MChem MCIBSE

Director 

Mark Maidment holds a first-class Master’s Degree from the University of Exeter. After graduating in 1999, he joined Max Fordham LLP, where he became a Partner in 2003. He left in 2009 to join Building Design Partnership (BDP) before moving to Skelly & Couch in 2010, becoming a Director in 2014.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in north London is the only permanent outdoor theatre in the UK. During summer it opens its doors to an audience of 1,240 every evening. 

Award-winning new-build for the Jerwood Foundation

A new gallery and restaurant, built in a challenging site on the seafront in Hastings. It incorporates an innovative ground-source heating and cooling system, enabling the building to achieve impressively low emissions for a structure of its kind.

Jerwood Gallery, located in Hastings, East Sussex, is dedicated to contemporary British art and operated by the Jerwood Foundation, a privately funded charity. The new build gallery is part of a wider masterplan to transform a former coach and lorry park on a key seafront site in Hastings Old Town.
Sustainability was central to the design, influencing orientation, layout, materials, and servicing. The galleries maximise natural daylight and ventilation, creating a pleasant and well-lit environment for visitors whilst minimising energy consumption.
Below-ground ducts ensure a seamless design, maintaining floor-to-ceiling levels and concealing services. Solar panels provide most hot water, and rainwater is recycled to further lessen the environmental impact. A comprehensive analysis of renewable energy options, which included evaluating life cycle costs and ongoing maintenance was also undertaken.
To meet stringent temperature and humidity control standards, Skelly & Couch developed an innovative approach to preserve artifacts. The collection galleries utilise air conditioning powered by ground source cooling, with eleven 120-meter-deep probes handling all cooling and 60% of the heating, integrating geothermal energy for effective temperature regulation. This approach resulted in 60% less CO2 emissions compared to an average museum of similar size.
The Jerwood Gallery sets a new benchmark for environmental performance in museum design. It combines energy efficiency with precise climate control, while creating a welcoming space that enhances the overall visitor experience. The project achieved an ‘Exemplar’ rating at design stage using an industry standard Sustainability rating tool. 

The iconic, Grade II* Listed Chichester Festival Theatre was designed by Powell and Moya and opened in 1962. Based on Tyronne Guthrie’s Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, it boasted the first modern ‘thrust’ stage auditorium in the country. Over the past fifty years it has been a hugely successful and influential centre for the performing arts and has been extended on a number of occasions to address changing demands, leading to a dilution of the original design.

The project is the provision of a new containment and quarantine facility at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. This was the first building of its type in the world and a large part of the project was understanding and defining the brief to allow the building to function within the requirements under Kew’s DEFRA license, as well a commercial venture for use by external clients, and as a key operations building.  

Skelly & Couch is committed to conducting our business in an environmentally responsible manner. We are committed to complying with and seek to exceed the requirements of relevant legislation associated with activities within our practice. We continually look for ways to improve our environmental performance and attained ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems in June 2014. All employees are kept informed of our methods and encouraged to look for ecologically sustainable solutions where applicable.

Current examples include:

• Use of bicycles to and from work-place, and meetings where practical (Skelly & Couch won the Transport for London – Workplace Cycle Challenge 2008 in the category of small organisation)
• Recycling of packaging materials, and other office waste
• Efficient use of water and energy including using a “green” electricity supplier
• Purchase of recycled or fair-trade products where possible
• Use of electronic means of distributing project documentation

Skelly & Couch encourage similar standards from the suppliers, contractors, consultants and clients with whom we work.

Skelly & Couch Ltd is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in employment. We seek to ensure that no applicant, employee or member of the partnership receives unfavourable treatment on the grounds of gender, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, disability, sexuality or age. We apply employment policies which are fair and equitable and which ensure that entry into, and progression within Skelly & Couch Ltd is determined solely by application of job criteria, and personal ability and competence.

As an employer we fully accept the statutory requirements of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Race Relations Act 1976 and The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. As far as possible, we will observe the Commission for Racial Equality's Code of Practice for Employment, as approved by Parliament in 1983. We will continually engage in reviewing and improving our monitoring processes.