Building Design articles from April 2008

Building Design archives from April 2008

Biggest-ever building in City enrages Barbican residents.
April 4, 2008... Rory Olcayto KPF's plans for the largest single building in the City of London have sparked fury among residents of the nearby Barbican. Unveiling the 90,000sq m office development at a public meeting last week, KPF project architect...

Chipperfield arts quarter masterplan wins in Spain.(David Chipperfield has won an international competition )(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Stirling prizewinner David Chipperfield has won an international competition to masterplan a 120,000sq m arts and technology quarterin Segovia, Spain. The #118 million high-density design beat entriesby Foreign Office Architects, Dominique...

LEADER: It's crunch time for Hodge.(Architecture minister Margaret Hodge work on protect post-war buildings)
April 4, 2008... LIZ BURY This week's heritage bill is Margaret Hodge's chance to spark the debate on post-war architecture This week's publication of the draft heritage protection bill is a chance for architecture minister Margaret Hodge to raise her...

LEADER: Nouvel's Pritzker is 10 years late.( French architect Jean Nouvel wins 2008 Pritzker award )(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Jean Nouvel is $100,000 richer this week, having been declared the 29th recipient of the annual Pritzker Prize for architecture. Juggling commissions from Beirut to Barcelona, Nouvel has grown into the very model of the jet-setting...

IN BRIEF: Streets `fail pedestrians' says Cabe.(According to the report of Cabe Space Ltd. English streets are poorly designed)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Most English streets are poorly designed, according to a report, Civilised Streets, published this week by Cabe. The report also advocates shared space and the removal of street furniture. Cabe Space director Sarah Gaventa said: "Most...

IN BRIEF: Leisure centre hits new heights.(Redevelopment of Swansea Leisure Centre )(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Powell Dobson's #32 million redevelopment of Swansea Leisure Centre has been officially opened by the Queen. The complex now includes the world's first deep-water standing wave machine, the Surfrider, and the largest gym in Wales. Other...

IN BRIEF: New masterplan for Cambridge.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners has resubmitted its masterplan to regenerate a 10.5ha area around Cambridge Station for developer Ashwell. The scheme, dubbed cb1, will see the creation of the city's first grade A private office space, and...

IN BRIEF: Homeowners reject eco-homes.
April 4, 2008... Homeowners are put off by the potential cost, appearance and maintenance of zero-carbon homes, a survey has found. The study, commissioned by the National House-Building Council, found that 60% of people questioned preferred the appearance...

IN BRIEF: Cathy Stewart takes on Europe.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... International firm Woods Bagot has appointed Cathy Stewart, a former chair of Women in Property, as head of its education and science sector for Europe. Stewart is also a former director at Pascall & Watson architects who has worked on...

Hodge will decide on RHG this month.(Robin Hood Gardens)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Architecture minister Margaret Hodge has promised to make a decision on the future of Robin Hood Gardens by the end of this month. As English Heritage this week prepared to submit its report on the Smithsons-designed estate to the...

Libeskind working on building in Hong Kong.
April 4, 2008... Hypocrisy charge for architect who said he would never work in China Rory Olcayto and Will Hurst Daniel Libeskind is working on a 25,000sq m public building in Hong Kong, despite the signature architect's recent call for architects to...

HONG KONG LAW.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... * Designated as a Special Administrative Region of China, Hong Kong has its own "basic law" and a high degree of autonomy but with foreign policy and the military controlled by China. * A crown colony of the UK until the transfer to Chinese...

Vinoly plan catalyst for Thames regen.
April 4, 2008... Rafael Vinoly's masterplan for the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of a huge swathe of land along the River Thames, developer Real Estate Opportunities claimed this week. In its annual...

HTA links with Farrell.
April 4, 2008... Housing specialist HTA Architects has teamed up with Terry Farrell as part of a consortium bidding to design and build the government's proposed eco-towns. Last December, HTA won the competition to design England's first "eco- village"...

Pritzker prizewinner Nouvel is set in the City.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... An exclusive new image of Jean Nouvel's first major project in the City of London was revealed to BD this week as he became only the second French architect to win the Pritzker Prize. The 1 New Change retail and office development near St...

Minister rejects Edinburgh pool demolition call.(Refurbishment of swimming pool)
April 4, 2008... #38m refurbishment will go ahead Victoria Watts An attempt to demolish Edinburgh's 1960s grade A listed Royal Commonwealth Pool has been quashed by Scottish architecture minister Linda Fabiani. Fellow MSP Ian McKee had called on...

Conran brings penthouse living to Martin's Leicester College Hall.
April 4, 2008... Conran & Partners has revealed its proposed refurbishment of Leicester University's College Hall buildings, originally designed by Leslie Martin and Trevor Dannatt. The 9,850sq m scheme, which will turn the student accommodation into a mix...

Aberdeen arts centre secures #4m in funding.
April 4, 2008... Brisac Gonzalez Architects' #13 million visual arts building in Aberdeen, which won planning in February, has been awarded a #4 million grant from the Scottish Arts Council, the largest single grant awarded in the latest round of capital...

Utzon back at the Opera.(Refurbishment of Sydney Opera House )(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Designs to transform the interior of Sydney Opera House have been revealed by architects Jorn Utzon and Richard Johnson. Utzon, the building's original designer, and his son Jan have collaborated with local architect Johnson to address poor...

Rogers blasts government for ignoring Task Force.(Richard Rogers, Urban Task Force)
April 4, 2008... Marguerite Lazell Richard Rogers' Urban Task Force is still waiting for a government response to a report it released more than two years ago, the architect has revealed. The 20-page document, Towards a Strong Urban Renaissance, which...

Slowdown threatens housing targets.
April 4, 2008... The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has cast doubt on the government's ability to meet its own housing targets after publishing a report showing a dramatic slowdown in the construction industry. The RICS construction market survey...

A rock for Wellington.(Terminal 5 construction)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Amid the chaotic launch of Heathrow's #4.3 billion Terminal 5, New Zealand architects Studio Pacific Architecture and Warren Mahoney have revealed their design for a new international terminal at Wellington Airport, dubbed The Rock. The...

Developer fined again over Goldfinger cottage.
April 4, 2008... Heritage group questions approach to ensuring listed structure is rebuilt Marguerite Lazell A developer who illegally demolished a listed cottage designed by Erno Goldfinger has been fined for a second time for failing to rebuild the...

Foster and OMA up for Birmingham library.
April 4, 2008... Seven firms including Foster & Partners, Foreign Office, Hopkins, Wilkinson Eyre and OMA are competing to design a replacement for John Madin's Library of Birmingham. Birmingham City Council announced the names last week, alongside Danish...

Greenwich homes by Flacq win permission.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... A residential development designed by Flacq on the Greenwich Peninsula has won planning permission from the local council. Comprising three retail units and 350 homes, the 23-storey building will form part of Terry Farrell's 10,000-home...

HERITAGE: Great Dixter wins #4m from lottery.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed #4 million towards a #7 million project to safeguard a grade I listed medieval house and its world famous garden. The timber frame house and 23ha estate at Great Dixter, East Sussex, was the home...

HEALTH: Sheffield critical care unit unveiled.
April 4, 2008... A cutting-edge critical care department designed by Race Cottam Associates has been unveiled in Sheffield. The #21.3 million unit, built to the new Health Building Notes specification issued by the Department of Health, is the biggest...

ARCHAEOLOGY: 2012 site unearths Iron Age bones.
April 4, 2008... Skeletons dating back to the Iron Age have been uncovered in graves on the site of the London 2012 Olympic park. Four ancient Londoners were found by the Museum of London on the site of Zaha Hadid's planned Aquatics Centre. The...

DESIGN: Gordon Russell museum opens.
April 4, 2008... Terence Conran will today officially open the new Gordon Russell Museum at Broadway in the Cotswolds. The museum, refurbished by Reg Ellis Associates, is devoted to the life and work of Russell, the 20th century furniture designer and former...

Cabe slams Liverpool scheme as `confused'.
April 4, 2008... Rory Olcayto Plans to erect Britain's tallest residential tower on Liverpool's waterfront are hanging in the balance after a scathing report from Cabe described the scheme as a "confused expression" which should not be approved. The...

LETTER: Olympic gold.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... Verdicts from the joint Cabe and Design for London panel on the first five major Olympic projects (News March 28) demonstrate how far the architecture of the 2012 games has come in a year. Despite concerns about the quality of bridges and...

LETTER: Fight not flight.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... A building itself might not be political, but surely organising our cities and public urban spaces is a social act and therefore political. Shouldn't the ambition be to demonstrate, with the subtle art of architecture, against the ills and...

LETTER: Point the finger.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... At what stage of the design process for Heathrow Terminal 5 did Rogers Stirk Harbour and its client consider that fingerprinting the travelling public was an acceptable solution to a design problem? Shame on them. Andrew Roberts London...

LETTER: No contest?(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... Have I missed something? You report (Leader March 28) that a commission to design some bridges has been handed to an engineer because there wasn't time to run a competition and involve architects. I'm curious to know why a competition to...

LETTER: Art thought.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... Just as we are all heading for a recheck of our values, with the credit crunch looming over our clients' heads, a debate is needed on how worthwhile some of our architecture is. The art market is undergoing a similar questioning of the...

LETTER: The point is to design for users.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... While I am sure that I'm not the only person to be rubbing my hands in glee at Peter Morrison's attack on starchitects (News March 28), a cautionary note should perhaps be sounded. Although the media hype that surrounds these so-called...

OPINION: In our borough, planning is for wimps.
April 4, 2008... MARCUS FAIRS Once a much vaunted nuclear-free zone, these days Hackney is just a free-for-all Architects, good news! I have found a solution to the nightmare that is the planning process. Why don't you come and build in Hackney,...

DEBATE: Is a faster planning process always better?
April 4, 2008... YES Stewart Baseley Executive chair, Home Builders Federation A planning system that produces quality results more efficiently is in everyone's interests. Research by the Home Builders Federation shows it takes 15 months on...

WORKS: STEPHEN TAYLOR ARCHITECTS - Glitter and soot.
April 4, 2008... Providing amazingly diverse spaces on an unusually tricky Hoxton site, Stephen Taylor has taken the ingenuity he showed at nearby Chance Street last year to even greater heights, says Ellis Woodman Later this year, the Canadian Centre of...

SOLUTIONS: Museum of Liverpool - 'It's a shame they lost the project'.
April 4, 2008... `It's a shame they lost the project, but we've battled to keep their design alive' When Danish practice 3XN was dropped from the #68 million Museum of Liverpool project last year, it was up to project architect John Hiscocks of...

Working towards grace in Liverpool.
April 4, 2008... * FOURTH GRACE In July 2004, Will Alsop's competition-winning proposal to create a Fourth Grace, The Cloud, on Liverpool's waterfront is scrapped. The #225 million, mixed-use scheme, which was to include a Museum of Liverpool, is abandoned...

CULTURE: Mean streets.
April 4, 2008... Artist Emily Allchurch's dystopic collages of the city are enough to make anyone nervous. Gareth Gardner met her With its sinister cocktail of CCTV cameras, razor wire and warning signs, Emily Allchurch's work is hardly a celebration of the...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Wembley Stadium: Venue of Legends.
April 4, 2008... * Wembley Stadium: Venue of Legends, by Patrick Barclay & Kenneth Powell, Prestel, HB, #30. Wembley Stadium, both past and present, gets the full works in this engaging book on the architectural and sporting history of the famous venue,...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: 100 Houses for 100 Architects.(Bibliography)
April 4, 2008... * 100 Housesfor 100 Architects, by Gennaro Postiglione, general editor, Taschen, HB, #16.99. A great opportunity to nose around the homes of famous architects, from Voysey's country cottage, Sarah Wigglesworth and Jeremy Till's straw bale...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Julius Shulman: Palm Springs.
April 4, 2008... * Julius Shulman: Palm Springs, by Michael Stern & Alan Hess, Rizzoli, HB, #30. Another beautiful book of Shulman's photographs of Californian modernism, this time of nine previously undocumented properties in Palm Springs. Publishedto...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Siteless: 1001 Building Forms.
April 4, 2008... * Siteless: 1001 Building Forms, by Francois Blanciak, MIT Press, PB, #9.95. As the title suggests, this little book consists of 1001 building forms unhindered by site conditions, drawn freehand. With names such as "skewered origami" and...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Birmingham: Shaping the City.(Birmingham: Shaping the City)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 4, 2008... * Birmingham: Shaping the City, by Ben Flatman, RIBA Publishing, HB, #19.95. Birmingham began in 1156, when Peter de Bermingham obtained a market permit. This book provides historical context and focuses on recent developments such as...

Tale of Hope and glory.
April 4, 2008... Savour this study of the world's first interior designer, says Ptolemy Dean EXHIBITION THOMAS HOPE, REGENCY DESIGNER Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7. www.vam.ac.uk Until June 22 Within seconds of...

PRACTICE: Can age discrimination law stop my boss making me retire?
April 4, 2008... ASK US A QUESTION Richard Brindley Executive director, RIBA Professional Services Laura Atherton Solicitor, Kennedys, London EC1 I am a "mature" architect working in a smallish practice. I am quite happy but my boss keeps...

MY FIRST JOB.(Personal account)
April 4, 2008... PETER THOMAS Buckley Gray Yeoman, Shoreditch, London I first came to work here in 1999; I returned full time in 2002. When I first started, it was literally just Matt [Yeoman], Richard [Buckley] and one other part II, so it was a...

ROLL ON FRIDAY.(Woods Bagot)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... `WHETHER WE ARE IN CHINA OR THE MIDDLE EAST, WE HOLD A DESIGN PRESENTATION' Practice: Woods Bagot Location: London Size: 120 people Every Friday afternoon at about 5pm, our international Woods Bagot studios stop work to come...

JONATHAN GLANCEY: Why real life isn't all for the best.
April 4, 2008... A headline in the Daily Telegraph advises readers "how to avoid Terminal 5." There is, of course, no avoiding Terminal 5. The story of how an ambitious design has been undermined by administrative chaos and malfunctioning systems has dominated...

THIS WEEK: LUXURY DEVELOPERS.
April 4, 2008... Christian Candy's CPC Group has defied the credit crunch by selling a site in Kensington to Middle Eastern investors for a cool #320 million. The De Vere Gardens site has planning permission for a David Chipperfield-designed residential...

THIS WEEK: DISNEYLAND.
April 4, 2008... Buyers are flocking to the entertainment firm's Val d'Europe suburban development near Paris. Its streets and squares are modelled on famous European urban locations, including London's West End. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: NORFOLK.
April 4, 2008... Plans to abandon parts of East Anglia to the sea are expected to be drawn up by the Environment Agency this year. Six villages around the Norfolk Broads could be given up to flooding over the next century. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: MONACO.
April 4, 2008... A bid to enlarge the principality by creating a sea-based extension has angered environmentalists who say the 10ha oil rig-like development will damage the local ecosystem. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Tories propose chief architect as national design champion.
April 11, 2008... Government says position is unnecessary since Cabe already does the job `brilliantly' Will Hurst Britain's built environment could be overseen by a "chief architect" in the mould of the government chief scientist, the Conservative...

Moscow goes fruity.
April 11, 2008... Foster & Partners has revealed its latest scheme in Russia, a bold mixed-use building for central Moscow, dubbed Project Orange. The 80,000sq m scheme for a contemporary art museum with commercial elements and housing is for development...

LEADER: An adviser Brown won't want.
April 11, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU Given Labour's track record on architecture, why would they create a chief adviser? Being in opposition means having the freedom to bounce ideas around without anyone having to take them too seriously. The Tories...

LEADER: Time to get creative on Robin Hood.
April 11, 2008... BD's campaign to save Robin Hood Gardens from the wrecking ball now moves into its next phase with the launch of an international ideas competition. We want as many of you who care about the estate's future to come up with viable, creative...

IN BRIEF: Prasad joins the eco-town dozen.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... RIBA president Sunand Prasad will sit on a panel of experts charged with shaping the future of the 10 planned eco-towns, the government announced this week. The news follows the release of a 15-strong shortlist of potential eco- town sites...

IN BRIEF: OMA reveals waterfront design.
April 11, 2008... OMA has revealed images of its Bryghusgrunden project in Copenhagen. The 27,000sq m building, by Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon, will sit on the city's harbour waterfront on a site formerly occupied by the Bryghusgrunden brewery. It...

IN BRIEF: Hadid wins Vilnius Guggenheim.(Zaha Hadid wins competition for designing Hermitage Museum )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Zaha Hadid has won the competition to design the new Guggenheim- Hermitage Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania, beating Daniel Libeskind and Massimiliano Fuksas. The New York-based Guggenheim Foundation will share exhibition space with the...

IN BRIEF: Central St Martins wins approval.(Stanton Williams contracts with new Central St Martins college campus )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Stanton Williams' #180 million design for the new Central St Martins college campus has become the first phase of the massive King's Cross redevelopment to win planning consent. The 55,000sq m plan includes 39,000sq m to be occupied by the...

IN BRIEF: Rogers submits barracks revamp.(Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners' designs Chelsea Barracks )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners' masterplan for Chelsea Barracks development in west London has been submitted for planning. The 5ha development is expected to cost #1 billion and will include over 300 luxury housing units, an equal number...

Practices `at risk from the crunch'.
April 11, 2008... Architectural practices are at greater risk of being sued by contractors and developers because of the strains of the credit crunch, a leading insurance company warned this week. Howden, an insurance broker which specialises in...

RIBA backs down as Freemasons defy rule.
April 11, 2008... Prasad seeks compromise after new rule on declaring affiliations fails Will Hurst The RIBA has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over its pledge to ensure senior figures at the institute reveal membership of organisations such...

Aquatics budget comes in at #303m.(Olympic Delivery Authority )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... The Olympic Delivery Authority has revealed a final budget of #303 million for Zaha Hadid's 2012 Aquatics Centre. The figure is triple the #116 million estimated at the end of 2005 and four times the #75 million that former culture...

This was the Smithsons' vision for Robin Hood Gardens, what's yours?
April 11, 2008... BD and the Architecture Foundation have fired the starting gun in the international ideas competition for architects to rethink Robin Hood Gardens. BD's campaign to save the famous Smithsons-designed 1970s housing estate, now in disrepair,...

Rollercoaster inferno.
April 11, 2008... The oldest rollercoaster in Britain has been razed to the ground in what police are describing as an arson attack. Margate's grade II listed "scenic railway", which dates from 1920, making it the second oldest in the world, had been due to...

Liverpool `not as good as Dubai' remark sparks row.
April 11, 2008... Rory Olcayto Architects and planners have slammed as "ignorant" comments made by urban regeneration company Liverpool Vision suggesting that the city council should accept architecture below the standard of that found in Dubai. ...

Waterfront threat.
April 11, 2008... The firm behind a #5.5 billion plan by Chapman Taylor Architects to transform Liverpool's waterfront has threatened to move the project across the River Mersey to Wirral following planning delays. Lindsey Ashworth, development director at...

House approved after three years, two redesigns and public inquiry.(Theis & Khan Architects)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Theis & Khan Architects has won planning permission for a private house in Stoughton, Leicester, on appeal following a three-year planning battle. Initial proposals for a scheme on the site were submitted in 2005 but withdrawn after a...

Watchdogs roll over in name of progress.(Commission for Architecture andthe Built Environment)(Northern Ireland's Ministerial Advisory Group)(Raymond Young)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Bosses at three of the UK's four design watchdogs have met in Belfast in a sign of increasing collaboration. Chairman of Northern Ireland's Ministerial Advisory Group (Mag) Barrie Todd met his counterparts John Sorrell (Cabe) and Raymond...

That's snow business.(Hugh Broughton Architects )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Hugh Broughton Architects has revealed construction shots of its Halley VI Antarctic station just ahead of the onset of the winter season. The practice has just completed the first of three seasons of work on the site 3,000km south of the...

Foster's Orange would squash Soviet masterpiece.(Norman Foster and Associates)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Rory Olcayto Russian architecture experts have condemned an iconic design by Norman Foster because it involves the replacement of a Soviet-era building considered by some as the "best in Moscow". Project Orange, unveiled by Foster...

Marks Barfield #25m BSF school opened.(Marks Barfield Architects)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Schools secretary Ed Balls has opened the #25 million Michael Tippett School in south London, designed by Marks Barfield. The "special educational needs" school is the first of its type in the capital to be built under the #45 billion...

V&A hosts wonder wall.(Victoria & Albert Museum.)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the inspiration for CJ Lim's installation, Seasons Through the Looking Glass, which opened last week at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The commission, part of a series of contemporary pieces for the...

Three towns picked to receive Cabe seaside cash.
April 11, 2008... Anna Winston Blackpool, Dover and Torbay are the first seaside towns to benefit under Cabe's #45 million regeneration project, culture secretary Andy Burnham has announced, amid debate over whether the grant can make a real impact. ...

Brighton design clash forces collaboration.
April 11, 2008... Plans for a Wilkinson Eyre-designed hotel on Brighton's seafront look set to force the architect into an unusual collaboration with Allies & Morrison because of an apparent design clash. The seven-storey building, planned on the marina's...

OLYMPICS: ODA declares site `clean and clear'.(Olympic Delivery Authority )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... The Olympic Delivery Authority this week handed over the sunken site of the 2012 stadium to the design and build team, claiming that the project will now start on site three months early. Pointing to new aerial photographs of the site in...

SHELTERED HOUSING: Scheme tailored to Muslim faith.
April 11, 2008... An innovative sheltered housing scheme for older people in Bristol has been completed by Quattro Design Architects. The 55-apartment project, known as Lincoln Gardens, is in the Bristol New Deal for Communities area, and was built by...

COMPETITION: Fast and loose is key to contest.
April 11, 2008... A contest is offering unrecognised architects the chance to see their experimental work built. The Workspace Group Urbantine Project, which will culminate at this September's London Design Festival is based on the concept of "fast...

ENVIRONMENT: Materials giant joins green lobby.
April 11, 2008... The world's largest construction materials group has joined the UK Green Buildings Council (UK GBC). Saint-Gobain, a global firm which has worked on projects including St Pancras International and the Gherkin, and owns businesses including...