Building Design articles from August 2007

Building Design archives from August 2007

Double Dutch in Barking.
August 3, 2007... KCAP and Maccreanor Lavington selected for first phase of Gateway Will Hurst The largest single housing development in the Thames Gateway will boast a continental flavour after leading Dutch firm KCAP and Anglo-Dutch Maccreanor...

Plymouth shows an art for mixing it.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Henning Larsen Architects' #36 million arts complex for the University of Plymouth is about to open its doors. The Roland Levinsky building, which ranges from three to nine storeys, boasts a dynamic copper wrapping around its sides and...

LEADER: Clients are not the problem.(architectural services.)
August 3, 2007... AMANDA BAILLIEU As long as our planning system rejects schemes like Bath's Holburne design, the UK's role in the Stirling Prize will diminish Architecture cannot help being a commentary on life, so it was interesting to see that the...

LEADER: Eight seize the partnering lead.( Shanghai World Expo )(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... While the shortlist for the Shanghai World Expo is unlikely to catapult young or unknown names into the limelight, it does prove that it is perfectly possible to run competitions for a government client without getting tied up in knots over...

IN BRIEF: Blears reopens inquiry into bridge.(Transport for London.)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... The proposed Thames Gateway bridge has been delayed once more after a public inquiry into the scheme was reopened by communities secretary Hazel Blears. Transport for London has frozen a high-profile design competition for the bridge first...

IN BRIEF: Foster's sponsors young delegates.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Foster & Partners will sponsor 50 places for young architects and students at this year's RIBA conference in an attempt to even out the age profile of delegates. The cost for sponsored delegates to the conference, at Oscar Niemeyer's...

IN BRIEF: Lottery gives York Minster #10m.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... York Minster, the largest gothic cathedral in Europe, has been awarded #10 million of Heritage Lottery funding. The money will be used to help restore stonework and the great east window, and to train skilled craftspeople. Culture...

IN BRIEF: Stadium design row gets political.
August 3, 2007... The Tories have waded into the row over designs for the Olympic stadium, accusing minister Tessa Jowell of using it as a political football. Shadow Olympics minister Hugh Robertson called for the venue to be given a set price and for...

IN BRIEF: Government sets industry targets.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... The construction industry has been set targets to improve its sustainability. The draft government and industry sustainable construction strategy includes a greater recognition of design quality as integral to all aspects of sustainable...

High dropout rate for architecture.
August 3, 2007... Courses report students among most likely to leave after the first year Marguerite Lazell Architecture students are among the most likely to drop out after only a single year of study, new figures from the National Audit Office have...

All single-room hospital on course.
August 3, 2007... The first major public hospital in the UK to give every patient their own room - a #200 million PFI scheme by Anshen & Allen - has been submitted for planning. The development will come as a welcome dose of good news to healthcare...

SMC cuts cost base in bid for stability.
August 3, 2007... Troubled architectural giant the SMC Group has announced that it has "significantly reduced" its cost base following an internal review which prompted the departure of 11 senior employees. The company board said in a statement that it had...

2010 expo designs aim to produce a Shanghai surprise.(Marks Barfield Architects)(Eight Consultants Company Ltd.)(Heatherwick Studio)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Eight, Marks Barfield and Heatherwick Studio have unveiled these designs for the #10 million UK pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo. These are three of six practices shortlisted by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in a competition...

Threat to views delays Oxford book depository.(University of Oxford)
August 3, 2007... Heidi Ancell Plans for a #29 million building for the University of Oxford by Scott Brownrigg have been delayed amid fears it would increase flooding and threaten views of the city's famous dreaming spires. Oxford City Council last...

FIRST LOOK: Plymouth offers an interesting new angle on university life.
August 3, 2007... Plymouth University will next month open the doors to this new #36 million arts complex by BDP and Henning Larsen Architects. The Roland Levinsky building was won by Henning Larsen in a design competition in 2004 and taken to completion by BDP....

Cabe wants towers to exceed eco rules.
August 3, 2007... Tall buildings are expected to exceed all current sustainability guidelines under new rules drawn up by Cabe and English Heritage. The two watchdogs want skyscrapers to act as "exemplar", structures, performing above existing regulations to...

OLYMPICS: ODA takes control of Olympic site.(Olympic Delivery Authority)(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... The London Development Agency last week handed over the Olympic Park site to the Olympic Delivery Authority, marking the "five years to go" point in the build-up to the 2012 games. The LDA described its recent work on the site, including buying...

Shock as Bath rejects Parry's museum plan.
August 3, 2007... Helen Crump An expert design panel, whose members include Richard MacCormac, has blamed Bath's "hostile" traditionalists for the shock rejection of Eric Parry's landmark extension to the city's Holburne Museum of Art. Chair of the...

KAZAKHSTAN: Site work starts on luxury ski village.
August 3, 2007... Developer Capital Partners has begun construction of HOK's masterplan for a ski village in the Kazakhstan mountains. The luxury development is being created in readiness for the 2011 Asian Games to be held in Almaty, the largest city in...

SITE DEATHS: Hain calls autumn safety summit.
August 3, 2007... Work and pensions secretary Peter Hain has announced a construction summit in the autumn, bringing together key industry figures to find ways of reducing industry fatalities. The summit will focus on health and safety in the house-building...

NATURE RESERVE: Building of discovery centre starts.
August 3, 2007... Work has begun on the RSPB's #7 million international nature reserve at Saltholme in Teesside, including a wild bird discovery centre by Jane Darbyshire and David Kendall of Newcastle practice JDDK. The building is designed to meet Breeam...

Mammoth museum goes back to the ice age.
August 3, 2007... New York practice Leeser Architecture has beaten competition from architects including Massimiliano Fuksas and Antoine Predock to design the World Mammoth and Permafrost Museum in central Siberia. The project, in western Yakutsk, also...

PEOPLE: Bath makes King visiting professor.(appointment of Doug King )(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... Bath University has appointed Doug King as visiting professor of environmental design. King founded engineering consultant King Shaw Associates, and worked on Edward Cullinan's Gridshell at the Weald & Downland Museum. He was previously...

Capita aiming for Stirling shortlist.
August 3, 2007... Listed firm Capita Symonds is to merge its three architecture practices and rebrand them collectively as Capita Architecture. Head of architecture at Capita Rob Firth said Capita Architecture aimed to reach the Stirling Prize shortlist in...

LETTER: Work together to save at-risk sites.(Letter to the editor)
August 3, 2007... The latest edition of English Heritage's Register of Buildings at Risk and BD's report last week have focused attention on the vast number of listed buildings across the country requiring remedial action, and the #400 million needed to bring...

OPINION - Last night's TV: the Ignorance Factor.(Germaine Greer)(Column)
August 3, 2007... SAUL METZSTEIN Germaine Greer's housing `solution' for Cambridge just displays her ignorance. Has she no shame? For some reason it is OK, maybe even encouraged, to invite anyone to talk about architecture on TV no matter how uninformed...

DEBATE: Was Bath right to reject the Holburne Museum scheme?
August 3, 2007... YES Stephen Marks Retired principal planning inspector, Bath Ellis Woodman (Works May 4) suggested that "on this site if nowhere else, one can make a powerful case that the normal rules should be suspended." But I and many others say...

COMPETITION: Design lessons.(Royal Institute of British Architects)
August 3, 2007... An RIBA competition for Southwark Council encouraged architects to talk to the staff and pupils of the three primary schools being upgraded The rebuilding of the UK's secondary schools has been criticised for not giving architects an...

WORKS: HAWORTH TOMPKINS - Scene stealer.(St Edward's School)
August 3, 2007... PROJECT TEAM Client: St Edward's School, Oxford, Architect: Haworth Tompkins, Structural engineer: Price & Myers, Service engineer: Max Fordham, Acoustic engineer: Paul Gillieron Acoustic Design, Theatre consultant: CharcoalBlue, Quantity...

IN DETAIL: NORTH WALL ARTS CENTRE, OXFORD.
August 3, 2007... Architect: Haworth Tompkins Structural engineer: Price & Myers Glazing subcontractor: Fineline Aluminium A Victorian swimming pool has been converted for use as a theatre in the grounds of a school in Oxford. A foyer, gallery,...

SOLUTIONS: Putting panpipes into a park panorama.(Royal Institute of British Architects.)
August 3, 2007... Singing Ringing Tree, the RIBA award-winning public art scheme in the Pennines by architect Tonkin Liu, posed a number of tricky challenges, not least of which was getting the sculpture to live up to its name and make a sound. With a little...

FABRICATING THE TREE.
August 3, 2007... The fabrication of the Tree took place in Mike Smith's studio in south- east London. With 18 years' experience of working with artists such as Michael Landy, Smith was well placed to work on this project. But in spite of his experience, he...

I'm pregnant - when do I have to tell my employer?
August 3, 2007... ASK US A QUESTION Richard Brindley RIBA director of practice Laura Atherton Solicitor, Kennedys, London EC1 I work for a small architect's practice and have just discovered I am pregnant. I know I will be entitled to...

ROLL ON FRIDAY.
August 3, 2007... `THE WHOLE PRACTICE CAME TO THE REGATTa to CHEER ME ON!' Practice Spratley Architects Location Henley-on-Thames Size 20 people "I was involved in rowing while I was at Oxford Brookes University, and I joined Henley Rowing Club...

CULTURE: Father of the chapel.(Book review)
August 3, 2007... This long-awaited biography finally brings Pugin to life - and reveals a complex and colourful figure who has shaped views of our heritage, writes Ken Powell BOOK GOD'S ARCHITECT: PUGIN AND THE BUILDING OF ROMANTIC BRITAIN ...

HOT TIPS: Adam family.
August 3, 2007... Forget the Candy Brothers. For ambitious fraternal development companies, the four Adam brothers are still hard to beat. Set up back in 1764 by architects Robert and James with their brothers William and Johnny, William Adam & Company employed...

HOT TIPS: Belt and braces.
August 3, 2007... Rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh is always keen. But that is not the focus of Shift, a new show on the two cities which will instead look at the future potential of the interlinking Central Belt area. Taking as its starting point Patrick...

HOT TIPS: Last shot at gold.
August 3, 2007... Geoffrey Darke of Darbourne & Darke brings to a close the Architecture Foundation's Summer Nights Gold lecture series, curated by BD buildings editor Ellis Woodman. Darke, architect of Lillington Gardens in Pimlico, London, is in conversation...

Hadspen's scorched earth.(Museum of Garden History)
August 3, 2007... What is missing from this redesign is a grasp of gardening, says Tom Turner EXHIBITION HADSPEN: THE NEXT GARDEN The Museum of Garden History, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 Until September 15 Most of the Museum of Garden...

Tea takes the biscuit.
August 3, 2007... Tea was introduced into Japan by a Zen priest in the 12th century, but it was not until the mid-16th century that the tea room became an established architectural form. Since then countless architects have tried their hand at these highly...

THIS WEEK: PRORA.
August 3, 2007... The vast Baltic seaside resort built by the Nazis is to be turned into a youth hostel. Built to house 20,000 people at a time, the dormitories had been used by Soviet and East German military, but have been empty since the fall of the Berlin...

THIS WEEK: GREEN ROOFS.
August 3, 2007... Government ministers want the latest wave of sustainable buildings to have vegetation-covered roofs. They will be promoting the roofs for office and residential developments. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: TAYLOR WIMPEY.
August 3, 2007... The UK housebuilder says its merger is on course, despite difficult conditions in the US housing market. The company has cut its US workforce by 25% and set aside #61 million to deal with the US market crash, but is promising shareholders a big...

THIS WEEK: HEATHROW.
August 3, 2007... London mayor Ken Livingstone says the airport is "typical of the English disease of short-termism". His words came amid claims the business community would do "almost anything" to avoid the airport. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: MANCUNIAN DRIVERS.
August 3, 2007... The congestion charge is set to head north after councillors voted to bid for a #3 billion public transport regeneration package. The government has made the money dependent on the introduction of the levy. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Olympic Village designers under starter's orders.
August 10, 2007... BD reveals the 47 practices picked for coveted prize, designing athletes' accommodation Marguerite Lazell A new generation of architects including scores of British firms has been selected to work on the Athletes' Village for the...

While ODA calls in experts to vet stadium.
August 10, 2007... Designs for the 2012 Olympic stadium by Peter Cook and HOK Sport are to be reviewed by a rival practice appointed by the ODA, raising fears the organisation is pursuing an ultra-cautious approach based on minimising risk. The ODA, which...

LEADER: Egos need to be kept in check.( Stratford Town Centre )(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... AMANDA BAILLIEU The athletes' village will be a closely watched drama, unlike its antithesis - the conventional mega-project at Stratford No one involved in commissioning the athletes' village will underestimate the challenges...

LEADER: Let students flower while they can.
August 10, 2007... Marvellous as the work of the graduates in this week's Class of 2007 may be (see pg 10), there is much to give a building control officer cause for complaint. While some projects here are firmly grounded in the "real world", others...

LEADER: Who needs shareholders?
August 10, 2007... Most architects reading about the proposed merger of the beleaguered SMC and Aukett Fitzroy Robinson will be as puzzled as BD. The latter is highly profitable with a bulging order book, particularly in eastern Europe, while SMC's share price...

IN BRIEF: MPs demand design principles.(Members of Parliament )(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... An influential committee of MPs has called for general design principles to be introduced for aspects of the Building Schools for the Future programme. The education and skills committee said restricting choice on some "nuts-and-bolts...

IN BRIEF: Birnbeck Island to be revamped.(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... The search is on for a team of architects to revive Birnbeck Island and its pier in Weston-super-Mare. Urban Splash and the RIBA are inviting practices to design a development with public access to new attractions to draw more residents,...

IN BRIEF: RSHP designs landmark centre.(Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners is to design a "landmark" health centre for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The health centre, to be built on the site of a former leisure centre in White City, will include GP surgery space,...

IN BRIEF: Merger creates mega-consultancy.(mergers of Whitby Bird and Partners and Ramboll Group)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Leading engineer Whitbybird has merged with Nordic firm Ramboll to create a European consultancy with more than 6,000 staff and 140 offices worldwide. Whitbybird's projects include the new stadium for Liverpool Football Club and the Okhta...

IN BRIEF: Simpson helps improve standards.(Ian Simpson joins the board of Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Ian Simpson has joined the board of the Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder to help improve the design quality of the 2,500 homes to be delivered there in the next three years. Simpson, whose buildings in the North-west...

Page & Park nets Dollar Academy.(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Page & Park has beaten several of Scotland's leading practices to land the masterplanning contract for the grade A listed Dollar Academy, one of the country's most prestigious public schools. Former pupil John McAslan, who was...

SMC/Aukett set to be UK's largest practice.(mergers of Stewart McColl Associates PLC and Aukett Associates PLC)
August 10, 2007... Proposed merger could see Stewart McColl's comeback with a place on the board Will Hurst Britain's largest firm of architects is set to be created by a proposed merger between the troubled SMC Group and fellow PLC Aukett Fitzroy...

New Street station design under threat.(contracts of John McAslan and Partners)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... John McAslan & Partners' #550 million design for the redevelopment of Birmingham's New Street Station is under threat after the government asked for further proof that it offers value for money. At a crunch meeting last week ministers told...

Engineers and architects clash on bridge design.
August 10, 2007... Architects and engineers clashed this week over the design of bridges, after the collapse of a US road bridge put the safety of the structures in the public eye. David McKenzie, partner at leading engineer Flint & Neill Partnership, told...

Bold scheme corners Moorgate gateway site.(contracts of Allies and Morrison and Redevco)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Allies & Morrison has gained planning permission for this striking #33 million development in London's Moorgate for client Redevco. The scheme, on a corner site at the northern boundary of the City of London, has been hailed by planners as...

FIRST LOOK: Squire wins scheme for Bucharest factory site.(contracts of Global Finance Real Estate with Squire and Partners)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Squire & Partners has beaten firms including Foreign Office Architects and Metropolitan Workshop in a competition to design this mixed-use scheme on the site of a modernist Ford factory in Bucharest, Romania. The practice's winning design,...

Tollbooth to be axed after just one year.
August 10, 2007... Rory Olcayto A landmark structure in Scotland by Reiach & Hall Architects is facing demolition less than a year after completion. The firm's #8.5 million Forth Bridge toll development near Edinburgh, which beat submissions by Richard...

Preston contest attracts impressive shortlist.
August 10, 2007... CJ Lim's Studio 8 Architects, Rotterdam-based Maxwan, and London-based firms Piercy Conner and Moxon have been shortlisted in an RIBA competition to design a premium four-storey, 3,700sq m office development in Preston, Lancashire. The...

Corby in the swim.(construction of Corby East Midlands International Pool building)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... S&P Architects has been appointed to design an Olympic sized pool in Corby, Northamptonshire, which will be used as a training ground by athletes hoping to compete in the 2012 Games. The #20 million Corby East Midlands International Pool...

RIBA stance threatens small firms, says ACA.
August 10, 2007... Plea to retain `no set-off clause' Heidi Ancell The Association of Consultant Architects has vowed to act as an alternative voice for the profession after claiming that changes in RIBA policy will create a "desperate" situation for...

Cool wall calls for 2007's hit designs.
August 10, 2007... Are you brave enough to take part in the next BD/100% Detail Cool Wall contest which will take place at the 100% Detail show at London's Earls Court next month? BD is looking for residential projects for inclusion in this year's...

Sheffield screen gem.(Carmody Groarke wins Royal Institute of British Architects competition)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Carmody Groarke has won an RIBA competition to design Sheffield's #3 million Festival Centre. The scheme will extend the facilities provided by the city's Showroom cinema and the Workstation creative business centre. Also shortlisted were...

Egret West tower rejected by council.
August 10, 2007... Marguerite Lazell Studio Egret West is to redesign a landmark tower scheme in south London after Bexley Council's in-house architect launched a fierce attack on the project. Bexley's planning committee recently rejected the 17-storey,...

IRELAND: RMJM/Taylor university job.(Taylor and Associates Architects)(National University of Ireland, Galway)
August 10, 2007... RMJM and Taylor Architects have submitted a planning application for an engineering school for the National University of Ireland in Galway. The proposed #40 million scheme is the university's largest capital project to date. The...

STATISTICS: Sharp growth for UK construction.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
August 10, 2007... Construction has grown at its strongest rate for seven years, according to new figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. During last month the purchasing managers' index, a seasonally adjusted index that measures the...

AWARDS: Civic Trust calls for entries.
August 10, 2007... The Civic Trust is calling for entries for its annual awards, which acknowledge success in new-build and the renovation or regeneration of privately and publicly owned buildings, landscaping and public spaces. The awards are open to any...

PEOPLE: New design boss at Buro Happold.(Chris Perry appointed at Buro Happold Consulting Engineers)(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Buro Happold has appointed Chris Perry to head its newly created design team, which will be based at its Glasgow office. Perry has worked at Wilkinson Eyre, helped to set up Jestico & Whiles' Glasgow office, and most recently collaborated with...

Five compete to regenerate Hull site.(Brief article)
August 10, 2007... Fat, Wigglesworth and BDP are among shortlisted architects Heidi Ancell A team including Surface, Sarah Wigglesworth and celebrated urbanist Jan Gehl has been shortlisted for one of Hull's largest regeneration projects. The team,...

Holmes to take over as chief executive of Hull Citybuild.
August 10, 2007... * John Holmes, currently director of regeneration at One NorthEast, is to take over as chief executive of Hull Citybuild in September as the organisation rebrands itself as the Hull Forward city development company. Copyright: CMP...

LETTER: Put up or shut up.(Letter to the editor)
August 10, 2007... Stop moaning about planning committee decisions (Leader August 3) and do something about it. It is not difficult to become an elected councillor, so go and get yourself elected and dominate the planning committees. The political parties are...

LETTER: Tax and spend.(Letter to the editor)
August 10, 2007... Paul Velluet raises important questions about listed buildings at risk (Letters August 3). However, he does not mention the corrosive effect of VAT that bedevils many private owners who want to maintain listed structures properly. There...

LETTER: The big issue.(Letter to the editor)
August 10, 2007... During the recent flooding around the Ouse, Derwent, Severn, Avon and Thames, one government minister said: "It will not be possible for future housebuilding to avoid flood plains." Given that the Stern Review's report predicts sea level...

LETTER: Form of flattery.(Letter to the editor)
August 10, 2007... How lovely to have provided the inspiration to so many high-flying young firms in the form of Eight's Shanghai Expo entry (News August 3, pictured). Who knows? We in turn might be inspired to add a subliminal Union Jack soffit motif to our...

LETTER: Humble pie.(Letter to the editor)
August 10, 2007... Saul Metzstein (Opinion August 3) may well be right to castigate the housing "solution" shown in Germaine Greer's television programme as half-baked. For some reason he neglects to mention the baker's assistant - none other than Ted...

LETTER: Modernists are not democrats.(Letter to the editor)
August 10, 2007... The rejection of Eric Parry's glass-and-ceramic box in Bath (News August 3) has upset supporters of the "modernism is the only way forward" view, and brought to the surface the usual nonsense used to support it. Only seven years in, to say...

OPINION: Rally round to save the MK dream.
August 10, 2007... GEOFF SHEARCROFT It may be the butt of jokes, but Milton Keynes' very existence champions the suburban ideal "Milton Keynes is considered to be one of the most successful large- scale development projects ever undertaken in England,...

DEBATE: Should architects take the lead in bridge design?
August 10, 2007... NO Gordon Masterton Ex-president, Institution of Civil Engineers The contribution of architects to bridge design is entirely positive. Inspired collaboration of engineer and architect creates a delightful combination of form, function...

CLASS OF 2007: A sense of adventure.(architectural competitions)(KIYOAKI TAKEDA)(LUCY PENGILLEY)
August 10, 2007... From age-old considerations of proportion, decorum and classical dignity to fears about the way Britain's surveillance culture is shaping our built environment, this year's round-up of the best graduating diploma students reveals the...

SOLUTIONS: SUSTAINABILITY - Adding biofuel to the fire.
August 10, 2007... The government says biomass could provide a sustainable means of heating UK homes, but is this remotely practical? Roderic Bunn investigates Grow trees, cut them down, chop them into bits and burn them in a boiler, then grow new trees to...