Building Design articles from October 2005

Building Design archives from October 2005

Gehry calls time on 51-year career.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The most celebrated living architect, Frank Gehry, has indicated that he will not take any new commissions. Gehry, who is 76, was in London on Wednesday for Cabe's final design review of his plans for a mixed-use development in Brighton &...

Taskforce splitover policy: members wrangle over urban density and growth areas.
October 7, 2005... Splits have emerged within the Urban Task Force over key policy areas including density and the location of the South-east growth areas. Eminent planner Peter Hall faced down other members of the taskforce, persuading them to remove...

Arb's insurance battle rocked by resignation.(News)(Architects' Registration Board)
October 7, 2005... The Architects' Registration Board's controversial crackdown on architects trading without professional indemnity insurance appeared to be unravelling this week after a member of its disciplinary panel stepped down over a perceived conflict of...

Panel's musical milestone.(News)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... New school buildings that incorporate an innovative form of timber construction have been unveiled by DRMM Architects. The music block and sports hall for Kingsdale School in London will use huge laminated plywood panels for flooring and...

Parliament scoops RIAS gong.(News)(RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture)(Scottish Parliament building )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The Scottish Parliament building by EMBT and RMJM has won the 25,000 [pounds sterling] RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture, it was announced this week. Holyrood was chosen over the Sentinel Office Development, Glasgow (Gordon Murray...

Designer Thomas Heatherwick has unveiled plans for a sculptural seafront cafe on Littlehampton's East Beach.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... Designer Thomas Heatherwick has unveiled plans for a sculptural seafront cafe on Littlehampton's East Beach. The scheme (pictured), for a private client, has been submitted for planning permission.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced a 4.9 million [pounds sterling] grant to the Hepworth Wakefield.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced a 4.9 million [pounds sterling] grant to the Hepworth Wakefield, an art gallery proposed as a catalyst for regeneration in the Wakefield Waterfront conservation area, designed by David Chipperfield...

English Partnerships has selected 22 developers for a pilot programme to bring brownfield land back into use.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... English Partnerships has selected 22 developers for a pilot programme to bring brownfield land back into use, including British Land, George Wimpey, David Taylor Partnership and LPC Living.

Sunderland council has backed CZWG's masterplan for the Vaux.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... Sunderland council has backed CZWG's masterplan for the Vaux, although the scheme still faces opposition from landowner Tesco.

Wakefield council has approved outline plans for a 100 million [pounds sterling] redevelopment of Westgate in the town centre.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... Wakefield council has approved outline plans for a 100 million [pounds sterling] redevelopment of Westgate in the town centre, masterplanned by Carey Jones architects.

London's BT Tower celebrated its 40th birthday this week.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... London's BT Tower celebrated its 40th birthday this week. The building was designed by Eric Bedford, who was chief architect of the Ministry of Public Buildings & Works.

Construction work has started on a 7.4 million [pounds sterling] performing arts centre at the Parkside school in Cullingworth, Bradford.(Hit and miss)
October 7, 2005... Construction work has started on a 7.4 million [pounds sterling] performing arts centre at the Parkside school in Cullingworth, Bradford, designed by DTR:UK.

Norman Foster has won the British Council for Office's President's Award 2005.(People)
October 7, 2005... Norman Foster has won the British Council for Office's President's Award 2005 in recognition of outstanding achievements and contributions to the built environment.

Chris Smith, the former culture secretary, has been appointed as the chief cultural adviser to the London Organising Committee.(People)
October 7, 2005... Chris Smith, the former culture secretary, has been appointed as the chief cultural adviser to the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Communities minister David Miliband has strengthened his team at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.(Power play)
October 7, 2005... Communities minister David Miliband has strengthened his team at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with the appointment of Peter Housden as permanent secretary. Housden, who replaces Mavis McDonald, worked with Miliband at the Department...

An independent panel has been appointed to advise the government on which areas should get the new types of casino created by the Gambling Act.(Power play)
October 7, 2005... An independent panel has been appointed to advise the government on which areas should get the new types of casino created by the Gambling Act. Architects who are hoping to design the super casinos include Norman Foster, John McAslan and Ian...

Britain must decide "pretty soon" if it wants to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.(Power play)
October 7, 2005... Britain must decide "pretty soon" if it wants to build a new generation of nuclear power stations, according to trade & industry secretary Alan Johnson.

The Civic Trust has slammed government plans for housing provision as "wholly unrealistic".(Power play)
October 7, 2005... The Civic Trust has slammed government plans for housing provision as "wholly unrealistic". The trust claims that proposals to link housing provision to the market will not solve the housing shortage and that the government has ignored the...

Capacity fear sparks schools plan reform: schools programme to be spread out and architects quizzed on capacity.(News)
October 7, 2005... The government is to change the way it delivers thousands of new schools because of concerns about the capacity, of the construction industry and has consulted the RIBA over the capacity of education architects across the profession. The...

40-storey tower for Elephant & Castle.(News)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... A dramatic 40-storey residential tower by Hamilton Associates featuring a large wind turbine has been proposed for the Elephant & Castle regeneration site in south London. At the end of this month, the tower will be the first major part of...

GLA probes refusals.(News)(Greater London Authority)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The Greater London Authority is investigating the number of planning applications for new homes being turned down by the boroughs. The probe is linked to the mayor's bid to take over housing and planning powers in the capital (News...

Energy crisis.(News)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The revised plans for the biggest brownfield regeneration site in London will not meet the mayor's stringent requirements on sustainability because the developer believes it is not currently feasible. But the new King's Cross masterplan,...

Health show.
October 7, 2005... The Capital Health exhibition, which showcases the 7 billion [pounds sterling] of healthcare construction planned for London over the next 10 years, will be open from October 10 to November 26. The exhibition takes place at New London...

Air base plan.
October 7, 2005... Pollard Thomas Edwards has been appointed to the masterplanning team for the regeneration of Dunsfold Park, a 250ha former second world war air base near Guildford. The proposed mixed-use development will improve the existing business space and...

Housing market up.
October 7, 2005... Private housing workloads expanded at their fastest rate for 15 months in the third quarter of 2005, according to an RICS market survey. The rise in London and the South-east was the largest in the survey's history. Skill shortages showed...

2020 homes too hot to handle: report urges designers and builders to adopt passive and mechanical cooling methods.(News)
October 7, 2005... Schools, homes and offices in South-east England could be too hot for habitation as early as the 2020s, according to a report from Arup and the UK Climate Impacts Programme. The report says that the traditional passive cooling methods used...

Buyers say yes to energy saving homes.(News)
October 7, 2005... Energy saving features are more important to homebuyers than a fitted kitchen, friendly neighbours or a spacious garden, according to a survey by ICM for the Energy Saving Trust. Almost half (47%) of the 1,000 adults surveyed said that...

Clegg is South-west chair.
October 7, 2005... The newly formed South West Design Review Panel has appointed Feilden Clegg Bradley co-founder Peter Clegg as its chairman. The vice-chairman will be MJ Long, senior partner of London practice Long & Kentish.

Merseyside contracts.
October 7, 2005... Development consultancy Mott MacDonald has secured two PFI health contracts in Merseyside. The firm will work on a new service model for Mersey Care NHS Trust and provide project management for a new hospital for Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen...

Changes to Urban Initiatives.
October 7, 2005... Urban Initiatives has announced the promotion of Scott Adams, Martin Harradine, Mathias Wunderlich and Jonatha Herbert to associates. In addition, the practice has promoted Marco Geretto to senior consultant and Daniel Hill has been made a...

Campaign to save Sheffield estate: Urban Splash says 150 million [pounds sterling] refurbishment will bring 'love and romance' back to brutalist Park Hill.(News)
October 7, 2005... A plan to refurbish the Park Hill estate in Sheffield was this week transformed into a campaign to save it from demolition and to promote the virtues of 1950s brutalism. Developer Urban Splash and its architects Hawkins Brown and Studio...

Aylesbury residents wary of new plans.(Vox pop)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Long-suffering residents at the Aylesbury council estate in south London have been regaled with five masterplans over the past decade. Now Southwark council has decided to demolish the 2,400-home estate and start the process afresh, citing...

Whipps smart.(News)(completion of Energy Centre at Whipps Cross University Hospital )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... This 12 million [pounds sterling] Energy Centre at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, east London, designed by Avanti Architects, has been completed. The hospital was rebuilt under a Private Finance Initiative plan drawn up...

Ito scores Royal Gold Medal win: Brits fail to take honours yet again.(News)
October 7, 2005... Japanese architect Toyo Ito has won the Royal Gold Medal, marking more than a decade since a contemporary British architect was celebrated by the prize. Ito, best known for his striking Sendai Mediatheque in Japan, has not built a major...

TV programme to build 16-home development.(News)
October 7, 2005... Architects' ability to design housing is set to be scrutinised by millions of prime-time Channel 4 viewers when the hit Kevin McCloud show Grand Designs builds an entire 16-home development on brownfield land. Six architects are being...

Architects failing on disability: work is lost to access consultants.(News)
October 7, 2005... Architects do not understand the Disability. Discrimination Act and risk losing work to new I access consultants, an RIBA report has warned. The report, by RIBA Council honorary secretary Helen Taylor, calls for architects to learn more...

RIBA chief takes blame for Lasdun archive damage.(News)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... RIBA chief executive Richard Hastilow last week accepted responsibility for the damage to Denys Lasdun's archive, revealed by BD last month. The acceptance came as Lasdun's widow Susan declared herself satisfied that the insitute had...

Curtain up on theatre refurb.(North East)
October 7, 2005... Napper Architects has been commissioned to design an extension and refurbishment for the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. The Theatre Royal Trust has bought the adjacent Barclays Bank building in Market Street, which will be replaced by a new booking...

Business centre "excellent".(North East)
October 7, 2005... The Aykley Heads Business Centre in Durham, which boasts the largest rammed earth wall in Europe (70m by 6m), has been awarded a Breeam accreditation of Excellent. The 3,700sq m building, designed by Newcastle's Jane Darbyshire & David Kendall,...

Durham hotel.(North East)
October 7, 2005... Red Box Design Group has designed the Durham Radisson Hotel, which goes on site next month. The 24 million [pounds sterling] four-star hotel will be on Walkergate Riverside within Durham's World Heritage Site, and contains 210 bedrooms, a...

Surgery operation complete.(North East)
October 7, 2005... The new surgical treatment centre by Ryder HKS at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, has been handed over to Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. The 14 million [pounds sterling], 6,000sq m facility will undertake planned, routine surgical...

Xsite to design eco homes.(North East)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Urban renewal company Places for People has appointed Xsite to design homes on three sites at Walker Riverside in Newcastle. The development is intended to set the standard for future projects in the Newcastle Gateshead housing market renewal...

School project begins.(North East)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Work has begun on GWK's 20 million [pounds sterling] Cardinal Hume Roman Catholic school in Wrekenton, Gateshead. The new 10,000sq m secondary school will feature a substantial glass-roofed atrium at the heart of the building, housing the...

Sunderland mixed-use win.(North East)
October 7, 2005... FaulknerBrowns architects has won the design competition organised by Sunderland Area Regeneration Company for a mixed-use development overlooking Galley's Gill in Sunderland. The winning proposal for Farringdon Row includes a 100-bed hotel, 96...

Does size really matter? Last week's RIBA report suggests mega firms are the way forward, but small practices warn that this would erode creativity further. Should architects fall in line or stand their ground?(News: Analysis)
October 7, 2005... What's Goliath got that David hasn't? Other than brawn, not much, you might say. After all, David's diminutive size didn't stop him beating the giant and sending the Philistine army running for the hills. Sadly, it seldom works that way in...

Not ready for the Jurassic graveyard.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Gordon Murray, Glasgow I doubt many are surprised by Bob White's report ("Profession takes a beating; News September 30) and the apparent lack of any innovative thinking in the industry. at large. The construction industry has...

Time to take sides.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Richard Harrison, London As part of a government-funded organisation, Constructing Excellence chairman Bob White should above all understand the fundamental creative value of architectural design instead of attempting to bury it under the...

Minding the gap.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Tim Gough, London The R1BA is to be congratulated in asking Bob White--an architect, but better known as former head of construction and project management firm Mace--to chair its Constructive Change panel (News September 30). The...

The future's bright.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Richard Saxon, vice president, the RIBA The Constructing Excellence report was commissioned from Bob White by the RIBA practice committee as part of its Constructive Change agenda. Bob is an architect and member of the committee who...

The wrong battle.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Kate Macintosh, Winchester, Hampshire After the Association of Consultation Architects (whose income must be a fraction of that extracted from the profession by Arb) took the initiative and brought BT to the table, Richard Coleman tries to...

Twisting the listings.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Colin Goldsworthy, Hereford By discussing with BT the problem of people claiming to be architects--and BT offering to check out these charlatans--ACA vice president Colin Brock has clearly not understood how the situation occurred (News,...

Vote of confidence.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... Susan Lasdun, London While it is true that my late husband's archive sustained some damage to its content following an accidental water leak at the RIBA (News September 23), I do not believe this has seriously compromised the quality of...

HOK corrections.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... John Barrow, Hog Sport, London In Concrete Boots, September 16, your piece suggests that HOK Sport does not become involved in less significant projects, which is incorrect. For some years I have championed the belief that smaller projects...

Task force rifts reflect the real world.(Editorial)(Editorial)
October 7, 2005... What should we make of the claims of internal divisions within the Urban Task Force as it prepares to issue its progress report on Prescott and Miliband's communities plan? The task force's idealism, as captured in its wonderfully cogent...

Speak up now and save the young ones.(Soapbox)
October 7, 2005... There has always been a problem with the history of the immediate past, particularly with architecture. In the arts, sport, literature and film, good examples stand out quickly and are soon recognised as such. But architecture raises doubts...

Midnight madness.(Concrete Boots)(contracts)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Everybody works far too hard. This week, Boots called Toyo Ito's office in Tokyo, not realising it was midnight in Japan. But nevertheless an architect who was still hard at work answered the phone. Needless to say, Toyo Ito himself had...

Steele yourselves.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... New Architecture Association head Brett Steele is using his first term in charge to knock the building about a bit. As well as changing the teaching structure at the school, he has taken out most of the partitions in the back building to create...

Havana great time.(Concrete Boots)(Employee vacations)(Squire & Partners )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The entire office of Squire & Partners has just come back from a four-day trip to Cuba. Apparently, the 70 staff cruised the streets of Havana in classic American cars, held a beach volleyball tournament and went to the world famous Tropicana...

Rockin' to BB71.(Concrete Boots)
October 7, 2005... There is a myth that lots of cheesy 1980s pop bands are still ekeing out a living in the music industry because they are, to quote the overused expression, "big in Japan". But there is another unlikely British export that is genuinely very...

Blot-bashing back.(Concrete Boots)(Carbuncle Award in Scotland )(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... The infamous Carbuncle Award in Scotland has been relaunched after a four-year absence and is still unafraid of controversy. The shortlist for this year includes the Richard Rogers Partnership's pedestrian and cycle bridge in Glasgow. The...

Heads in clouds.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2005... Do our top architects spend too much time on planes? A quick ring round this week found Zaha Hadid on a flight from Vienna and Will Alsop just arrived in Canada. David Chipperfield was just back from the US and Ricky Burdett was on a plane from...

Kids give their stirling verdict: zoe blackler asks a panel of 12-to-16-year-olds in Bradford which building should win next weekend.(Stirling Prize preview)
October 7, 2005... When BD's architecture critic gave a negative review of an attention-grabbing scheme by Britain's best-loved maverick Will Alsop, the injured party responded with an angry letter. Who, he wanted to know, was his critic and what were the...

Radical restraint: David Chipperfield architects has dropped the shimmering Figge Art Museum into America's heartland. Mason White explains why it's now time to cut the architect loose from the shackles of minimalism.(Works)
October 7, 2005... Passing the Buffalo Bill Museum in Le Clair, Iowa, a dense network of Silos & Smokestacks heritage area sites and endless rows of cornfields, we are a long way from the UK. This is the heartland of America, Iowa. It is a state that is known to...

Playing away from home: David Chipperfield has one of the most successful practices in the world. So why, after 20 years, is he still an outsider in his home country? Ellis Woodman asked the awkward question.(Profile)
October 7, 2005... Next month a major retrospective of the work of David Chipperfield Architects opens but you will have to travel to Padua, Italy, to see it. It is a familiar story. In Japan, mainland Europe and the US, Chipperfield may be feted as one of the...

How we cracked it.(Underground line )
October 7, 2005... 15 the challenge: Constructing a new building above an Underground tunnel the solution: resting the structure on a network of steel springs Architect: David Hoggard of Paul Davis & Partners Site: 15 Sloane Square, London Project type: Mixed use...

Stairs in their eyes: architect 5th Studio has given a modern twist to the 16th century hanging staircase.(Solutions)
October 7, 2005... Palladio was definitely onto a good thing when he developed the hanging staircase. The idea was first introduced into this country in 1613 after Inigo Jones saw Palladio's staircase in La Carita on a visit to Venice. Jones, John Webb,...

One in the oven.(SELECTOR)
October 7, 2005... Will Alsop, Nigel Coates and Bruce McLean are among participants in the intriguing Barnes Bun Architecture Biennale on October 8, which features pavilions built by architects, artists, writers and designers to house buns. Details...

Changing Bristol.(SELECTOR)
October 7, 2005... Paul Bullivant's photographs document the demolition and redevelopment of a north Bristol housing estate. His exhibition Waiting to Go runs until November 13 at The Architecture Centre, Narrow Quay, Bristol. Tel: 0117 922 1540.

Model behaviour: a new book on architectural models provides a rich source of fascinating images for a craft that is gaining renewed importance.(Culture: Books: Exhibitions: Events)
October 7, 2005... At the beginning of her book Modeling Messages: The Architect and the Model, author Karen Moon says architectural models "have limitations" because "they cannot confine the onlooker to a single, selected image of the most attractive view". ...

Creator of the Bond look: Charlie Gates looks at Ken Adam's influential film production design.(Culture: Books: Exhibitions: Events)
October 7, 2005... You may not know him, but you definitely know his work. Ken Adam, 84, has designed some of the most striking and memorable film sets of the last century. The walls of gold ingots at Fort Knox in Goldfinger, the secret base beneath a...

Lucien Freud and me.(Culture: Books: Exhibitions: Events)(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2005... I like Lucien Freud. He is my hero because he is so brilliant at life drawing and I do a lot of life drawing--something completely flowing like that is so different from working on a building with a computer and very hard lines. I find his...

Glasgow festival.(SELECTOR)
October 7, 2005... Glasgow's second Block week-long architecture festival takes place from October 8-15, including an Urban Summit on October 13, architectural cycle tours, exhibitions and hard hat tours. Details.www.blockarc.co.uk

John Prattsock.
October 7, 2005... Inn Martin is away. This week's diarist is John Prattsock--huge political figure, keen amateur scuba diver, and volume housebuilder. Monday Bloody buy today. I spend all morning with experts, reconnecting the art of building with the...

Architest: this week: 30 years ago. BD stories from October 1975.
October 7, 2005... 1) "The lines, the details, the materials, the shapes, the general structure, fascinate me." What was leader of the opposition Margaret Thatcher talking about? (see pics) A The Houses of Parliament B High-rise housing blocks C...

French twist.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled images of a new library in Pau, France. The Mediatheque Intercommunale includes an auditorium, exhibition space and a cafe as well as library facilities. It has been entered for planning permission. The...

Gateway u-turn begins: London mayor puts spanner in Communities Plan by freezing Thames Gateway homes.
October 14, 2005... London mayor Ken Livingstone has blocked a flagship development in the Thames Gateway in the most significant unravelling yet of the government's Communities Plan. The 11,000-home scheme for Barking Riverside has been frozen and the mayor...

Revealed: the Stirling judge that blocked modern design.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... Stirling Prize judge and broadcaster Joan Bakewell opposed a modern scheme near her home in London's Primrose Hill. A striking intervention for the roof of the grade II-listed Primrose Hill Studios by young architect Henning Stummel, who...

Dublin practice proves it's a real Giant killer.(News)
October 14, 2005... Architect Heneghan Peng confirmed an extraordinary talent for triumphing in the largest competitions in architecture this week by beating more than 200 other practices to design the 5 million [pounds sterling] Giant's Causeway visitor centre...

Cast your vote for BD Client of the Year.(News)
October 14, 2005... The title of BD's Client of the Year is up for grabs and readers must decide on the 2005 winner. Choose from the following: * John Lewis Partnership. With its ambitious store building programme, the retailer has hired a string of...

Gummer assault on Arb policing powers.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2005... The Architects Registration Board's fundamental right to police RIBA members was questioned in Parliament this week by the former minister who created it. John Gummer, who was environment secretary when Arb was created in 1997, branded the...

Work has started on Wilkinson Eyre's 146 million [pounds sterling] Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre at Kings Waterfront.(Hit and miss)
October 14, 2005... Work has started on Wilkinson Eyre s 146 million [pounds sterling] Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre at Kings Waterfront. The 9,500 capacity arena and 1350 capacity conference centre will take two years to construct. The practice unveiled...

The construction industry is the worst sector for unpaid debt, according to a new report by credit reference agency ICC Credit.(Hit and miss)
October 14, 2005... The construction industry is the worst sector for unpaid debt, according to a new report by credit reference agency ICC Credit. The report shows the construction and civil engineering industries have over 17,000 companies with debt writs.

Canadian practice Urban Systems has won approval from Southwark council's executive committee for its Canada Water masterplan in south-east London.(Hit and miss)
October 14, 2005... Canadian practice Urban Systems has won approval from Southwark council's executive committee for its Canada Water masterplan in south-east London. The masterplan includes 2,800 homes and 10,000sq m of office space on the 16ha site.

PRP Architects.(People)
October 14, 2005... Housing practice PRP Architects has promoted several staff members, following 15% growth in its staff base. The practice now has 10 new associate directors among its 320 employees.