Bradford architects committed to "right first time " policy celebrates half century

FROM a house extension to a multi-million pound warehouse and office building, it's all the same to Bradford architects Waller & Partners.

Its expertise has been at the forefront of the local property scene for 50 years since it started in 1966.

And, according to the current partners, it is the breadth of work undertaken that has enabled the firm to ride out recessions to reach the significant landmark. Waller & Partners operates in sectors including private and social housing, health, education, retail, industrial and commercial .

Its pubic and community sector work included the rebuild of Bradford City's stadium at following the 1985 stadium fire tragedy .

Phil Veitch, who now owns the six-strong firm along with fellow architect Andrew Croxall and finance director Kirsty Butterfield, joined shortly after the Valley Parade disaster.

He said: "The second job I did after joining Waller & Partners in August 1985 was on reconstruction of Bradford City's ground after the fire. There was little money available and the project had to be carried out for around £2.5 million at a time when all the rules were changing."

The practice was started by Trevor Waller, who had been the in-house architect at Town and City Properties working for developer Sam Chippendale, who built the Arndale centres which were designed in conjunction with London architect, Michael Lyell

Associates .

Trevor left T&C and set up a new practice with Michael Lyell at Arndale House in Bradford, still doing work for T&C, but also fore other Northern clients. The practice was originally called Michael Lyell and Waller and moved to Lindum Lodge in Manningham

Trevor and Michael Lyell decided to go their separate ways in the late 1970s and the business was renamed Waller & Partners. It focused on designing retail and social housing projects and Trevor,who became president of the Bradford Society of Architects and Surveyors,was involved in setting up Brunel Housing Association.

He was later joined by directors Terry Gill, John Rukin and Ian Biggins. Phil and Andrew became directors in 2004 and Kirsty in 2007 and bought the practice in 2010.

Keynote projects include the recently completed £9 million 188,000 sq ft warehouse and offices at Pro Logis park, near the M606, for P&B Foods Ltd.

The expanding foodstuffs distribution business is relocating from Planetrees Road to the new site from where it will supply customers including Morrisons, Tesco and other retailers, wholesalers, hotels and restaurants. The P&B contract was Waller & Partners' highest value job to date.

Other notable projects include a £7 million mill conversion into 85 apartments at Apperley Bridge, which won the Bradford District Design Award in 2006.

Waller also designed the £4 million Inspire enterprise park at Eccleshill for Newlands Community Association . Built on a brownfield site close to Eccleshill Community Hospital. which Waller also designed, it is Europe's largest straw bale building incorporating a wide range of sustainable features .

The £3 million project to design 92 apartments near Centenary Square for Landmark Developments was the first major city centre living development in Bradford.

Waller was also responsible for designing a new entrance to the 1853 Gallery at Salts Mill along with work on two coach houses at the historic Saltaire site. Waller's connection with Salts goes to when Trevor Waller advised owner Jonathan Silver whose vision led to its refurbishment.

Phil said: " Working on such historic buildings as Salts Mill is both interesting and challenging. Professionally, you don't just want to mimic what has gone before but to use your expertise to enhance it with a modern twist. This, of course, can bring issues with the planning authorities, which can be frustrating."

Waller has also carried out several projects for Morrisons, including refurbishment and fit-out at supermarkets on Mayo Avenue, Bradford and in Guiseley and Yeadon.

Other key jobs included designing Bradford City's Dallas Stand and the Cottingley Business Park where the firm is now based in Millfield Lodge.

Waller has worked for Shipley-based social housing group Incommunities on a range of projects, including the £2.3 million refurbishment of Menston Hall into 27 apartments .

It's industrial work includes a 60,000 sq ft factory and offices for engineering company IMI Cornelius (UK) Ltd in Brighouse, while in the health arena it designed a 54 -bed forensic and learning disability centre at Lynfield Mount for Bradford District Care Trust.

Phil. who studied to be architect whilst also playing guitar in a semi-professional punk pop band called Jack Planet - which once shared a bill with the group that became the Kaiser Chiefs - says much of Waller's work comes through repeat business and word of mouth recommendation.

"It's an increasingly competitive environment so it's reassuring that, while we must tender for some jobs, most of our work comes to us based on previous projects we have completed. This, along with having a broad spread of work, enabled us to keep going and keep the team intact throughout the last recession

"One of our big selling points which helps win work is that the client deals with a partner through every stage of a project no matter what size the job is, Some larger practices are guilty of providing senior people to win the work and then handing it over to more junior staff .

"Right first time was Trevor Waller's motto and we have lived by that down the years ." said Phil, who was last year's Bradford Society of Architects president.

At one stage Waller & Partners had around 30 staff and a London office but slimmed down during a previous downturn.

The most recent recession also forced a tightening of belts and in order to reduce overheads Waller moved into its current 1,700 sq ft rented offices from the much larger Manningham base.

While business levels have been recovering over the past 18 months, the price of every project is haggled over - with set fees a thing of the past.

Technical developments such as computer aided design changed the way architects work and most firms, including Waller, employ architectural technologists to prepare drawings based on concepts developed by qualified architects .

An extra income stream for the firm is being sole UK distributor of a Dutch software programme called ARKEY, incorporating the latest digital Building Information Modelling which combines information about every component of a building, reducing the risk of mistakes or discrepancies and avoiding unnecessary costs.

Waller has tapped into an emerging specialist market designing solar farms for farmers making alternative use of their land. Each scheme involves around a dozen technical drawings to achieve maximum energy generation along with site screening and landscaping .

As a long standing member of West Yorkshire ProHelp, Waller & Partners has given a significant amount of free advice to local community groups to help get projects off the ground, including the Light of the World church and community centre in Gaythorne Road, Bradford.

To mark its 50th anniversary Waller & Partners is refreshing its branding and website and planning a newsletter.

Guiseley-based Watson Batty Architects is marking its 40th anniversary with ambitious growth plans and by hiring more staff. It plans to take on another six to eight people to join its 50-strong team locally and in Loughborough.

The firm, which has grown on average by 20 per cent in recent years, is also looking to double its £4 million turnover.

Peter White, managing director, said: "With our roots firmly established in the North we are in a fantastic position to leverage the Northern Powerhouse movement and we are in fact engaging with some very significant urban planning projects."

Watson Batty Architects' long term clients include Morrisons, for which it has delivered one million sq ft of retail space across 19 stores, and Royal Mail for which it has completed three million sq ft of mail centres.

It has also designed 4,000 new homes and supported 20,000 new school places in the UK.