Building Design articles from December 2004

Building Design archives from December 2004

Hope springs for Cambridge.
December 3, 2004... The battle over architecture at Cambridge University took a dramatic turn this week in favour of the coalition of students and architects fighting to save the prestigious department. The university's powerful school of arts and humanities...

Gong song.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects swept the board at the first Architect of the Year Awards on Tuesday night, picking up four prizes, including the coveted Architect of the Year Award. The BD-organised ceremony also saw Allies & Morrison...

Row over urban summit: housebuilders threaten boycott of Sustainable Plan summit.(News)
December 3, 2004... Housebuilders are threatening to boycott the government's flagship Delivering the Sustainable Communities Plan Summit, claiming they have not been given a voice in the conference programme. BD understands two major housebuilders are ready...

Aukett close to merger with Fitzroy Robinson.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Aukett's quest to merge with another practice appears nearly over after it confirmed it was negotiating with Fitzroy Robinson. The listed practice's shares were suspended on Tuesday and Aukett Group made a statement to the London Stock...

SOM London's collaboration with Spanish architect Rafael de La-Hoz in Madrid has started on site.(Hit and miss)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... SOM London's collaboration with Spanish architect Rafael de La-Hoz in Madrid has started on site. The Edificio Portico (pictured above) is an eight-storey speculative office block and features a large roof that projects over the front of the...

Gustafson Porter's 3.6 million [pounds sterling] Princess Diana Memorial Fountain will close once again.(Hit and miss)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Gustafson Porter's 3.6 million [pounds sterling] Princess Diana Memorial Fountain will close once again so new grass can be laid around the fountain and small bridges of metal bars can be installed over it to prevent children from...

London-based practice De Matos Storey Ryan has won an RIBA competition to build "the best bird box in Britain".(Hit and miss)(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... London-based practice De Matos Storey Ryan has won an RIBA competition to build "the best bird box in Britain". The practice beat 70 contenders to win the Durham City Arts project. The practice said that it was "flying high" after the win.

The Wales Millennium Centre, designed by Capita Percy Thomas, was officially opened by the Queen in Cardiff this week.(Hit and miss)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The Wales Millennium Centre, designed by Capita Percy Thomas, was officially opened by the Queen in Cardiff this week. The Queen and Prince Charles were given a tour of the 106 million [pounds sterling] centre before an inaugural concert.

Beatrice Fraenkel, the chairwoman of South Liverpool Primary Care Trust, has won the Design Champion award at the Building Better Healthcare Awards.(People)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Beatrice Fraenkel, the chairwoman of South Liverpool Primary Care Trust, has won the Design Champion award at the Building Better Healthcare Awards. Fraenkel won for her work on the Liverpool Lift and the North Mersey Future Healthcare Project....

Karen Turton, of Turton Building Control in Nottingham, has become the first woman to register.(People)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Karen Turton, of Turton Building Control in Nottingham, has become the first woman to register as an approved building-control inspector with the Construction Industry Council.

RIBA president George Ferguson has completed his bicycle tour of Cuba in aid of the Architects Benevolent Society.(People)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... RIBA president George Ferguson (above, left) has completed his bicycle tour of Cuba in aid of the Architects Benevolent Society. The five-day, 400km cycle ride has raised nearly 50,000 [pounds sterling] for the charity. Ferguson apparently kept...

A new study by National Statistics predicts shrinking populations in Liverpool, Kingston upon Hull and Newcastle.(Power play)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... A new study by National Statistics predicts shrinking populations in Liverpool, Kingston upon Hull and Newcastle. The projections have alarmed the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, which fears an exodus from cities will be the death...

The South East Regional Assembly met this week to debate the level of public consultation required for new housing planned for South-east England.(Power play)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The South East Regional Assembly met this week to debate the level of public consultation required for new housing planned for South-east England. The plan will be published in January for consultation until April 2005.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister this week unveiled new planning rules aimed at preventing illegal development.(Power play)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister this week unveiled new planning rules aimed at preventing illegal development. The rules, which are open for public consultation, will give local councils new powers to stop illegal development and...

Terry Farrell will deliver the Royal Town Planning Institute's annual lecture next Thursday.(Power play)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Terry Farrell will deliver the Royal Town Planning Institute's annual lecture next Thursday, on the subject of "urban futures", at the Kennedy Lecture Theatre in London. Tel: Helen Booth on 020 8267 4126.

Road wrangle may derail homes plan: 7m [pounds sterling] infrastructure spat in Ashford threatens 5,000-home bid.(News)
December 3, 2004... The government's ambitious plans to build thousands of new homes across the South-east could be under threat due to a lack of infrastructure funding. BD has learnt that 2,000 new homes in a housing growth zone have been delayed by...

Sorrell tipped to be next Cabe chairman.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The next chairman of the Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment will be named "imminently" and a senior government source has tipped former Design Council chairman John Sorrell for the job. Sorrell is understood to have been...

Foster's partners hand over.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Six senior architects at Foster & Partners have been handed day-to-day control of the business in a move that sees the senior partners take on overseeing roles. The system has been operating informally for some time, but the practice this...

Zaha's wonder of science.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Construction is progressing on Zaha Hadid's complex 23 million [pounds sterling] Wolfsburg Science Centre in Saxony, Germany. The ground floor, beneath the 12,000sq m science and technology museum on the first floor, is a public piazza that...

Web poll.(News)
December 3, 2004... Last week we asked: Which design should win the British Antarctic Survey competition? 10% said Buro Happold/ Lifschutz Davidson 85% said Hugh Broughton with Faber Maunsell 14% said Hopkins This week we ask Does...

Ellipse axed in face of opposition.(News)
December 3, 2004... Grimshaw's proposed 30 million [pounds sterling] extension of the Royal College of Art has been abandoned amid fears that defending the scheme against opposition will prove too expensive. Despite winning planning permission nearly a year...

Sandbag triumph.(News)(Aga Khan Award )(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The Sandbag House is one of seven projects to win the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which recognises outstanding design in Islamic societies. Iranian architect Nader Khalili's structure comprises sandbags filled with earth, laid in a...

Heritage specialist practices merge.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Heritage specialist Purcell Miller Tritton has merged with the practice of St Paul's Cathedral's surveyor in a move that cements its role on some the British Isles' leading cathedrals. Martin Stancliffe's York-based 16-strong practice was...

Hodder faces 5m [pounds sterling] Clissold legal claim.(News)
December 3, 2004... The legal claim against Hodder Associates over the troubled Clissold Leisure Centre in north London is worth 5 million [pounds sterling], lawyers for Hackney council revealed in court last week. The legal team said Hodder Associates was the...

C20 Society fears for listed tube stations.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The companies responsible for maintaining London's underground lines are ignoring heritage issues, the Twentieth Century Society claimed this week. Metronet and Tube Lines took over maintenance last year, amid fears they would neglect...

Nigeria masterplan.(Norman & Dawbarn )(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... London-based Norman & Dawbarn has unveiled a masterplan for a 5275 million university campus in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. The 440ha scheme would be for Akwa Ibom State University of Technology in Nigeria. Work is due to start on site early...

Gainsborough development.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Chesterfield-based WCFC has been appointed to design a 37 million [pounds sterling] mixed-use scheme in Gainsborough town centre in Lincolnshire. Work on the project, for developers Dransfield Properties and Prospect Estates, will start in the...

Affordable push.(Housing minister)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Housing minister Keith Hill has launched a "procurement pack" aimed at speeding up delivery of affordable housing using the private finance initiative. For more information, see www.4ps.gov.uk

Bath with a view.(News)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Bath-based Nash Partnership has submitted a planning application for 11 town houses for an inner-city courtyard site in Bath. The houses are up to four storeys high with the main living areas on the top floors, which open out onto roof...

Play park.(Yorkshire)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... A children's playground in Cutsyke, Castleford, by Leeds-based Estell Warren Landscape Architecture with Allen Tod Architecture has been granted planning approval. The playground will feature a forest of steel poles to which nets, ropes,...

Buildings honoured.(Yorkshire)(RIBA Yorkshire's White Rose Awards )(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The RIBA Yorkshire's White Rose Awards were held at Sheffield's Winter Garden. The top award went to Centenary Development, Queen Margaret's School, Escrick, by Birmingham-based Associated Architects. Highly commended were the Ebor Stand, York...

Hull help.(Yorkshire)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Hull has netted 20 million [pounds sterling] in funding from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward towards regeneration schemes in the city. Projects will include buildings at Albion Street and Bond Street and public-realm projects at...

Wrapped up.(Yorkshire)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The biggest building wrap Sheffield has ever seen was put up last month. The 35m by 26m banner on the soon-to-be demolished Dyson House is an artist's impression of a new public square nearby. The space, which includes water features and a...

Model nursery.(Yorkshire)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Cabe has awarded "top marks" to the design of a nursery building in Sheffield by Panter Hudspith Architects. First Start at Frith Park is the first to be completed in the joint Cabe and DfES Neighbourhood Nursery Competition. Cabe commissioner...

Canal dream.(Yorkshire)(Bradford Canal )(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Redevelopment of the 1774 Bradford Canal into the city could be carried out for about 17 million [pounds sterling] with no major engineering obstacles to overcome, a study by Arup has found. The restoration forms an integral part of Will...

Four out of five fail on access: Disability Discrimination Act defied.(Spotcheck)
December 3, 2004... Four out of five leisure venues are inaccessible to disabled people and in flagrant breach of the law, a major new survey has found. More than 1,300 buildings, including pubs, restaurants, bars and cinemas--visited as part of charity...

Reading suspended.(Spotcheck)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Santiago Calatrava has completed a 22 million [pounds sterling], six-floor library for the Zurich University Law School. The library is suspended within an existing courtyard by a lightweight, steel structure supported at just four points, and...

Waiting for the sun: can these architects emerge from the shadows of their famous bosses? With reform in the air at Britain's biggest firms, Robert Booth and Zoe Blackler ask if the next generation will shine or stay in the shadows.(News Analysis)
December 3, 2004... We'd like you to meet an architect. He's in charge of a 60-strong practice and is designing the largest building on earth. It's an airport terminal so huge (3km long) that an incredible 32,000 people are working on site. But chances are you...

Pecularities of architecture.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... Your coverage of the problems in architectural education brings out clearly the inherent weakness of the relationship between universities and government, which threatens to close more schools of architecture. Funding schools by requiring them...

Value of teaching.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... Neil Jackson puts forward the "only solution" for schools of architecture (Letters November 26), but is it right that we establish our educational structure on purely economic arguments rather than on proper pedagogical ones? Your article...

Research is vital.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... Zoe Blacker's assertion that the "true purpose" of any university is to teach conveniently wipes out centuries of history. Of course we have a mission to teach, but unless teaching is informed by emerging knowledge it will become ossified...

Time not money.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... I find it interesting that Richard Saxon sees women architects as giving up the profession "as their pay cannot cover childcare costs" (Soapbox November 26). I moved out of conventional architectural practice when I had a child, not...

Design hot-bed.(Comment)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... In his coherent and rather self-critical thesis (Soapbox November 26), Richard Saxon made a slightly irritating gaffe 'architects... usually in large local authority offices during the sixties doing socially responsible work (but let's not...

Solid foundation.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... Disillusioned Young Architect (Letters November 26) writes that the shortlist for the Architecture Foundation's new HQ consists of "has-beens and fashionable hacks". What we actually have is a balanced list that includes both recent graduates...

Prince ill informed.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... Prince Charles is quoted saying "the concept [of modern methods] has more to do with ideology than practicality as it would cost twice as much to build components in factories and transport them to site" (News November 26). Whoever is...

Lost temple.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... Thirty-five years ago, my children gathered conkers along a forgotten section of the Roman Ermine Street in Hertfordshire. There, close to a solitary wooden finger board pointing south to London, and just 300m short of the New River, a 16th...

Make out.(Comment)
December 3, 2004... If there is one more simplistic computer-generated image from Make on your front page (News November 19), I will cancel my subscription.

Clarification.(Correction Notice)
December 3, 2004... We stated in our This Week column (November 26), but not in the related web poll, that Faber Maunsell co-designed an entry for the British Antarctic Survey competition with Hugh Broughton Architects. Letters can be emailed to...

A bumpy ride to the promised land.(Editorial)
December 3, 2004... It felt like the start of something. The Docklands Light Railway was festooned in "Back the Bid: London 2012" graphics and left the City of London destined for Custom House--the aptly named station where Docklands really becomes the Thames...

Research: Holy Grail or Achilles Heel?(Soapbox)
December 3, 2004... Why all the hand-wringing about the poor research performance of UK architecture schools? This is hardly a new problem, and one the schools have failed to rectify over the past 20 years. In that time, the higher-education goal posts have...

Gender defender.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... BD's glittering Architect of the Year Awards at the London Hilton on Tuesday took a satisfyingly political turn. De Rijke Marsh Morgan's Sadie Morgan told the assembled masses that her award for best new practice was one in the eye for the male...

Snow joke.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... What's the connection between architecture, Idi Amin and Ronald Reagan? The answer is Jon Snow, who presented the AYAs. The Channel 4 News anchor branded Amin's Ugandan command post "the most architecture-free building in the world" so it was...

Winner floored.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Feilden's board-sweeping evening was a complete surprise, he said, and for once this hackneyed protestation had the ring of truth about it. He was so pessimistic, he and partner Peter Clegg decided not to invite any clients and instead settled...

Fighting talk.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Speakers at last week's Thames Gateway Forum at London's Excel were treated to a massage before taking the stage. If John Prescott had one, it did nothing to mellow a vein-bulging speech in which he said he was fed up with the sniping that his...

Pitting his wits.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Is Brad Pitt still pursuing his second career as an architect? The 61asgow Sunday Mail reports that Pitt, working as an "intern" at Frank Gehry's studio in LA, will attend a planning meeting in Brighton next summer as part of his work on...

Dubya on patrol.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Bill Clinton's former adviser, Sidney Blumenthal, says George W Bush behaved strangely at the dedication of Clinton's presidential library last week. Bush constantly checked his watch and at one point looked at the nearby river and muttered: "A...

Making history: Muf's one-room pavilion to guard a Roman mosaic in St Albans was five years in the making. Will the practice's first bona fide building live up to expectations.(Works)
December 3, 2004... As Liza Fior and I cut past the boating lake and crazy golf course at the entrance to Verulamium Park, it feels as if we have suddenly left the commuter Shangri-la that is modern St Albans behind us. Ahead, we have the run of 40ha of open...

Queen's Road Community Centre, Walthamstow Architect: Greenhill Jenner Services engineer: Max Fordham, Structural engineer: Fluid Structures.(In Detail 33)
December 3, 2004... Architect: Greenhill Jenner Services engineer: Max Fordham Structural engineer: Fluid Structures The Queens Road Community Centre provides a Sure Start nursery, a creche, a lifelong learning and employment training centre for...

The cost of conservation: Part L consultation has closed, but architects still have reservations about the changes. Tanya Ross looks at the challenges ahead.(Solutions)
December 3, 2004... Now that the consultation period on the proposed revisions to Part L of the building regulations has closed, it seems an appropriate time to assess what the changes could mean for architects. In the past, the approved documents to the...

Cheap and cheerful: a Design Museum show proves good design can be had for a tenner.(Culture)
December 3, 2004... Can a luxurious, raspberry meringue and a life-saving mosquito net equally be seen to embody good design? The fundamental question of how we perceive good design is chewed over at the Design Museum's new exhibition, Under a Tenner, which seeks...

News on the bookshelf.(Book Review)
December 3, 2004... Architecture as Signs and Systems for a Mannerist Time, by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Belknap Harvard, HB, 2B8pp, 19 [pounds sterling]. Venturi and Scott Brown look back over their influential ideas and buildings in a personal...

Anna Liu.(Radar)
December 3, 2004... [Books] Adolescence: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Pre-architecture school: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Post-architecture school: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, by Friedrich Nietzsche. More recently, Emergence by Steven Johnson. [Music]...

WPL.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Grease management specialist, GMG has been awarded a contract to install WPL's Grease Guzzler at all new Prezzo restaurants. The compact, eco-friendly unit, which eliminates the main cause of drain blockage, odours and the need for grease...

Keim Paints.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Albion Riverside is already a familiar landmark on the south bank of the Thames. Foster and Partners have designed every aspect of the development. They specified Keim Mineral Paints for both external and internal applications. Enquiries...

C & C Marshall.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Marshall-Tufflex offers architects and specifiers a RIBA-approved CPD seminar addressing the correct jointing, flow rate, capacity and application of rainwater guttering systems. The RIBA Providers' Network for Continuing Professional...

Brett Martin.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Marlon FS solid polycarbonate sheeting from Brett Martin is helping create a safe working environment in a 25 million state of the art garage for Dublin Bus. GPI and Vink worked closely to produce effective smoke screens to meet the Dublin Bus...

Sikkens.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... 'Translucent Woodcare Systems Colour Guide' is a new six page, pocket sized guide to the eight decorative finished available in the Sikkens Cetol translucent external woodstain range. Actual wood chip samples are incorporated showing the...

Sandtoft roof tiles.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The task of recreating two 19th century turrets may seem like a tall order but when vital parts of the puzzle were found to be missing, it became an even more of a technical dilemma it was Sandtoft Roof Tiles who helped The National Trust solve...

Structura UK Ltd.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The 5-storey National Magazine House in Carnaby Street, London, has been completely re-glazed by Structura UK Ltd, curtain wall engineering specialist, in a refurbishment contract worth over 500,000 [pounds sterling]. Structura installed 500...

Hafele.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Hafele is now distributor of range of architectural ironmongery in 'black iron' from Kirkpatrick, Britain's longest established and best respected iron founders. Hafele's Warwick Suite comprises a huge range of very traditional door and window...

Kaldewei.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Kaldewei, Europe's no.1 producer of baths, present a spacious range of baths designed specifically for two. Thanks to the centrally located waste outlet and two identical back rests, the DuoPool, Megaform and Vaioduo models ensure that no one...

Dorma.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... DORMA has developed a new package for the accessible toilet market. First and foremost it is truly 'accessible', with doors opening outwards into the corridor. The door itself is fitted with the DORMA ED 800 low energy door operator. ...

Sandtoft Roof Tiles: When guardians of the St Columba's Church in Glasgow.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... When guardians of the St Columba's Church in Glasgow, found its roof badly aged and storm damaged, the expectation was that repairs would be difficult. However, it's seems someone was smiling down on the church as Sandtoft's 'Bridgwater' Double...

Corus building systems.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... A brand new waste and recycling centre--part of Arsenal Football Club's 357 million [pounds sterling] new football stadium project and one of the UK's largest regeneration schemes--has been equipped with a full Kalzip system specification. A...

Levolux.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... A product, purpose designed to shade and reduce solar glare and usually installed outside has found a new and highly ingenious use on the inside--as a major architectural feature in the reception of a high profile Central London office. ...

RMC concrete products.(Products & Literature)
December 3, 2004... RMC Floors have supplied their Beam and Block flooring system to a new Social Housing development in Hillfield Mews, London N8. The project includes 5 new build homes and flats for The Family Housing Association. The ReadyFloor system...

Ward.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Ward Insulated Panels has appointed Chris Lawrence as Specification Manager for the South of England, for its market leading single ply insulated membrane panel, Topdek. Chris recently joined the team at Ward, bringing with him over 20 years'...

Kingspan insulation limited.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Kingspan Thermaroof TR26 LPC/FM zero ODP was in perfect tune with The Sage Gateshead, a purpose built music centre which has created a stunning landmark on the banks of the River Tyne. A total of 9.500 square metres were installed. Tel: +44(0)...

Sandtoft Roof Tiles: Designers of a rapidly expanding retail and residential centre near Lincoln.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Designers of a rapidly expanding retail and residential centre near Lincoln are turning once again to leading roof tile manufacturer, Sandtoft. Having already used the company's acclaimed 20/20 interlocking clay plain tiles to create a...

Spaceworks.(Products & Literature)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Spaceworks interiors solution specialists have designed functional offices with creative features for Fotango. Special aspects of the refurbishment are the layout combined with the design of two glazed meeting rooms and atrium, using...

Tender: do you have a non-residential building, which is coming up for refurbishment? Do you work with or design energy-efficient technologies?
December 3, 2004... The Carbon Trust is a not-for-dividend company set up to encourage, promote and accelerate the development and take-up of low-carbon technologies in the UK and to help make the transition to a low-carbon economy. Buildings are responsible...

Dwayne Hemmingham.
December 3, 2004... Monday Spend morning working my way up from humble beginnings. By lunchtime, I'm running an exciting new fashion company, putting "common sense glamour" back where it belongs--on the high street. By teatime I have sold the company and...

The charettes.
December 3, 2004... HUGO I NEED TO TALK TO YOU SURE SE COME IN WHAT'S ON YOUR MOND? WELL, THE THING IS, I'M EXPECTING A BABY FANTASTIC NEWS SUE, WHEN'S IT DUE? JUNE THE SEVENTEENTH WOAHH SUE NO CAN DO, I'M LECTURING IN NEW YORK THAT DAY ...

Guidance document on the use of thin joint brickwork: this guidance document results from a Partners in Innovation (PII) project sponsored by the DTI, Oxford Brookes University and Industry Stakeholders.
December 3, 2004... The Industry Stakeholders include Hanson Building Products, Brick Development Association, Ibstock Brick, and Mander Structural Design. The project and this guidance document aim to facilitate the use of thin joint brickwork in the UK. ...