About Archadia

Managing Director

Patrick Manwell trained at Bristol University and then at the Polytechnic of Central London and qualified in 1979. His early years in practice were with DEGW, where he became an Associate and worked on the design for a community centre, conversion of an industrial building, and space planning projects for office buildings. He developed a strong understanding of the importance of the way buildings are used and how this changes over time and was one of the researchers and authors of the influential ORBIT study.

In 1983 Patrick joined Phippen, Randall and Parkes (PRP). Here he became involved in a broad range of residential projects including mixed use commercial/residential schemes, housing for older people, high density developments and affordable family housing. He added a strong understanding of residential design to his knowledge of commercial buildings and was quickly promoted to Associate.

In 1993 Patrick founded Archadia and further developed his expertise in the field of social housing, as well as building the practice and generating work in the education, health, commercial, private housing and community sectors.

Although much of Patrick's time is now taken up with managing and promoting the business, he remains closely involved with many of the projects, contributing to the design process in the early stages and maintaining regular contact with clients and contractors. He continues to develop his interest in housing for older people and has become an authority in this field.

Director

Jean Hanna trained at Bath University and qualified in 1984. She spent her first years in practice working for Graham Frecknall, a Monmouth based firm where she undertook a variety of projects including housing and shops for private developers, renovation of listed buildings, a nursing home, a doctor's surgery and social housing.

After a period in the Shetland Islands where her freelance work involved a youth club and housing, Jean moved South and joined Archadia in 1998. Her considerable design and planning expertise soon won her recognition as a key person in the team and she became an Associate in 2000 and a Director in 2004. Despite her management responsibilities, Jean remains very 'hands on' where project design is concerned and continues to be an influential talent behind many of Archadia's most successful projects.

Design Philosophy

At Archadia the user's needs are paramount and remain centre stage in the design process. The accent is on providing a sympathetic design suited to the client's requirements - in terms of spatial needs, building function and budget to produce designs of freshness, character and quality which respond to the surroundings and context.

Environmental concerns and long term maintenance are priorities and care is taken in design to give due regard to energy efficiency and the use of renewable materials.

We aim to give our clients a personal and professional service and to work with them to create beautiful spaces suitable for their particular needs.

Areas of Expertise

Archadia's expertise lies in the fields of social and private housing, health, special needs, educational, commercial and public buildings. It encompasses the skills of access auditing, condition surveying, space planning and project management as well as the more traditional architectural services.

Housing

Archadia has a great deal of experience in the design of social housing, ranging from sheltered housing schemes and designs for the frail and elderly to flats for the single homeless and the disabled. Specialised knowledge of the requirements of these sectors has been acquired over twenty years of working in these fields.

Previous projects have also included groups of family houses and mixed use developments. Space planning expertise is called upon to adapt, improve, and extend existing housing stock and new buildings are designed with a fresh style while remaining domestic in appearance.

A few current and former Clients:
Hanover Housing Association 
Housing 21 
Rosemary Simmons Memorial Housing Association
Retirement Lease Housing Association 
A2 Housing Association 
Hospitality Action Pavilion Housing Association
Wokingham District Council 
Abbeyfield Homes 
Southgate Churches & Wood Green Housing Association
St Pancras and Humanist Housing Asociation

Health and Special Needs

Experience on a range of projects has given Archadia a clear understanding of the technical demands made on buildings by people with disabilities or specific health problems, complex medical equipment and intensive patient care. Archadia recognises the increasing devolution of medical care into the community and work in the special needs sector has also drawn on experience gained in designing housing for the frail and elderly.

Archadia's team includes a registered access consultant and Archadia is a member of the CAE's specialist panel of access auditors.

A few current and former Clients:  
The Grange Centre
Bookham Centre for Accessible Environments 
St John's Group Practice 
Boulters Lock Residential Home
St. Pancras & Humanist H.A.

Public Buildings

Public buildings incorporate a wide range of spaces from auditoria to offices, and are used by a variety of organisations at different times. The development process requires negotiating, fund raising, presentation and project management as well as architectural skills. Rehabilitations and extensions of existing buildings require tight planning to maximise the potential and versatility of the spaces created. Archadia has extensive experience in the management of this process and in bringing it to a successful conclusion.

Previous work includes the strategic planning and redevelopment of a community centre, the refurbishment and extension of Balham Public Library, and internal rearrangement to allow better use to be made of the space for both church and community groups for Kingston upon Thames United Reformed Church.

A few current and former Clients: 
Jackson's Lane Community Centre
The London Borough of Wandsworth
United Reformed Church.

Commercial

Underpinning Archadia's experience in this sector is an understanding of the changing requirements of the workspace derived from research undertaken for the ORBIT study into the impact of I.T. on office buildings and a study for the Welsh Development
Agency into the needs of knowledge based industry (B1 space).

Work has ranged from space planning and relocation and refurbishment schemes to central city projects mixing office, retail and residential space and the design of newbuild office space for a headquarters building. This commercial experience is
also invaluable when designing office or administrative space within other sectors, such as health care, or special needs housing.

A few current and former Clients:
Traders Coffee
Financial Times, 
Welsh Development Agency, 
 R.W. Sturge, Turberville Woodbridge, 
Drakus Marketing, 
Kerry Foods, 
Retirement Lease H. A., 
The Optical Shop, 
Finsbury Instruments, .

Education

Archadia has had involvement in design for several educational establishements ranging from Primary Schools to Special Schools,Colleges and Universites.

Archadia's expertise in space planning has proved invaluable when working with some of these organisations as the reorganisation of space and adapting and maximising its use is often of prime importance in educational establishments.

Archadia is also well aware of the financial restraints experienced by the education sector and sees cost control as a particularly important part of its service when working on such projects.

A few current and former Clients: 
Kingston University  
Treloars  College 
Albemarle School 
Strodes College  
Spelthorne College