Building Design articles from July 2008

Building Design archives from July 2008

LEADER: Hodge plays philistine hand.
July 4, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU By not listing Robin Hood Gardens, Margaret Hodge has betrayed the government's prejudice against modern buildings and its contempt for architects Implicit in Margaret Hodge's decision not to list Robin Hood...

LEADER: Public lessons for Stonehenge.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... BD has almost lost count of how many competitions, public inquiries and consultations have taken place to build a visitor centre at Stonehenge, but it sounds a note of caution for architects thinking of getting involved in the latest plan (see...

IN BRIEF: Lutyens' bank to become a hotel.
July 4, 2008... The former headquarters of Midland Bank, designed by Edwin Lutyens, is to be transformed into a six-star hotel under plans approved by the City of London this week. The grade I listed building at 27 Poultry, completed in 1939, will be...

IN BRIEF: EH seeks Television Centre listing.(English Heritage)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... English Heritage has advised culture minister Andy Burnham to list parts of the BBC Television Centre at White City in London at grade II. Heritage protection director at EH, Peter Beacham, said the site's cultural and architectural...

IN BRIEF: Olympic village slashed in size.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... The number of apartments to be built in the Olympic Village has been slashed by a quarter. David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, told parliament's Public Accounts Committee this week that the downscaling - from 4,200...

IN BRIEF: Festival goers back modern design.
July 4, 2008... A public debate this week on whether Prince Charles was right to dismiss modern architecture as glass stumps and carbuncles ended in a comprehensive defeat for his supporters. The London Festival of Architecture event, run by the RIBA...

IN BRIEF: St Etienne DJs Architecture rocks.
July 4, 2008... Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs from the band St Etienne will DJ at Architecture Rocks, the grand finale and closing party for this year's London Festival of Architecture. The July 18 evening event, organised by BD, gives architects the...

BD CAMPAIGN: Hodge refusal to list snubs profession.
July 4, 2008... Decision not to list estate leaves late 20th century buildings under threat BD news desk RIBA president Sunand Prasad has slammed the government's decision not to list Robin Hood Gardens, calling on architects to mobilise against a...

BD CAMPAIGN: BD/AF competition clarification.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... The winners list from last week's BD/AF Robin Hood Gardens design competition inadvertently omitted the following information. Second place winner Bruce Newlands worked with Mike Hyatt Landscape Architects. Runner-up Mark Ng worked...

BD CAMPAIGN: Lipton and Urban Splash urge refurbishment.
July 4, 2008... Local authority Tower Hamlets and regeneration agency English Partnerships have vowed to press ahead with plans to demolish Robin Hood Gardens, despite interest in refurbishing the estate from leading developers Stuart Lipton and Urban Splash....

BD CAMPAIGN: TIMELINE OF BD'S CAMPAIGN TO LIST THE ESTATE.(Chronology)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... February 22, 2008 BD and Simon Smithson launch campaign to save the 1970s east London estate following a listing request by the Twentieth Century Society. English Heritage prepares a report on the site for heritage minister Margaret Hodge....

No contest for Stonehenge visitor centre, says EH.(English Heritage)
July 4, 2008... Marguerite Lazell English Heritage has confirmed it will not hold a design contest to find an architect for the proposed Stonehenge temporary visitor centre. Despite culture minister Margaret Hodge's recent insistence that the...

FIRST LOOK: DSDHA unveils an underpass to tickle Castleford's fancy.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... DSDHA's long awaited underpass project in Castleford, West Yorkshire, has been unveiled in the week it was confirmed that Channel 4 will finally broadcast the television series on the town's regeneration next month. The scheme,...

Gehry's Hove scheme threatened by crunch.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Frank Gehry's controversial scheme for the sea front at Hove has been thrown into doubt because of the credit crunch. Karis, the developer of the #290 million King Alfred scheme to build 750 apartments and a leisure centre, admitted this...

Government delays eco-town design competition.
July 4, 2008... Rory Olcayto Government plans for a competition to "set the design standards" for its eco-towns programme have been delayed by at least a year amid mounting hostility to the 10 proposed developments. The contest, announced last October...

Chipperfield gets down to business.(David Chipperfield)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... David Chipperfield has won his first competition in France with a scheme for a gateway building at HEC School of Management in Paris. The 9,000sq m scheme, which will house teaching for an MBA programme, will sit at the intersection between...

As Tories pledge to scrap entire scheme.
July 4, 2008... Eco-towns will be scrapped if the Tories triumph in the next election, the party said this week. Speaking as the government launched its second stage of consultation on the proposals on Monday, shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said a...

RIBA award winners announced.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Awards list)
July 4, 2008... Will Henley Sixteen RIBA national and 10 European award winners have been named, with next month's #20,000 Stirling Prize shortlist to be drawn from the national list as well as the British-designed European winners. At a ceremony at...

West London link.(London Festival of Architecture)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... A group of architects led by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands has joined forces to examine key redevelopment plans for Hammersmith in west London, as part of the London Festival of Architecture. The architects, also including the Manser...

Heritage fund awards #23m as budget slashed.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... The Heritage Lottery Fund has pledged #23 million for threatened buildings, including #7 million for a grade II* listed church in Bolton and a Welsh Georgian town house. The announcement comes as the fund prepares for drastic cuts of #160...

REGENERATION: Poplar towers go to planning.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Multidisciplinary firm Bailey Garner has submitted a #65 million regeneration scheme for planning in London's Tower Hamlets. The project, for Poplar Housing & Regeneration Community Association (Poplar Harca), includes high-density...

PEOPLE: Solk is chair at Pro-Manchester.(Alex Solk)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Sheppard Robson associate architect Alex Solk has been elected chairman of Pro-Manchester, a group of more than 250 financial and professional firms in the city which aims to promote Manchester's skills and expertise, and generate business...

RIBA: Two more join Building Futures.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Eric Sorenson)(David West )(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... The RIBA has appointed two new members to the steering group of its think-tank, Building Futures. Eric Sorenson, chief executive of the Thames Gateway London Partnership, is a specialist in regeneration practice and policy, while David...

HOMES & COMMUNITIES: Napier to head homes agency.
July 4, 2008... English Partnerships chairman Robert Napier has been appointed chairman of the Homes & Communities Agency, which is being formed by merging EP and the Housing Corporation. Housing minister Caroline Flint announced the appointment last week,...

Protestors set to fight on as Holland Park wins planning.
July 4, 2008... Marguerite Lazell Kensington & Chelsea Council has granted planning permission for Aedas's highly controversial design for the west London borough's Holland Park School. The scheme, backed by Cabe but opposed by English Heritage, the...

LETTER: Letters of credit.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... I was pleased to see BD publish Richard MacCormac's correspondence with the BBC (News June 20), but disappointed that your editorial was so negative about the principled line MacCormac took. I cannot think of many architects who have been...

LETTER: Missing the bus.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... We agree with many of Deyan Sudjic and Lorraine Gamman's points on the difficulty of designing a bus shelter (Debate June 20) - it is a surprisingly tough brief. As one of the nine shortlisted entrants for the recent TfL bus shelter...

LETTER: Shorty shrift.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... I just don't get you lot. You bang on about carbon-neutral this, and carbon footprint that, but when it comes to a sexy, decadent, wilful piece of unusable space, you can't resist. If you can tell me that Zaha Hadid's latest bridge in...

LETTER: Penalty point.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... As a student, I used to be admonished that a building's purpose should be capable of interpretation from its appearance. That was probably seldom achieved but it has long since been abandoned in the clamour for increasingly bizarre icons...

LETTER: Mistaken identity.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... BD is publishing letters from readers who are unhappy at the RIBA reportedly "picking fights" with Arb and the ACA. They do not like to see their institute appear quarrelsome or aggressive. Neither do we at the RIBA, who do not recognise...

LETTER: Blistering attack.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... Robin Hood Gardens (Competition June 27) - 10 reasons to demolish it, more like. What a load of ludicrous "architecting". I haven't laughed so much since the last silly "intervention" by a mini-starchitect. The virus of liquorice Alsops seems...

LETTER: Happy partner.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... BD's story on the BRE innovation park (News June 27) could be incorrectly read to imply that English Partnerships is a critic of BRE. Innovative prototype housing such as that built on BRE's pioneering innovation park has had a beneficial...

LETTER: On the level.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... Your BRE story last week, illustrated with an image of Sheppard Robson's Lighthouse, mentions that "it emerged that two of the prototype houses at the BRE's Watford base, hailed as the future for zero-carbon development, had failed to meet the...

LETTER - Brum libraries: a tale of neglect.(Letter to the editor)
July 4, 2008... I find Clive Dutton's comments (News June 27) about the Birmingham Central Library building being "defective" rather rich. It is nice to see his concern over the "economic viability of the area", though he shows scant concern for the...

OPINION: Human touch can revive social housing.
July 4, 2008... ANNE POWER As Robin Hood Gardens failsto win a reprieve, we must find ways to use ageing concrete estates Many architectural atrocities have been committed in the name of social housing. These estates have incurred enormous management...

DEBATE: Was Prince Charles right about modern architecture?
July 4, 2008... YES Roger Scruton, Author and philosopher It would be foolish to deny that there are beautiful modern buildings. But the complaint issued against modern architecture, by the Prince of Wales and many others, concerns the ordinary...

WORKS: ALSOP/FLANNERY & DE LA POLE - Public liability.
July 4, 2008... Will Alsop has called it his best-ever building. After visiting the #54 million Midlands arts centre, Ellis Woodman arrives at a different conclusion PROJECT TEAM Client: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Architects: Alsop...

SOLUTIONS: `Working with Stonehenge is like rolling a rock uphill'.(Stephen Quinlan)(Interview)
July 4, 2008... As English Heritage announces new plans to appoint an architect for a temporary visitor centre at Stonehenge, Denton Corker Marshall director Stephen Quinlan recalls his firm's part in the long-running saga BD: Salisbury's MP Robert Key...

CULTURE: Summer in the cities.
July 4, 2008... Wild and practical imaginations fused with inspiring teaching have produced another excellent vintage of student shows from the architectural schools STUDENT SHOW CANTERBURY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Pros: Energetic and enthusiastic....

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Instant Cities.
July 4, 2008... Instant Cities, by Herbert Wright. Black Dog Publishing, HB, #35 Uruk, settled 6,000 years ago, is consideredto be the first city. Now cities house half the world's 6 billion people. The nature and diverse forms of the city are...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Work: Building of Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
July 4, 2008... Work: the Building of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, by Stephen Bayley. Merrell, HB, #39.95 Visually sumptuous account of Britain's first high-speed rail line, from politics and planning to boring the tunnels and refurbishing St Pancras...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Building the Future.
July 4, 2008... Building the Future - Building Technology & Cultural History from the Industrial Revolution until Today, by Ulrich Pfammatter. Prestel, HB, #40 One hundred case studies explore past and present building technology, including the invention...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Dam.
July 4, 2008... Dam, by Trevor Turpin. Reaktion, PB, #16.95 Dams are often forgotten or neglected, says Trevor Turpin, when instead they should be a source of national pride. Here, dams take centre stage as their design, construction, beauty, failures, and...

BOOKS ROUND-UP: Vanishing America.
July 4, 2008... Vanishing America: the End of Main Street, by Michael Eastman. Rizzoli, HB, #22.50 The fading but once-thriving main streets of small town America are the focus of this photographic book. The fascinating pictures convey both the charm of...

Nourishing ideas for designers.
July 4, 2008... What's an architect doing writing a book about food production? Pamela Buxton talks to Carolyn Steel When Carolyn Steel talks about exploring cities through food, she doesn't mean embarking on a restaurant tour. Instead, for the past seven...

DEAR IRENA: Will my boss go nuclear?(Viewpoint essay)
July 4, 2008... Irena Bauman tackles your ethical dilemmas The practice I work for wants to design nuclear power stations. I'm dead against it. Should I speak out and risk losing my job? What kind of employer would sack their employee for having strong...

PRACTICE: Should I agree to act as an expert witness?
July 4, 2008... ASK US A QUESTION Richard Brindley Executive director, RIBA Professional Services Patrick Perry Partner with London law firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert I have been asked to act as an expert witness. I'm flattered, but what will it...

Jonathan Glancey: The garish lipstick on the pig.
July 4, 2008... I was quietly thrilled to discover the Royal Academy's Vilhelm Hammershoi: the Poetry of Silence, an exhibition I would recommend to every architect and student, as well as to those trying all too hard to reshape our cities. Why? Because...

THIS WEEK: GREEN HOUSE.
July 4, 2008... Prince Charles's household's carbon footprint shrank by 18% last year. It switched to green electricity, and the prince converted his Aston Martin to run on biodiesel made from surplus English wine. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: STARCK CHOICE.
July 4, 2008... Designer Philippe Starck has created a E2 coin to markthe start of France's presidency of the EU. He is also to rework the interiors and exteriors of several as yet unnamed buildingsto mark France's six-month stint at the helm of the EU. ...

THIS WEEK: BONED UP.
July 4, 2008... An map of where tens of thousands of skeletons are buried under London has gone online on the Times' website. The remains, catalogued by the Museumof London, were discovered during building works in the capital. Copyright: CMP Information...

THIS WEEK: OFF THE SCALE.
July 4, 2008... Birds in UK cities are trying to make their songs heard above the urban din - at a cost. Researchers at St Andrew's found male birds risk damage to their vocal cords and hearing by singing at higher frequencies. Copyright: CMP Information...

THIS WEEK: DELAY COSTS.
July 4, 2008... Completion of work at the World Trade Centre site in New York will be delayed until 2013. The project, which includes designs by Rogers, Foster and Libeskind, is also set to exceed its budget by $3 billion. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: MOUNTAIN OF DIRT.
July 4, 2008... China is considering restricting access to the north side of Mount Everest so that 120 tonnes of waste left by 40,000 climbers in 2007 can be cleared - as well as 100 bodies. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Row erupts over `secret' plan for East End towers.
July 11, 2008... Critics round on `astonishing secrecy' over proposed cluster of skyscrapers in Shoreditch Will Henley Two local authorities stand accused of "astonishing secrecy" over plans for a cluster of skyscrapers by architects Foster &...

LEADER: Towers set the test for Boris.
July 11, 2008... LIZ BURY Mayor Johnson's reaction to the proposed high-rise cluster of towers in Shoreditch will give an early indication of his real vision for London With London mayor Boris Johnson elected on a Conservative ticket, many people...

LEADER: We're all in it together.(Royal Institute of British Architects)(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... The RIBA is not alone as an industry body in seeking to provide for a diverse membership. Most similar organisations struggle to keep small businesses and multinational corporations together under the same umbrella. Nor are accusations of...

IN BRIEF: Housebuilders rush to slash jobs.
July 11, 2008... Housebuilder Persimmon said this week it had cut up to 2,000 jobs since the start of the year, as sales fell 31%. In the last seven days Barratt Developments has said it plans up to 1,000 redundancies and six regional office closures, and...

IN BRIEF: Berlin modernist housing chosen.
July 11, 2008... Unesco's world heritage committee has named six modernist housing estates in Berlin as a world heritage site. The estates, designed by architects including Walter Gropius, Martin Wagner and Bruno Taut, were praised for creating examples of new...

IN BRIEF: Joint architects for York centre.
July 11, 2008... CZWG and Holder Mathias have been appointed joint architects for the Coppergate shopping centre scheme in York. Centros, development manager for the 19,000sq m retail, leisure and residential project, is due to begin discussions with York City...

IN BRIEF: #2,000 fine for use of `architect'.
July 11, 2008... A Birmingham design firm has been ordered to pay more than #2,000 in fines and costs for misusing the title Architect. Integrated Design (Midlands) Ltd of Old Walsall Road was found guilty of breaching section 20 of the Architects Act on...

IN BRIEF: Classical arch unveiled in Georgia.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... The biggest civic monument to be built in the US since 1936, by Robert Adam Architects, was unveiled in Atlanta, Georgia, last week. At 21m high, the #7.5 million classical style Millennium Gate, designed by project architect Hugh Petter,...

BD CAMPAIGN: Smithsons estate will go to appeal.
July 11, 2008... An appeal will be made against the government's decision not to list the 1970s Robin Hood Gardens, housing estate. The Twentieth Century Society, which made the original listing application for the Smithsons-designed development and has...

EH forces rethink of British Museum plans.
July 11, 2008... Rogers Stirk Harbour challenged over plan to demolish listed buildings Will Henley Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners' plan for a major new exhibition space at the British Museum has been delayed following a row with English Heritage....

ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM.
July 11, 2008... 1754: Museum acquires the Robert Hooke-designed Montagu House 1802: The Townley Gallery, designed by George Saunders, is added 1852: The main museum building by Robert Smirke is completed 1857: The circular reading room, designed by...

Prince puts #1bn into urban regeneration.
July 11, 2008... Traditional architecture is to receive a boost from a #1 billion property fund set up by Prince Charles to invest in urban regeneration and sustainable property. The Tellesma fund, whose board will be chaired by former Land Securities...

5,000-home eco-town.
July 11, 2008... The Prince's Foundation has also been asked to advise on the design of a 5,000-home eco-town near Nottingham. A consortium of the MOD, landowner Newton Nottingham and the Crown Estate, is behind the plans. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Mayor axes flagship Parliament Square plan.
July 11, 2008... London mayor Boris Johnson has scrapped ambitious plans to transform London's Parliament Square into a pedestrianised piazza in time for the 2012 Olympics. As BD went to press, sources close to the project confirmed it had been dropped....

Castleford regeneration scheme curves to a close.(McDowell & Benedetti)(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... The long awaited completion of the Castleford regeneration project was marked by the opening of McDowell & Benedetti's curving pedestrian bridge last week. The 131m-long, 3.5m-wide structure boasts four 20m- long curving benches where...

RIBA drive to help big practices.(Royal Institute of British Architects)
July 11, 2008... Marguerite Lazell The RIBA has launched a drive to engage with large practices across the UK, but has been criticised for not doing enough for smaller firms. Speaking ahead of the inaugural RIBA large practice forum on Tuesday evening,...

FIRST LOOK: Wimbledon's luxury housing hopes for game, set and match.
July 11, 2008... This year's Wimbledon tennis championships may be over but star players in future years might be interested in these proposals for a luxury housing scheme overlooking the All England Tennis Club. The Home Park Road scheme, by residential...

Campaign launched to recreate Skylon.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... The campaign to rebuild the famous Skylon tower was officially launched this week as part of the London Festival of Architecture. The original 91m-high structure, by Powell & Moya, formed the focal point of the 1951 Festival of Britain held...

Campaigners slam UIA over failure to expel Israelis.(International Union of Architects)(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Will Hurst Lobby group Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine has vowed to continue with its campaigning after a move to expel Israeli professionals from the International Union of Architects (UIA) failed. Last year, a host of...

UIA president.
July 11, 2008... Australian Louise Cox was elected unopposed as the new UIA president after her fellow candidate, Italian Giancarlo Ius, died of a heart attack at the conference the night before the vote. SEE LETTERS, PAGE 8 Copyright: CMP Information...

Hamiltons adds drama to Cardiff.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Hamiltons Architects has submitted this #22.5 million scheme for the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama to Cardiff Council planners. The redevelopment project will create a suite of "world-class" training and performance facilities on...

Boris pledges #60m for disused properties.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Architects stand to benefit from a #60 million fund to help bring disused London properties back into use. The cash injection was promised on Tuesday by mayor Boris Johnson to ease the housing crisis affecting the capital. It will target...

CZWG goes for gold.
July 11, 2008... CZWG Architects has revealed its reworked design for a #150 million housing scheme on the banks of the River Thames opposite the O2 arena. The East India Dock Road development, part of English Partnerships' London Wide Initiative to build...

National Trust bids to restore Vanbrugh masterwork.(John Vanbrugh)(National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty)(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Marguerite Lazell A grade I listed Northumbrian house widely seen as the finest work of English baroque is set to be restored and converted for public use under a radical plan by the National Trust. John Vanbrugh's Seaton Delaval Hall,...

Shed KM scheme wins top housing award.
July 11, 2008... Shed KM's Chimney Pot Park scheme at Langworthy in Salford, for developer Urban Splash, has been named overall winner at this year's Housing Design Awards. Speaking last week at the awards organised by Design for Homes, housing minister...

RESTORATION: City's bandstand will now play on.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... DRP Architects has been granted planning for a #850,000 scheme to restore Brighton's historic seafront bandstand. The grade II listed structure - the only bandstand left in Brighton - is also known as the Birdcage because of its domed roof...

2012 OLYMPICS: Work to start on Aquatics Centre.
July 11, 2008... Zaha Hadid's Aquatics Centre will go on site a month ahead of schedule, with work starting this month, the Olympic Delivery Authority claimed this week. Responding to accusations in a BBC London report that the 2012 venue is too...

ENVIRONMENT: Benoy to fund wildlife officer.(Benoy Foundation )(Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Living Landscape )(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... The Benoy Foundation is to fund a conservation officer for 20 months to help with work on the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Living Landscape project on the Trent flood plain between North Muskham and Dunham Bridge. The officer will...

PRACTICE: Director buys out William Cowie.
July 11, 2008... Aberdeen-based William Cowie Partnership has been bought out by director Dougal Morgan. The practice, with 10 staff, celebrates its 25 anniversary this year. Current projects include an #8 million scheme for Craobh Haven Marina on...

Practices in running for Scots health framework.
July 11, 2008... Will Henley Nightingale Associates, BDP and Reiach & Hall are among the architects in the running to win a slice of a #900 million deal to build hospitals and major healthcare facilities across Scotland. Modelled on England's ProCure21...