1 October 2011
» TODD’S Transylvanian Adventure
TODD Planning has recently won a contract in Transylvania, Romania to provide an action plan for the regeneration of the Zavoaie former landfill site in the municipality of Bistrita.
Una Somerville, head of TODD Planning who travelled to view the landfill and is conducting the work required said:
‘Although not the most glamorous of locations we are delighted to help deliver the action plan for the municipality. It is a first for Romania and is part of a pan–European grouping to progress the sustainabile use of former and abandoned landfills. We are keen to build on our international expertise in this area’.
26 September, 2011
»TODD Architects celebrates in Titanic style at Culture Night 2011
TODD Architects was delighted to welcome Culture Night revellers to ‘Titanic Belfast: the new architectural legacy’ a series of presentations on the history of the shipyard, RMS Titanic and the new architectural influences of the iconic Titanic Belfast building on Belfast’s Titanic Quarter skyline.
12 September 2011
»TODD Architects wins global architectural prize for ‘The Boat’ Belfast
TODD Architects and Planners are the recipient of a prestigious global architectural award for ‘The Boat’ located on the banks of the River Lagan in Belfast.
Held this year at London’s Landmark Hotel, Paul Crowe managing director was there to accept the Emirates Glass LEAF Award 2011 for Mixed Use Building of the Year along with developer Harry Dougherty.
Now in its ninth year, the Emirates Glass LEAF Awards is an annual architectural prize. It honours those individuals and organisations which have made an outstanding contribution to the world of architecture, providing a benchmark for the international architectural community.
Previous winners include: Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield, SOM, Steven Holl and Terry Farrell. The awards are operated by the Leading European Architects Forum (LEAF) .
Paul Crowe managing director of TODD Architects and Planning said of the accolade:
‘We are delighted The Boat has been recognized on the international architectural stage and particularly in the Mixed Use Building of the Year. It underlines the importance of designing buildings which have a financial viability in challenging economic times and which create a place where people can live, work and play.’
The Boat Developer Harry Dougherty said:
‘The Boat has been a labour of love for a decade. The architectural design of this 14 storey landmark and its subsequent execution has created the desired regeneration of this prime riverside location offers with views over Belfast Lough and Titanic Quarter, bringing vibrancy and people back to Custom House Square.
08 May, 2011
»TODD Architects ‘Bradford City Centre Mixed Use Development’ Wins Yorkshire Property Award
TODD Architects mixed use office and hotel scheme at Southgate in Bradford has won the category for Best Commercial Development at the Yorkshire Property Awards.
The ceremony, organized by the Variety Club, was held at the Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate on 5 May. The Best Commercial Development category was sponsored by Land Securities.
The scheme developed by McAleer & Rushe, who also acted as contractor, is located on a prominent city site and has regenerated a previously derelict area fronting onto one of the main squares and the Town Hall.
It comprises a 117,003 sq ft office building, which was pre–let, and purpose designed for one of Bradford’s leading employers, Provident Financial Plc and a 200–bedroom Jurys Inn hotel.
The building was completed within budget in just 18 months and includes an impressive splayed corner at the main junction as well as York stone and large amounts of glazing, particularly at street level.
TODD Architects managing director, Paul Crowe said: ‘We are very delighted to have received this prestigious award and would like to thank the Variety Club, the judges and the award sponsor Land Securities. We would also like to acknowledge McAleer & Rushe for their collaborative approach to this project.
‘This mixed use scheme is a vibrant catalyst to the regeneration of the city of Bradford and demonstrates not just value for money but how clear thinking in terms of design and functionality engenders sound commercial benefit.’
01 April, 2011
»TODD Architect’s Double Celebration
TODD Architects celebrated twice this week – a decade of cutting edge architecture and winner of a Sustainable Planning award for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
TODD Architects enjoyed a double celebration at the end of March with the launch of its publication ‘TODD10 – A Retrospective 2000–2010’ at the iconic Belfast city riverside development ‘The Boat’, and then as recipient of a Sustainable Planning Award for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) presented by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and RSPB.
Since a Management Buy Out in 2000, when founder Barrie Todd relinquished control, Todd Architects and TODD Planning has delivered a collection of critically acclaimed buildings across the commercial, health, education and residential sectors. These have included: Invest Northern Ireland headquarters, the province’s first eco–village at Brokerstown in Lisburn and six multi–award winning primary care centres in Belfast.
Launching ‘TODD10 – A Retrospective’, Eddie O’Gorman, the BBC’s Business Correspondent said: ‘I am delighted to launch Todd Architects ‘TODD 10’ publication. This retrospective a represents a decade of architecture by Todd Architects across key sectors and reveals the scale, scope and complexity of projects in which they have been involved. It is important to celebrate the ongoing success of companies such as Todd Architects given the current challenges in the economic climate.’
‘Good architectural design defines a city. It is one of the keys to economic regeneration and, in particular, to influencing inward investment. I’m particularly delighted to acknowledge the practice’s involvement in the Titanic Signature Building Belfast, the iconic cultural and conference facility which will attract worldwide attention when it opens in 2012 and draw business and cultural tourists to the city.’
Eddie O’Gorman concluded by saying: ‘Todd Architects is also taking courageous steps into international markets, including Saudi Arabia and India supported by Invest Northern Ireland.’
Managing director Paul Crowe said of the double celebration: ‘It has been a great few days. Our publication, TODD 10 demonstrates the sheer diversity of projects in which we have been engaged, virtually unimaginable to us ten years ago. It also looks to the future and how we might continue to shape the horizon and the places in which we live, work and play.’
Of the RTPI/RSPB Sustainable Planning Award he added: ‘We are delighted this landmark building has been recognized in the sustainable arena. This RTPI/RSPB Sustainable Planning Award for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is the acknowledgement of the impact that planning and architecture has on our environment. Sustainability need not impact on cost when adopted as a driving principle from project inception.’
10 March, 2011
»Abacus Framework Success
Todd Architects with Richard Partington Architects have been appointed to the Abacus Housing Consortium Framework. Abacus is a key provider of social housing and aims to promote collaborative working arrangements between member housing associations to maximize efficiency and ensure best practice in the delivery of the Social Housing Development Programme in Northern Ireland.
01 December, 2011
»Todd Architects wins with ‘Investors in People’
Todd Architects, one of Northern Ireland’s leading architectural practices has, on first attempt, achieved the Investors in People (IIP) bronze accreditation for its successful approach to managing training and developing staff to improve business performance.
The culmination of a two year process, the accreditation demonstrates Todd Architect’s forward–thinking approach to best practice through every level of the organization and the company’s progressive view on business improvement through people.
The results showed that Todd Architects values were well embedded into every aspect of the business and that employees were continually inspired and motivated by their managers to improve their own performance to meet organizational objectives such as business development, staff development, excellent design, quality and sustainability.
Of the three architectural practices in Northern Ireland to have achieved Investors in People Todd Architects is the only one to have achieved one of the additional standards and one of only twelve companies to have achieved the bronze standard first time round.
The bronze standard identifies additional achievement against the IIP framework and where the practice has excelled but it also reflects the start of an ongoing developmental programme.
Paul Bryans, Manager of Investors in People Northern Ireland, praised Todd Architects on its recent achievement: ‘Investors in People is a great achievement for small businesses in itself, but to achieve bronze level on a very first assessment is tremendous! Todd’s accreditation is testament to its commitment to excellent people management and belongs to all 40 employees – well done!’
Paul Crowe Managing Director of Todd Architects said: ‘Employee engagement is vital for Todd Architects if we are to continually improve our service to customers. It is a tool we can use to continue to grow and improve as an organization. Being one the first integrated architectural and planning practices in Northern Ireland to be awarded bronze Investors in People accreditation shows how committed we are to supporting our employees and making sure we recruit and retain the best people.’
