Building Design articles from March 2008

Building Design archives from March 2008

MK architects' department scandal could see it axed.(Company overview)
March 7, 2008... Will Hurst One of the last in-house council architects' departments in the country is facing closure amid allegations of overspending and incompetence. Architecture Milton Keynes, a multidisciplinary practice founded in 1997 by Milton...

Rogers' ship comes in at Ching Fu.(Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners has completed a building for the Ching Fu ship-building company in Taiwan. )(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners has completed a building for the Ching Fu ship-building company in Taiwan. The 25,000sq m HQ, which overlooks Kaohsiung Bay, opens officially later this year. It boasts features such as a series of...

LEADER: Fight this loopy legislation.
March 7, 2008... AMANDA BAILLIEU We need to resist the government's misguided urge to dictate what sort of houses people want Now that the licensing laws can't be blamed for turning our city centres into Gin Lane after the hour of midnight, surely it's...

LEADER: A sad way to turn 40.
March 7, 2008... In many ways, Milton Keynes has been a victim of its own success. People like living there, and this puts it on the radar of English Partnerships, which wants to increase densities and expand the town. This has not gone down well with...

IN BRIEF: BDP's Victoria Square completed.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... BDP's #160 million scheme for Victoria Square, Belfast opened to the public on Thursday. The firm said staff had put the equivalent of 140 years' work into the scheme since its inception in 1998. It has 75,000sq m of retail space,...

IN BRIEF: Mosque consultation begins.
March 7, 2008... A public consultation into plans for the Abbey Mills Mosque in Newham, east London, has begun. The 12,000-capacity mosque was designed by Mangeras Yvars, but Allies& Morrison took over onthe project, for Islamic missionary movement...

IN BRIEF: BD's Woodman to curate pavilion.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... BD's buildings editor Ellis Woodman is to curate this year's British pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Woodman said the pavilion would address political and cultural issues surrounding housing architecture. It will feature designs by...

IN BRIEF: RMJM bashes Beijing boycotters.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... RMJM chief executive Peter Morrison has attacked global figures including Steven Spielberg for boycotting the Beijing Olympics. Morrison, whose firm has designed the 2008 games' Green Convention Centre, said: "We don't think that the...

IN BRIEF: Mipim property fair biggest ever.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Over 28,000 delegates from 85 countries are expected to attend Mipim 2008 next week, a rise on the 26,210 who went to the event in the south of France last year. The UK will be the most heavily represented, with 1,733 companies already...

Pressure on Hodge to rethink listing stance.
March 7, 2008... Architecture minister faces near-unanimous opposition to proposals Rory Olcayto and Will Hurst Architecture minister Margaret Hodge is coming under pressure to rethink her position on post-war buildings as BD's campaign to have Robin...

Robin Hood report kept from public.
March 7, 2008... A crucial report on the future of Robin Hood Gardens paid for by taxpayers was withheld from BD by Tower Hamlets Council this week. As BD went to press, a council cabinet meeting was expected to approve demolition, based on a controversial...

Demolition of Pimlico School begins.
March 7, 2008... Demolition has begun at Pimlico School, the brutalist landmark in Westminster which has been the centre of a long-running listing battle. The 1970 school's swimming pool has already been bulldozed, and the Claverton Street entrance is...

Design for London needs reform, says Paddick.
March 7, 2008... Mayoral candidate dismisses organisation as a `talking shop' Rory Olcayto and Will Hurst Liberal Democrat candidate for London mayor Brian Paddick has dismissed Design for London as a "talking shop" which must fully tackle the...

Design for London appoints team.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Design for London has appointed a team to draw up the mayor's housing design guide, which is intended for use by boroughs and other public bodies to raise standards. Following a competition, managing director of Urban Initiatives Kelvin...

FIRST LOOK: DLA Architecture sets the stage for Leeds University school.
March 7, 2008... DLA Architecture has completed work on its #3.3 million Stage@Leeds building for Leeds University School of Performance & Cultural Industries. The scheme, within the main university campus, features 1,750sq m of floor space distributed...

DfL exhibition looks at public realm.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... A new exhibition curated by Design for London which opened this week will attempt to engage the public in a wide-ranging debate over the development of the capital's public realm. London Open City, an exhibition running at Somerset House...

Mill turns to retail.(Slingfield Mill)(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Lyons, Sleeman & Hoare has applied for planning to transform the five- storey, grade II listed Slingfield Mill building at Kidderminster, Worcestershire, into a department store and hotel. Philip Piper, partner at Lyons, Sleeman & Hoare,...

Tories want architects to design jails.
March 7, 2008... Helen Crump Architects could be asked to design new jails worth hundreds of millions of pounds under Conservative Party proposals for a radical restructuring of the prison estate. In Prisons with a Purpose, a green paper published this...

Allies & Morrison wins Olympic media centre bid.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Allies & Morrison has beaten Hopkins Architects and its partner Bouygues to land the #400 million media centre project for London's 2012 Olympic Games. Together with joint venture consortium members Igloo and Carillion, it will develop the...

Lessons in timber.(Meadowcroft Griffin Architects)(Lauriston Primary School)(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Meadowcroft Griffin Architects has submitted this design, for the #8 million Lauriston Primary School in Hackney, east London, for planning. The three-floor structure,a sustainable timber frameon a base of brick with timber cladding above,...

Herzog & de Meuron in running for Lord's plan.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Marguerite Lazell Herzog & de Meuron and HOK Sport are among the practices bidding to draw up a #200 million masterplan for Lord's cricket ground. Operator Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is working with the Architecture Foundation to...

Warwickshire Cricket Club to fund Broadway Malyan-design.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Warwickshire Cricket Club has voted in favour of borrowing up to #20 million to fund a Broadway Malyan-designed redevelopment at its Edgbaston ground. The scheme will increase the ground's capacity by 4,000, to 25,000. Residential and...

Massive regeneration for Big City Brum.
March 7, 2008... Urban Initiatives has launched its vision to transform Birmingham city centre in a #10 billion, 800ha regeneration programme. The Big City Plan, unveiled by council leader Mike Whitby last Wednesday, outlines proposals to create an urban...

ENVIRONMENT: Pear trees for Harley Street.(Westminster City Council)(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Trees are to be planted on London's Harley Street for the first time in its 300-year history. In the largest scheme of its kind in Westminster, 45 non-fruiting Chanticleer pear trees will be introduced to the street, famous for its doctors...

EDUCATION: DSP puts art at school's heart.
March 7, 2008... DSP Architects has completed an extension to King James's School at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, which builds over a non-load-bearing flat roof. Unable to build directly on the roof, the practice designed a suspended extension with a 34m span...

AWARDS: Cabe and RIBA invite entries.
March 7, 2008... Cabe is inviting entries for the 2008 prime minister's better public building award. To be eligible, projects must have been commissioned by or on behalf of government or by a granted-aided organisation, have completed after January 1, 2007 and...

EDUCATION: Hopkins returns to Bryanston.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... Hopkins Architects has been commissioned to design a music building for Bryanston School, Dorset. It is the firm's second project for the school following the completion of the Sanger Building for Science and Mathematics. The building...

London Met unit makes shortlist for Korean city.
March 7, 2008... Rory Olcayto A British-based architectural team has been shortlisted in a contest to design a new city one quarter of the size of Greater London. London Metropolitan University's Architecture Research Unit, led by Florian Beigel and...

LETTER: Spirit of place.(Letter to the editor)
March 7, 2008... Margaret Hodge's test that modern architecture should be loved if it is to qualify for listing should at least justify consideration for Robin Hood Gardens because it is loved by many architects and others who are interested in urban design and...

LETTER: Apocalypse then.(Letter to the editor)
March 7, 2008... It is interesting to see the profession closing ranks behind the Smithsons' threatened - or is it doomed? - Robin Hood Gardens, but am I alone in thinking that it is a bit of a monster? I went there on a cold, misty day in the seventies,...

LETTER: Wit in Whitman.(Letter to the editor)
March 7, 2008... Your feature on Whitman College at Princeton by Porphyrios Associates (Works February 29) was a delight. I'd quite forgotten about old Demetri, yet here he is, back on song with some of the 21st century's best comedy architecture. As a fan...

LETTER: Turn over Leaf.(Letter to the editor)
March 7, 2008... As a fellow Ealing resident, I support Gordon Mitchell's denunciation of the proposals for our town centre (Letters February 29). The scheme is of such poor quality that Cabe, English Heritage, Hillingdon Council and the consortium of...

LETTER: Modest proposal.(Letter to the editor)
March 7, 2008... I am young, fit and below average height. I have no friends or relations who are old or disabled, or if I have, they don't visit, and I have nothing upstairs for them to use. I do not intend to grow old or get sick, so could could you get...

LETTER: Consultation on Robin rocked.(Letter to the editor)
March 7, 2008... In response to your editorial (A demolition job on the truth, February 29), I refute BD's claims about the consultation with tenants at Robin Hood Gardens, and the behaviour of English Partnerships and Tower Hamlets Council. Let's take a...

OPINION - A woman's home is her sandcastle.(Editorial)
March 7, 2008... MARCUS FAIRS An innovative design project is providing mass housingfor Cape Town's urban poor I have seen the future of affordable mass housing, and the good news is that architects are not required. Even better, you don't need...

DEBATE - Should the government list Robin Hood Gardens?
March 7, 2008... YES Catherine Croft Director, the Twentieth Century Society The Twentieth Century Society put forward Robin Hood Gardens for listing last November because we believe it is a seminal building with an international reputation. We knew...

WORKS: MOLE ARCHITECTS - Cambridge resurrection.
March 7, 2008... PROJECT TEAM Client: University of Cambridge, Architect: Mole Architects with Freeland Rees Roberts Architects, Engineer: Scott Wilson, Quantity surveyor: Gardiner & Theobold, Mechanical and electrical: Max Fordham, Project manager: Hannah...

SOLUTIONS: CUTTY SARK VISITOR CENTRE - `It has deteriorated in places.
March 7, 2008... When Simon Beames, project architect for Grimshaw's Cutty Sark renovation, left the firm to start Youmeheshe, his fledgling practice received a boost by keeping the project. That became a major headache last May after a fire caused serious...

How the ship shapes up.
March 7, 2008... * WITCH OF WIND Designed by Hercules Linton and costing #17,000 to build, the tea clipper, named aftera witch, is launched in 1869at Dumbarton. For a while, it is the fastest ship in the world, reaching speeds of 17mph. * TRAINING DAYS In...

PRACTICE - What are the pitfalls of the consortium game?
March 7, 2008... ASK US A QUESTION Richard Brindley Executive director, RIBA Professional Services Laura Atherton Solicitor, Kennedys, London EC1 We are looking to forma consortium with other practices to be able to doa wider range of larger...

ROLL ON FRIDAY.(Brief article)
March 7, 2008... `WE TAKE EVERYONE AWAY FOR A GREAT WEEKEND IN A FOREIGN CITY' Practice: Trehearne Architects Location: London Size: 23 people "The entire practice has just come back from a long weekend in Istanbul. We try to take everyone...

CULTURE - Trying to build bridges.
March 7, 2008... The history of the respective roles of architect and engineer, often prone to friction if not outright conflict, is explored in this riveting and entertaining book, writes Tony McIntyre BOOK ARCHITECT & ENGINEER: A STUDY IN SIBLING...

HOT TIPS: Mix and mush.
March 7, 2008... Ton Matton, an urban planner based in east Germany, explores future urban dwellings in Surviving the Suburb: the Climate Machine. Emphasising self-sufficiency, the show includes a kitchen sink with mushroom bed beneath. There's also an urban...

HOT TIPS: Airbus R Us.
March 7, 2008... Austrian Hans Schabus is the latest artist to createan installation at Barbican's Curve. He found inspiration in the similarity of the 80m- long gallery to the inside of a large aeroplane, and has installed over 450 chairs at a 90-degree angle...

HOT TIPS: Two cubed.
March 7, 2008... Cube's latest show features two artists whose work responds to the built environment. Matthew Houlding's structures are made of found materials such as postcards and weathered timber, while Dean Hughes' work gives a twist to mundane everyday...

The line of beauty.
March 7, 2008... Norman Shaw's masterly drawings can teach modern practice a thing or two, says Gavin Stamp EXHIBITION ARTFUL PRACTICE: ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS BY RICHARD NORMAN SHAW RA (1831- 1912) Royal Academy of Arts, London W1 Until May...

Eye to the future.
March 7, 2008... The Design Museum's rebranded awards show makes for a fantastic spectacle, says Pamela Buxton EXHIBITION BRIT INSURANCE DESIGNS OF THE YEAR Design Museum, London SE1 Until April 27 Can you really "draw" a chair in the air...

JONATHAN GLANCEY - Are there prizes for 244th place?
March 7, 2008... I had promised to give up satire for Lent. And then this email arrived: "The RIBA was this week announced as one of the UK's leading business brands in the Business Superbrands 2008 list." The following sentence was funnier. "Featuring at no....

THIS WEEK: PRACTICES.
March 7, 2008... Four architectural practices have made it onto the Sunday Times list of the top 100 small companies to work for. Assael came in at 22, HLM Architects at 62, with Stephen George & Partners and BPTW Partnership squeezing in at 95 and 98. ...

THIS WEEK: MEANING OF LIFE.
March 7, 2008... The nuclear particle accelerator occupying a 17-mile circular underground tunnel in Switzerland is nearly complete. When operational this summer, the large hadron collider will allow study of matterat the smallest scale. Copyright: CMP...

THIS WEEK: KENSINGTON.
March 7, 2008... A detached Victorian villa in this west London district has sold for #80 million to a mystery buyer, making the former girls' preparatory school the most expensive private residence in the world. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: STERN REPORT.
March 7, 2008... The author of the climate change review, Nicholas Stern, has said it didn't go far enough. He told an audience at the LSE that he had "seriously underestimated" the impact of carbon pollution. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: EMBASSIES.
March 7, 2008... Foreign embassies in London owe the GLA more than #10 million in parking fines and congestion charges. The top offenders include the US, Japan, Nigeria, Germany and Russia. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: CRETE.
March 7, 2008... An untouched part of Crete that is home to some of the world's rarest plants is under threat. Developers want to use the location for a luxury resort with golf courses and hotels. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

BD contest paves the way for Robin Hood revival.
March 14, 2008... Helen Crump Architects are being challenged to create a new vision for Robin Hood Gardens in a design competition launched by BD and the Architecture Foundation this week. The contest will centre on refurbishing the estate after...

Champion design for Lyon FC.(French sports club)(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... HOK Sport unveiled its designs for Olympique Lyonnais's new 60,000-seat stadium at the Mipim property fair in Cannes this week. The octagonal stadium can be adapted to becomea concert venue or civic destination for Lyon residents when not...

LEADER: Top design is best medicine.
March 14, 2008... LIZ BURY At times like these, poorly designed homes will display the `for sale' sign the longest Listen carefully and you may hear, if not the "pop" of the housing market bubble bursting, then perhaps the "pfutt pfutt" of its slow and...

LEADER: Can you do better for Robin Hood?(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... As BD's campaign to save Robin Hood Gardens enters its fourth week, we are putting our money where our mouth is with our competition for architects to design a new future for these much admired buildings. This is a great opportunity to show...

IN BRIEF: Capita Symonds buys up Lovejoy.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Capita Symonds has bought one of the UK's largest multi-disciplinary consultancies, Lovejoy, for an undisclosed sum. Lovejoy, which has offices in Birmingham and London, will now be known as Capita Lovejoy. Established in 1959, the firm...

IN BRIEF: OMA unveils Dubai development.
March 14, 2008... OMA Architects has revealed its masterplan fora 12 million sq m waterfront development in Dubai. The project, led by Reinier de Graaf and Rem Koolhaas, was commissioned by Dubai developer Nakheel in 2007 and is part of a 140 million sq m...

IN BRIEF: Darling cash boosts green housing.
March 14, 2008... Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that he will pour #26 million into the government's Green Homes Service from next year in a bid to improve the sustainability credentials of the UK's housing stock. The cash for the initiative,...

IN BRIEF: Artists oppose Foster's scheme.
March 14, 2008... Artists Tracy Emin, Dinos Chapman and Rachel Whiteread have joined the campaign opposing the redevelopment of Bishop's Place, between Shoreditch and Brick Lane in east London, masterplanned by Foster & Partners for Hammerson. The plans are...

IN BRIEF: Concrete creates elegant pavilion.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... The Architectural Association's pavilion at Bedford Square in London opened yesterday (Thursday). The structure, designedby AA Design Research Laboratory graduates Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang, will stand until July, in celebration of...

Martin Pawley dies.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Martin Pawley, architect, critic, teacher, and a former editor of BD, died on Sunday aged 69, after a long illness. Hertfordshire-born Pawley, who was known for his incisive and provocative journalism, was suffering from Lewy body dementia....

UK architects seek to modernise Paris.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Will Hurst British-based architects including Zaha Hadid, Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, Michel Mossessian and Think Place are competing to lead one of 10 multi-disciplinary teams tasked with creating a future vision for Paris. In...

Bid to stop Jewish charity dinner.
March 14, 2008... Charles Jencks, Eva Jiricna and recent RIBA gold medal winner Ted Cullinan are among 45 architects who have signed a letter calling for the cancellation of a dinner at Windsor Castle in aid of a Jewish charity, claiming the organisations is...

`Delighted' Edinburgh champions Farrell.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Terry Farrell will remain as Edinburgh City Council's design champion, despite earlier rumours that the local authority was poised to scrap the position. The council confirmed this week that Farrell would remain in his unpaid post and is...

Island plan goes back to nature.
March 14, 2008... Levitate Architecture & Design Studio has beaten AOC, Flacq and Richards Partington Architects in a joint Urban Splash/RIBA competition for Birnbeck Island and the grade II* listed pier at Weston-super-Mare. The winning design aims to...

Manchester is banking on Reid to fuse new design with the old.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Reid Architects is about to go on site with this competition-winning #8 million design which will fuse a five-storey grade II listed former bank and a new 10-storey building in Manchester, near the city's Piccadilly station. The practice...

Urban Splash hires Hoskins for Cardross regeneration.
March 14, 2008... Rory Olcayto Developer Urban Splash has hired Gareth Hoskins Architects to develop regeneration ideas for one of Scotland's most important modernist buildings, St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. The practice is undertaking a feasibility...

Duggan Morris victory at Mersey Observatory.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Duggan Morris Architects is to design the new Mersey Observatory in Crosby after seeing off competition from Studio 8, Phos Architects, Farrell & Clark, and Ellis Williams Architects. The RIBA competition sought a design to replace the...

RIBA competition shortlists.
March 14, 2008... Two further RIBA competition shortlists were announced this week. Studio Egret West, Panter Hudspith, John McAslan, Benson & Forsyth, and Flacq are vying for the chance to redevelop a part of Finsbury Park in north London, adjacent to the tube...

Plasma scoops Next Gen award.
March 14, 2008... East London-based practice wins prestigious BD-sponsored title Marguerite Lazell Plasma Studio has won the fourth annual Next Generation Architects Award, it was announced at Mipim this week. The award, sponsored by BD, the...

BD will sponsor Architecture Rocks.
March 14, 2008... At Mipim this week, Amanda Baillieu announced that BD will sponsor this year's Architecture Rocks, the closing party - and the musical highlight - of the London Festival of Architecture. The night will see a host of bands, all of which have...

BPF chief calls for green incentives.
March 14, 2008... The British Property Federation has called on ministers to offer financial incentives in return for better environmental performance in buildings. Speaking ahead of a green building forum at property expo Mipim this week, BPF chief...

Browne Smith Baker to head one of consortiums.
March 14, 2008... North-east-based practice Browne Smith Baker revealed it is to head one of three consortiums shortlisted for English Partnerships' second Carbon Challenge site at Peterborough. BSB will project manage and design the bid for pPod Consortium. ...

Foster's Abu Dhabi WTC.
March 14, 2008... Foster & Partners' latest Middle East project, the Abu Dhabi World Trade Centre, has been unveiled at the Mipim property fair in Cannes. Part of a new waterfront city, it will be the main building at Al Raha Beach. The scheme, which...

Fat wins in Walsall.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... Fat has triumphed in anRIBA competition to designa community library facilityin Walsall, the first time it has won a competition to designa public building. The firm beat 72 international practices -including Aaron Evans, Featherstone...

Bath Council set to reject Wilkinson Eyre design school.
March 14, 2008... Marguerite Lazell Wilkinson Eyre's troubled scheme for James Dyson's School of Design Innovation in Bath looks set to be rejected next week after planning officers recommended that the scheme be denied planning permission. The #25...

EH joins in criticism of Luton retail scheme.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... English Heritage has joined the Victorian Society in condemning a #150 million Broadway Malyan retail scheme which involves demolishing two grade II listed buildings in Luton's historic hat-making district. Developer The Mall wants to...

CULTURE: FCB Studios wins castle consent.
March 14, 2008... Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios' visitor centre for the Museum of Somerset at grade I listed Taunton Castle has won planning. Consent was also required to satisfy listed building and scheduled ancient monument restrictions, involving two years of...

SOUTHAMPTON: Wifi to boost new city development.
March 14, 2008... Southampton's architecture centre is to use wireless technology to transmit site-specific stories to the public in a bid to increase architectural awareness in the city. The Solent Centre for Architecture & Design, working with Hive...

HOUSING: Mixed response on Hips - survey.
March 14, 2008... Six out of ten homebuyers in home information pack (Hip) trial areas did not see a Hip last year, according to government research. Of the 40% who did receive a pack, half of those only saw it after they had already made an offer on a...

AWARDS: RIBA calls for medal nominees.(Brief article)
March 14, 2008... The RIBA is calling for nominations for next year's RIBA Royal Gold Medal. All RIBA members are eligible to nominate candidates for the award, won last year by Ted Cullinan. The institute is also looking for new honorary and international...