Hiscox Parladé Architecture and Design

Thinking about it...

2011-09-05T05:16:00.000-07:00

Taken on a visit to our accountant, whose offices is based next door to Warren Smith Architects.

BREAKING GROUND

2011-08-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

After an interminable period satisfying everyone and their kitchen sink we have broken ground.... 12 month contract period, with a split level space at the rear to overcome the 'basement' effect that comes with a basement....

NEW COMPLETED PROJECT: BOFFI WIGMORE

2011-07-19T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hiscox Parladé have just completed a second shop for Boffi UK, the British wing of the great Italian bathroom and kitchen company with Piero Lissoni as head of design.

The site was a former bank [originally Hamleys] on Wigmore Street, central London. Apart from painting everything grey we also converted the vaults to become trading space and now they contain bathroom displays and a meeting room. This is a company that do things properly and we like them very much.

another year ...another ramadan

2010-09-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

2010-07-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

Old St Pancras Churchyard.

Before Thomas Hardy gave up architecture to become a poet - writer. He was in charge of collecting the bones from the cementery during the construction of St Pancras Station. So disgusted with the immorality of progress he later wrote:

We late-lamented, resting here,

Are mixed to human jam,

And each to each exclaims in fear,

'I know not which I am!'

WATERLOO

2010-07-15T02:22:00.000-07:00

In 1994 the channel tunnel terminal by Grimshaw opened to huge acclaim.

15 years later it closed and has now reopened as a temporary theatre showing the Railway Children.

The concrete finishes are still perfect...we know that buildings often
have a 25year life span... but 15 years!

How many railway themed plays are there? what are they going to do??

JEAN NOUVEL PAVILLION AT THE SERPENTINE

2010-07-13T02:48:00.000-07:00

CASPAR HALL AGAIN

2010-05-13T08:02:00.001-07:00

Hebron series...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2008/jul/29/hebron.portraits.casparhall?picture=336060011

INK & WASH!

2010-05-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

ROTUNDA

2010-04-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Salonica, Greece

Birthplace of Niko Kostaras and home of the Rotunda, built by Galerius Caesar in 300AD for use as a place of worship by the mysterious Samothratian Kabirii, then a Christian Church, then a mosque, now a Greek Orthodox Church. What next? McDonalds?

Caspar Hall, Painter

2010-04-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

Caspar Hall - ruthless editor - this hand will go in the bin unless I save it...

the streets ARE paved in gold

2010-04-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Richard Hamilton

2010-03-04T02:12:00.000-08:00

CAN I JOIN IN?

2010-02-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

We went across London to see Nation at the National Theatre.

We got off the tube at Embankment and walked across the river Thames

Past the Royal Festival Hall

Past the bright & new South Bank

Past the kids doing tricks

to the National Theatre by Dennis Lasdun

where material is king

and the boundaries of what is inside

and outside are not defined

and the threshold is managed by a local entrepeneur

The interior of the auditorium was as much a play as the play

after the play finished we made our way back home, life had not diminished outside, the skaters were skating

in their appropriated skate park which the authorities have now realised is a part of the architecture

back over the bridge past the busker

wearing his busking shoes

and playing his busking sax

under the gaze of the ever watching eye

down underground

onto the late train

home

TOROS DE PARLADE

2010-02-11T04:48:00.000-08:00

RABO DE TORO

2010-02-11T04:29:00.000-08:00

EL PISTO was the house of this man....

that became a fantastic bar

that is famous for its.... [not their recipe]

Rabo de Toro (bull’s tail)

2 kg bull’s tail
2 ripe tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 head garlic
2 bay leaves
1 litre Montilla wine
Olive oil
Salt

Clean and remove fat from the bull’s tails and leave in water to drain out blood. Rinse thoroughly and place in a heavy bottomed pan with onion, garlic, tomatoes and bay leaves. Add wine and water to cover and season with salt then simmer over a low heat until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the pot and process liquid to make sauce. Bring sauce to the boil again and season to taste. Return meat to sauce again and serve reheated 24 hours later. Serve with thickly cut fried potatoes.

1956 TOROS

2010-02-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

Paris, 40 in the 4eme

2010-02-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

El Pintor

2010-02-03T04:43:00.000-08:00

from the sublime to the ridiculous

TREASURE

2010-02-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

JOHN VIRTUE

2010-02-03T03:49:00.000-08:00

spot the building....

LONDON'S BURNING

2010-01-26T09:39:00.001-08:00

looks like the weather has something to say about book burning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn_8CKu9toc&feature=email

LONDON'S BURNING

2010-01-26T06:36:00.000-08:00

We have a mosque below our office built by Mr. Kahn [aka 'The Kahn] using his own money and to provide space to pray as the other local mosques are fit to burst. All is peaceful here and we all get on with our own thing being that 'multicultural' is an understatement round here.

Anyway the Imam was ejected by a new group of younger guys last week.

Today the new Imam was burning books, including the wrong versions of the Koran....

Moron.

LEGS

2010-01-20T07:22:00.001-08:00

NYC

2010-01-18T09:26:00.001-08:00

PIL

2010-01-18T09:17:00.001-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 21.12.09

2009-12-21T02:47:00.000-08:00

HELMET

2009-12-18T02:55:00.000-08:00

JAPANESE DARTH VADER

WEATHER WATCH 18.12.09

2009-12-18T02:53:00.000-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 16.12.09

2009-12-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

ALDGATE EAST

2009-12-15T01:56:00.001-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 15.12.09

2009-12-15T01:54:00.001-08:00

LATE 60's, EARLY 70's NAIVE

2009-12-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

SNEAK PREVIEW

2009-12-14T02:43:00.000-08:00

Details from an upcoming exhibition...

WEATHER WATCH 14.12.09

2009-12-14T02:41:00.000-08:00

$10,000,000.00

2009-12-11T02:08:00.000-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 11.12.09

2009-12-11T01:55:00.000-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 10.12.09

2009-12-10T03:52:00.001-08:00

GILBERT SHELTON

2009-12-09T01:55:00.000-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 09.12.09

2009-12-09T01:53:00.001-08:00

ANISH KAPOOR, ROYAL ACADEMY

2009-12-08T02:00:00.000-08:00

CEMENT, WAX, FIBREGLASS

WEATHER WATCH 08.12.09

2009-12-08T01:59:00.001-08:00

1970's 50cc MORINI SUPERBIKE

2009-12-08T01:55:00.000-08:00

fix my bike NOW Daddy

ROBERT CRUMB

2009-12-04T02:21:00.000-08:00

fantastic collection of a friend....

WEATHER WATCH 04.12.09

2009-12-04T02:20:00.001-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 03.12.09

2009-12-03T01:59:00.001-08:00

thats more like it....

WEATHER WATCH 02.12.09

2009-12-02T02:06:00.001-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 01.12.09

2009-12-01T01:39:00.000-08:00

WEATHER WATCH 27.11.09

2009-11-27T04:18:00.001-08:00

GILBERT SCOTT CHAPEL

2009-11-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

New roof tiles - hand cut and laid by 1 man

sipsFORM sustainable buildings

2009-11-09T04:42:00.000-08:00

We have collaborated with Miles Montgomery to produce a series of small sustainable buildings for a variety of uses - see our link in the side bar to see more..

Marketing Suites, the built and the not built..

2009-11-09T04:06:00.001-08:00

Back in the good old days when banks were property developers we did some marketing suites [and didnt do some also but did some great schemes...]

Marketing suite for Wordsearch Ltd..
concrete meeting table with monitor display - concrete sub contractor was Lowinfo Ltd who did a great job...the veneered bench was one of my favourite pieces - ended up in a skip along with everything else...the bottom 2 pics show the model display bench in veneer with opening sections to view interior, round the back to the kitchen and wc

2] The Shard

This one we didnt get to build which was a great shame - all built in OSB, materials to be re usable and everything broke down to be small enough to get up a lift..

GARAGE TIME

2009-10-26T04:31:00.001-07:00

leave home on saturday morning just before 7am [neighbours not happy] to go to Kempton Swap meet...not a good weather forecast so most people left their bikes at home and came by car...but thats not for Jimmy and I, oh no. when its going to rain we like to get on our shiniest most special motorcycles and get wet....but it never rains that early anyway so it didnt rain on us

found some bits i needed and nothing that I wanted but didnt need so it was a good trip ending back in my garage to do some 'biketecture'... planning a new set up for a bike to go travelling with next summer. new tanks [rather old tanks], some high mount footpegs, police shift setup, a new set of bars and panniers should keep me happy.

9AM/NOON/9AM/NOON/9AM/NOON/9AM/NOON/9AM/NOON

2009-10-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

SHEPHERDS BUSH MARKET

2009-10-23T05:25:00.000-07:00

“Al Juma’a”

2009-10-23T04:59:00.000-07:00

Muslims have adopted the practice of taking Friday as their official weekly holiday. Each culture and religion has its weekly day of rest. God distinguished Friday and chose it particularly for Muslims. Thus, a complete soura is dedicated to this day and it bears the name “Al Juma’a” (Friday). This day has various pleasant qualities, the most important of which are cleanliness of the body and clothes and attending the Friday prayer which is distinguished from the prayers of other days, because it is carried out in groups. Due to the importance of Friday, there are preparations to be made the day before. Muslims pray a lot and recite the Koran on Thursdays. They also refrain from idle leisure and activities that distract them from worshipping.

El Pintor

2009-10-20T07:26:00.001-07:00

DAILY GRIND

2009-10-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

working towards a new set of projects...

CARNIVAL

2009-10-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

MADRID

2009-10-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

so good they named it only once

100%

2009-10-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

(100% rubbish)

EXQUISITE CORPSE EXHIBITION

2009-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

on at the chelsea arts club for October

DISASSEMBLED KNUCKLEHEAD

2009-09-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

If only life was really this neat and tidy
if it was you could wear white tshirts and all that stuff and keep them clean while playing with motorbikes like the Fonz

MARRAKESH

2009-09-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

Chaos in many ways but Swiss designed Islamic order reigned at the airport...

www.e2a.ch

not to take away from the Moroccans in any way who are no slouches themselves..

OUT OF THE BATCAVE

2009-09-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

and into west london.... saw this this morning in a secret garage location - the enemy of this Batman is Warner Bros. legal dept. apparently.

HAUNCH OF VENISON

2009-09-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

is not only a cut of meat but also a gallery in the old Museum of Mankind building at the back of the Royal Academy in London - the fact that they took on that building rather than it becoming a house for an oligarch [before he gets poisoned] is a good thing - even better is that they have some great shows...last night I went to see the new exhibition of extruded aluminium furniture by Thomas Heatherwick which was great...

but then there was Donald Judd....

THANKS VINNY FROM GOTHENBURG

2009-09-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

for making me do something on the blog, though since we've not been here for 4 months or so I cant imagine anyone is looking....

Vinny is a fellow who likes good motorcycles and ergo good design - if you need a carpenter in Gothenburg contact him through his blog...magnetozoo

KNUCKLEHEAD

2009-05-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

1946 FL... you are not looking in the wrong place with one of these.

This bike was salvaged from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina and brought back to life in London.

KEITH COVENTRY

2009-05-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

If you aren't a fan of Keith Coventry then you are looking in the wrong place.

Painting & Sculpture Part II: Works 2002-2009

at the Haunch of Venison, London 8 June - 15 August 2009

Green Roofs

2009-05-08T02:02:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 different sedum roofs we installed last year within a couple of months of each other but using different contractors

This is a Bauder roof - one type of sedum only -

The second is by BBS Green Roofing - varied sedum types - much better for this location as the 1st floor rooms of the house look down onto it

Village #2

2009-04-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

The Angel Killer lives at House #2. KV Shepherd will not say any more on the subject.

MUD AND PETALS

2009-04-27T02:31:00.000-07:00

The Image on the header

2009-04-27T02:26:00.000-07:00

comes from our CGI wizard Kevin Vucic Shepherd. This was what we hope is the first of many ... we are waiting to see one of a set of buildings in Bedford Square [no prizes for guessing which].

Venn diagrams

2009-04-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

A few years ago we composed a venn diagram to try to identify what we are. We didn't use it for more than a brief period but its still there and has some relevance to us - whether it was relevant or of any use to anyone else was not certain..

Hiscox Parladé diagram

The History of the World by Jeremy Deller

Another by unknown

And another by another unknown

HAPPY EASTER

2009-04-08T04:37:00.001-07:00

something for the kids..something for Mum.... Faberges 1st imperial egg - strangely minimal for Russian tastes...sort of Malevich influence

ARTIST NOT IN RESIDENCE

2009-04-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

Caspar Hall is a great painter who works in the next door space to our office - currently he is somewhere in the Middle East - doing strange things in dangerous conditions [so we hear].

easel at ease

Haile Selassie and Ayatollah Khomeini from a series of heroes and villains [one mans hero is another mans villain]

discarded works

discarded works appropriated to sit in front of my desk

SPRING IS SPRUNG

2009-04-02T09:20:00.001-07:00

our japanese red maple is coming to life against a wall of staffordshire blue bricks

CHARLES KRAFFT

2009-04-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

This artist is news to us at Hiscox Parladé though we have seen his porcelain hand grenade...but with more of these in the world there would be less trouble than the metal originals cause

ANOTHER 70's ODDBALL

2009-03-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

You wait ages for a fibreglass building to come along and then 2 come at once...... I drove past this dentist practice in Acton...just as dilapidated as the vanessa - maybe we can specialise

VANESSA SCHOOL

2009-03-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

A brilliant nursery school in need of TLC - built in the early 70's by The Vanessa Redgrave Eucational Trust using fibreglass panels and traverse trusses - materials that are not available at the local builders merchant

GURU #3 - OSCAR NIEMEYER

2009-03-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Extension to Listed Building

2009-03-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

small project on a north facing elevation ..trying..to get light into the basement - replacing a concrete balcony and timber extension with a glass structure

OLYMPIC PORTAKABIN?

2009-03-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

We are looking for gaskets like this for a window like this.... any ideas?

Rotring

2009-03-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

I stopped using rotrings in 1989.... I feel the desire coming back after 20years.. above is a 50's rotring and a drawing of a motorcycle boardtrack supported by giant pushrods mounted in a tappet block. The track went through the bathroom of a suburban house so I could say hello to my then girlfriend [who was always in the bath] - this was my second year of studies and clearly I didnt have to worry about much.

HEAVY METAL

2009-03-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Photos by Lior Kristal

HOT DOG

2009-03-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

In 2001 we very nearly built a hot dog stand in west london for Londons best burger bar.... nothing is wasted in this world [especially in hot dogs] and we still get the benefit of what we learned in our journey into weiner world.

In 1936, Oscar Mayer rolled out the first portable Hot Dog cart, they called it the Wiener mobile and the rest as they say is history. Lucky Dog...taken in New Orleans in 2004 [before the deluge]

Our scheme in 2001 designed in conjunction with Seng Watson, based on a 3m dia. chromed steel sphere, steamed buns and dogs and hot coffee meant minimal infrastructure.

GURU #2 - CEDRIC PRICE

2009-03-09T03:27:00.000-07:00

see self portrait signature

CEDRIC PRICE lives on

Essentially, everything that I do relates at one level or another to motorcycling [Paladin]

2009-03-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

It was only a matter of time that 2 wheeled building had to come into the frame.

Satoshi Ogawa, master builder.

REPLACING LONDONS VICTORIAN DRAINS.....

2009-03-06T02:20:00.000-08:00

We demolished a building to put a new structure on the site and thought we had covered all the bases. Not all - a retained structural party wall was floating above a 1500mm dia abandoned Victorian storm drain running 17m along just below the depth of our trial pits . Clearly the wall was build illegally a long time ago. 33 m3 of concrete later we were able to carry on building.....

Georgian red brick country house

2009-03-05T08:44:00.001-08:00

Planning application for a new build "Georgian red brick country house" in the North Wessex Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - submitted yesterday.

SPANISH STEEL

2009-03-05T03:12:00.000-08:00

made by an old spaniard in an old house using old tools in the old way.....

That sinking feeling

2009-03-04T08:49:00.001-08:00

This is a drawing of a sink we designed as a wedding present back in 2004 and have as yet failed to work out how [or who] to get it made.... anyone have any ideas?

We wanted it to be porcelain enamel on metal - as a one off the cost would make it a very generous wedding present

The idea behind the sink was for it to be a freestanding unit that, instead of putting your razor and soap on the side, you put everything in it.. hence the razor stand, the soap holder and the inset sink in the sink..

The Village #1

2009-03-04T04:28:00.001-08:00

K Vucic Shepherd is our CGI elf. We dont think he sleeps and in his downtime he is creating The Village, pieces of which we hope to show you as they come into the world. Suggestions welcomed for naming this village.

House 1 you see above belongs to Von Babel, a man inspired by Seymour Cray, who apart from playing tennis and other above ground pleasures, his 'favorite pastime was digging a tunnel under his home; he once attributed the secret of his success to elves. "While I'm digging in the tunnel, the elves will often come to me with solutions to my problem."'

WOODWORK

2009-03-04T02:41:00.000-08:00

We would love to build you a wooden house..... visit Ecobuild at Earls Court today or tomorrow...see the attached link to the Wood 100 Thomas Holz product from which I took these pictures...http://files.me.com/mmontgomerie/qglf9i

COPPERWORK

2009-03-03T09:10:00.001-08:00

at HP we love to use good materials and especially metal sheet...copper is much less forgiving than lead but the results pay off. ...what you can see here is a copper standing seam roof and porthole windows whose reveals were formed in timber and covered in copper

Searcys Champagne Bar, Westfield London

2009-03-03T05:15:00.000-08:00

Recently completed project for Searcys 1847...... regardless what you may think about shopping centres, site visits to this one were an experience.... cant remember the exact figures but I think there were 8000 people on site in the closing stages.

GURU #1

2009-03-03T02:45:00.000-08:00

MARK PRIZEMAN... hopefully not the last adventurer of architecture...still teaching us after 20 years.

cave painting

2009-03-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

note that the paint footprints only go in one direction....

Got to start somewhere

2009-03-02T04:24:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new blog... architecture is all about using it - starting from the playground