RRA Architects

08/10/2026

It’s Week 31 of our series, and we’re revisiting the production and retail premises we helped create when Dunkertons C***r outgrew its original home.

Julian Dunkerton found a great new site near Cheltenham, the old waterworks known as The Barlands, but the existing buildings were rather industrial looking.

As a real life c***r press, the building needed to work hard behind the scenes for storing apples, pressing, fermenting and bottling, while also giving visitors a warm welcome at the front.
RRA set to work designing a bespoke production facility within the industrial unit, adding a new timber-framed retail extension at the front and a glazed, Crittall-style screen in between. This unique feature allows visitors in the shop to look straight into the heart of the c***r production happening behind the scenes.

Since those early days, the wider site has evolved into a highly popular, vibrant social destination with food, live music, and events giving people plenty of reasons to stay for another round.

📸 See the photos and read the full story at https://rraarchitects.com/dunkertons-c***r-commercial-building-design/

For Week 31, discover how commercial building design gave Dunkertons C***r room to grow near Cheltenham, bringing production and retail together.

04/10/2026

Another RRA orange hamper is on it's way to help raise charity funds.

We were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Cheltenham, Councillor Martin Horwood, to collect one in support of our 40 hampers for 40 charities to help raise funds for the Mayor's Charities.
This year, the Mayor’s charities include Art for All Mental Health, Young Gloucestershire and The ITSA Digital Trust, supporting mental wellbeing, young people and digital inclusion across Cheltenham and Gloucestershire.

We are now well over halfway through our 40 hampers initiative celebrating RRA's 40 years in business, with only a couple still left to be assigned. If you are a registered charity, local to Cheltenham or Hereford, with a fundraising event coming up, please get in touch with the details and date.

01/10/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝟯𝟱-𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀? 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟯𝟬 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀’𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿.

At Duke’s Barn in Monmouthshire, the answer was to make every ray of light work a little harder. The full-height threshing openings were glazed to bring as much natural light I as possible. Glazed internal doors and glass floor panels allowed light to travel through the zones.

The barn’s 2.15 metre change in levels added another challenge, so the interior was arranged as a series of connected zones that rise naturally through the building.

The completed conversion later featured prominently in Cadw and Monmouthshire County Council’s guide to good practice for converting historic farm buildings.

Read the story at https://rraarchitects.com/converting-a-listed-barn/

Week 30 explores converting a listed barn and the inventive use of glass and changing levels to bring light into its very long interior.

24/09/2026

Difficult neighbour? Try living next to the River Wye during a rain storm. Beautiful, certainly, but not good at respecting boundaries.

For Week 29 of our hashtag series, we’re revisiting Gwynne Warehouse in Hereford, where decades of seasonal flood damage had left the building in a critical condition.

RRA reinvented the warehouse as a conference and exhibition venue, combining flood-resilient materials, services introduced from above and drainage in the floors designed to work with the situation.

Read the full story on the RRA website.

18/09/2026

18th September 2014, 12 years ago today, we raised The Swiss Chalet on the banks of the Thames out of the floodplain.
Details, photos and films of the day at https://rraarchitects.com/raising-the-swiss-chalet/

Fairhurst Mammoet

17/09/2026

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮𝟴 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.

12 years ago eight hydraulic jacks and wooden block towers raised the complete Swiss Chalet on the Thames to provide better flood protection. Fantastic teamwork by RRA Architects, specialist lifting company Mammoet and civil engineers Fairhurst.

Most nerve-racking moment was the first centimetre, waiting for daylight to final appeared under the building. The added bonus was a new river-level floor, which the client then turned into an indoor, heated beach - yes, complete with sand.

Read the story of this high-stakes game of reverse Jenga and see the film of this remarkable day in our blog at https://rraarchitects.com/raising-the-swiss-chalet/

Twelve years ago, RRA helped raise an entire timber chalet above the Thames floodplain using eight hydraulic jacks and careful teamwork.

10/09/2026

For Week 27 of our series, we are visiting a recently completed country house remodel in Apperley. The property had generous space and plenty of potential, but its awkward layout did not suit how the client wanted to live.

RRA improved the flow, revealed the natural timber beneath black-painted beams, rebuilt the inglenook fireplace and, working with the client, transformed the landing beneath the eaves into a sociable bar.

Read the full story:
https://rraarchitects.com/improving-house-layout/

Improving house layout turned a dilapidated Gloucestershire property into a welcoming country home, complete with an upstairs landing bar.

03/09/2026

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮𝟲 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 #𝟰𝟬𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀𝟰𝟬𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗲𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve 1999, Ford Abbey was ready for the Millennium Bug. Every current drawing had been printed, electronic files backed up onto CDs, generators brought to site and people remained onsite for security, just in case the world’s computer systems stopped working.

Midnight came, the year changed and absolutely nothing happened.

The project itself was far from uneventful, however, with extensive archaeological investigations, the careful conservation of a Grade II listed farmhouse and curtilage-listed barns, followed by the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak restricting movement through the countryside.

Read the full story at https://rraarchitects.com/restoring-historic-buildings/

27/08/2026

🐄 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗼-𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮𝟱 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲-𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀.

Even the old cattle-shed ventilation louvres found new jobs as glazed rooflights. No bull, just thoughtful design, an open-minded client and some seriously skilled construction.

The full story and more photos at
https://rraarchitects.com/converting-farm-buildings/