Princes Mews
February 3, 2020
‘Creative solutions for maximising daylight were the key to the conversion project from a commercial garage unit into a bright, fresh London home’
Designer Magazine
Princes Mews
November 3, 2019
The brief for the conversion was to create a clean, crisp, architecture-led design, with exposed brickwork and high-quality, natural and tactile materials, as well as ensuring a feeling of space and inter-connectivity between the levels.’
Princes Mews
November 3, 2019
‘An interconnected, clean and crisp three-bedroom home in London’s Bayswater Conservation Area’
Princes Mews wins Gold Award at London Design Awards
November 3, 2019
‘As mews properties are traditionally long and thin, it was important to create a feeling of spaciousness and light throughout.’
Neil Tomlinson – Radical Thinkers
October 1, 2019
Which radical thinkers have been an inspiration to you in your career?
The radical thinkers of influencers that made early impressions certainly weren’t all from architecture, though most were in the arts. As a teenager, I was struck by the discipline of Rodney Mullen in the mastery of the art glibly termed ‘skateboarding’. In design, I was drawn to the analytical purity of Marc Newson and the graphics of Peter Saville. In cinema, it was Stanley Kubrick, who I thought had the same approach to composition and clarity as Mies van der Rohe in architecture. These highly self-controlled artists were tempered by more maverick characters, like modern-day Fagin Malcolm McClaren, whose influence, together with Vivienne Westwood, spanned everything from fashion and retail to music.
Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust
September 3, 2019
‘I was lucky enough to live in Greenwich for many years’, Neil Tomlinson, the Founder of the Studio
commented, ‘so it was a particular privilege for my practice to be involved in this project’.
Architecture Magazine
Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust
August 19, 2019
‘The Royal borough of Greenwich commissioned London practice Neil Tomlinson Architects to help transition, store and protect the fascinating and highly-varied archive of historic objects and documents managed by Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, as it moved from its original home in Woolwich, by the Thames, to a new store in Charlton.’
Neil Tomlinson - Structural Advice
April 26, 2019
‘You need to prove, preferably via a structural engineer’s report, that the remaining walls are stable, without the bracing support of the chimney breast’, adds Neil Tomlinson, Founder of Neil Tomlinson Architects’
Style at home
Neil Tomlinson - My Inspiration
March 20, 2019
‘In our masterplanning work, we are often influenced by Jerde. Every scheme we undertake, ranging from townscapes and airports to retail environments or any other category of placemaking, all have the inevitable common thread of being inhabited by the anthropology of the human and possibly their choice of transport while moving through space and negotiating physical objects.’
Architecture Magazine
Woronzow Road
February 22, 2019
‘One way to solve the number of stairways and turnings is to replace them with a single staircase. Neil Tomlinson Architects replaced three sets of stairs in a townhouse in St John’s Wood, northwest London, with one dramatic staircase encased in glass that rises majestically from the lower-ground floor to the first floor’
©The Times, Bricks & Mortar
Morton Mews
November 27, 2018
‘To naturally illuminate a new lower-ground kitchen in this west London mews house renovation, Neil Tomlinson Architects positioned a modern staircase beneath a roof light so that daylight filters down through the glass risers into the basement via the glazed glass floor’
© Grand Designs magazine, as featured in December 2018
Neil Tomlinson - The budget and housing
October 30, 2018
‘First-time buyers are being helped a little more and this seems to be more regionally-geared to help more young buyers get onto the property ladder – very much needed to invigorate the stagnant market. Another positive is that councils are being given a boost and encouraged to make a start to promote building 650,000 new homes with a £500 million Housing Infrastructure Fund. Time will tell whether this is enough to make a real difference, but it’s certainly a positive step in the right direction towards more quality housing for all.’
Neil Tomlinson - Renovating period properties
October 29, 2018
‘When it comes to new interior detailing, try not to fall into the trap of pastiche. Its too easy to copy details and it takes much more skill to enhance via a modern palette, whilst still remaining true to the original fabric.’
New Covent Garden Market
September 13, 2018
‘Within the master plan, there was opportunity to increase the efficiency of land use, to streamline movement through the site and to create scope for public transport penetration, as well as additional permeability for public access to the ‘Garden Heart’, the new space that will welcome the general public.’
Contemporary Market Architecture, Planning and Design (Images Publishing)
Neil Tomlinson – Editor and Intro Writer
September 13, 2018
‘The lessons of market trading for retailers are legion. Where else can you get to know your customer better than to interact with them directly on a regular, face-to-face basis and get to know their likes, dislikes, preferences and frustrations?’
Introductory Essay, Contemporary Market Architecture, Planning and Design (Images Publishing)
Neil Tomlinson – Restoring dilapidated properties
August 7, 2018
‘Beware of restrictive convenants, ancient light, access or easements rights, and listing and conservation area restrictions, any of which may scupper or escalate the costs of an ambitious renovation plan, according to the London-based architect Neil Tomlinson, who specialises in high-end refurbishments.’
The Times, Bricks & Mortar ‘Market Intelligence’
Neil Tomlinson- Planned To Perfection
August 7, 2018
‘Aesthetic choices should follow the meaning or function of your staircase. Do you need it to be solid in order to house storage or bookshelves, for example, or to serve simply as a connector, allowing light and views between floors?’
© Grand Designs magazine, as featured in August 2018
Neil Tomlinson- Advice to Graduates
July 17, 2018
‘Try to get your portfolio together and out quickly, as most employers will be punch-drunk on CVs by the end of Summer. Give it a stand-out feature and do a dummy run-through with a friend to make sure you can get the main points across succinctly. Above all, be keen!’
Neil Tomlinson - Domestic space-planning for bedrooms
July 4, 2018
‘The best way to maximise storage in a bedroom is by removing non-structural partitioning and re-planning. With careful layout consideration, you can usually create a generally rectangular space with good access to bedsides and circulation, whilst also borrowing an extra niche of space large enough to build in a wardrobe/full height cupboard for storage.’
Neil Tomlinson – Expert Opinion on Home Extensions
June 4, 2018
‘The challenge is where to extend. Look at the building in its entirety. Can you extend a front or back porch, or the side, create a semi-basement – or build off the first floor and have an outdoor kitchen underneath?’
/ 25 Beautiful Homes
New Covent Garden Market
May 3, 2018
‘Neil Tomlinson Architects has been commissioned for a new stage of work at New Covent Garden Market in London’s Nine Elms, a scheme the practice has been involved with continually since its original masterplan for the market’s future development in 2011, which considered the 23ha site’s many component parts and overall relationship to the surrounding area.’
Neil Tomlinson Architects Team- 'If Only' Concept Page
May 2, 2018
‘If only pop-up market stalls really did pop up. At our offices on the edge of the Borough Market, not a morning goes by where we don’t see traders struggling to make their way through crowds of tourists and commuters with heavy trolleys laden with produce and equipment for their stalls. We were inspired by this – as well as the market’s steampunk style – to imagine a simpler way to trade.’
New Covent Garden Market
May 1, 2018
‘At the same time, potential cut-throughs via the railway arches will also be investigated alongside the stakeholder parties, with a view to linking pedestrians coming from the new Nine Elms tube station, due to open in 2020, with the Embassy Quarter north of the viaduct. The new station is to form part of a Northern Line extension from Kennington towards Battersea Power Station and is located close to the site of the former Nine Elms railway station, once the terminus of the London and South Western Railway.’
Neil Tomlinson- Creative Use of Glass
April 30, 2018
‘Using glass for interior walls and divisions or for floors and ceilings effectively renders them invisible, flooding an interior with extra light and encouraging views though into other spaces. When carefully controlled and layered, glass also adds complexity, encouraging reflection and obscuring dimensions, so as not to reveal an interior’s secrets too quickly.’
Morton Mews
April 27, 2018
‘Glass can be used innovatively as a transparent structural element, removing the dominance of necessary elements or allowing them to float or hang seemingly unsupported, as with these ‘hanging stairs’ on a project in London’s Morton Mews.’
© Grand Designs magazine, as featured in November 2017
New Covent Garden Market
April 27, 2018
‘The next stage of work for the London-based practice at the market concerns the refurbishment of up to 50 railway arch spaces on the site, in a rolling programme that will complete over an eight year period.’
Neil Tomlinson- Human-Free Construction Sites
March 19, 2018
‘The art of architecture and the use of certain materials – currently only limited by their structural limits – would certainly be an issue because, at least at first, construction would be limited to what could be easily built and handled by robots, relegating any true creativity to minor plug-in parts of the whole project.’
Neil Tomlinson- Natural Materials
February 27, 2018
‘Aesthetically, they evoke a relaxed, close-to-nature feel and, in a way, allow designers to cheat, by using nature as a designer, via marble veining, for example, or the figuring of natural timber. Also, they add depth. As part of a spare materials palette where the other materials have no such ‘face’, natural materials enliven the whole composition.’
Neil Tomlinson- The Power of Sketching
February 9, 2018
‘A sketch conveys the life within a project in a way you can’t get by any other method, either a 2D drawing or a 3D rendering. It’s quick and emotive and gets an idea across quickly, either externally to a client or internally to your team. The speed with which it’s done ensures a certain freshness and tends to enthuse everyone, whilst its imperfections give it a human quality. A sketch is the opposite of a technical drawing. Whereas a technical drawing seeks to convey precise information, a sketch looks to communicate concept, essence and emotion.’
/Sketch Book, A&C Publishing
Neil Tomlinson- Emerging Towns and Cities
January 2, 2018
‘Brighton has been one to watch ever since it was accorded ‘city’ status in 2001.’
Woronzow Road
January 1, 2018
‘The whole space is bright, clean and spacious, with the spectacular new, glass-walled feature staircase a central feature, linking the spaces to the open-plan ground floor living area above.’
Neil Tomlinson- Residential Top Tips
November 27, 2017
‘One element which has really has the power to enhance a room is the staircase. The usefulness is obvious; it is the only functional element within a room which can allow movement in the vertical dimension within and from the room and serve as a design device to divide or segregate a space. A carefully-designed staircase can be a focal point and also a beautiful sculptural object.’
Neil Tomlinson- Residential Budgets
November 1, 2017
‘Be clear about your priorities. Do you want to maximise light and space or the number of rooms? There will be compromises, but clarity from the outset means you know where you will and won’t budge’
© Grand Designs magazine, as featured in November 2017
Neil Tomlinson- Timber
September 1, 2017
‘Timber is one of the cleverest of materials, with qualities much deeper than the purely aesthetic; it’s relatively lightweight, speedy to use, good for insulation and completely replenishable. It’s also beautiful, warm and celebrates within its figuring and grain a random and very pure essence of life.’
Neil Tomlinson- Brick
September 1, 2017
‘Bricks are wonderful pieces of universal design: fundamental man-made building components, sized to fit the human hand, which create buildings of solidity, permanence and a structure one can invest in with confidence.’
Neil Tomlinson- The Metropol Parasol, Seville
August 23, 2017
‘Delightfully, the structure allows you to ascend various staircases onto a public square podium level, where you can congregate with other visitors beneath the parasol timber mesh canopy. Located a storey above the ground, it creates a shaded contemplative space over the hustle of crowds below.’
Neil Tomlinson – use of colour
July 1, 2017
‘Personally, I think colour can be great fun and the architects who do it successfully are those who do it with huge confidence – Will Alsop’s 1990s regional government building in Marseille – ‘Le Grand Bleu’ – is a great example.’
Neil Tomlinson- Section 52
March 1, 2017
‘From a broader perspective, as architects and designers trying to edge design a little further in the world, the tightening of the protection of intellectual property has got to be good for all of us, as it demonstrates the recognition of value in the work we create and constantly pore over to get the designs we undertake absolutely right’
Woronzow Road
November 26, 2015
‘A striking suspended staircase unifies the existing refurbished rooms of the house with the new spaces’.
Morton Mews
November 2, 2015
‘Its distinct design lets light through the steps. It is all about creating a generous and even glamorous feel.’
New Covent Garden Market
October 13, 2015
‘Our team has focussed on the design for the main market area south of the viaduct,’ Neil Tomlinson said in a statement. ‘This includes a fresh produce wholesale and distributor market. We also proposed The Garden Heart component of the project which gives New Covent Garden Market a public face and identity with its cafes and potential for start-up spaces and facilities for training….Our rigorous approach to the design was a driver in the concept, going deeply into the very component parts of the market design and its relationship to the surrounding residential areas.’
Morton Mews/ Woronzow Road
January 1, 2015
‘Neil Tomlinson Architects not only sculpts, but engineers elegant staircases’
New Covent Garden Market
October 25, 2011
‘Foster & Partners and Neil Tomlinson Architects’ designs for the New Covent Garden Market in Battersea will be submitted for planning approval this week. The proposals include 2,450 homes, commercial space, shops, a hotel and public space, totallying 350,000 sq m of development on a 23ha site in the London Borough of Wandsworth.’
New Covent Garden Market
March 3, 2011
‘Foster + Partners and Neil Tomlinson Architects have revealed images of their project to redevelop New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, south London….Neil Tomlinson designed the remainder of the masterplan, including the redevelopment of the market’s wholesale trading facilities, housing on the site’s periphery and a public-facing food retail area.’
West London Apartment
January 1, 2011
‘The shape of the staircase cylinder is echoed in the rooflight, providing maximum light to the living/kitchen space’