John Jervis

2 weeks ago | ribaj.com | John Jervis

Zaha Hadid Architects’ hotel transformation of a 16th‑century Roman mansion sets out to achieve beauty through extravagance – a goal it comprehensively achievesApproaching the unremarkable facade of Palazzo Capponi, just off Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, there is little sign of the contemporary, beyond a small canopy above its arched doorway.

1 month ago | ribaj.com | John Jervis

Satish Jassal Architects' new red-brick development of council homes in Haringey makes creative use of a difficult plot, and adds a welcome feel of solidity in the neighbourhoodTo reshape bits of London, finding scraps hidden behind shops, or on the fringes of housing estates, leaving your mark on the city, must be a gratifying feeling.

1 month ago | ribaj.com | John Jervis

Walking up and out from the centre of Cromer, a seaside resort on the north Norfolk coast, you encounter a generic postwar suburb with a jumble of standard house types and, near its crest, a 1980s brick bungalow with gabled roofs. To one side of its H-plan, a smallish extension with a ‘hobbit-like elevation’ – architect Nick Hayhurst’s words – has recently appeared.

2 months ago | ribaj.com | John Jervis

Severn View Park is a dementia care home that avoids an institutional feel in favour of providing a sense of familiarity and self-determinationSet amid an incipient housing estate outside Caldicot in Monmouthshire, Severn View Park Care Home consists of four low-lying villas enclosing a wide courtyard with a large gable-roofed hall at its centre. On approach, this assembly could be a farmyard, a yoga spa or perhaps a religious retreat.

2 months ago | ribaj.com | John Jervis

The MacEwen Award celebrates projects that demonstrate a mutual willingness of architect and client to push at the edges of what a typology can beThere’s a strong argument that almost all architecture aspires to work for the common good, from hospitals and housing to prisons and power stations, making dramatic impacts on society in the process. So what is it that differentiates the projects that the MacEwen Award has been spotlighting over its 10 years?