User:Duffryn Design/sandbox

Simon Kennedy BSc Hons BArch RIBA Duffryn Mawr Farmhouse Pendoylan Vale of Glamorgan CF71 7UP T : 01446 760 851 M :07860 777718

Education:

Llanfair Primary School. Cowbridge Comprehensive School Christ College Brecon Cardiff University

Christ College Brecon. Qualifications:

13 O levels 2 AO levels 1 GCSE

Cardiff University. 3 A levels – Geography, Archaeology,Art BSc (Hons) BArch RIBA ARB (pending)

Date of Birth: 29/08/1967

Experience:

1985 – 1987 : Cornish Associates, London. I worked on a variety of projects, hotels, industrial and speculative options. A large office in Bracknell, and a major warehouse in Gloucester. (year out experience)

1990 Quorum Associates : A small company dealing with residential developments, golf course design, hotels and refurbishment.

I was in charge of a large refurbishment project ay Cardiff Market, in the centre of the City.

The projects included a new lift and stair core ( there was no lift due to the age of the building). I also designed an additional storey on the roof, making the overall 5 storey’s above the ground retail space and cellar.

The attention to detail on the Grade 2 Listed building was intense, with stone cleaning, replacement of weathered junctions in stone, a lead roof dome, sash window replacement, as well as creating a modern office space that would be attractive to tenants.

1992 : Dale Kennedy Partnership. I was a partner in a mid to large sized business.

I worked on a multitude of projects the main ones being: Festival Park, Mallorca.

1 million sq.ft of retail and leisure development which to 3 years design work, and 2 construction.

The planning procedure was elongated, and complex. Dealing with Spanish Law and Planning procedures was testing.

I researched exclusively an RIBA Publication, Architectural Practice in Europe, which was produced by WS Atkins and the DoE for the RIBA.

We gained an approval vis the Town Hall, which reports back to the Balearic Government in Palma.

For construction I headed up a team of British based designers, predominantly ourselves and Arup. Due to the Spanish law at the time, a local architect has to be employed, and having interviewed several firms in Madrid and Palma a local firm was used to submit the information produced in Cardiff (with translations).

Based on a small Spanish town layout of streets and squares, the variation of spaces, light and shade were of utmost importance, as well as the use of local materials.

Part of the development was a 24 screen cinema, which at the time, was becoming a popular format in the USA.

It was one of the first in Spain and the operator (AMC) insisted their US based Architects overlooked our specifications, and acoustic designs, and drawings.

Other interesting elements to the development were a roof top golf course, large square with water fountains surrounded by restaurants and a nightclub with a capacity of 4000 people.

We attended MAPIC in Cannes with our scale model and exhibition stand for a weekend, which proved lucrative, and landed additional tenants such as Nike, Levis, and several designer outlet stores as well as restaurants and bars.

I have to say despite the hard work this was a pleasurable project to work on, particularly the local professionals, who were eloquent and very professional. They helped the language barrier, which I soon learned to deal with

It is now a thriving village of operators, though I have not visited in several years it is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike.

House St.Kitts.

St.Kitts, Nevis and Antigua suffered dreadful hurricane damage in 1994, wiping out a brand new cruise liner harbour, thousands of houses. Hotels were decimated.

We were brought into to develop a simple system that would be resistant the hurricanes, with a view too quickly replace the most badly damaged parts of the islands.

We developed a moulded system that were filled with locally sourced concrete, and craned into position on a heavy-duty concrete base with pockets cast into them.

The designs were very simple, as they had to be for the purpose they were serving.

I spent some time in all the islands regularly sourcing concrete suppliers, and eventually actually building the houses. I sourced a container and imported equipment from Miami, as there were no suppliers on the island. We imported a Matsui tracked vehicle to lift the concrete panels into place.

We built 160 2 & 3 bedroom houses, which proved extremely popular and are still standing.

World Bank funding ended the project in its infancy, and I wish we had built more, particularly in light of the recent horrific scenes we have all seen in the media.

The Royal Mint.

I was involved with the development of the several plating lines, and exclusively the gymnasium. Further more the re-design of the Police area and medical facilities.

Offices. We developed a small office development concept that could fit on small sites in towns and on business parks, based on a courtyard with car parking and small offices. Marketing came up with ‘every office has its own front door’.

We acted as developers as well as architects and many of these across the country, and still own several of them as part of the ‘Kennedy Family Trust’.

2001: Kennedy James Griffiths:

I merged Dale Kennedy Partnership with another firm of Architects.

Cardiff Gate Business Park:

We built our offices at Cardiff Gate Business Park where I was the principle Architect and to date it has been a very successful venture.

The development was part of an agreement between the Welsh Office, Cardiff City Council and a major contractor. A new link road was build joining the M4 to the A48(M) releasing a large parcel of land for residential development, and Cardiff Gate Business Park, which is a 90acre stretch of land directly on the then new Junction 30.

I was subsequently involved in the motorway services development, Regus, European BAC, 118-118 call centre, plus approximately 100,000 sq ft of offices. These were predominantly design & build contracts, so our role was mainly planning, design and building regulations submissions.

Retail :

I was the design architect for the Waitrose development in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

The town is sited on a Roman settlement, so history and archaeology were of utmost importance. Finding the old town wall on the first day of excavation proved interesting, but dealt with very sensibly.

Prior to the the conservation area had to be respected, in terms of mass, height along with vehicle and pedestrian access from the high street, which was a historic route.

Cowbridge is a well-healed town, and there was considerable objection to start with, as we carried out our public consultation. However, once a majority of visitors to our exhibition understood the detail we had adhered to and respected, they seemed to accept it. It has now been open for several years, and has proven to have benefited the high street as a destination.

It brings a smile to my face, when I see people in there who were screaming at me before the store was built, saying what a pleasure it is to shop there!

Hotels :

In 2012 I was at a Faculty of Building dinner with the head of development for Travelodge, and the site finder for Lidl stores (who happens to be my brother).

We came up with an idea of piggy backing a hotel over a food store as The site value is enhanced.

We subsequently built a 72-bedroom hotel over a Lidl in Portishead, which has proved to be very successful.

This was a design and build contract, so my role was design, and attendance at weekly site meetings.

2014 Duffryn Design

I left KJG to start a new business, Duffryn Design and The Secret Garden Marquee Wedding Venue. (www.thesecretgardenatduffrynmawr.com).

The wedding marquee business is proving successful so far, as well as our holiday cottage lettings which I have been concentrating on with my wife over the past few years, with involvement in the following projects when required.

I have been involved with several projects at Llanerch Vineyard as a project manager (an architect carried out the design and planning aspects).

I have assisted other clients in gaining planning for various small sized projects, with involvement with Grade II Listed buildings which have become quite specialized in.

I am currently project managing an extension and refurbishment to a Grade 2 Listed Building at Cottrell Park golf club.

Whilst this will still take a lot of my time, I still want to practice as an architect as opposed to designer / project manager. I hold PI cover for £500,000.

I potentially have much larger projects on the horizon, for which I will need my ARB status returned.

Simon Kennedy BSc (Hons) BArch RIBA

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