Key Design Issues

(Left) Brocton Hall has never been known to have handrails to the main entrance steps and colonnade.   This design in wrought iron with volutes at the lower end, was recently added, the design careful not to compete with the double Tuscan columns and radiused entablature by providing 'transparency'.

(Below) On the left the new additional staircase has a glass roof so that the original 18thC brickwork above can be viewed in passing.  On the right a modern fire door is dressed with strap work of 18thC design found elsewhere in the building.

Chris Cooper has decades of experience as an architect in private practice.  Qualified and registered in London in 1973.  Extensive period with traditional general practice founded in the Arts and Crafts period followed by several years with an influential public sector housing practice.  He then joined a respected Birmingham city centre practice and was invited to service numerous facilities management projects around the UK involving very large buildings and industrial site complexes. 

Under own practice designed and self constructed an exemplar passive solar house which drew him into the building research community.  He was invited to contribute to central government  research programmes relating to passive energy design.  BRE Scotland assisted him in developing a procedure adopted by numerous bespoke manufacturers to check energy compliance of highly glazed constructions. He later transcribed the government residential assessment procedure for a national house builder to automatically test energy compliance of entire housing portfolios.  He was also contracted by government research contractors to the Design Advice programme.

In more recent years designed and built several bespoke individual houses, including another self built house for own occupation, an inverted house in an area of outstanding beauty. Designed and procured numerous interesting house extensions.  He has worked on listed buildings in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, Lichfield and Brocton; notably the extensive refurbishment of Brocton Hall.

(Right) The inverted house, upper floor living space, reading gallery above, wood burring stove with insulated chimney concealed behind detachable mirror and back panel and hearth in Turkish travertine

(Below) The inverted house exterior, showing integral roof over sail, cantilever beams with suspension steel carrying the balcony, carefully placed roof glazing facing due south providing Winter light and Summer ventilation.  The red shrub is an acer with a collar of juniper.  Garden Planting by Gilly Cooper.