Building Design articles from September 2005

Building Design archives from September 2005

More RMJM staff resign: Holyrood fall-out continues as project architect quits.
September 2, 2005... The project architect on the Stirling Prize-shortlisted Scottish Parliament building has resigned in solidarity with his former boss at RMJM, Brian Stewart, who left the practice in controversial circumstances. Associate John Kinsley left...

In the round.(apartment construction contracts)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... A new apartment block designed by Manchester practice Andrew Wallace Architects is under construction in the Ancoats area of Manchester. The seven-storey, 5 million [pounds sterling] circular housing scheme overlooks the New Islington...

Clients get cold feet over Part L delay.(building environmental regulation)
September 2, 2005... Government delay in implementing new building regulations for environmental performance is making major clients reluctant to commission new architecture. Clients are holding back from commissioning new work because they fear the cost of...

Jump to it.(ski jump facility project by Axel Rostock architect)
September 2, 2005... Images of a striking 380m-long ski jump have been revealed by London-based architects m2r. The lightweight steel structure in Klingenthal, southern Germany, is part of a 9 million [pounds sterling] project by the firm which includes a...

BBC procurement process set to begin across 140 properties.(British Broadcasting Corp construction contract invitation)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... The BBC announced plans this week to procure architects to work on construction projects across its UK portfolio of 140 properties. Notices published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on Wednesday confirmed the BBC was...

Dozen architects needed to join our 'Cool Wall' contest.(News)
September 2, 2005... Exhibition 100% Detail and BD are looking for exciting new projects to debate in a quick-fire public forum. Twelve successful architects will be given the chance to present their projects to a public audience and to compete for top billing...

Edinburgh practice City Architecture Office (CiAO) has won planning approval for a new arts facility on the Inner Hebridean Island of Mull.(Hit and miss)
September 2, 2005... Edinburgh practice City Architecture Office (CiAO) has won planning approval for a new arts facility on the Inner Hebridean Island of Mull. The Mull Theatre is awaiting a funding decision from the Scottish Arts Council

US aid group Architecture for Humanity is appealing for donations to support the work of local architects in the reconstruction of areas in the US badly hit by Hurricane Katrina.(Hit and miss)
September 2, 2005... US aid group Architecture for Humanity is appealing for donations to support the work of local architects in the reconstruction of areas in the US badly hit by Hurricane Katrina. Approximately 52,000 people are currently in 240 shelters in...

Atkins' designs for a 70 million [pounds sterling] regeneration project in Southend-on-Sea in Essex have been submitted for planning permission.(Hit and miss)
September 2, 2005... Atkins' designs for a 70 [pounds sterling] million regeneration project in Southend-on-Sea in Essex have been submitted for planning permission. The scheme, called Marine Plaza, includes a 100-room hotel, 126 residential units and a casino on...

Constructing Excellence.(People)
September 2, 2005... Bob White, chairman of Mace, has taken over as CEO of Constructing Excellence. White, who has held the post of deputy chairman for the last two years, plans to oversee the restructuring of the trade industry reform group.

RIBA.(People)
September 2, 2005... The end of George Ferguson's RIBA presidency coincided with the opening of the new RIBA Bar in Portland Place this week. The bar, designed by Azman Architects, was being rushed to completion as BD went to press to be ready in time for the...

Fresh doubts emerged over John McAslan's New Street station in Birmingham this week.(Power play)
September 2, 2005... Fresh doubts emerged over John McAslan's New Street station in Birmingham this week as a report by Midlands transport body Centro revealed 7 million [pounds sterling] in funding was being held up by the transfer of assets and funds to Network...

Energy minster Malcolm Wicks announced 1.5 million [pounds sterling] in funds for the installation of solar panels on 18 projects across the country.(Power play)
September 2, 2005... Energy minster Malcolm Wicks announced 1.5 million [pounds sterling] in funds for the installation of solar panels on 18 projects across the country. The projects include Foster & Partners' City Hall, Crown Estate building in Regent Street and...

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has claimed new research shows its strategy for new key worker housing is helping the recruitment and retention of nurses, doctors and police.(Power play)
September 2, 2005... The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has claimed new research shows its strategy for new key worker housing is helping the recruitment and retention of nurses, doctors and police. The ODPM is keen to make living in the Southeast cheaper for...

Make and Arup have won a competition for a feasibility study for the Ross Bandstand site in Edinburgh.(Power play)
September 2, 2005... Make and Arup have won a competition for a feasibility study for the Ross Bandstand site in Edinburgh. The practice beat Richard Murphy, Broadway Malyan and Atkins to win the project to redevelop the 1950s music venue.

Hackney Council has appointed Greenwich Leisure to replace Leisure Connection as operator of the troubled Clissold Leisure Centre in north London.(Power play)
September 2, 2005... Hackney Council has appointed Greenwich Leisure to replace Leisure Connection as operator of the troubled Clissold Leisure Centre in north London, designed by Hodder Associates.

Foster's Great Court overshadows exhibits: spatial design expert compares British Museum to 'bad retail design'.(News)
September 2, 2005... An architect working for the British Museum has criticised the impact of Foster & Partners' Great Court and compared the layout of the rest of the museum to "bad retail design". Tim Stonor, managing director of spatial design consultant...

Kurokawa's capsule homes under threat.(housing redevelopment proposed)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Homeowners in Kisho Kurokawa's seminal modular housing project in Tokyo are so disgruntled with the building that they are plotting its demolition. The Japanese architect admitted this week that the Nagakin Capsule Tower, built in 1972,...

Walk in the Parc.(Center Parcs complex design approval)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Holder Mathias Architects has submitted a new 60 million [pounds sterling] Center Parcs complex for planning permission. The new holiday village at Warren Wood near Woburn would be the fifth centre in the UK and the second to be designed by...

Pringle to look after his own: new RIBA president to stand up for architects, signalling end to predecessor's outward-looking agenda.(Royal Institute of British Architects)
September 2, 2005... Incoming RIBA president Jack Pringle signalled a clear break with the populist style of his predecessor this week, telling BD it was "time someone stood up for architects". In contrast to George Ferguson, whose handover speech on Wednesday...

Dormitory warning.
September 2, 2005... The government'[s housing plans could result in dormitory commuter developments, the Country Land & Business Association has warned. The lobbying group has claimed that ODPM housing plans consistently ignore the need for business land in rural...

New look West Brom.
September 2, 2005... Scott Wilson has been commissioned to redesign a key area of West Bromwich. Funded by the government's New Deal for Communities programmed, the project aims to revitalise the town centre with an uncluttered public street and a new square.

Leafy bandstand.(new design of bandstand by Chris Brammell ha)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... A bandstand by architectural blacksmith Chris Brammell ha opened at the Glebe in Bowness, in the Lake District. The steel feature is supported by two skeletal feature is supported by two skeletal tree formations and an angled roof designed to...

Arup upholds Kent quality.
September 2, 2005... Arup has been appointed by Kent County Council to assist a government-sponsored initiative to maintain design quality in the area of Kent that lies in the Thames Gateway. Arup will work with architects and developers to develop exemplar...

Starters orders.
September 2, 2005... EPR Architects has been appointed by the Turf Club of Ireland to develop the Curragh Racecourse. The first phase for a new hotel at the track has already been submitted for planning. The practice will submit a planning application for new...

Branson Coates on show.
September 2, 2005... Branson Coates is exhibiting its concept designs for a new development in the Thames Gateway at an exhibition in Nancy, France. The scheme, which proposes a new town on Rainham Marshes, will be shown at the Future of Cities exhibition.

Trees of Knowledge.(pavilion construction design from Sjolander da Cruz architects)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Birmingham practice Sjolander da Cruz has unveiled images of a market square pavilion to be built in the town of Atherstone in north Warwickshire. The glass and oak pavilion, dubbed the Trees of Knowledge, is part of public space improvement...

Edinburgh campus slammed.(landscaping architecture rework given to Dyer Associates)
September 2, 2005... Plans for a 50 million [pounds sterling] university campus in Edinburgh's green belt have been dealt a blow after City of Edinburgh Council planners slammed the scheme's design quality. The project, by architect Dyer Associates, is for the...

Foster and Pringle sign to aid charity.(News)
September 2, 2005... Norman Foster and new RIBA president Jack Pringle have signed up as founding trustees of a new charity aimed at sending architects into disaster areas to help with relief efforts. The charity, Architects for Aid, will arrange training for...

Web poll.(News)
September 2, 2005... Last week we asked: Does the Sustainable Communities Plan give you hope or raise your fears? said hope 82% said fears 18% This week we ask Is the delay to Part L jeopardising new commissions? Give your answer at...

Roman bodies halt project: discovery of remains delays work on Elephant & Castle flagship library conversion.(News)
September 2, 2005... A regeneration project at Elephant & Castle in south London has been delayed by the discovery of 20 bodies dating from the Roman period. London practice Architype is converting a former library into a 3 million [pounds sterling] Creative...

Birmingham spreads the word on regeneration.(desig forum formed for urban planning)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Birmingham City Council's design adviser Philip Singleton has established a design forum to spread the city's regeneration lesson across the country. Singleton decided to establish the City Design Forum after a high number of enquiries...

Spacelab's cool HQ.(News)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... London practice spacelab UK has completed its largest project to date in Ilford, east London. The 2.2 million [pounds sterling] headquarters for the Ilford Recorder newspaper features a distinctive front facade clad in silver, grey and red...

Row over York hostel proposal: Nimby protest hits Bauman Lyons.(News)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Leeds practice Bauman Lyons is engulfed in a political row over its designs for a new homeless shelter in York. The 3.5 million [pounds sterling] hostel is the first flagship project in a new initiative championed by deputy prime minister...

Listed school could be demolished for housing.(News)
September 2, 2005... Lambeth council is considering delisting the grade II Lilian Bayliss School in south London, in a bid to free up the 2.5ha site for new housing. The move has raised concern at heritage group the Twentieth Century Society. Case worker...

University refurbishment.(warehouse refurbishment)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... The University of Leicester and UL Architects have completed the 5.3 million [pounds sterling] refurbishment of the Great Central Warehouse. With the neighbouring Engine Shed, currently undergoing a 7 million [pounds sterling] conversion, the...

Shorlist announced.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... Ten buildings have been shortlisted for the RIBA East Midlands Awards, sponsored by Ibstock Building Products. They include The Arena apartment scheme on Standard Hill in Nottingham by Maber Associates; Attenborough Nature Reserve visitor...

PFI hospital appointment.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... Laing O'Rourke has appointed Hoare Lea Consulting Engineers for the detalled design of a 761 million [pounds sterling] hospital development project in Leicester. The project, which covers Leicester General and Glenfield Hospitals and the...

St George's regeneration.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... Leicester City Council has issued a plan for the regeneration of the St George's area in the city centre. The supplementary planning guidance allows for up to 2000 new homes in the area and sets out design guidelines. See...

Colliery development.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... Taylor Woodrow has been selectecl to develop 700 homes on the site of the former Shirebrook Colliery. The development is part of English Partnership's National Coalfields Programme.

Council House on show.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... Nottingham's famous Council House, designed by T Cecil Howitt in the 1920s, will be open to the public as part of Heritage Open Day on Saturday September 10. Entrance to the neo-Baroque building is free but tickets must be applied for in...

Low energy homes.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... The Leicester regeneration company has commissioned Bed-Zed architect Bill Dunster to design low energy homes for the Metropolitan Housing Trust on the Abbey Meadows site.

Learning seminar.(East Midlands)
September 2, 2005... The RIBA is supporting a seminar on future learning environments on September 19-20 at the University of Nottingham. There will be speakers from the Department for Education & Skills and the Office for Public Management as well as a range of...

Making their own rules: women in the property industries are creating opportunities with a new brand of 'jolly'.(News: Analysis)
September 2, 2005... Trophies and the stuffed heads of hunted animals decorate the headquarters walls of Bisley Shooting Ground, Surrey, where a party of powerful property professionals are meeting ahead of a restorative day of blasting clay pigeons from the sky...

A challenge to the silent majority.(Comments: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... Thank you for Zoe Blackler's interview of Humphrey Lloyd, which frames nicely most of the points at issue. As one of the "vocal minority," I am flattered we have at least been noticed. I just hope that you "silent majority" are silent...

In Arb's shadow.(Comments: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... I was pleased to see that BD is following the fashionable trend of allowing printed images to bleed through the page and influence the reverse side. But was it intentional that Humphrey Lloyd's ghostly image should appear from behind Dracula's...

Martin's a treasure.(Comments: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... Now my RIBA presidency is finally over, one of the few things I shall really miss is the regular leg pull that I received from Ian Martin over the past two years or so. In spite of his caustic satire he should be listed as a grade I national...

Stop rationalising.(Comment: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... I went to a lecture last night [August 24], one of the Architecture Foundation's Summer Nights series. Jonathan Woolf of Woolf Architects began by dragging us through some of his influences and references: from Palladio through some obscure oil...

Past present.(Comments: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... Was Friday, August 12, Architectural Nostalgia Day? On the cover of BD was a youthful looking Richard Rogers (photo about 1979) who was just about to complete a giant 1960s coffee table--all spindly legs and wood grain--under which the...

Celebrity culture.(Comments: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... There has been extensive discussion recently on the subject of the over-dominance of "celebrity in architecture" (Letters August 12). Celebrity of course has its connotations, invariably negative (especially when considering current popular...

Poplar landmark.(Comments: Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 2, 2005... Design Partnership, Canterbury It was with great interest that we saw the first images of the Hawkins Brown scheme for Poplar, east London (News August 12). The site has clearly continued to increase in value since we were appointed as...

Expect more twists in the Holyrood mystery.(Editorial)(Editorial)
September 2, 2005... The Edinburgh architects behind the Scottish Parliament might have expected a quiet life after the storm of working on one of the most controversial schemes of our time. But in what should be taken as a warning to all architects who become...

School daze for the next generation.(Soapbox)
September 2, 2005... Here's a story about a young(ish) practice whose work is not to everyone's taste but which has something of a reputation, stretching beyond these shores, for doing challenging and innovative work. The practice would like to design schools...

We 'thunk' not.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Winchester architect Robert Adams has a motto on the wall of his office that reads: "Thunk Bug". The motto apparently comes from his work on the masterplan for Leith ports outside Edinburgh. During the design stage of the massive project, the...

Making do.(Concrete Boots)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Still in Scotland, Ken Shuttleworth's practice, Make, is taking on more and more projects north of the border, but is not endearing itself to the local design community. The practice has been renamed "On the Make" by Scottish wags who feel Ken...

Bye, George.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... So farewell then, RIBA president George Ferguson. It would be churlish not to include George in Boots during his last week as president. George has made this column his home at BD like no one else. There was the time he told us about...

Quick bites.(Concrete Boots)(RIBA's new bar opened )(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... The RIBA's new bar opened this week and from the promotional blurb put out by the institute it sounds, um, special. Reading like something by our own Ian Martin, the bar boasts: "delicious quick snacks, such as Tiger Prawn Skewers with Black...

All aboard.
September 2, 2005... If you have ever wanted to ride Terry Farrell this is your chance. Hull Trains has named one of its new engines after the famous architect along with three other trains named after Hull pioneers. The train (pictured above) is in recognition of...

Family matters.(Concrete Boots)
September 2, 2005... Daniel Libeskind knows how to endear himself to his staff. In an interview this week he said his 16-year-old daughter, Rachel, knew more about architecture "than most of the professional architects in my office". Way to go with the motivational...

Winning style: Haworth Tompkins' student housing in north London is an example of what should be up for the Stirling.(Works)
September 2, 2005... I found myself struggling to reconcile two competing responses to this year's Stirling Prize shortlist. On the one hand, it evidently includes some very strong work. Indeed, building for building, it is the meatiest line-up for a number of...

Building form.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... The four blocks are orientated north-south across the width of the site opening up views and direct sun paths into the individual courtyards between the blocks. This provides good daylighting to all the rooms and also benefits the neighbouring...

Materials.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... The buildings have an in-situ concrete frame, with steel stud infill to the facade. The external envelope is well insulated and is primarily comprised of Sto render and a rainscreen from untreated larch with high-performance composite aluminium...

Energy and utilities.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... All rooms, including corridors, have floor to ceiling windows, minimising the requirement for artificial lighting and offering generous views into the garden landscape. Under floor heating is used rather than individual radiators or...

12 Baby Blue bar Albert Dock, Liverpool: Miles Falkingham of Union North explains how bespoke curved glass-reinforced concrete wall panels became the solution for subdividing a geometrically complex listed structure.(How we cracked it)
September 2, 2005... Step 1 The challenge We were appointed to refurbish a basement bar in the grade 1 listed Albert Dock. Its listed status meant that existing elements of the structure, which include tapered cast-iron columns, webbed cast-iron Y-beams...

The only way is up: with a shortage of central London sites, air-rights developments appear to be making a resurgence.(Solutions)
September 2, 2005... Safety has always been critical on building sites but never more so than with air-rights developments over railways. The recent collapse of a Tesco development on to a commuter rail line at Buckinghamshire's Gerrards Cross has heightened the...

Slovene classics.(SELECTOR)
September 2, 2005... Slovene contemporary art takes over at the ICA including an installation of classic Rex chairs designed 50 years ago by Niko Kralj and now an icon of Slovene design. XL LM Slovenia, from September 6-October 15, ICA, the Mail, London. Tel: 020...

Elle or high water.(SELECTOR)
September 2, 2005... As creative director of Soho House in New York, Babington House in Bath and as a former editor of Elle Decoration, Ilse Crawford knows a thing or two about design. Hear her talk on September 7 at the Design Museum, Shad Thames, London. Tel: 020...

Shacks in bleak landscapes: Ellie Duffy previews an exhibition of imagined structures created by artist Alex Hartley.(Culture: Books Exhibitions Events)
September 2, 2005... With just two days to go before the artworks for Alex Hartley's latest exhibition need to be sent off for framing, the artist is holed up in his studio, a workshop-like space on a hidden and unexpectedly rural lane in residential north London....

Race for the prize.(SELECTOR)
September 2, 2005... Ponder the shortlisted entries to this year's Stirling Prize including The Scottish Parliament, Foster's Maclaren Technology Centre and Zaha Hadid's BMW building in Leipzig. September 6-October 22, RIBA Florence Hall, 66 Portland Place, London....

Exhibitions.(Pick of the season: Architectural highlights for autumn)
September 2, 2005... She was self-taught and little known during her lifetime but nearly 30 years after her death, Eileen Gray is acknowledged as one of the key designers of the early 20th century. A major show at the Design Museum will look in detail at some of...

Open House London.(Events)
September 2, 2005... Two notable new additions to the hundreds of buildings taking part in this year's Open House London are Hopkins Architects' Gibbs Building, the new HQ of the Wellcome Trust, and Alsop Architect's Institute of Cell & Molecular Science at Queen...

Events.(Pick of the season: Architectural highlights for autumn)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... The thorny subject of the future of public architecture is debated at the ICA with Tony Fretton, designer of the New British Embassy, Warsaw, and Richard MacCormac, whose practice is redeveloping BBC Broadcasting House. The event is part of the...

Books.(Pick of the season: Architectural highlights for autumn)
September 2, 2005... As Sweden's pre-eminent architect, Erik Gunnar Asplund, a key figure in Scandinavian modernism, deserves a detailed monograph. He gets just this with Peter Blundell Jones' tome * Gunnar Asplund, Phaidon, November, 45 [pounds sterling]. ...

Seamus Heaney and me.(Irish architects)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... Sometime in the 1980s the poet Seamus Heaney addressed Irish architects (and students like me) on the poetics of architecture--it was liberating advice. I had decided in the last year at school to be an architect and to reject the...

Ian Martin.(Column)
September 2, 2005... Monday Few state occasions can match the moving solemnity of the RIPBA's Changing of the President. I am not ashamed to say I am among those weeping profoundly, with a big lump in my throat. Into the Vestibule of Rebirth is borne the...

Architest.
September 2, 2005... This week: RIBA presidents, past and present 1) Which film features a multistorey car park designed by Owen Luder? (see illustrations) A Dirty Weekend B Late Night Shopping C Get Carter D Dude, Where's My Car? 2)...

Architecture laid bare, raw and wrecked: US architects regroup for their biggest-ever challenge, but warn New Orleans rebuild will cost $75 million.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... Whichever way you look at the images from the devastation, the relationship between people and their architecture is displayed in its rawest form. From the overheating concrete cauldron of the Louisiana Superdome to the house rooftops which...

Katrina cost could treble: US architects regroup for their biggest-ever challenge, but warn New Orleans rebuild will cost $75 million.
September 9, 2005... The true cost of rebuilding New Orleans after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina could be three times as much as official estimates, American architects have warned. As the American Institute of Architects scrambles to find homes...

Hurricane warning for UK Gateway.
September 9, 2005... Richard Rogers, London's chief architectural adviser, has said that the country should be "extremely concerned" about flood risk in the Thames Gateway in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Eminent planner Peter Hall, one of the architects of...

Task force veterans query Prescott's way: government plays down importance of looming verdict from Rogers and Co.(News)
September 9, 2005... Richard Rogers reconvened Urban Taskforce is producing a progress report that will question key parts of deputy prime minister John Prescott's controversial housing plans. Reconvened earlier this year, the Urban Task Force, which inspired...

Leeds enlightenment.(News)
September 9, 2005... The former site of Europe's biggest social housing scheme is set to be transformed into a cultural quarter that will complete the regeneration of Leeds' eastern fringe. DLG Architects has won planning permission for the 100 million [pounds...

Heritage groups find strength in numbers to fight owners.(News)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... The leaders of every major heritage body in the UK are meeting later this month to plan a new campaign to protect Britain's heritage from neglectful owners. The Georgian Group, the Twentieth Century Society, the Victorian Society and the...

Thameslink inquiry opens.(News)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2005... The second public inquiry into the 3 billion [pounds sterling] Thameslink 2000 service began this week. Network Rail opened by stating the case for the creation of the rail link between Bedford and Brighton that would introduce five extra...

London-based Make has won a competition to conduct a feasibility study for the Bandstand concert venue in Edinburgh.(Hit and miss)
September 9, 2005... London-based Make has won a competition to conduct a feasibility study for the Bandstand concert venue in Edinburgh. The appointment has disappointed some Scottish architects who resent Make's presence in Scotland.