Building Design articles from November 2007

Building Design archives from November 2007

Design for London is accused of favouritism.
November 2, 2007... Design body denies lobby group's claim that it is promoting a select group of architects Will Hurst Design for London is systematically promoting a select group of architects at the expense of scores of others, lobby group Design for...

Glittering display.(Allies and Morrison celebrates BD Architect of the Year Awards)(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Allies & Morrison has celebrated an incredible week after scooping the top award at last night's BD Architect of the Year Awards and unveiling a new #25 million performing arts centre in Hemel Hempstead. Allies & Morrison was named Richard...

LEADER: Better space still needs design.
November 2, 2007... AMANDA BAILLIEU New space standards are welcome, but they should not be a substitute for good design Architecture is the art of how to waste space, said Philip Johnson, but increasingly it's become the art of how to make space go a...

LEADER: Is Design for London worth it?(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Design for London has only been going for nine months, hardly long enough for it have much to show, yet the hope when it was set up was that it would be more open and media-savvy than its predecessor, the Architecture & Urbanism Unit. This...

IN BRIEF: Site change for Pompey stadium.
November 2, 2007... Herzog & de Meuron's proposed 36,000-seat stadium for Portsmouth FC is to move after the Royal Navy expressed "operational and security concerns" over plans to build it near a naval base set to be home to two new aircraft carriers. But...

IN BRIEF: Green council to redefine `offsite'.(Revisions to the Code for Sustainable Homes)(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Revisions to the Code for Sustainable Homes which ban the use of offsite renewables for new homes have come under fire from the Green Building Council. Government experts introduced the ban earlier this month because of fears over how...

IN BRIEF: Use cemeteries as parks, says Cabe.
November 2, 2007... Graveyards should be replanned and redesigned to have a dual function as parks attractive to the general public, according to Cabe, which has described them as a "huge untapped resource". The design watchdog also said councils should...

IN BRIEF: Skanska appointed at Bishopsgate.(Skanska has won the contract by Kohn Pederson Fox)(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Skanska has won the contract to build the 202m-high, 46-storey Heron Tower by Kohn Pederson Fox at Bishopsgate, central London. Construction will begin in January and is set to be completed in early 2011. David Fison, Skanska UK's chief...

IN BRIEF: DCM wins award for courts centre.
November 2, 2007... Denton Corker Marshall has won a top award for its #113 million Civil Justice Centre in Manchester (Works September 14). The Melbourne-based firm beat strong competition to scoop the Royal Australian Institute of Architects' J+rn Utzon...

Cooper wants range of eco-town styles.
November 2, 2007... England's 10 eco-towns will feature a wide range of design styles rather than the "grand vision of a single architect", housing minister Yvette Cooper pledged this week. Speaking at a Prince's Foundation seminar on Tuesday, Cooper...

Agency brings back space standards.
November 2, 2007... English Partnerships will enforce size minimums for housing on its land Will Hurst Architects have hailed a new era for housing design after the government's regeneration agency reversed 40 years of public policy with a return to...

No competition for Birmingham library.
November 2, 2007... Birmingham's design strategy has come under renewed fire after the city council admitted it would not hold an international competition for its new #190 million library. Despite earlier claims to the contrary, the council said this week it...

Rochester scheme's gateway to a new world.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... This residential scheme by Alison Brooks Architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley and Maccreanor Lavington is one of four shortlisted for the first phase of Rochester Riverside, one of the most significant Thames Gateway schemes. The three...

Riverbank revelation.(Fletcher Priest Architects contracts with Oxford Properties)(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Fletcher Priest Architects has revealed the first images of its huge "urban quarter" scheme planned for the north bank of the Thames in central London. Watermark Place, the 50,000sq m office and retail scheme, for developers Oxford...

Darke's modernist home saved by listing.
November 2, 2007... Fans rally to halt development plan Marguerite Lazell An acclaimed 1960s house designed by a founding partner of Darbourne & Darke, Geoffrey Darke, has been saved from possible demolition after being grade II listed by English...

Heatherwick sued over B of the Bang.
November 2, 2007... Manchester City Council is to sue leading designer Thomas Heatherwick over his controversial B of the Bang sculpture. The council last week launched #2 million proceedings against Heatherwick Studio and subcontractors Packman Lucas, Flint &...

Eight firms shortlisted for King's Cross housing.
November 2, 2007... Heidi Ancell Eight practices including DRMM, Munkenbeck & Marshall, Panter Hudspith and Feilden Clegg Bradley have been shortlisted by developer Argent for the first residential schemes in the #2 billion regeneration of King's Cross. ...

Boathouse goes on site.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Feilden & Mawson has gone on site with this mixed-use building which it hopes will become the focal point of the #40 million redevelopment of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. The 2250sq m Boathouse, which will be at the furthest point from the...

Waterloo is ripe for skyscrapers.(Theater review)
November 2, 2007... London's Waterloo is set to become home to a new generation of skyscrapers, according to mayor Ken Livingstone. The Waterloo Opportunity Area Planning Framework, carried out by East Architects for the mayor's office and released last week,...

Aedas gets on track.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Aedas has won a competition to refurbish Rotherham Central station. The #2.5 million project is part of area's regeneration led by regional agency Yorkshire Forward. The roof of the 250sq m main building features a series of five timber...

Bedford neoclassicalscheme wins planning.(Riverside Square project)(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Council ignores Cabe rethink call Rory Olcayto A huge neoclassical scheme by heritage firm Purcell Miller Tritton has been approved by planners in Bedford despite previous calls from Cabe for a "fundamental rethink". The mixed-use...

Moxon triumphs in Preston competition.(Moxon Architects has won an RIBA competition)(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Moxon Architects has won an RIBA competition to design a #6 million landmark office building in Preston, Lancashire. The firm beat CJ Lim's Studio 8 Architects, Maxwan, Piercy Conner, New York-based Stephen Yablon Architects, and Hamburg's...

REFURBISHMENT: Squire & Partners remodels Lasdun.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Squire & Partners has completed its refurbishment of the City of London's Milton Gate, which was originally designed by Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley in the late 1980s. The scheme involved remodeling 15,000sq m of office accommodation...

REGENERATION: Lottery hands out #13 million.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... A total of 13 towns and cities in the UK have been earmarked to receive #13 million of regeneration cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The areas to benefit from the Townscape Heritage Initiative include Port Street in Evesham,...

PLANNING: EU body defends local rights.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Local communities should have a more prominent role in planning, according to a report out this week. The paper, the first from EU-funded group Advocacy, Participation and NGOs in Planning (Apango), sets out a host of recommendations...

CULTURE: Goverment IDs five target areas.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Junior housing minister Iain Wright has named the Thames Gateway; the South-west; Corby, Northamptonshire; Portsmouth Urban South Hampshire; and Elevate East Lancashire as priority areas for new cultural and sporting facilities. Living...

Sustainable design panel set up to help planners.
November 2, 2007... Heidi Ancell A panel focused on improving environmental sustainability has been set up to counter a "desperate" lack of skills among planners. The Sustainable Design Review Panel, believed to be the first of its kind, has been set up...

LETTER: More and less.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... Two stories in this week's paper caught my eye. The first, that Zaha Hadid's elegant Architecture Foundation building in central London is privately funded and is costed at less than #5 million. The second, that Make's lottery-funded tree house...

LETTER: Culture club.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... Femi Adebutu (Letters October 19) hits the spot when she says if the City of Culture 2008 is to mean something in Liverpool, key decisionmakers need to turn their eyes away from the city centre and focus on the inner city. We are preparing...

LETTER: Golden oldies.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... In this era of extreme political correctness, equal opportunities, and health and safety measures that make it almost impossible to build anything, apparently it is still very difficult for architects of around 60 years old to find jobs. ...

LETTER: Giving some gyp.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... Elain Harwood's review of the Churchill College design competition from half a century ago (Culture October 19) was a fascinating read, but I would like to clarify the meaning of the term "gyp" room. These are not cleaners' rooms, as...

LETTER: Pimple watch.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... David Eccles (Letters October 19) suggests you maintain a pimple watch, looking out for buildings before they grow into a carbuncle. Take a look at the carbuncle below, approved by Hammersmith & Fulham this week at a turbulent committee...

LETTER: Overrruns that harm credibility.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... As long ago as January 2005, I was wondering whether the winning design for the Architecture Foundation headquarters would be built to time and budget, and how much of the enclosed space, made up of angled walls running in all directions, would...

LETTER: Crude measure.(Letter to the editor)
November 2, 2007... I've never really been sure what the Architecture Foundation is all about, let alone its new HQ. But I read that director Rowan Moore says that at around #5 million or #5,500 per sq m: "It will be very much worth what it's going to cost"....

OPINION: Why firms take the money and run.
November 2, 2007... PAUL MORRELL The most likely reason to sell a practice is a slowing market, so don't believe all that other guff When a professional practice sells out, it usually issues a statement that says: "This will give us access to capital to...

DEBATE: Is secondary school design standardisation a good idea?
November 2, 2007... YES Stafford Critchlow Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects Conceptually, it seems ridiculous that each school we build should be a prototype. Building on best practice and some form of standardisation must be the way forward if...

ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR AWARDS: Winners raise the bar.
November 2, 2007... This year's awards - for established practices, young architects, and clients - recognise all those who are helping to improve design standards Bigger and better is the verdict on this year's awards, which attracted more than 200 entries...

WORKS: RAFAEL MONEO - Hedging its bets.
November 2, 2007... PROJECT TEAM Architect: Rafael Moneo, Client: Gerencia de Infrastucturas y Equipamientos of the Ministry of Culture, Contractor: UTE El Prado, Entrance doors: Cristina Iglesias, Funicion Capa, Restoration of the cloister: Concepcion...

SOLUTIONS: Blowing in the urban wind.
November 2, 2007... Could wind really power our urban environments? With today's emphasis on sustainability, Southwark Council is blazing a trail, testing turbines on an Elephant & Castle tower block, reports Rory Olcayto Surprising as it may sound, a dingy...

INSTALLING THE ASHENDEN HOUSE WIND TURBINE.
November 2, 2007... * TURBINE ASSEMBLY When Photon Energy installed Quiet Revolution's 6kW turbine on the roof of Ashenden House, it managed the whole operation in less than nine hours. The kit of parts arrived on site at 7.30am, and by 4pm it was up and...

Can a replacement architect use our drawings without paying us?
November 2, 2007... ASK US A QUESTION Richard Brindley RIBA director of practice Laura Atherton Solicitor, Kennedys, London EC1 Our appointment with our client had a clause to the effect that the client's licence to use our designs was subject to...

ROLL ON FRIDAY.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... `WE GIVE EACH MEMBER OF STAFF A GRANT TOWARDS A CITY BREAK' Practice: Assael Architecture Location: London Size: 70 people John Assael, managing director writes: We have a fund set aside for foreign travel so that we can give...

CULTURE: A natural progression.
November 2, 2007... Tadao Ando's talk was more concerned with saving the planet than with architecture, says Gerrard O'Carroll LECTURE TADAO ANDO Royal Academy, London Tadao Ando is a great architect: if you were unaware of this before turning...

CULTURE: Reality check.
November 2, 2007... The main lesson of this show is that with Zumthor, nothing matches the real thing, says Tim Wolfe-Murray EXHIBITION PETER ZUMTHOR: BUILDINGS AND PROJECTS, 1986-2007 Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria kunsthaus-bregenz.at Until January...

HOT TIPS: One for the birds.(Brief article)
November 2, 2007... Thomas Schutte's Model for a Hotel 2007 takes up its place on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square next week - surely the most prominent location ever for an architectural model. The German conceptual artist has created a translucent model of...

HOT TIPS: Endless task.
November 2, 2007... Construction is never entirely over at the Grand Shrine of Ise, one of Japan's most important Shinto shrines. Every 20 years, its 100 buildings are dismantled and rebuilt to the same design using wood from an adjacent forest, a process known as...

HOT TIPS: Old masters.
November 2, 2007... In the 19th century, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, banker and art aficionado, collected fine drawings depicting everything from architecture to religion. Drawn mainly from 18th century France with some 19th century Dutch art, the collection...

THIS WEEK: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.
November 2, 2007... A fountain in Lakeland, Florida, designed by the architect has finally gushed into life nearly 60 years after it was built. Computer technology and a #500,000 restoration project were needed to control water flow from the Water Dome's 74...

THIS WEEK: BUCHAREST.
November 2, 2007... The Romanian capital has topped the list of cities for property investors, according to a national newspaper survey. The study says other EU capitals in eastern Europe worth a look include Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius and Warsaw. Copyright: CMP...

THIS WEEK: OLYMPIC SITE.
November 2, 2007... Demolition of the long-derelict University of East London building, the tallest on the park site, has begun. A 50-tonne wrecking machine started work on the 12-storey tower in Stratford this week. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

THIS WEEK: LIBRARIES.
November 2, 2007... Government agency the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council has suggested a better service could be provided with fewer buildings, despite the sector losing more than 100 buildings in the past two years. Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Eco-homes fail final build test.
November 9, 2007... Exemplar projects are "all fluff and no substance," says Gummer Rory Olcayto Two prototype houses hailed as the future for zero-carbon development have failed to meet the required construction standards, the BRE admitted this week....

Stadium stresses flexibility over flair.
November 9, 2007... HOK Sport's long-awaited designs for the London 2012 Olympic stadium were unveiled this week, with a clear emphasis on functionality and flexibility rather than iconic architecture. The #496 million, 80,000-seat stadium will host the...

LEADER: Stadium disappoints all round.
November 9, 2007... AMANDA BAILLIEU Far from being innovative and ground-breaking as claimed, the Olympic stadium is unsustainable and bad value for money The London Olympic stadium, which was unveiled this week, came with some carefully crafted words...

LEADER - Eco-homes: what is achievable?
November 9, 2007... Eco-towns have proved a surprising hit with local authorities, which are queuing round the block to build one of the 10 promised in this week's Queen's Speech. But will they be so keen now? As BD reveals, making homes zero-carbon is proving...

IN BRIEF: Call to rebuild St Bride's bell tower.
November 9, 2007... Gordon Benson of Benson Forsyth Architects has called for the demolished campanile of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia's St Bride's Church in East Kilbride to be rebuilt. Speaking at the opening of a retrospective of the church architects' work at...

IN BRIEF: Next Generation 2008 launched.(2008 Next Generation Architects Award.)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... The Architecture Foundation and Pipers have launched the 2008 Next Generation Architects Award. Launched in 2004, the BD-sponsored award goes to the practice which, in the judges' view, has carried out the most exceptional work in the...

IN BRIEF: Brown targets built environment.
November 9, 2007... The built environment has featured strongly in the Queen's Speech, with bills proposing sweeping changes to the sector. Prime minister Gordon Brown set out priorities for housing and regeneration, planning, heritage, climate change and...

IN BRIEF: Restored St Pancras station opens.(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... The restored St Pancras station was officially opened on Tuesday. The station, designed by William Barlow in 1863, will become the Eurostar terminus next week. Its restoration was led by architect Andrew Lansley, formerly of the British Rail...

IN BRIEF: Liverpool's new design goes ahead.(Liverpool Football Club signs contract with HKS Architects)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... Liverpool Football Club's bold new #400 million stadium by HKS Architects won planning approval this week. The revised scheme, put forward after the takeover of the club by US businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett, received unanimous...

Clissold to reopen after four-year saga.
November 9, 2007... One of the longest-running sagas in British architecture is set to conclude next month with the opening of Hodder Associates' Clissold Leisure Centre, more than four years after it was closed for repairs. The swimming pool complex in the...

Network Rail turns down Grimshaw.(Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd.agreement with Grimshaw)
November 9, 2007... Architect rejected for framework agreement amid legal battle Heidi Ancell Owner and operator of Britain's rail infrastructure Network Rail confirmed this week that Grimshaw - a firm with a long history of high- profile railway projects...

GRIMSHAW'S TRANSPORT TITANS.
November 9, 2007... * Waterloo International Rail Terminal #130 million project for British Railway Board European Passenger Services completed in 1993. * Paddington #31 million refurbishment including new passenger area the Lawn completed in 1999. *...

Study to explore violence and cities.(University of Manchester)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... Manchester University has announced a new study into how the design of buildings and neighbourhoods can steer cities away from violent division. Academic Ralf Brand said the 18-month-long project would focus on the efforts of four cities...

Sanaa boxes clever in the Big Apple.(New Museum of Contemporary Art veiled its first dedicated building designed by Sanaa)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... New York's New Museum of Contemporary Art has unveiled its first dedicated building, designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa's practice Sanaa. The 53m-high museum will open to the public on December 1 to coincide with its 30th...

City `neglected' Smithfield.
November 9, 2007... The City Of London has been accused of deliberately allowing Smithfield's historic General Market building to fall into disrepair in a bid to get it replaced with KPF Architects' controversial office development. At the public inquiry into...

Anti-crime design team faces cuts.
November 9, 2007... Local councils set to take over Metropolitan Police advisory role Helen Crump The Metropolitan Police is set to slash its crime prevention design adviser service, sparking fears over its advice to architects under the national Secured...

FIRST LOOK: RMJM sets a new pattern for Paisley University campus.
November 9, 2007... RMJM has applied for outline planning permission for this #75 million campus for the University of Paisley. The 18,000sq m Ayr Campus will include teaching facilities, a library, a refectory and a lecture hall for more than 3,000 students...

NT buys land to save it from development.(National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... The National Trust plans to buy greenfield land in a bid to stop the government "eroding" the countryside with its ambitious house-building agenda. The trust, which owns 1,125km of coastline and 250,000ha of countryside, has said it will...

Hackney regenerates.(Levitt Bernstein gets contract of Queensbridge Quarter)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... The second phase of Levitt Bernstein's celebrated Queensbridge Quarter has received planning permission. The scheme, in Hackney, east London, will create 78 residential units to addto the existing 73, of which 24 will be family homes. ...

Funding promised for Exhibition Rd makeover.
November 9, 2007... Helen Crump & Will Hurst One of the most significant public space projects in London since the remodelling of Trafalgar Square looks set to go ahead with funding from Kensington & Chelsea council and the mayor of London. A report by...

Four firms on RIBA's Cheltenham shortlist.(Royal Institute of British Architect)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... Berman Guedes Stretton, David Grindley Architects, Ellis Williams and Ramboll Whitbybird have been shortlisted in an RIBA contest to work on Cheltenham's art gallery and museum. The four practices were selected from 77 entrants to create a...

Sheppard Robson's Trocadero plan rejected.
November 9, 2007... Marguerite Lazell A landmark 500-bed hotel proposed by Sheppard Robson on the site of London's famous Trocadero complex has been sent back to the drawing board by Westminster City Council's planning committee. The #145 million scheme,...

Mull paints it black.(City Architecture Office )(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... Edinburgh-based practice City Architecture Office has gone on site with this theatre production centre on the Isle of Mull. Described as "dramatic", the #600,000 timber-framed building, for Mull Theatre, will have a rehearsal room,...

Pier centre picked as Scotland's best.
November 9, 2007... Reiach & Hall's Pier Arts Centre in Orkney has beaten competition from buildings including Zaha Hadid's Maggie's Centre at Kirkcaldy to scoop Britain's most lucrative architectural prize. The Edinburgh-based practice was presented with the...

HEALTHCARE: Natural approach for GP clinic.
November 9, 2007... P&HS Architects has submitted a planning application for a #3 million health centre in Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees. The building will include a GP surgery and a Primary Care Trust community clinic with group spaces for activities such as...

MANCHESTER: Beetham Tower takes tall award.
November 9, 2007... Ian Simpson has scooped an international award for his Beetham Tower in Manchester. Simpson's building, at 301 Deansgate, was named tall building of the year 2007 at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats Awards in Chicago....

RECYCLING: Students make building of waste.
November 9, 2007... Architecture students at the University of Sheffield have helped to design a temporary building constructed entirely out of waste. The Space of Waste building, temporarily located in the city's Tudor Square, will be open to the public from...

ENVIRONMENT: Climate role for landscape design.(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... Environment secretary Hilary Benn has urged landscape architects to help solve climate change. Benn told a Landscape Institute conference last week: "Landscape architects have an important role to play in educating the public through their...

Estonian arts prize targets world names.(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... Jan Kaplicky warns competition must be `truly international' Heidi Ancell Estonia has launched its most lucrative-ever international design competition in a bid to attract "world-class architects" for a new national academy of arts....

HOUSING: School-to-homes scheme go-ahead.
November 9, 2007... Alan Phillips Architects has won planning for an ultra high-density residential scheme in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. The project will convert a former independent school for children with educational and behavioural difficulties into 48...

HERITAGE: Blue plaque for Pevsner's house.
November 9, 2007... The late architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner was this week honoured with an English Heritage blue plaque at 2 Wildwood Terrace Hampstead, north London, where he lived from 1936 until his death in 1983. Pevsner moved to the UK in 1933...

RESTORATION: BDP wins award for Murrays' Mills.(Building Design Partnership)(Brief article)
November 9, 2007... BDP has won an award from the Georgian Group for its restoration of Murrays' Mills at Ancoats in Manchester. The award, for "restoration of a Georgian building in an urban setting", was presented to the practice by former deputy prime...

ANALYSIS - Will Bute battle Bloxham for Cardross?
November 9, 2007... After Tom Bloxham's Urban Splash expressed interest in developing Gillespie, Kidd & Coia's celebrated St Peter's Seminary, a second would- be saviour, the Marquess of Bute, has thrown his hat into the ring, reports Rory Olcayto As hundreds...