Building Design articles from February 2008

Building Design archives from February 2008

Small firms face new doubts on Olympics.
February 1, 2008... Legacy masterplan goes to KCAP, Edaw and Allies & Morrison Will Hurst and Rory Olcayto The role of young and smaller practices in the 2012 Olympics has again been cast into doubt at the unveiling of the winning team to design the...

Aquatic Centre: swan dive or belly flop?
February 1, 2008... The Olympic Delivery Authority has denied that Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre has been compromised by legacy concerns, despite the addition of two massive seating stands for use during the 2012 games. The centre was originally conceived as a...

LEADER: Fearing risk is dangerous.
February 1, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU The diminished 2012 Aquatic Centre and The Public are sorry tales of our times, but the danger is that clients will stop commissioning brave architecture There is very little job satisfaction to be gained from finishing...

LEADER: Introducing our latest ministers.(Department for Culture, Media and Sport)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Goodbye James Purnell, hello Andy Burnham - who last Thursday became the new culture secretary. For architects, who's at the helm of the Department for Culture Media & Sport scarcely matters any more, and one can't help feeling that the...

IN BRIEF: Studio Egret West's tower `comb'.(Studio Egret West)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The first images of Studio Egret West's design to remodel the base of Richard Seifert's iconic Tower 42, also known as the Nat West tower, in the City of London have been unveiled. As BD revealed last week, the practice has won a competition to...

IN BRIEF: HKS reworks Liverpool stadium.
February 1, 2008... HKS has reworked its designs for Liverpool Football Club's new #310 million stadium after the club confirmed that the practice was still on board. The club had earlier asked Manchester-based stadium specialist AFL to revisit its own...

IN BRIEF: DSDHA tops out Guildford school.(DSDHA designs school buildings)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... A new-build school at Guildford in Surrey by DSDHA has been topped out. The #15.5 million, 7,250sq m scheme for 700 pupils is for Christ's College, replacing a 1960s building. New public access routes have been created, with trees to establish...

IN BRIEF: Cambridge gets little bit of Malmo.(HTA Architects)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... A residential scheme for Cambridge by HTA Architects has won planning permission after an appeal. The 143-unit project, on a former water company site, was inspired by a visit to the Swedish city of Malmo. HTA's Lucy Whitehead said the...

IN BRIEF: Clash at EH's CO2 cuts conference.(Conference notes)
February 1, 2008... Speakers at English Heritage's conference on climate change in central London last week clashed over CO2 cuts in historic buildings. Martin Parry, co-chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, asked whether it was worth the...

Framework plan alarms RIBA.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Architects may have to bid for hundreds of millions of pounds worth of work through a huge network of framework agreements that could cover all of England. Industry think tank the Collaborative Working Centre, a subsidiary of Constructing...

Top architects back Smithfield demolition.
February 1, 2008... Inquiry hears KPF's scheme backed over `undistinguished' General Market Anna Winston Smithfield's General Market is an "undistinguished" building which should be replaced with KPF's huge office scheme, three leading architects claimed...

Climate change demands.
February 1, 2008... The RIBA has written to Gordon Brown, calling for a binding agreement to tackle climate change. The institute is one of 27 signatories asking the prime minister to meet the construction industry - believed to be responsible for 50% of UK...

Minister U-turns on Giant's Causeway.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... A dramatic U-turn by Northern Ireland environment minister Arlene Foster this week cleared the way for Heneghan Peng's Giant's Causeway visitor centre. Foster told the Northern Ireland Assembly on Tuesday she would not grant planning for a...

Stumbling on H-blocks.(HOK Sports Facilities Group)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... HOK Sport has revealed images of its controversial proposals for a multi-sport stadium to stand on the former site of Belfast's Maze Prison. The 38,500 capacity stadium, which would be the world's first purpose- designed stadium for...

Architects blast RMJM's docks plan.
February 1, 2008... Rory Olcayto Leading architects have joined a campaign against RMJM's 144ha Leith Docks masterplan, calling for a radical rethink before planning approval is given by Edinburgh City Council. Senior figures at Lllewelyn Davies Yeang and...

Hotel's sandstone facade fits in to Glasgow's material world.
February 1, 2008... Edinburgh architect Allan Murray has submitted this four-star, 200-bed hotel in Glasgow for planning. The six-storey building, planned to go on the site ofa vacant car park close to the City Chambers, is designedto respond to the four...

Page & Park wins Scottish portrait gallery refurb.(Page & Park contracts with National Portrait Gallery )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Glasgow-based Page & Park has won the contract for the #18 million refurbishment of Edinburgh's Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The firm will draw up plans for the repair, conservation and adaption of the building, which was the first...

`Significant' shortage of skills to cost firms dear.(Survey)
February 1, 2008... Helen Crump A survey of leading practices has revealed the shocking scale of the skills shortage facing the architectural profession, with respondents expecting annual staff turnover to rise to an average of more than 70% in the next five...

Rosy future for Syrian kids' centre.(Henning Larsen Architects and Martha Schwartz Partners)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Henning Larsen Architects and landscape architect Martha Schwartz Partners have wonan international competitionfor a children's "discovery centre" and public park in Damascus, Syria, a country where 40% of the population is under the age of 16....

McAslan to move office as profit soars.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... John McAslan & Partners is to move to new offices as part of a major expansion, the firm announced this week. The practice, currently based in Holland Park, west London, is aiming to complete the purchase of new offices in Euston next week,...

Lottery blow to Manchester museum heritage.
February 1, 2008... City's `Guggenheim' ambitions felled as funds go to historic ships Tom de Castella Manchester's attempt to create its own equivalent of a Guggenheim museum as a draw to visitors has been dealt a severe blow - failing in the last round...

LOTTERY WINNERS AND LOSERS.
February 1, 2008... WINNERS * The Mary Rose, the world's oldest surviving warship, received #21 million. Wilkinson Eyre and Pringle Brandon are jointly building a new museum in Portsmouth. * The Cutty Sark, awarded nearly #12 million by the fund in 2006,...

Children's building blocks.(Sarah Wigglesworth Architects)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Sarah Wigglesworth Architects has revealed images of its #925,000 Heathfield Children's Centre& Nursery School in Richmond upon Thames. The single-storey building has been designed as a "walled garden" stepping away from the road in a...

RIBA lobbies new ministers on design.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The RIBA has called on new culture secretary Andy Burnham and housing minister Caroline Flint to keep design at the top of the government agenda. The pair replaced James Purnell and Yvette Cooper following a reshuffle triggered by Peter...

RUSSIA: Koolhaas heads Hermitage plan.(Rem Koolhaas contracts with Hermitage State Museum)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Rem Koolhaas is to work with the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, on a cultural masterplan to mark the Hermitage's 250th anniversary in 2014. Koolhaas's "think tank" AMO which, like his practice OMA, is based in Rotterdam,...

PLANNING BILL: RTPI opposes appeals charge.(Royal Town Planning Institute)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Royal Town Planning Institute has launched a campaign to scrap a proposed #120 charge on planning appeals tabled as part of a range of reforms within the planning bill. The institute, which has already attacked plans for minor appeals...

PEOPLE: Littlemore takes the helm at SMC.
February 1, 2008... SMC Group has appointed Chris Littlemore as managing director. Littlemore was formerly managing director of the Charter Partnership, acquired by SMC in 2006. Caroline Godfrey, former finance director of the Charter Partnership, becomes SMC...

WALES: Clearance to start on BDP's university campus site.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... BDP has revealed the first images of its Newport city centre campus for the University of Wales, which will sit on the banks of the River Usk. "Physically transparent" and open to the public, it features a suspended "hothouse" accessed by...

Egret West scoops #75m Clapham scheme.(Studio Egret West)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Marguerite Lazell Studio Egret West has beaten Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and S&P Architects to a #75 million mixed-use scheme in south-west London. The practice has designed a library, GP surgery, cafe, performance space and...

Collado Collins named as architect for mixed-use development.(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Collado Collins has been named as architect for a 1.6 ha, mixed-use development at Clapham Junction. The proposals include a two-level pedestrianised shopping street, 500 homes in twin towers, and 17,000sq m of retail space. As part of...

SHEFFIELD: Kids' hospital gets trials unit.
February 1, 2008... Health secretary Alan Johnson has officially opened a medical research unit at Sheffield Children's Hospital, designed by local practice Race Cottam Associates . The unit, which is dedicated to research and trials, includes a reception...

HERITAGE: Haringey plaque to WJ Collins.(William Jeffries Collins )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Haringey Council has commemorated architect and property developer William Jeffries Collins (1856-1936), a former resident of the north Londonborough. A green plaque honouring him was unveiled last Monday by Haringey mayor Sheik Thompson...

REGENERATION: Chester tower in landmark refurb.(McCormick Architecture )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... McCormick Architecture has won full planning for a mixed-use scheme in Chester which includes refurbishing the city's tallest building - the grade II listed, 51m-high Lead Shot Tower, empty since 1986. The project will have 33 one and...

ANALYSIS: Who's watching over Crossrail's design?
February 1, 2008... The #16bn project to join east and west London by high-speed rail link is to go ahead, but doubts remain as to its architectural quality, reports Will Hurst It's been hailed as the key to London's development over the next 20 years and as...

LETTER: Force of the law.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... In the 21st century, international human rights legislation has to be observed by architects and their clients - just as much as by everyone else. Legally acceptable patronage must therefore be different to what it has been through the ages....

LETTER: Israel is muddier.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Designing buildings in the "disputed territories" in Palestine-Israel is much further along the scale of muddied water of architectural ethics than an airport in China (Leader, January 25). First, the buildings are on disputed territory and...

LETTER: Start at home.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Your sub-heading, Life and times of a communist despot, was unfair to Zaha Hadid (News January 25), but it is nice to see communists putting up such an extravagant building. They can always change the name of the Cultural Centre later, as they...

LETTER: Stop this neglect.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I first visited Stirling & Gowan's Leicester engineering building around the same time as John Tuomey (Letters January 25). Having just returned from another Stirling masterpiece - Queen's College Oxford's Florey building - it is Toumey's last...

LETTER: History man.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Well done to Saul Metzstein. It is a long time since anyone corrected the cliches about Le Corbusier and the modern movement (Opinion, January 18). Behind it all was a genuine social objective which has been lost with all these recent...

LETTER: Own goal.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... There might have been a swift resolution to Liverpool FC's indecision over its flagship stadium (Boots January 18) had it accepted Liverpool School of Architecture's invitation to debate the merits or demerits of the HKS design - previously...

LETTER: No thanks.(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Is Make's proposal for the centre of Sheffield a new index of how ridiculous so-called iconic architecture now has to be to get onto the front page of BD (January 25)? I for one won't be celebrating Make's anniversary. Susan Ballinger...

LETTERS - Europan: the debate goes on.
February 1, 2008... I agree with David Birkbeck (Debate January 25) that volume housebuilders andthe architectural profession don't have much to do with each other, bar occasional sniping. This is a shame, as many UK practices are now enthusiastic about...

CORRECTION: Murray and Dunlop.(Correction notice)
February 1, 2008... Our news story "Murray and Dunlop scoop Glasgow hotel" last week stated that the practice beat RMJM and Make to win the work. In fact, RMJM did not enter a bid for the scheme. Apologies. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

OPINION: Why I'll be voting Smurf this year.
February 1, 2008... BILL MITCHELL The Smurfs are celebrating their 50th birthday and in a US election year are really coming to life With the markets crashing and Iranian boats playing chicken with US warships in the Gulf, you may have missed this. So let...

DEBATE: Should we change historic building rules to cut CO2?
February 1, 2008... YES Sarah Staniforth Historic properties director, National Trust In 2002, the government said that all planning policy guidance should be updated. We agree. Existing guidance in PPGs 15 and 16 predates current knowledge on...

WORKS: ASH SAKULA ARCHITECTS - Right side of the tracks.
February 1, 2008... Ash Sakula's arts trust building makes the most of a challenging site in Hackney, east London, and is an object lesson in thinking positive, reports Tony McIntyre PROJECT TEAM Client: Free Form Arts Trust, Architect: Ash Sakula...

WORKS: DE PAOR ARCHITECTS - Aided by geometry.
February 1, 2008... Tom De Paor has remodelled a Dublin shop to serve as an information centre on Irish overseas development assistance. It's an experiment in transparency both for client and architect, says Ellis Woodman In 2008, Ireland is expected to spend...

`It's pointless to go round saying I did this and Alsop did that'.(Personal account)
February 1, 2008... Flannery & de la Pole took over Will Alsop's troubled project for a community arts venue in West Bromwich. In the first in a new series on troubleshooters, practice director Julian Flannery talks about the challenges of completing the building...

Can I promote my firm with jobs I did for my previous practice?
February 1, 2008... ASK US A QUESTION Richard Brindley Executive director, RIBA professional services Laura Atherton Solicitor, Kennedys, London EC1 I am setting up my own practice. What should I doif I use information from jobsI designed in...

ROLL ON FRIDAY.(Nicoll Russell Studios )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... `YOU'VE GOT TO TRUDGE THROUGH THE SNOW - EVERY FOOTSTEP TAKES IT OUT OF YOU' Practice: Nicoll Russell Studios Location: Dundee Size: 40 people We did a winter hill walk last month. About half a dozen of us decided to search...

MY FIRST JOB.(Duggan Morris Architects)(Occupation overview)
February 1, 2008... ANDREAS SCHELLING, 28 Duggan Morris Architects, London I've been at Duggan Morris Architects for a year, and I'm really enjoying it. The advantage of smaller practices is that they givea lot of responsibility to people. Each of us worksas...

CULTURE: American originals.
February 1, 2008... Catherine Croft applauds an alternative reading of American modern architecture, which takes into account the influence of such factors as racism, industrialisation and defence contracts BOOK USA: MODERN ARCHITECTURES IN HISTORY ...

HOT TIPS: Style derby.(artist Matthew Darbyshire )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Contemporary taste is explored in Blades House, a Geffrye Museum-style installation by artist Matthew Darbyshire of a domestic interior belonging to a fictitious, urban, middle-class 30-something. He has mocked up a one-bed apartment, a...

HOT TIPS: Margin call.
February 1, 2008... There's never a shortageof architects who feel misunderstood. This set of talks, Other Modernisms, Other Stories, curated by the Twentieth Century Society, celebrates some of the most significant of the marginalised architects and movements...

HOT TIPS: Flood filter.
February 1, 2008... Architecture and flooding are explored in Matthew Butcher's Filter House, a study of how architecture can exist within a landscape subject to seasonal flooding. The show features his designs for a salt distillery plant and house. * Matthew...

Full engagement.(Mark Foster Gage of New York practice Gage Clemenceau )(Speech)
February 1, 2008... Mark Foster Gage of New York practice Gage Clemenceau lit up this talk with his enthusiasm and digital design nous, says Gerrard O'Carroll LECTURE GAGE CLEMENCEAU Architecture Foundation Winter Nights 2008 January 23 Last...

JONATHAN GLANCEY: Will China save us from schlock?(Viewpoint essay)
February 1, 2008... Only yesterday, it seems, US-style high-rise and business park architecture was being exported to China. Much of Shanghai and Beijing built in the 1980s and 1990s looks as if it has been kidnapped from New York and Chicago, and then cloned en...

THIS WEEK: NOTTINGHAM.
February 1, 2008... The city's skyline is to be graced by the UK's tallest free-standing sculpture. Make Architects has designed the 60m "Aspire" structure, commissioned by Nottingham University. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: GLOBAL UNREST.
February 1, 2008... Wars over food and water supplies are set to break out across the world as the impact of climate change intensifies, warns a report by the Oxford Research Group. It says that by 2050 the mass movement of "environmental refugees" will further...

THIS WEEK: GREEN CARS.
February 1, 2008... The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders forecasts that sales of low emission cars - those emitting less than 120g of CO2 per km - will this year outstrip sales of upmarket gas guzzlers. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: LIVERPOOL.
February 1, 2008... The Audit Commission has branded Liverpool the worst financially managed local authority in England. Councillor Paul Clein blamed the cost of hosting European City of Culture celebrations. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: ECO-TOWNS.
February 1, 2008... Protestors are urging communities secretary Hazel Blears to reject a proposed eco-town near Selby in North Yorkshire, saying it will "destroy" neighbouring communities. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: HIPS.
February 1, 2008... Rules to make home information packs compulsory for all homes put on the market from June will further damage the already fragile housing market, the National Association of Estate Agents has warned. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Prince to build pilot eco-home.
February 8, 2008... Traditional house will challenge government housing programme Rory Olcayto Prince Charles will take his efforts to influence the government's housebuilding plans to a new level with plans to construct a traditionally built eco-house in...

Mather emphasises Stowe's history.(Rick Mather Architects redevelopes Stowe School )(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... Rick Mather Architects has completed the first phase of its #3.5 million redevelopment of Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. The practice designed a two-phase scheme to provide accommodation for boarders at the public school after a...

LEADER: Prince lands near the spot.(Prince Charles)
February 8, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU Prince Charles has reignited public debate on architecture, but defining zero carbon is the key to any discussion Architecture, as Prince Charles knows only too well, is one of those subjects that winds people up in a...

LEADER: Who is Arb kidding?(Architects Registration Board)(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... Arb claims its growing profile has led to it receiving more complaints from members of the public, and is the main reason its workload has increased. Really? The only possible reason why the public might be beating a path to Arb's door is that...

IN BRIEF: Design a home to withstand -49 degrees C.
February 8, 2008... Architects have been challenged to design a single-family, energy- efficient, affordable, detached home for a site in Cherepovets in Russia, where temperatures can reach -49 degrees C in winter, in the third Living Steel international...

IN BRIEF: Blears lets Riverside scheme go.(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... The Government Office of the South West has confirmed that communities secretary Hazel Blears will not call in Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios' controversial Bath Western Riverside scheme. The 2,000-home project for Crest Nicholson...

IN BRIEF: Industry needs better technology.
February 8, 2008... Research by the BRE and National House Building Council has highlighted the need to develop better carbon-saving technology within the housing industry. A review assessed 11 types of technology, including biomass, photovoltaics, air source...

IN BRIEF: Southwark sues over Potters Fields.
February 8, 2008... Southwark Council is taking developer Berkeley Homes to court over its planned Potters Fields scheme by Ian Ritchie. In the latest twist in the five-year saga over the planned residential scheme, the authority claims Berkeley erected...

IN BRIEF: Walton leaves Candys for Sabre.(Nick Walton appointed at Sabre Developments)(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... Former operations manager at Candy & Candy, Nick Walton, has been appointed general manager of construction at Sabre Developments. Walton will oversee the restoration and redevelopment of Charters, a grade II listed art deco mansion in...

Architects to be wooed by Tories.
February 8, 2008... This Valentine's Day, leading figures from the profession may find themselves gazing into the eyes of shadow culture secretary Ed Vaizey as the Conservative MP sets out to woo the profession with a summit on architecture. In an exclusive...

China holds 100-day housing marathon.
February 8, 2008... Simon Conder only UK architect picked for prestigious desert project Tom de Castella Herzog & de Meuron partner Jacques Herzog has selected 100 up-and- coming architects from around the world to design 100 homes in 100 days for one of...

EH defends grant ban on cathedral.
February 8, 2008... English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley has issued a robust defence of the quango's grant-making process after it was criticised by the dean of Salisbury Cathedral. The Very Reverend June Osborne had claimed England's cathedrals and...

Acme nets John Lewis.(John Lewis store )(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... Young practice Acme is set to be named the winner of a competition to design a flagship #30 million John Lewis store in Leeds. Although the city council has yet to ratify the decision, BD understands the firm has been picked ahead of Young...

KKA floats idea to put Liverpool homes on stilts.(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... KKA has submitted for planning an extraordinary proposal for 12 floating homes, dubbed "Flotilla", next to Liverpool's world heritage site in Princes Dock. The individual dwellings, within the Liverpool-based practice's #8.5 million scheme...

BSF reforms too modest, say critics.(Building Schools for the Future programm)
February 8, 2008... Helen Crump Proposals to reform the design process behind the #45 billion Building Schools for the Future programme do not go far enough, critics have warned. A review commissioned by delivery body Partnerships for Schools, which will...

FIRST LOOK: It's a building of two halves at Upton Park's Green Street.
February 8, 2008... Ingliss Badrashi Loddo Architects has received planning permission for this bold residential and restaurant scheme in Upton Park, east London. The new-build Green Street project will stand four storeys high, with a 720sq m restaurant at...

Sheppard Robson nets Hammersmith regen.(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... Sheppard Robson has beaten Wilkinson Eyre and Barton Wilmore in a competition to design a major regeneration scheme in Hammersmith, west London. The project, for developers Grainger and Helical Bar, will create a series of linked public...

Refurb raises the roof.
February 8, 2008... ZM Architecture has won planning consent to extend and refurbish the Templeton carpet factory complex at Glasgow Green. The practice is converting the Grade A listed structures into residential and commercial space. The latest consent allows an...

Arb expenses for board members soar by 74%.(Architects Registration Board )
February 8, 2008... Deputy chair claims #16,000 for 50 days of reading time Will Hurst Arb expenses for attending meetings and reading documents have rocketed from #54,000 to #94,000 over 12 months, with one board member claiming for an astonishing 50...

Greenwich homes go in for planning.(Flacq Architects)(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... The next element of the #5 billion regeneration of the Greenwich peninsula - more than 500 homes by Flacq Architects and Jestico & Whiles - has been submitted for planning. The first plot, facing west across Central Park, is a 207-home...

Office as powerhouse.(SOM)(Brief article)
February 8, 2008... SOM claims this will be the first large-scale office building in the world to produce more energy than it uses. The proposed Energy + building in Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, will provide office space for 4,000 workers. SOM wants the scheme...