their hard work, whether they were hosting, cooking, entertaining or just providing great company! And thank you to Wales for providing the gorgeous weather. #teamwork #dreamwork #offhours #relax #bbq #loynco #family #wales

We had a beautifully sunny day for our studio visit to one of our recently completed projects, the award-winning Clifford Reservoir, a retrofitted former reservoir now earthshelter dwelling in the stunning hills of Herefordshire. As a small practice, we all contribute to every project, from nosey over-the-shoulder thoughts to formal design reviews, alongside sharing the wealth of technical know-how and site experience we all hold to ensure that every project is the best it can be. Experiencing our completed projects in person brings us great pleasure as it allows us to see how all those small discussions and sketching sessions came together to form the complete piece of architecture. We are so grateful to our clients for allowing us to invade. #awayday #sitevisit #studioculture #clifford #hayonwye #retrofit #reuse #recycyle #earthshelter #dwelling #corten #stone #concrete #alwayslearning #courtyard

Recently, as part of a larger piece of work, we set out to map the projects we have undertaken in our hometown of Penarth. Nearly 40 years ago, Chris set up from his home on Salisbury Ave. Later the practice moved to Victoria Road and we now occupy a dedicated studio on Glebe Street. During this time, we have touched nearly every corner of this beloved place, as was revealed by our mapmaking exercise. From benches for weary shoppers to contemporary home extensions and one-off houses and now even housing developments, we have had the privilege of helping to shape Penarth. Although our work now takes us much further afield, every intervention here that we travel past in our daily lives, holds a special place in our hearts. #shapingpenarth #placemaking #penarth #hometown #architecture #practice #studio #cymru #wales

We are very much looking forward to attending TPAS Cymru’s 2nd Annual Placemaking with People conference this Thursday. Placemaking has always been central to our practice, and we strongly believe that every architectural intervention, no matter the scale, has the opportunity to benefit (or harm!) the local sense of place. The way places are designed has the power to positively shape lives and we take our responsibilities in this regard very seriously. We appreciate the opportunity TPAS is creating with this conference to allow Placemakers to come together and learn from each other. We will be sharing our experiences working with co-housing groups to develop a sense of place within their communities in our talk, “Working with a Community to Create a Place”. Hope to see you there. #tpascymru #placemaking #conference #cohousing #housing #community #senseofplace #wales #loynco @tpascymru

Introducing Ollie and Sam, Year Out students from the Welsh School of Architecture, who are settling nicely into studio life. We love the new ideas and energy that students bring to our work and are thoroughly enjoying that September freshly sharpened pencils and blank notebooks feeling they have brought with them. Autumn also brings RSAW Design Week and we are very much looking forward to cheering on Ollie, who has been shortlisted for an RSAW Student Award. See some examples of his fantastic work in this post! Hope to see you there. #newstarters #yearout #pedagogy #wsa #RSAW #RSAWDesignWeek #RSAWStudentAward #loynco #penarth #cymru #wales

Delighted to have won an LABC Building Excellence Award for our sustainable earth-shelter dwelling, Clifford Reservoir, alongside some amazing projects. The retrofitted water reservoir creates a new house from an old building, bringing life and longevity to a structure that would otherwise have been lost. All regional winners qualify for the Grand Finals 2024, which will take place on Friday 24th January 2025. Well done to all involved including our clients! #LABC #awards #buildingexcellence #regionalwinner #winner #sustainability #reduce #reuse #recycle #earthshelter #reservoir #dwelling #granddesigns #greenroof #courtyard #impluvium #architecture #loynco #wyevalley @seedlandscape @wyevalleygranddesigns