Tim O'Callaghan
@nimtimtim
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founding director of nimtim architects, adoptive dad to two annoyi… I mean amazing children.
London
Joined November 2011
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Imagine taking a building this profound and turning it into a second rate shopping centre.
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We had a project recently where the planning officer insisted on a noise report that cost £2k to justify a heat pump in a conservation area. Client decided to go for a gas boiler…
Historic England will publish guidance tomorrow that encourages local councils to allow heat pumps, solar & insulation in listed buildings & in conservation areas. Fantastic news! We desperately need consistency & a can-do culture. Great work
@leylaboulton
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Incase anyone is thinking about starting an architecture practice; my accountants just informed me I earned £21k in 2019/20.
For context I started what is sometimes regarded as a reasonably successful practice 6 years ago and I’m 39 years old.
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In the course of our own research, sometimes we come across planning decisions that are so far outside the constraints we work to ourselves that it completely blows our minds. These 8.3m (eight point three) deep extensions were approved by
@lb_southwark
in 2013...
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West London is really stunning. Shame it’s now the preserve of the super-rich.
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This project has cropped up a few times on some threads recently as exemplar of how to do new development. I see it everyday and want to explain why I don’t think it’s good even if you’re a fan of traditional architecture. Tuck yourself in, a (potentially quite long) thread…
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As someone who started cycling in London in 2003 & commuted on Blackfriars bridge road for over 5 years, this still feels like an impossible dream: especially the bit at the end with the guy delivering beer kegs on a bike…
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Visited the cube houses by Piet Blom for the first time. They are completely insane…
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Imagine spending so much money on highway improvements in London in 2023 and not including any kind of cycle infrastructure of any kind:
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My tweet about hospitals needing architects was prompted by a recent visit to wexham park hospital with my dad which looked like this when it first opened:
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There’s a significant problem in this country that if one person misbehaves on or near a bench, this outweighs the countless times said bench has provided comfort, rest, a place for conversation. It’s a miserable way to manage our public spaces.
@ellen__mary
Good afternoon. We have reluctantly removed the tables on the recommendation of the police in an attempt to tackle the rise in anti social behaviour in the park in recent months
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Found this unusual church in Vicenza with an interesting ‘pixelated’ pattern of stone block and brick. Looks like they nailed po-mo several centuries before the rest of us.
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Very proud of this:
Walled Garden by Nimtim Architects has been named one of London's best home renovations according to this year's Don't Move, Improve! shortlist. Take a peek at the other nominees:
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Architecture practices sticking in 6% fees on £100k refurb projects (all riba stages) is part of the reason we have an existential earnings crisis in the architecture profession.
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I mean it’s impressive but just because you can do it, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
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Ramsgate has some truly outstanding 19the century domestic architecture:
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In response to the most common: I reserve the right to say I don’t like what it is without offering a fully justified & costed alternative.
There were dozens of alternative futures for that site that would have been more interesting, more generous, more useful than what we got.
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Sorry but this needs to be called out. This is not an accurate reflection of architecture schools today (or in the past). They are places of diverse learning, exploration and thinking. Everything here is just a tired and outdated cliche.
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This incredible house is very English in that it manages to be both enormous and modest at the same time.
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Wasn’t sure what to make of this (Antwerp City Museum). We agreed it was a good window cleaning contract to win and that we actually quite liked the way they made the really expensive stone look like the cheapest paving slabs you could get from Wickes.
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Another loft permitted development application refused (without discussion) because the case officer decided that measuring the dormer off the screen / an A4 printout and using GCSE maths to work out the volume was more accurate than our computer modelling software… 🤦🏼♂️
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Haven’t been able to post many sketches recently but here’s some ideas I prepared for a domestic extension and refurb project is South London last week:
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Just reflecting that the only meaningful physical difference between these terraces I found last week in Greenwich and the SPAN houses I saw the week before in Blackheath is the landscaping between them. What a difference it makes…
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Spoke with a few friends and colleagues who’ve taught architecture in various UK schools. We all received zero training or even guidance in safeguarding etc. Day 1 it was: ‘here’s the brief, here’s 15 students off you go…’ seems extraordinary.
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That Bartlett report feels so seismic: my whole time at uni it was all: have you seen what the Bartlett are doing? Ooh he/she went to the Bartlett? We all saw it as the gold standard and the kind of work (& work ethic) we should aspire to.
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The irony of being asked if one of our projects can be used as an exemplar in planning guidance by a borough that has threatened to refuse our applications on a number occasions is almost too much to bear…
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@AdamBienkov
Some would argue it’s an elected representative’s job not only to respond to constituents’ daily concerns but also to protect them from larger forces they might not fully be aware of but which might cause them harm now or in the future.
Like climate change for example.
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@AshleighCarrol
@metpoliceuk
‘Relevant department’ lolz. The
@metpoliceuk
don’t care about bike theft and they won’t do anything. Bike thieves act with complete impunity which is why they are bold enough to do it in broad daylight.
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Pimlico has some outstanding housing from just about every period in the 20th century:
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I’d really like to get our house insulated a bit better but, in the midst of a fuel crisis and a climate crisis, not only do I get no support from the government to do it but I have to pay 20% VAT on top 🤪
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Was at Wexham Park Hospital again yesterday. It is one of Powell & Moya’s best works. The original lobby looked like this. This is what it looks like now from the outside (you can’t access it) and the bleak office is what they’ve done inside the space. Jesus wept…
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Given the conversations we have with officers around our own (usually very modest) proposals, these decisions are just completely bewildering: how were they approved, why are they being judged so differently?
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We have a number of small project enquiries we can't really take on at the moment all over London. Any new/small practices (thinking nimtim 6 years ago) want to get in touch and we can send them your way?
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Found out there’s a plan to demolish this mid-century office block and replace it with mediocre new housing. In every instance I’ve seen it’s a lack of imagination rather than physical or regulatory issues that stops buildings like this being reimagined and re-used.
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Receiving dozens of speculative job applications each week whilst also losing out on projects to fee percentages that are less than half what the RIBA fee scale indicated in 1982 tells you everything you need to know about a profession in existential crisis...
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This tweet from back in August prompted a few conversations so (with the knowledge and agreement of our clients), I'm sharing the details of the application: ref 23/AP/1708 (use the southwark planning search).
Disappointing to see planning officers in
@lb_southwark
requesting we change a proposal from low-carbon timber frame/ timber & timber composite board cladding with a green roof to a brick & cement tile alternative with significantly higher embodied carbon and reduced performance
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Bartlett bullying thing feels like the tip of a very toxic iceberg that I’ve seen in one way or another in every architecture school I’ve ever taught in/ learned in. Interested to hear others thoughts / experiences on this...
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Why do I do this to myself: I could have had a quiet Saturday following the cricket…
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Some of our team have said they’re considering NOT doing their Part 3 because of the additional burdens and liabilities (including the risk of criminal prosecution) that are being proposed in emerging legislation. Worrying.
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Paid off my student loan last week at the age of 42. My fees were £1k per year.
I have no idea how younger architects will pay off theirs in any reasonable timeframe given all the financial pressures on them.
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Disappointing to see planning officers in
@lb_southwark
requesting we change a proposal from low-carbon timber frame/ timber & timber composite board cladding with a green roof to a brick & cement tile alternative with significantly higher embodied carbon and reduced performance
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Walthamstow is an excellent example of how great your neighbourhood can be if you get rid of cars…
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Passed by this yesterday. It’s a masterful composition and what you don’t get a sense of from photos is the scale (incredibly small & intimate) and the context amidst the historic townhouses and mansion blocks of St James.
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This is actually worse than all the crap from Poundbury they are always tweeting...
Sinuous chic by the Thames.
By becoming less angular, it’s interesting how modernists blocks become less oppressive to most eyes.
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Lots of lovely comments about this project on instagram and lots of questions about how we secured planning for the loft: In this case we trusted the judgement of case officers and went in with a full application for grad & loft together with the metal cladding described in full.
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Working as an architect in both private and public sector gives you a keen sense of where the money is and 40 years of neo-liberalism has had its effect. It’s crazy that we work with budgets for transformative public projects that we’d turn down if it was a kitchen extension.
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Has there been an architect before or since with such a mastery of light, threshold, depth and artifice as John Soane?
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When we first started nimtim I thought the key to building a successful practice was being a good designer. Now I think it’s about having good systems and comms. 🤓
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The burden of submitting bids/ tenders/ competition entries is starting to feel completely unsustainable. We need a different approach if architecture practice has a future...
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It’s just over a fortnight since the Grenfell inquiry report was published & I don’t think I’ve ever known such despondency amongst friends and colleagues in the profession as we reflect on its deeply unsettling conclusions.
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@KatyFBrand
@Baddiel
It's weird when they try and be normal: there's always a giveaway - like grandad encouraging the kids to trash a dining room because they don't a f*** about the people who have to clean it up.
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This is so naive it’s kind of cute.
What railway bridge would you rather was built near you? This is what the British public think. And here’s why it matters if we want to
#GetBritainBuilding
and
#CreateConsensus
that transcends politics … 🧵 ⬇️
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I don’t know if this is relevant to what happened at the Bartlett but feels like a disaster waiting to happen. The assumption that because you know how to be an architect (or even a successful student of arch), you know how to teach is clearly problematic.
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Here’s the ‘web of blame’ presented at the final day of the Grenfell Inquiry. Architects might think it doesn’t look too bad for Studio E here but look closely at the direction of the arrows congregating around their name…
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Just looked at a tender opportunity where the 'architect' gets to set these miserable pre-fabricated boxes out around some cul-de-sacs.
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My daughter’s school is an awesome early work by Michael Manser. For the 50 year anniversary they’ve put some of the original plans up on the wall and an invoice from the practice lol…
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A few weeks ago I shared some original plans of my daughters school: Horniman Primary by Manser practice. His son Jonathan (who worked on the project) kindly shared some more sketches and model pics & was happy for me to share them here:
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Got a brief for a ‘Fungalow’ yesterday and, frankly, we could all do with more of this kind of attitude right now.
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Just got planning refused for a roof alteration on a house that is part of a terrace of 7 identical homes. Of these 7, 4 have already made the same alteration and only 1 of these had planning approval to do so. None have had any enforcement action as far as we can tell.
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If you live in Haringey or are part of
@haringeycouncil
here’s proof (should you need it) that ‘local’ protests are being attended by pro-traffic individuals and groups from across London and beyond.
Tomorrow, 2 - 5pm, another protest against the Haringey LTNs.
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They didn’t get everything right but they knew how to do a good stairwell in the ‘60s:
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Just finished our interviews for Part 1 position. If you want to feel a bit more optimistic about the world, I can recommend speaking to some recent architecture graduates. So much talent, optimism, commitment to social justice.
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Cycled to Brighton yesterday and popped into Basil Spence’s masterful University of Sussex campus 🔥
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On Friday I went to Ferry Street housing in Isle of Dogs with
@OpenCityLondon
. We were hosted by the original builders Michael & Jenny Barraclough. Hard to adequately describe what a special privilege it was to hear their stories & be in their home.
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So glad this is being talked about. We need to challenge the mentality that if a bench is used once by people having a drink and talking, this outweighs the countless times it provides a place of rest for people who need it…
Police forces are using a Thatcher-era initiative to make harmful alterations to architecture and urban design like removing benches, ripping up plants and blocking footpaths. I wrote for the Guardian about Secured by Design.
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This is really exciting - can't wait to get started...
📣RIBA has revealed selected design for Becontree Centenary public realm commission by nimtim Architects (
@nimtim_arch
) with artist Katie Schwab, in partnership with
@Create_London
.
Read about our Becontree Centenary programme:
@lbbdcouncil
@HeritageFundUK
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Could someone do this for architecture?
There's still work to be done on this but here's a first draft of the British media nepo babies map.
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I should note re my previous tweet that a lot is down to personal choices: like taking time off to spend with our newly adopted daughter that year plus building a business that will look after us for 20 years rather than 20 months but still...
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A week late but my I have two issues with the RIBA competency tests:
1. What the hell do you test? Given the extraordinary range of work architects undertake at different scales and in different contexts, what would be considered 'core' knowledge. At a large scale, architects
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This sort of decision completely undermines the entire planning system. Why should people bother employing a designer and submitting an application which is refused while their neighbours get away with just building it with total impunity?
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Completely agree with this from
@Rob_Fiehn
: I know so many architects who don't think it's 'professional' to share political views publicly or are concerned they might lose work if they do.
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My dentist has made a really relaxing and reassuring space while you wait for your appointment:
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When I first moved to London, my best friend rented a room in this handsome mansion block just behind Tottenham Court Road for £90 (ninety pounds) a week!
Different kind of city…
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I like this from the new issue of
@ArchReview
. I wonder how many people who’ve designed a Corinthian column have ever cleaned one?
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Is the whole Bartlett bullying story a surprise to anyone who studied there or knew people who did?
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Bracing myself for when the trad arch crowd see my building analysis thread 😬
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Rotterdam library by one of my all time favourite architects Jaap Bakema. A sort of proto-Pompidou from the outside. Fantastic interior spaces with a twisting central atrium/ void connecting all the spaces together.
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The project shows issues typical of a ‘traditional’ approach: compromised internal spaces, poor accessibility and details/materials that can’t emulate the buildings they are referencing. When you unpick these projects you start to see that they can’t be judged purely on ‘beauty’
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The new terrace keeps roof/ floors at same level and steps main entrances. Traditional terraces step from house to house following the natural gradient of the road. It creates some pretty weird internal conditions with sash windows finishing close to the internal floor level.
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Last week nimtim celebrated its official 10 year anniversary.
It’s been quite a ride: lots of ups, a few downs. We’ve met and worked with some amazing people. We’ve delivered a few projects, seen a lot slip through our fingers (still think about those more than we should)... 🧵
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My letter about architect’s low pay (well mine at least) and why it’s a problem in the latest
@ArchitectsJrnal
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Architects aren’t great at learning from their mistakes imo. This book is about how we improve & has already been transformative for our practice with a new focus on sharing mistakes & solutions within the team & an expanded client feedback & post occupancy feedback system.
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As inevitable as death & taxes: Paul Finch responds to the Bartlett Report with a noxious op-ed on his own platform:
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