Building Design articles from January 2008

Building Design archives from January 2008

Cabe's architecture centre funding `penalises success'.
January 11, 2008... Fury as Open House and New London Architecture grants are slashed in favour of regions Will Hurst A row has broken out over the rapid growth of regional architecture centres after Cabe was forced to cut the funding of leading...

Gateway to culture.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Planning permission has been granted for a project by Alison Brooks Architects - part of a scheme by Urban Splash believed to be Liverpool's biggest-ever residential development. ABA's 93-apartment, sand-stone-clad scheme is the first phase...

LEADER: Centres without a cause.
January 11, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU Cabe may be funding regional architecture centres, but does anyone know what they're really for? When architecture centres were first mooted over 10 years ago, the idea was for a network of physical meeting places that...

LEADER: Soothsaying for 2008.
January 11, 2008... Forget resolutions, what everyone wants to know is what will happen this year. You cannot ignore the general sense of anxiety, but one thing we should have learnt from 2007 is not to trust the crystal ball. Who would have thought, in this era...

IN BRIEF: Grand Designs calls for entries.(Channel 4 has launched)(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Channel 4 has launched a call for entries for this year's Grand Designs awards. A TV programme will invite viewers to vote on the three schemes shortlisted in five categories: best new-build house, best conversion, best restoration, best...

IN BRIEF: Holt Town Waterfront set to go.
January 11, 2008... Manchester City Council said this week that it was "minded to approve" plans for Edaw and Studio Egret West's Holt Town Waterfront - the city's largest-ever scheme. The 38ha development, which is located less than a mile east of the city...

IN BRIEF: Architect shrugs off `silly stories'.
January 11, 2008... Landscape architect Gustafson Porter has dismissed allegations that its Diana Memorial Fountain will have to be ripped out as "silly stories". Practice director Mary Bowman insisted there was no truth in reports that the controversial #5...

IN BRIEF: Crystal Island clears planning.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Foster & Partners has won preliminary planning permission for the largest single building in the world. The 2.5 million sq m Crystal Island, five miles from Moscow's Kremlin, will include 900 apartments, 3,000 hotel rooms, offices, shops,...

IN BRIEF: Neil Baxter is new RIAS secretary.(The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland)(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland has appointed Neil Baxter as its secretary. The appointment follows a six-month gap following Mary Wrenn's resignation last June. Baxter is principal of architectural consultancy Neil Baxter...

Herzog & de Meuron closes its UK office.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Herzog & de Meuron has closed its only British office, the practice admitted this week. Despite designing the #215 million extension to the Tate Modern and a new stadium for Portsmouth Football Club, a spokeswoman confirmed that its...

Heatherwick to act as contractor on own job.
January 11, 2008... Practice says move will lead to better build and `liberate working methods' Rory Olcayto Heatherwick Studio is to act as contractor for the first time on one of its projects amid a dwindling pool of builders willing to take on...

OTHER PROJECTS WITH CONTRACTING WOES.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... * Architecture Foundation Zaha Hadid The design for the London-based architecture centre was dropped by Bovis over costs and design complexity. A new contractor has been appointed. * East Beach Cafe Heatherwick Studio ...

McAslan relaxed on New Street contest.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... John McAslan & Partners' beleaguered New Street station project in Birmingham is set to be substantially revised after the client launched a new design competition for the #550 million scheme. The New Street Gateway Partnership announced...

Boris looks to design.(Boris Johnson)(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Boris Johnson formally launched his campaign to be elected mayor of London this week by claiming design could play a crucial role in reducing gang crime. Speaking on Monday about the 27 teenagers killed in the capital last year by gun and...

Watford schools share ice-cool music centre.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Tim Ronalds Architects has revealed images of its new#4 million music centre in Watford, dubbed the "Ice Cube". The 2,000sq m centre is set within the grounds of the listed, red brick, neo-Georgian Watford Grammar School for Boys, and...

FCBS/Ryder group scoops Kent schools.
January 11, 2008... Helen Crump A consortium including Feilden Clegg Bradley and Ryder has won a #600 million Building Schools for the Future deal after beating the much touted Skanska consortium, which included Make, DRMM, Flacq and DSDHA. The Land...

FIRST LOOK: Contemporary style wins out with flexible room for a view.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Architects in Residence has won a planning appeal for this #600,000 family housein the London borough of Bromley. The timber-clad building, which was refused planning permission last June for being too contemporary, is multi-layered as an...

Farrell blasts Edinburgh waterfront.
January 11, 2008... Design champion calls on council to grasp waterfront opportunities Rory Olcayto Edinburgh design champion Terry Farrell has attacked the city's efforts to regenerate its waterfront. Responding to a new campaign by Leith-based lobby...

Design goes to the Dogs.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... Hamiltons Architects has submitted its design for the #140 million Indescon Court scheme in east London's Isle of Dogs for planning. The 30-storey, mixed-use building, which includes 600 apartments, a 108- room, four-star hotel and...

MJP makes loss following Broadcasting House sack.(MacCormac Jamieson Prichard)(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... MacCormac Jamieson Prichard operated at a loss last year following its sacking from the BBC Broadcasting House project. Accounts posted with Companies House revealed that the practice made a loss of #329,699 in the year to March 2007 - a...

Crystal clear vision.
January 11, 2008... This mixed-use scheme in the City of London by Foreign Office Architects, for developer Beetham, has won planning permission. The #700 million Trinity EC3 project will put three crystal-shaped buildings ranging from 12 to 22 storeys on a...

Foster's fails to win round Ealing tower opponents.
January 11, 2008... Heidi Ancell Foster & Partners has failed to convince English Heritage and local residents to back plans for a controversial suburban skyscraper after altering its designs. It emerged this week that the practice had amended its plans...

Goldschmied wins battle for Rogers HQ.
January 11, 2008... Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners could be forced out of its riverside headquarters after the Thames Wharf site was bought by Richard Rogers' former colleague Marco Goldschmied, who has pledged to turn it into a zero-carbon development. The...

RENOVATION: Wren conversion gets go-ahead.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... The Hutchinson Studio has won planning permission to renovate and convert the grade I listed St Nicholas Cole Abbey in central London, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The building, close to the river Thames opposite Tate Modern, will...

ECO-TOWNS: Planners stake competition claim.(Brief article)
January 11, 2008... The government's eco-town design competition must not be used to replace masterplanners already in line for sites, Town & Country Planning Association chairman David Lock has warned. At a recent TCPA conference, Lock said: "I'm very anxious...

HIPS: Cooper lost her nerve, say MPs.
January 11, 2008... MPs have accused housing minister Yvette Cooper of "poor preparation" and losing her nerve over home information packs. A communities and local goverrnment select committee report last week stated: "The long and tortuous process of...

PEOPLE: Sorrell knighted in honours list.
January 11, 2008... Cabe chairman John Sorrell has been knighted in the New Year honours. The chair of the London Design Festival and the Sorrell Foundation received his award for services to the creative industries. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Architecture joins school curriculum.
January 11, 2008... Rory Olcayto A construction diploma designed to open up the architectural profession to a broader range of students has been approved by higher education bosses, marking the subject's first appearance on the school curriculum. ...

LETTER: Arb inconsistent.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2008... I was interested to note Boots' references to infighting at Arb (November 30), and its concerns about being cast as "dysfunctional". I recently asked Arb why it allows its former colleague, Arcuk council member and past RIBA vice president...

LETTER: A different plan.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2008... Jeff Sowerby (Letters December 14, 2007) has a similar problem to that which exists in East Yorkshire, where the planning tail is beginning to wag the architecture dog. Surely planners should stick to planning and let architects deal with...

LETTER: Over the hill.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2008... So the road tunnel under Stonehenge is to be scrapped (News December 14, 2007). Good! For 5,000 years, travellers to the West Country have crested the brow of the hill to glimpse with awe this great monument. That is exactly how it should...

LETTER: Warm response.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2008... The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists was very pleased to read that Sunand Prasad in his presidential speech urged professionals to work together on tackling climate change. As vice president for innovation and research, I...

LETTER: Runaway ideas.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2008... The government, flying in the face of the eco-lobby, has approved BAA's plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport. And at Stansted recently, where BAA failed to gain planning permission to increase capacity from 25 million to 35 million...

LETTER: Tate extension needs a rethink.(Letter to the editor)
January 11, 2008... The Tate Modern extension, which received a #50 million government grant last month (News December 7, 2007) appears to completely overpower and destroy the architecture of the existing building. This heap of randomly stacked containers rises to...

OPINION: Time for readers to turn over a new leaf.(Editorial)
January 11, 2008... MARCUS FAIRS Interior design has rediscovered nature, so why are architects still so hostile to the joys of floral decoration? There's a building going up near where I live that caused me to stop in the street. It's a modest infill...

DEBATE: Is Liverpool worth visiting for its modern architecture?(Viewpoint essay)
January 11, 2008... YES Paul Monaghan Director, AHMM With European Capital of Culture year upon us, confidence in Liverpool is high, fuelled by an enormous amount of redevelopment. I left the city in 1980, a year before Toxteth erupted in riots. For...

WORKS: SARAH WIGGLESWORTH ARCHITECTS - Back in the box.
January 11, 2008... The rusting Corten steel-clad boxes of Cremorne Riverside Centre near London's Battersea Bridge reflect its location - wedged between leisure gardens and post-industrial wasteland. Tony McIntyre reports You'll find this building just a...

Embracing London's rivers.
January 11, 2008... Cremorne Riverside Centre is one of the projects featured in Waterfront London: Rediscovering the Rivers and Canals of the Capital, an exhibition which opened at New London Architecture this week. Here NLA exhibition director Peter Murray...

WORKS: TERRY PAWSON ARCHITECTS - Engaging art.
January 11, 2008... Rather than offering an icon, Carlow's Visual Arts Centre complements the town and allows the art to dominate, writes Robert Payne Carlow Town and the county to which it gives its name are situated in a part of Ireland that has been...

SOLUTIONS: CLADDING - Folding into the landscape.
January 11, 2008... Sheppard Robson's planned car park for Penrith in Cumbria uses CNC cutting technology to create a timber facade that draws inspiration directly from its Lakeland context, reports Amanda Birch The dramatic Lake District topography of the...

SOLUTIONS: CLADDING - The thrill of the grille.
January 11, 2008... Low cost and easy to maintain, metal mesh is the latest trend in facade design, reports Rory Olcayto Signalled by the completion of Sanaa's New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York - a tower of perilously stacked boxes clad entirely with...

CULTURE: The magic toyshop.
January 11, 2008... Kester Rattenbury steps into the weird and wonderful world of Madelon Vriesendorp, whose first solo show opens next week EXHIBITION THE WORLD OF MADELON VRIESENDORP: PAINTINGS/POSTCARDS/OBJECTS/GAMES Architectural Association36...

HOT TIPS 2008 PREVIEW.
January 11, 2008... Another year, another packed exhibition schedule. BD picks eight of the best new shows opening this year China Design Now March 15-July 13 Victoria & Albert Museum www.vam.ac.uk Fuelled by the 2008 Olympics, China has...

A monumentalist for the modern age.
January 11, 2008... Charles Holden, maker of 20th century marvels, is celebrated in this new study, says Thomas Muirhead BOOK CHARLES HOLDEN ARCHITECT Eitan Karol Shaun Tyas, HB, 510pp, #49.50 This major monograph on Charles Holden...

JONATHAN GLANCEY: Filling in the time until 2012.
January 11, 2008... A happy - and accessible - new year to the architecture community. This year is European Capital of Culture 2008. It's being held in Liverpool. Moving swiftly on, 2012 is the year that is exciting architects, ambitious politicians and crafty...

THIS WEEK: HI-TECH OBSERVATORIES.
January 11, 2008... Microsoft boss Bill Gates is helping to fund the world's largest digital camera. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope would photograph the night sky every 15 seconds, uploading hi-res images to the internet. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: HOUSEBUILDING.
January 11, 2008... Experts have predicted housebuilding shares are set for a revival after dropping 38% last year. Goldman Sachs is backing British Land, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey as good investments. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: CAMERON'S ARCHITECT.
January 11, 2008... The architect who greened David Cameron's house has proposed the concept of "energy islands". Alex Michaelis wants to build a series of tropical islands which create green energy, organic food and clean water. Copyright: CMP Information...

THIS WEEK: TOWN CENTRES.
January 11, 2008... Friends of the Earth says the Competitions Commission's advice on "land banking", where supermarkets buy up land to block rival plans, could lead to laws encouraging out-of-town malls, putting town centres at risk. Copyright: CMP...

THIS WEEK: WIND TURBINES.
January 11, 2008... Domestic wind turbines in cities will have no impact on clean energy needs, according to the British Wind Energy Association. Forecasts had overestimated urban wind speeds by up to two thirds, it says. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: BEIJING OLYMPICS.
January 11, 2008... Some events in Beijing may have to be postponed or cancelled because smog is so bad endurance athletes could be put at risk, says the International Olympic Committee. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Six on icon shortlist.
January 18, 2008... New architects for Commonwealth Institute revealed as Foster & Partners is dropped Will Hurst Six international names are vying to redevelop London's iconic Commonwealth Institute. Rem Koolhaas, Rafael Vinoly, Make, Eric Parry,...

But Stirling & Gowan's building faces demolition.
January 18, 2008... Another of the country's most significant modernist buildings, Stirling & Gowan's Leicester University engineering laboratory, could be partially demolished, the university signalled this week. The grade II* listed building, described as...

Parry finds hidden oasis.(designs of Eric Parry Architects)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Eric Parry Architects' newly completed 18-storey Aldermanbury Square office development features Corten steel external columns and stainless steel cladding, witha brise soleil on intermediate floors to shade its east, south and west facades....

LEADER: Saved by the power of love.(demolition of Leicester's Engineering Departmentis )(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU As Leicester's Engineering Departmentis considered for demolition, is passion the only thing that can save the 20th century's finest buildings? On its completion in 1963, Stirling and Gowan's Engineering Department at...

LEADER: Entries down the pan.(competitions of architectural services)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... This week the usual excitement greeted the announcement of the winners of the latest Europan competition (see page 4). Yet it's hard to see why the UK takes part while the rules are so geared to the rest of Europe, making little sense to the...

LEADER: Keep power from the politicians.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Buried away in the new planning bill (see page 7) is a proposal for local councillors to take over from the planning inspector and determine minor planning appeals. Led by the RIBA, architects have been quick to cry foul, and rightly so. While...

IN BRIEF: Atkins fights St James's overhaul.(planning of Atkins Architects)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Atkins has attacked development plans for the St James's area of central London as inappropriate, claiming the area is "in danger of losing its identity". The firm has produceda report for a local conservation trust which is concerned that...

IN BRIEF: Chetwoods revises Hull scheme.(Chetwood Associates)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... The first phase of a mixed-use development in Hull by Chetwoods has been granted planning after the architect submitted revised proposals. Developer Pure Urban said the revised designs for The Boom, a #65 million residential quarter, were...

IN BRIEF: Burns museum delayed to 2010.
January 18, 2008... The Robert Burns International Museum, by Edinburgh firm Simpson & Brown, will not be ready by 2009, the 250th anniversary of the poet's birth, because of funding delays. The #7 million building, to be sited at Burns' birthplace at...

IN BRIEF: Government fails on green targets.(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... An influential select committee has slammed the government for failing to meet its own sustainability targets for new and refurbished buildings sited on public land. The House of Commons' public accounts committee report issued this week...

IN BRIEF: PfS to link pupils to school design.
January 18, 2008... Partnerships for Schools is to recommend that authorities entering the Building Schools for the Future programme involve pupils in the design process through initiatives such as the Sorrell Foundation's Joined Up Design For Schools project. PfS...

Gehry is chosen for Serpentine Pavilion.(designs of Frank Gehry )(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Frank Gehry is to design this year's Serpentine Pavilion, the gallery has revealed. The temporary structure, which will be on site for three months this summer, will be Gehry's first built structure in England, in accordance with the...

Carmody Groarke on John Lewis shortlist.
January 18, 2008... Leeds scheme would be the Young Architect of Year's largest commission yet Marguerite Lazell BD Young Architect of the Year winner Carmody Groarke has been shortlisted for its largest-ever British scheme - a flagship #30 million John...

Late start squeezes UK's biennale plans.(Venice Architecture Biennale )(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... The British Pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale will have to be arranged in great haste, the British Council has warned, following this week's appointment of a director for the event. The biennale announced on Wednesday...

Hadid's Oxford union.
January 18, 2008... Zaha Hadid Architects has revealed designs for an extension to the Middle East Centre at St Anthony's College, Oxford. The centre occupies two historic buildings in a Victorian suburb, and Hadid's scheme aims to link the pair. Set over...

Tory homes plan slammed.
January 18, 2008... Housing design experts have slammed Conservative Party proposals to enforce the so-called Merton Rule nationwide, claiming the move would compromise delivery of zero-carbon homes. The plans would empower local authorities to set onsite...

Network Rail supports Smithfield.(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Heidi Ancell The battle over London's Smithfield Market took a new twist this week after Network Rail failed to back the City of London's assertion that the General Market building needs to be demolished in order to replace unsafe railway...

Let the games begin at King's College School's new sports hall.
January 18, 2008... Arup Associates has won a limited design competition for a new sports and music development at King's College School in Cambridge. A 350sq m extension will be added to the existing assembly building of the primary and pre-school, creating a...

Two of three Europan 9 winners announced.(Tom Russell Architects )(RCK)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Only two winners for Europan 9's three UK sites were announced on Wednesday. London practice RCKa took first place in Stoke-on-Trent, and Bristol-based Tom Russell Architects scooped Milton Keynes, but none of the entrants for the Sheffield...

New-look Paddington.(Fletcher Priest)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Fletcher Priest has finally won planning approval for this #150 million mixed-use scheme on North Wharf Road in Paddington, west London. The development will occupy a busy urban site which sits alongside the Paddington Basin arm of the...

Hedge fund takes 73% stake in SMC.
January 18, 2008... Helen Crump SMC Group is set to begin a round of new acquisitions after hedge fund Ironshield Special Situations Master Fund took a 73% share in the business, becoming the majority shareholder. At a meeting on Monday, shareholders...

Aukett Fitzroy Robinson profit.
January 18, 2008... Mega-practice Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, a former suitor for SMC Group, announced a #1.6 million rise in pre-tax profit for 2006, to #2.4 million, compared with #790,000 in 2006. Turnover was #19.8 million in 2007, up from #16.3 million in 2006....

Unesco still worried about Gazprom tower.
January 18, 2008... Unesco has strongly denied reports it no longer has concerns about the impact of RMJM's Gazprom tower on St Petersburg, saying it has been misrepresented. Francesco Bandarin, head of Unesco's World Heritage Centre, told BD: "I never said...

Delays mean Alsop pavilion at Headingley misses Ashes.
January 18, 2008... Heidi Ancell A proposed #17 million cricket pavilion designed by Will Alsop for Headingley Carnegie cricket stadium in Leeds will not be ready for next year's Ashes series following a series of delays and design changes. Yorkshire...

World of water.(Faulkner Brown Architects contracts with Essex & Suffolk Water )(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Work has begun on this #9 million HQ by Faulkner Brown Architects for Essex & Suffolk Water in Chelmsford, Essex. The competition-winning scheme, to consolidate the water firms's offices on a single 4,000sq m site, saw off rivals including BDP...

Bauhaus launches social housing prize.(Bauhaus Dessau Foundation's 2008 award)(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... The Bauhaus has launched a social housing award for young architects based on the projects that made the design school's name in its 1920s heyday. The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation's 2008 award, launched this month, focuses on housing...

LANDSCAPING: Leicester Square gets a makeover.(Burns & Nice )(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Westminster council has unveiled its #18.5 million redesign for central London's Leicester Square. Landscape architect Burns & Nice saw off competition from Beth Gali, Gross Max, LDA Design, Gustafson Porter, Robert Myers Associates and...

HOUSING: Eco-towns role for new agency.
January 18, 2008... The Homes & Communities Agency will take a key role in the creation of Gordon Brown's 10 eco-towns, the government has revealed. The body, which will combine English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation, and the DCLG's delivery functions,...

HERITAGE: Welsh aqueduct's world status bid.(James Purnell )(Brief article)
January 18, 2008... Culture secretary James Purnell has nominated Wales' Pontcysyllte aqueduct and canal for Unesco world heritage site status. If the bid is successful, the 200-year-old aqueduct and canal will join the UK's other 27 world heritage sites,...

LIVERPOOL: Development body goes to Gill.
January 18, 2008... Liverpool Vision chief executive Jim Gill is to head up Liverpool's new economic development company. Gill will plot the direction of the organisation, which will be created by merging Liverpool Vision, Business Liverpool and Liverpool Land...

RIBA battles plan to give minor appeals to councillors.
January 18, 2008... Warning over planning bill clauses Helen Crump The RIBA is bidding to kill off a controversial government proposal that could remove the right to have minor planning appeals considered by a planning inspector, damaging design...

LETTER: Get out of London.(Letter to the editor)
January 18, 2008... Outside a handful of cities like London (Leader January 11) is a world where architect-designed buildings are in the minority, where local planning committees feel they have been experimented on by the architectural and planning professions,...

LETTER: Regional accent.(Letter to the editor)
January 18, 2008... We are concerned at the suggestion that excellence is confined to the London centres. Architecture centres work for better quality neighbourhoods, buildings and public spaces with a wide range of strategic regional and national partners....