Volk’s Towers - Madeira Terrace - Brighton

05/05/2022

14/01/2022

The Extension of the Volk's Electric Railway

The high density residential towers in the Volk's Towers development will of course require major improvements to the current transport infrastructure of Madeira Drive. The project will be subject to a Section 106 agreement that will need to be negotiated with Brighton Council, as a condition for Planning Permision.

The Consortium's vision is to create a high tech replica of the Volk's Railway system, but with fully Autonomous electric trains, that will connect Madeira Terrace residents and members of the public directly with Brighton Station, Gatwick Airport and eventually to Victoria station in London. The new system will run on narrow gauge tracks to be laid parallel with the existing London-Brighton mainline. Although the trains will be controlled by computer, each carriage will feature an animatronic driver, to provide reassurance to the public.

Enhanced consumer experience is an important objective for the Consortium's proposed extension to the Volk's Electric Railway and will be crucial for achieving high use, financial sustainablity and a low carbon footprint for the new system.

© The Consortium / Archiram International / All Rights Reserved

09/01/2022

Brighton Rocks!

We are finally releasing initial details of The Consortium's counter proposal for the re-development of the gasworks site at Black Rock, Brighton. The alternative proposals for the site that are the subject of a current planning application by another developer - St William, can be viewed at Brighton and Hove Council's website at: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/planning/major-developments-brighton-hove/brighton-gasworks-briefing

The Consortium's design will comprise of a group of six cylindrical towers, each containing a mixture of different size residential units. All of the apartments in the towers will have fabulous sea views and will be 99% affordable. They will all be arranged around a circular central core, with glass lifts. The design of each tower will be based on the colours and form of classic Brighton Rock and they will all be canted at slightly different angles, to create a visually dynamic composition.

The site will be landscaped in the grand classical style, so that it is in keeping with Brighton's Regency squares. A specially commissioned sculpture of the Sugar Plum Fairy, by the local Brighton artist Archi Ram, will be installed as a centre piece to the new public space.

In Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock (1938), the character Ida says, "It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton."

© The Consortium / Archiram International / Google 2022 All Rights Reserved

06/01/2022

Volk's Towers - 'Marseille' (Phase 10/12 - 2026)

The tenth tower in our Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton will be named 'Marseille' (Marseilles) after the southern French city in Provence. Founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocaea, Marseille is the oldest city of France, as well as one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements.

The design of this residential tower reflects the cosmopolitan style, lush gardens and many Romano-Byzantine buildings that have come to represent the city. Marseille functions as the premier port for France and the building will incorporate several maritime elements. The development will include replicas of some key architectural features that relate to the city's rich history.

The design of the apartments also pays homage to the Marseille buildng known as Unité d'habitation (La Cité Radieuse) that was completed in 1952 and was designed by Le Corbusier. He was an important 20th century French designer who influenced generations of young architects and we intend that all the apartment interiors will bear his hallmark, by reflecting the fluidity with which he handled architectural space and light.

We're publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

06/01/2022

Volk's Towers - 'Nairobi' (Phase 9/12 - 2025)

The ninth tower in our proposed Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton will be named 'Nairobi' - after the capital city of Kenya. No self respecting city should be without a fully 'green' and sustainable skyscraper and we believe that the tower conceived by our designers will do Brighton and Hove proud.

In a marked contrast to the highest tower in the world - known as the 'Burj Khalifa' in Dubai, the Brighton 'Nairobi' tower will be fully equipped with modern sanitation, despite it's tree house heritage. Thus the questionabe technique of 'greenwashing', which is a common feature of unsanitary towers, will be a thing of the past. In practical terms this means that the p**p from this fully green Brighton tower will definitely not have to be carted away by truck each day, in stark comparison to the Dubai tower.

Residents of the Nairobi tower will be able to live an almost fully sustainable lifestyle. They will all receive a free lifetime subscription to Amazon Prime and will be amongst the first Brightonians to benefit from the Amazon drone delivery system, when this launches in the city sometime soon in 2025.

Natural materials will be used for the tower's construction wherever possible and even the main structure will be timber. This should enable construction within a short timescale, assumng that planning permission is forthcoming. The tower will be erected from prefabricated components that will make it much faster and cheaper to build than a conventional steel or concrete framed tower. What's more, it's envisaged that this construction method could sav over 2,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

We're publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

03/01/2022

Volk's Towers - 'Rio' (Phase 8/12 - 2024)

The eighth tower in our Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton will be named 'Rio' (Rio de Janeiro) - after the capital city of Brazil. This tower design references the 'favelas' that typify that city, with row after row of box-shaped houses that were constructed by locals in response to the serious issue of a lack of housing. They are arguably one of the most defining examples of architecture in Rio, representing social, economical and political issues that echo worldwide. Despite the low cost and small size of the construction modules in the proposed 'Rio' tower - yes - we plan to deploy stacks of recycled shipping containers, the units will be available at low cost to locals at affordable rents and a minimum of 30% reserved for those designated as homeless in and around Brighton and Hove.

Unlike the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, these micro dwellings will be fitted with up to date kitchens and bathrooms, have high levels of thermal insulation and will all be equipped with modern services.

The entrance lobby of the building at ground level will offer a community space, filled with planting and communal facilites.

Several restaurant and fast food chains have already expressed an interest in occupying commercial units within the building. We are also hoping that a UK based Samba school will be located in the building, we hope this comes to fruition, since this certainly will help to foster a community spirit.

There will be several communal roof gardens at the upper levels and the roofs to the individual shipping containers will have sedum grass flat roofs, which will encourage bio-diversity. The sedum grass will be used vertcially wherever feasible, to provide additional insulation to the containers.

We're publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

Volk's Towers - 'Rio' (Phase 8/12 - 2024)

The eigth tower in our Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton will be named 'Rio' (Rio de Janeiro) - after the capital city of Brazil. This tower design references the 'favelas' that typify that city, with row after row of box-shaped houses that were constructed by locals in response to the serious issue of a lack of housing. They are arguably one of the most defining examples of architecture in Rio, representing social, economical and political issues that echo worldwide. Despite the low cost and small size of the construction modules in the proposed 'Rio' tower - yes - we plan to deploy stacks of recycled shipping containers, the units will be available at low cost to locals at affordable rents and a minimum of 30% reserved for those designated as homeless in and around Brighton and Hove.

Unlike the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, these micro dwellings will be fitted with up to date kitchens and bathrooms, have high levels of thermal insulation and will all be equipped with modern services.

The entrance lobby of the building at ground level will offer a community space, filled with planting and communal facilites.

Several restaurant and fast food chains have already expressed an interest in occupying commercial units within the building. We are also hoping that a UK based Samba school will be located in the building, we hope this comes to fruition, since this certainly will help to foster a community spirit.

There will be several communal roof gardens at the upper levels and the roofs to the individual shipping containers will have sedum grass flat roofs, which will encourage bio-diversity. The sedum grass will be used vertcially wherever feasible, to provide additional insulation to the containers.

We're publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

02/01/2022

Volk's Towers - 'Manila' (Phase 7/12 - 2024)

The seventh tower in our Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton will be named 'Manila' - after the capital of the Philippines. Our designers were inspired by Manila's Basilica Menor de San Sebastian, which dates all the way back to the early 16th century. One of the most iconic structures in Manila, it symbolizes the long religious history of the Filipinos as well as their artistry. It is considered one of the country’s most important architectural treasures. Completed in 1891, the basilica represents Gothic revival architecture. This style was largely inspired by the famed Gothic Burgos Cathedral in Spain and is also influenced by Neo-Gothic and Baroque styles. The design of this Volk's Towers apartment block echoes the gothic style, but updates it, for the 21st century.

The tower will replace the current Victorian building that houses the much loved Concorde2 music and events venue. This will be relocated in a state of the art events space, positioned on the ground and first floor levels of the new building. The existing hydraulic lift that provides connection between Madeira drive and Marine Parade, will be replaced with a new glazed version, that will extend vertically to provide access to an external rooftop bar, located at the pinnacle of the structure.

We're publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

01/01/2022

Volk's Towers - 'Tokyo' (Phase 6/12 - 2025)

A detail of the facade of the sixth tower, named 'Tokyo' in our proposed Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton, due for construction in 2025.

This residential tower aims to re-create the sophistication of the capital city of Japan. Tokyo is the largest urban economy in the world by gross domestic product and is categorized as an Alpha+ city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Part of an industrial region that includes the cities of Yokohama, Kawasaki, and Chiba. Tokyo is also Japan's leading centre of business and finance. The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line is the oldest underground metro line in East Asia.

Despite their compact dimensions, all the apartments in this tower will be packed with high technology and the latest home gadgets. The bathrooms in the development will all be equipped with bidet toilets, or 'washlets' and a bookable flying car will be available to all residents, if they feel the need to make a quick getaway.

We are also in discussion with several different chains of Japanese restaurants and a Yakitori bar who are interested in providing 24/7 sushi and snacks to both residents and the public.

We are publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

01/01/2022

Volk's Towers - 'Palermo' (Phase 5/12 - 2024)

A detail of the fifth tower, named 'Palermo' in our proposed Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton, due for construction in 2024.

The design of this residential tower will reflect the chaos of the Italian city of Palermo, which is the capital of Sicily. The city is noted for its history, culture, art, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence - it is over 2,700 years old. 'Palermo' means that anything is possible. This tower is aimed at residents and established members of the Brighton mafia, who love eating and drinking and smoking and cooking and praying and kissing and talking and having a ball. The tower will host artists, musicians and raves and broadcast Italian techno music - nonstop, the marvelous contrast between life and decay.

We are publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion. Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved

31/12/2021

Volk's Towers - 'Berlin' (Phase 4/12 - 2023)

The fourth tower in our Volk's Towers development at Madeira Terrace, Brighton will be named 'Berlin'. It's the only tower in the scheme, where we've given our designers totally free reign, with no design limitations - apart from our requirement for buildability (we're a practical development company). Their design concept deliberately references the 'Gedächtniskirche' or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, that has always functioned as the symbolic centre of Berlin, an anti-war memorial to peace and reconciliation. The 'Berlin' Tower aims to create extreme visual tension, with an experimental building form that will showcase 21st century design and construction techniques, whilst simultaneously making the building appear to be a 'ruin'.

Although we haven't received feedback yet from English Heritage, we've already received representations from several local groups, who indeed seem to believe that the design will 'ruin' Madeira Terrace.

The variable form of the buidling will create a large variety of different size apartments, that will all have a unique plan layout. This will result in an inevitable degree of exclusivity for each of the residential units in the 'Berlin' tower and probably explains why we've already received several enquiries from interested parties who wish to reserve, off plan.

We're publishing on this platform to further gauge public opinion.

Please be aware that any comments gathered from this exercise may be transmitted to The Secretary of State for the Environment, English Heritage and the planning department of Brighton and Hove Council. All comments will be gratefully received and may also be used to provide feedback to our designers, Archiram International.

© The Consortium / Archiram International 2020 All Rights Reserved