Matthew Bell Email and Phone Number

www.modece.com“Use of natural materials allows us to create comfortable, healthy and beautiful buildings for people to live and work in. Our architecture responds to seasonal weather variations and climate change using simple design principles such as orientation, mass, solar shading and natural ventilation with simple control systems. In short - our buildings lift your spirits and sit lightly on the earth.” - Modece Architects Ltd

WHO WE ARE:Hemp Architecture's aim is to research and develop the use of hemp within construction and architecture. We pride ourselves in cutting edge research and innovative design solutions which are pushing the frontiers of the sustainability movement.Hemp Architecture was founded in 2012 by Matthew Bell, M.Arch, off the back of initial research undertaken during his Masters in Architectural Studies at Cardiff University. We now operate as a conglomerate of design and research specialists with links to associated industries and university establishments.OUR GOALS:ResearchOur research compliments similar current thinking into sustainable materials and passive architecture while inspiring innovation in construction technology. We aim to further the use of hemp in construction by using it in its most natural state: as a stalk. InnovationWe are currently working towards producing the first ever building which uses hemp stalk as its primary structure. As part of this we are developing new materials, construction elements, building methods and architectural styles derived from hemp and other similar materials.DesignOur work is heavily based on design, as we endeavour to develop a new architectural language which is literally defined by the characteristics and limitation of the materials. What Louis Kahn achieved with bricks, inventing a new architecture based on rediscovering the potential of the arch, our work attempts to achieve with hemp.WHY HEMP?Hemp could provide an annually grown building crop which is both renewable and acts as a carbon sink when locked into the building fabric. It has the potential to become an ultra-sustainable component in building design and construction.

Self employed Freelance Architect based at Modece Architects.Modece Architects are award winning architects established in 1985 by Ralph Carpenter and Richard Scales as a partnership. They coined the phrase ‘deep green architecture' ... using materials with the lowest possible embodied energy and serviced by carbon neutral systems. Their architecture is generally contemporary is style.The office is located in the Suffolk countryside between Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds. They specialize in new-build dwellings in the East-Anglia region but have a varied portfolio including; mid-rise social housing, community centers, schools and commercial. Being a rural area they also undertake a certain amount of ban conversions and house extensions. Typical projects range from £70,000-£700,000 and usually follow a traditional procurement route.

Self Employed Freelance Architect occasionally working for KirkhamSheidow Architects.KirkhamSheidow Architects was founded by Paul Kirkham and his wife Jane Sheidow. “We create inspiring, contemporary and sustainable places in which to live, work and play. We have a broad range of building and design experience on residential, educational and commercial projects and are committed to achieving excellent results and imaginative solutions in response to their clients’ individual needs and aspirations.”- KirkhamSheidowThe office is located in Boxford, Suffolk. Their ‘bread and butter’ work is high-end extensions in the Queens Park area of London for which they provide the technical architectural input for the designers local to the area. KirkhamSheidow also work on projects in Suffolk, including new-build residential and extensions and have completed one school and one commercial building. Typical projects range from £50,000-£500,000 and usually follow a traditional procurement route, although they have also undertaken work which used the Design and Build procurement route.

Acting as the associate within a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Hertfordshire University and Modece Architects. The project which is 40% match funded by the Low Carbon KEEP intends to develop hemp stalk as a structural material and undertake surface treatment tests to ascertain methods of protecting the hemp and increasing its strength.

Architectural Assistant

While in Barcelona in 2007 I met X-ref Architects who offered to have me back for a weeks work experience. I took them up on the offer a few months later. Before I went out there I learnt Rhinoceros 3D software, which they used as standard in the office. I worked along side them on a competition for the waterfront in Seoul, South Korea, for a week. Then when back in the UK I continued working on the project for a month with the UK branch of the competition team. My main contribution was the design and 3D modelling of the main funnel like tower blocks and then the graphics of part of the final presentation.