Building Design articles from January 2006

Building Design archives from January 2006

MacCormac row revealed: BBC forced to release letters surrounding architect's controversial departure from Broadcasting House job.
January 6, 2006... Richard MacCormac accused the BBC of "dismantling" one of the "fundamental ideas" of his designs for Broadcasting House, in letters released to BD under the Freedom of Information Act. MacCormac, who was kicked off the flagship project in...

It's academic.(Northampton Academy)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... On Monday, Northampton Academy's 1,420 pupils move into their new building designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley. The 19.5 million [pounds sterling] secondary school, which specialises in sport with business and enterprise, has been built on...

Healthy outlook.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... The Sheppard Robson-designed Birmingham Treatment Centre has been officially opened. The centre has an ETFE roof and glass entrance leading to high and light-filled internal circulation spaces which aim to put patients at ease by making...

Gateway houses 'characterless': potential residents unimpressed by current designs.(News)
January 6, 2006... Homeowners will be reluctant to move to the Thames Gateway unless there are radical improvements in the design of new homes, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research. A report released this week by the left-leaning think tank...

Morecambe chance for ex-RRP four.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... A practice formed by four architects formerly with Richard Rogers Partnership has been shortlisted by Urban Splash to design a new promenade next to the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. Flacq, formed by Marcus Lee, Hal Currey, James Finestone...

PRP has been given planning permission for the 40 million [pounds sterling] redevelopment of the Middlesex University site in Haringey, north London.(Hit and miss)
January 6, 2006... PRP has been given planning permission for the 40 million [pounds sterling] redevelopment of the Middlesex University site in Haringey, north London (pictured). PRP's masterplan includes 123 homes and a 70-bed care home.

Five practices have been shortlisted for the international competition to design a memorial to the victims in Thailand of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.(Hit and miss)
January 6, 2006... Five practices have been shortlisted for the international competition to design a memorial to the victims in Thailand of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. They include Finnish practice Avanto Architects and VeeV Design from the USA.

The new Wembley Stadium may not be completed in time for the FA Cup Final in May this year.(Hit and miss)
January 6, 2006... The new Wembley Stadium may not be completed in time for the FA Cup Final in May this year, developer Multiplex has warned.

London office rents are set to rise after years of stagnation according to DTZ.(Hit and miss)
January 6, 2006... London office rents are set to rise after years of stagnation according to DTZ. The property agent has predicted double-digit rent rises this year, which could prompt speculative office development.

Six practices have been shortlisted for the competition to design homes in the Liverpool housing market renewal area.(Hit and miss)
January 6, 2006... Six practices have been shortlisted for the competition to design homes in the Liverpool housing market renewal area. They are 3XNielson; Studio Egret West; BDP; Feilden Clegg Bradley; Architype; and Union North.

The new Tory leader David Cameron has appointed eco-architect Michaelis Boyd Associates to redesign his new home in Notting Hill, west London.(David Cameron is appointed as eco-architect in Michaelis Boyd Associates )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... The new Tory leader David Cameron (pictured) has appointed eco-architect Michaelis Boyd Associates to redesign his new home in Notting Hill, west London. In a bid to prove his green credentials to voters, Cameron hopes to install a wind turbine...

James Ingo Freed, a partner at IM Pei's practice Pei Cobb Freed, has died aged 75.(People)(Obituary)
January 6, 2006... James Ingo Freed, a partner at IM Pei's practice Pei Cobb Freed, has died aged 75. Freed worked on the US Holocaust Museum in Washington and, most recently, the US Air Force Memorial in Virginia.

The Duke of Westminster.(People)
January 6, 2006... The Duke of Westminster has purchased two famous flea markets in Les Puces in Paris for around 35 million [pounds sterling].

Deputy prime minister John Prescott has come under fire for accepting hospitality from directors of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club while its controversial planning application for a new stadium was under consideration.(Power play)
January 6, 2006... Deputy prime minister John Prescott has come under fire for accepting hospitality from directors of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club while its controversial planning application for a new stadium was under consideration. Prescott granted...

Cabe has come out in favour of KPF's Difa tower, the tallest of the cluster of skyscrapers proposed for the City of London.(Power play)
January 6, 2006... Cabe has come out in favour of KPF's Difa tower, the tallest of the cluster of skyscrapers proposed for the City of London. Cabe welcomed the "striking architecture" of the proposed 300m tower but warned that the quality of the original designs...

Anti-Arbarchitects plan to take control: rebel group to put up candidates for all seven architect board places.(News)
January 6, 2006... A group of anti-Arb architects plans to seize control of the regulator in the forthcoming elections and curb its powers from within. In the latest twist to the ongoing battle between the RIBA and Arb over the extent of the latter's powers,...

DoH urges Royal London rethink.(Royal London Pfi hospital)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... The troubled Royal London PFI hospital in east London could be redesigned for the second time after the Department of Health called for a rethink of the plans. The DoH has told Barts & the London NHS Trust to reconsider its 1.1 billion...

RMJM plays heavy metal.(News)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Designs for this curving, metal-skinned arts and music facility, dubbed the Music Box, were revealed this week bv Scottish Parliament architect RMJM. The state-of-the-art 4 million [pounds sterling] facility for Stevenson College in...

In the air.
January 6, 2006... Foster & Partners, Grimshaw, Richard Rogers Partnership and Reid Architecture have been invited to develop designs for the proposed new Heathrow East Terminal. Foster's has already worked on early designs for the terminal, and Rogers is close...

Liverpool museum.
January 6, 2006... Danish practice 3XNielsen has won planning permission for its Museum of Liverpool on the site once earmarked for Aslop's Fourth Grace. But the design was slammed by the International Council of Monuments & Sites, which claims it will mar the...

Sporty spice islands.
January 6, 2006... Arup Associates has been appointed to design the new national stadium of St Vincent & the Grenadines. The stadium will encourage tourism as well as sports and when completed will be a new sub-centre located between the capital, Kingstown, and...

Pringle: architects will tackle climate change: RIBA to press for 70% reduction in buildings' carbon emissions by 2050.(News)
January 6, 2006... RIBA president Jack Pringle has pledged to put architects at the forefront of the fight against climate change, with stringent new targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions from buildings and a new policy to be drawn up at an expert seminar...

Mix-up over RIBA's conservation list.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... The RIBA's attempts to resolve an ongoing row over its register of conservation architects descended into farce at last month s council meeting when a new motion on the subject was not supported by the member expected to second it. The...

Village offers care plan.(FIRST LOOK)
January 6, 2006... Plans for this care village for the elderly by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands have been submitted to the west London borough of Hounslow. The 200-home scheme, on a 3ha site close to the Thames in Isleworth, is arranged around a grade II...

Game on.
January 6, 2006... Culture minister Tessa Jowell will tell businesses how they can get work from the Olympics at a summit on January 24. Jowell will be joined by CBI director-general Digby Jones and London mayor Ken Livingstone at the summit, originally scheduled...

Rem wins.
January 6, 2006... Pritzker Prize-winner Rem Koolhaas will design next year's Serpentine Gallery pavilion. MVRDV's plans for a pavilion have been postponed indefinitely. It will be the Dutch architect's first built project in the UK. He is also working on White...

Fund first.
January 6, 2006... A new way of funding infrastructure for housing has won approval from the government. The tariff will see developers contribute to infrastructure in Milton Keynes and could be used in other growth areas. The government has also agreed 24...

Galactic battle.(News)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Charles Barclay Architects has won the competition to design the new Kielder Observatory. The London-based practice saw off entries from 230 firms to design the observatory, which will offer some of the best views of the skies in the UK....

Practice boycotts Edinburgh council: firm says city's planning process takes 60% longer.(News)
January 6, 2006... A multidisciplinary practice has boycotted the City of Edinburgh Council, claiming it takes 60% longer to apply for building warrants in the capital than elsewhere in the country. Livingston-based Expressplans, which produces fixed-fee...

Foster picked for third tower on World Trade Centre site.(Norman Foster )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Norman Foster has been commissioned to design the third tower to be built at the site of the World Trade Centre in New York. Foster, who lost the master-planning bid for Ground Zero to Daniel Libeskind in 2003, has been appointed by...

Architecture names honoured.(News)
January 6, 2006... Marcus Binney, president of Save Britain's Heritage, and architect John Miller have been awarded CBEs in the New Year's honours list. Jeffrey West, formerly of English Heritage, and Peter White, formerly of the Royal Commission on the...

A Welsh lesson for assembly critics.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 6, 2006... Sound architectural critique is rare in the trade press and Ellis Woodman's article on the Senedd did nothing to address the deficit (Works December 9). Few things are shoddier than reliance on a tired, prejudicial quotation, sought out to...

Making Wales.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 6, 2006... My natural optimism for Wales took an even bigger step forward after reading Ellis Woodman's critique of our new Senedd. Sure, his quotes are feeble and misplaced but, then again, he probably isn't aware of what's happening in Wales these...

Doing time.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 6, 2006... Congratulations to Will Alsop in his attempt to improve the design of prisons with the input of the inmates (Focus December 9). The first time I went inside a prison was about 15 years ago for an interview with the governor of HMP...

Balancing act.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 6, 2006... Well done to Karen Glaser on her balanced review of Against the Wall (Culture December 9), where she states that Israel's new security fence has dramatically reduced the level of terror attacks from the Palestinian side. According to...

The fact trap.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 6, 2006... With reference to Daniel Rosenfelder's comments (Letters December 9), Israel (and by implication its architectural establishment) cannot escape the fact that occupation of Palestinian land by force and the displacement of its people are not...

Country pursuit.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
January 6, 2006... So it's okay to slag off Robert Adam because he shoots (Concrete Boots December 2) but coarse fishing for sport is cool. What absolute rubbish. Also, apparently, the perfect architect is "designing council estate masterplans". We have a few...

Cameron's eco home not just hollow PR.(Editorial)
January 6, 2006... If David Cameron triumphs at the next general election, he could have an architect to thank. As the Conservatives' new leader prepares for battle, he is placing his environmental policy centre stage. And, determined to be seen to take a...

Start city thinking from the outside.
January 6, 2006... There is a whole profession that has grown up to educate Britain's politicians, civil servants and local enterprise companies in the economic primacy of the "city region': It is hard going sometimes, requiring many power-pointed pie-charts, and...

Glossy greetings.(Boots)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Over the Christmas period Boots was inundated with fantastic cards, and one of the most lavish was from Carey Jones. The huge glossy card featured a series of famous paintings with Carey Jones staff carefully Photoshopped in. By the look of the...

Tidings of woe.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... But spare a thought for those less well-off than Carey Jones. Mae's Christmas card aimed to pull at the heartstrings. "At this time of Christmas joy spare a thought for the unfortunate; those for whom all hope is dashed and dreams are faded,"...

Fresh-air thinking.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Labour MP Alan Simpson gave an impressive talk on climate change at last month's RIBA council meeting. But perhaps he went a step too far with his somewhat terrifying carbon-cutting proposal. "Builders and architects should be imprisoned for...

Sandals for all.(Concrete Boots)
January 6, 2006... Not everyone takes such a hard line, but the sustainability message is certainly spreading. As RIBA sustainability guru Bill Gething notes: "This is an issue for everyone. It is no longer just for bearded, sandal-wearing people like me."

Falling flat.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Is it just Boots or did anyone else feel a little, well, deflated at the end of Channel 4's hyped Demolition series? Having established that Cumbernauld's shopping centre is the UK's most hated "building", an impressive team of experts was...

Bridge bashing.(Concrete Boots)
January 6, 2006... The Demolition idea is catching on worldwide. Japan's top planning expert, Shigeru Itou, has compiled a list of the most hideous places in the country, called Ugly Japan. Top of the list is Tokyo's Nihombashi bridge, which has been covered with...

Top dogs for 2006: Ellis Woodman looks ahead to the British buildings that promise to be best in class in the year to come.(Preview)
January 6, 2006... Housing Donnybrook, Bow. Peter Barber Architects After years in which few exemplary housing schemes have been built in the UK, 2006 looks set to offer a bumper crop of developments. Fat's Woodward Place in Manchester is due for...

Off the rails.(Preview)
January 6, 2006... As the success of the Scottish Parliament building in last year's Stirling Prize attests, it is possible to deliver a great piece of architecture from even the rockiest of procurement routes. However, a number of major projects completing this...

What's our games plan? How can we ensure the London Olympics lives up to its legacy promise? Wayne Hemingway puts the case for another world event in 2012--a housing and regeneration expo that will raise the bar for the Thames Gateway.(Focus)
January 6, 2006... "Throughout the regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley area the planners will be looking far beyond the games themselves. For example, the Olympic Village will be turned into housing with the newly built train line linking that community to...

Malmo model is a template for successful regeneration.
January 6, 2006... Malmo airport has witnessed a steady traffic of English officials over the past few months. Everyone from Cabe, the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, Yorkshire Forward and the ODPM have been flocking to the city in search of the Holy...

How we cracked it: 20.
January 6, 2006... The challenge: Building a prefab rear extension where the only access was a narrow front door The solution: Using screw piles instead of traditional foundations to avoid bringing heavy building equipment through the flat Architect:...

Renewables red herring? Are windmills on buildings really the greenest option.
January 6, 2006... As the government reviews its options for tackling the global energy crisis, architects could be forgiven for thinking the formula they should follow is simple: shrink buildings' energy appetite with insulation and high thermal mass; naturally...

Niall McLaughlin Architects' Arc Centre in Hull spent 19,200 [pounds sterling] on 16 wind turbines.(On-site energy generation vs efficient design)
January 6, 2006... * Niall McLaughlin Architects' Arc Centre in Hull spent 19,200 [pounds sterling] on 16 wind turbines, which generate 8MW hours per year, saving 3,440kg of C[O.sub.2] emissions--so the cost of saving 1 tonne of C[O.sub.2] was 5,580 [pounds...

Ruddle Wilkinson's Peterborough Innovation Centre uses high thermal mass and insulation to reduce energy use.(On-site energy generation vs efficient design)
January 6, 2006... * Ruddle Wilkinson's Peterborough Innovation Centre uses high thermal mass and insulation to reduce energy use. The annual energy consumption of a typical all-electric office building is 151kW per sq m, equivalent to 64.2 kg in C[O.sub.2]...

Her architect: Zoe Blackler meets photographer Mari Mahr, whose new exhibition at the AA is inspired by her architect father.(Culture: Books Exhibitions Events)
January 6, 2006... At first glance, photographer Mari Mahr's favourite review of her work seems less than complimentary. Was his enthusiasm justified, the critic wondered at the end of a glowing account, "or is it just that she has a foreign accent"? "He...

Coming round the mountain: a show about Black Mountain College reveals the a melting mountain pot of the avant-garde.(Culture: Books Exhibitions Events)
January 6, 2006... In a few years' time, I have a hunch that people will be incredulous that it took until 2005 to put on the first UK show about the avant-garde artists' community of Black Mountain College (BMC) in North Carolina, USA. How in all that forensic...

Fink tank.(SELECTOR)
January 6, 2006... Leading lighting designer Peter Fink is talking on Art2Architecture to coincide with the exhibition on lighting and architecture at New London Architecture. January 11, 8.30am, NLA, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London...

About Schmitz.(SELECTOR)
January 6, 2006... Turner Prize-nominated Liam Gillick creates a complex of bright red wooden structures at the ICA for an installation in collaboration with fellow artist Edgar Schmitz Edgar Schmitz by Liam Gillick, until January 15, ICA, The Mall, London. Tel:...

Stop for tea.(SELECTOR)
January 6, 2006... Tableware like you've never seen it is on show in Table Manners: Contemporary International Ceramics, with work by 18 makers plus a wall of 100 mugs and array of teapots. Until February 26, Crafts Council Gallery, 44a Pentonville Road, London....

Culture vulture.
January 6, 2006... You have a day to indulge your cultural pursuits. What would you do? I would spend the day in Barcelona, mixing culture with food. We would walk along La Perdrera, which is a fantastic road for all the modern houses and also has the Casa...

Gooding Aluminium.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Gooding Aluminium's square perforated and rolled balcony infil panels are doing the rounds and setting standards of excellence at the exciting Blenheim Court landmark development for student accommodation in Bristol. Creating a calming...

ICB.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Architects Ellis Belk Associates, responsible for the design of the new RNLI Lifeboat Support Centre building at the Institution's HQ in Poole, specified Alwitra's high iperformance single ply roofing system for their contemporary design which...

Kaba Door Systems.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Leading door manufacturer and Isupplier Kaba Door Systems has installed a grand new entrance to provide environmental control at Bridgemere Garden World, near Nantwich in Cheshire--one of the iUK's largest nurseries and garden centres. As part...

Frontier Pitts.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... For more than seventy-years Frontier Pitts has been at the forefront of new security ideas and has pioneered several perimeter security innovations. Following months of in-house design and computer simulations, the new ATSG-80 was successfully...

Knauf Insulation.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Knauf Insulation has published tour 'Part L Compliance Guides' to help the industry prepare for the introduction of the new version of the Building Regulation's Approved Document L that comes into force on April 6, 2006. Each of the...

Levolux.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... The 'green fingered' amongst us know that a mixture of natural light and shade will help growth, the same principle has now been applied to architecture as Levolux, leaders in the design, manufacture and installation of solar shading solutions,...

Aggregate Industries.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... A reputation for high quality products have paved the way to winning a prestigious 150,000 [pounds sterling] project for hard landscaping specialists, Charcon. With an annual turnover of just under two billion pounds, IT giant Fujitsu Services...

Sky Tunnel.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Ideally suited to the growing demand for opening up roof spaces, creating rooms from nothing and for the high density housing dictated by the Government's PPG3 directive, Sola Skylights, the UK's only BBA accredited manufacturer of flexible...

AMF Ceilings Ltd.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... When specialist ceiling company, B Lawrence Ceiling and Partitioning Contractors Ltd, refurbished its new offices the company chose to install a diverse range of specialist tiles from AMF Ceilings. In doing so B Lawrence has created an office...

Aggregates Industries.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Hard landscaping specialist Charcon has turned paving into an art form, with the company's products complementing two major Welsh cultural centres. Products from Charcon's natural stone and pre-cast concrete flag and block paving ranges were...

Kawneer.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Kawneer, the UK's leading manufacturer of architectural aluminium systems, has launched a new CPD seminar presentation, entitled Aluminium Windows, Sustainability and Specification to compliment the existing Curtain Wall Classification, Design...

Corus Colorcoat[R].(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... The Colorcoat[R] brand provides the recognised mark of quality and metal envelope expertise exclusively from Corus. Over the course of 40 years Corus has developed a range of technically leading Colorcoat[R] pre-finished steel products which...

Metsec Building Products.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Metsec's panelised light gauge galvanised steel Metframe system has been used to build a three storey office block for North Ayrshire Council. Metframe incorporates in-situ concrete intermediate floors within the system and was chosen over the...

RBC.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Prestigious Residential Dockland Development Regional Building Control Ltd (RBC Ltd), Building Regulation experts, will be responsible for a 21 storey, 500 unit residential development at Millharbour in London's Docklands. One of the first...

Kingspan Insulated Panels.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Kingspan Insulated Panels offers a Total Warranty Assurance for their entire range of roofing and cladding insulated systems, guaranteeing total performance for up to 25 years. They source from several world class coatings suppliers, and the...

Junkers Ltd.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... St George South London has specified Junckers oak floors as part of its prestigious Putney Wharf housing development. Six ultra-luxurious flats, including four penthouses, have Junckers WideBoard European Oak laid in conjunction with underfloor...

Marley Eternit.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... Building two new cottages in the grounds of a Grade II listed country house required a traditional take on materials that was met by handcrafted natural clay plain tiles from Marley Eternit. Some 30,000 of Marley Eternit's single-cambered...

Interior Design Handbook.(Products & Literature)
January 6, 2006... For over 20 years, Interior Design Handbook has been one of the most valuable and visionary sources of products available to the British interior design and retail professions. Widely acknowledge as the essential interior design source book,...

New Year's resolutions.
January 6, 2006... Ben Sherman, president RIPBA This year I will be raising my profile on behalf of the architectural profession. I will spend many productive hours with politicians confirming that design quality is definitely at the heart of the procurement...

Architest.
January 6, 2006... This week: Health 1) New Cabe chairman John Sorrell said better design could prevent what? (See pictures) A Eye strain B Long-term illness C Obesity D Piles 2) What inspired healthcare architect Mike Nightingale's...

Foster reigns supreme.(Foster and Partners project)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Foster & Partners' first law court, the Supreme Court of Singapore, was officially opened on January 7. Located within the historic civic district on the north bank of the Singapore River and close to the Padang, the new Supreme Court takes its...

Fab four bag Olympic park: profession acclaims natural justice as firms that secured games win first major commission.
January 13, 2006... The four practices behind the winning bid for the London 2012 Olympics are set to be appointed as the official architects for the masterplan of the Olympic Park. The decision to appoint Allies & Morrison, Edaw, Foreign Office Architects...

Sabotage claims in title ruck.
January 13, 2006... A festering dispute over the protection of the title "architect" has descended to a new level in the Berkshire town of Newbury. An architect and a designer are embroiled in a bitter spat which involves allegations of sabotage, thousands of...

Arb uphold right to see proof of insurance.(Architects Registration Board)
January 13, 2006... A test case challenging the power of the Arb received a serious blow this week when its disciplinary panel ruled that the regulator had the power to demand proof of adequate professional indemnity insure (PII). John Lewis and Richard Lyon...

... As Reform Group confirms its candidates.(Arb Reform Group )(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... A group of architects calling itself the Arb Reform Group has put itself up for election to the Arb board, as predicted in last week's BD (News January 6) Nick Tweddell, George Oldham, Peter Phillips, John Griffiths, Colin Brock, Derek...