RIBA FEB 2022 Compressed

The RIBA Journal
February 2022
£15/€30/US$35
MacEwen Award 2022:

Architecture for the common good
RCKa’s Nourish Hub serves up a winner
Cullinan creates Dudley careers beacon
Studio BAD helps church find new life
Thamesmead: Jan Kattein’s path to park
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BY
ALITEX
Buildings Intelligence Culture

24 48 100
68
RIBA/ PETER ROSEMAN

RICHARD CHIVERS
VINAY PANJWANI
MacEwen Award Commended: Q&A Regulation Photograph Obituary
05 St Margaret’s 47 48 61 72
Introducing another Community With many practices Building regulations Sue Barr’s eerily Richard Rogers
inspiring collection of Church struggling to find changes to tackle CO2 desolate industrial (1933-2021), who
buildings that work for 24 staff, recruitment will have a big impact landscape, Duisburg revolutionised
the common good Studio B.A.D helped consultant Joe Synes on architects. We look architecture
a local church expand discusses the market at the nitty gritty Leader
Longlist its community value 63 Obituary
07 and remit Performance gap Today’s young 74
Lucky for some: 13 54 architects make Chris Wilkinson
projects that have Commended: Clients must put capriccio real, says (1945-2021) united
improved people’s post-occupancy Eleanor Young art and science in
Claridge Way,
lives expectations in elegant buildings
Thamesmead
28 contracts at the start Opinion
Winner: Nourish to reduce disputes 64 Wanderer’s
Jan Kattein Architects’
Hub Tackling the climate Wonder
collaboration to help
10 Thamesmead residents crisis needs collective 75
RCKa’s replicable empowerment, says The winners of
walk, rest and play
Nourish Hub in west Charlie Edmonds our competition to
London educates, design a structure
Shortlist
feeds and regenerates President for the UK’s ramblers
34
Eight more projects,
65
Commended: The legacies of great Opportunities
including leisure,
Black Country & community and
designers remind 81
Marches Institute education spaces,
Simon Allford of the A new online
of Technology value of conviction
18
a modular housing
factory and a bridge
Free-to-access software will pull together opportunities hub
brings news of the
Cullinan Studio has a swathe of industry carbon data to make Profile
68
latest work on offer
created a high quality
building in which to On the cover project- and product-level benchmarks Balkrishna Doshi, Parting shot
develop local skills MacEwen Award winner Stephen Cousins on how the Built Environment 2022 recipient of 82
and careers Nourish Hub by RCKa, Carbon Database will introduce consistent the RIBA Royal Chester Jones’
photographed by Francisco assessments of whole-life emissions: ribaj.com Gold Medal, talks to photograph of 1920s
Ibáñez Hantke /carbon-database Eleanor Young Californian opulence
www.marstonandlanginger.com 01730 826900
Average issue
circulation Inspiring architecture that benefits many, working together,
25,160
ABC audited June 2021 closing the performance gap and talking to Doshi: ribaj.com
RIBA Journal is published 12 times a year by the RIBA. The contents of this journal are copyright. Reproduction in part or in full is forbidden without permission of the editor. The opinions expressed by writers of signed articles
(even with pseudonyms) and letters appearing in the magazine are those of their respective authors; the RIBA and the RIBAJ are not responsible for these opinions or statements. The editor will give careful consideration to material
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Passionate about all that grows

ribaj.com The RIBA Journal February 2022
ONLY
Tummy tucker Open door policy 05
– Nourish Hub – St Margaret’s church
Joe Woolley.
Sales Engineer, Nuaire.
10 24
METAL
WILL
DO.
Archites showed their Access and support were concepts that came architect and its design in delivering access
up again and again in this year’s evaluation and support for their client’s mission, and
enthusiasm to help and of the entries for 2021’s RIBAJ MacEwen going beyond that to an architecture for the
Our new range of non-combustible metal air support everyone in society Award, supported by BDP. They may not be common good.
bricks meet fire safety regulations on every again this year in a rich architectural concepts but they were clear It was a lesson in the breadth of design
drivers of the best projects, whatever the lo- with collaborative consultations, new forms
level, which is just the specification you want and thoughtful clutch of cation or budget. of procurement, building partnerships bet-
to hear for that multi-storey gig. We’re really MacEwen Award entries Judges Denise Bennetts, co-founder of ween the owners of space and potential users,
into metal, and it’s time you are as well. Bennetts Associates; Kathy MacEwen, plan- and unexpected and imaginative repurpos-
ner and daughter of Malcolm and Anni Mac- ing. They all played their part in creating the
Above Dallas-Pierce-Quintero’s
Ewen for whom the awards are named; Robyn most impact for organisations that were hav-
For more information, Culture Palace at Enfi eld Palace
Poulson, architect at BDP; Percy Weston of ing to raise every penny. Seeing ingenuity
Gardens, London, demonstrated
contact us on 029 2085 8505
LUKE HAYES
the breadth of design skills Surman Weston – MacEwen Award 2021 and dedication that unlocks spaces, and what
or visit www.nuaire.co.uk/metal-air-brick architects use to get some winner for Hackney School of Food – and it can bring people, has been a privilege. •
valuable projects off the ground. I were trying to test the importance of the Eleanor Young
PIONEERING NEW AIR TECHNOLOGY
Buildings 07
MacEwen Award – longlist
MacEwen longlist
Bat & Ball Centre
Sevenoaks, Kent, by Theis + Khan
Renovation of tired community centre in regeneration area
NICK KANE
< Grange Pavilion
Cardiff, by IBI Group, Benham Architects, Grange Pavilion CIO
and Cardiff University Community Gateway
Striking park pavilion with a big mission in Cardiff’s most
ethnically diverse area
KYLE PEARCE
Bedford Place
Southampton, Hampshire, by Studio B.A.D. Architects
Locally-inspired activation of public space with paint and barriers
Lighthouse
Monks Hill, Croydon, by Atelier Ellis
HUFTON + CROW
Gathering place for church and community replacing temporary
cabins with CLT hall
Links Studios
Pavilion
Canning Town, London, by civic
DAN JONES
Stratford London, by ACME for Stratford City Business District
Music as a hook for learning in sound recording studio that uses
Eye catching timber pavilion as new entry point to Queen Elizabeth
strong walls of converted morgue for acoustic absorption
Olympic Park
Peveril Gardens and Studios
Great Dover St, London, by Sanchez Benton architects
Secret first-floor garden on old podium over artist studio space
OSKAR PROCTOR
08 Buildings
MacEwen Award – longlist
> Polka Theatre

Wimbledon, London, by Foster Wilson Size
Playful remodelling and new building for children’s theatre
The Chad Gordon Autism Campus, Waltheof Gardens
Haringey, London, by Pedder & Scampton Architects with
Haringey Adult Learning Disability & Autism Team, Haringey
Corporate Landlord, Centre 404, SCALD (Severe Complex
ADELINA ILIEV
Autism and Learning Difficulties Reference Group) and ALAG

(Asperger London Area Group)
Ingenious repair and repurposing with an eye to sensory issues
HUFTON + CROW
< The Archives
Tottenham, London, by ROAR
Creative light-touch meanwhile
reconfigurations of large
building in path of Crossrail
showing the value of design
The Harington Scheme

42-46 High Street, Hornsey, London by Mulroy Architects
Refurb of high street terraces as charity shop and
employability hub
Writtle Junior School Pod
Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex, by Junior Hard Hats (charity set up
as part of this project)
Playground structure which closely involved the school children
from design to location to planning
WikiHouse Scout Hut
Building greener homes safely.
Whalley Range, Manchester, by Architecture Unknown
Working with WikiHouse and structural ply enabled volunteers
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The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com

10 Buildings 11
MacEwen Award – winner
Dish of
the day
Our 2022 MacEwen Award winner
tackles food waste, declining high
streets and community need, all in
one affordable, educational café
Words: Chris Foges
Photographs: Francisco Ibáñez Hantke
Here’s the recipe for Nourish Hub. Take one council

with some hard-to-let shops in an area of high social
deprivation, and one charity that redistributes surplus
food from farms and supermarkets, and blend well.
Stir in a generous pinch of cash (£850,000) from the
mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund. Add a diligent,
enterprising architect – RCKa works well – to help
develop a business model and then design a suitable
environment. While that’s marinating, run architect-
led events to whet the appetite of local people. Once
the mixture is set – a pay-as-you-feel community café
with a second kitchen for skills training and courses
on healthy eating, and an affordable workspace on the
side – decorate with bold colour and garnish with foodie
frescoes. Nourish Hub is now ready to serve. It should
feed thousands of people every week and, if all goes to
plan, the charity UK Harvest can withdraw in three
years’ time, leaving the community to take over.
It is a smart idea, tackling hunger, isolation and the
unnecessary waste of food, space and human potential.
And with high streets in decline across the country,
Nourish Hub offers a model that might be adopted
elsewhere – perhaps with some different ingredients
– suggests RCKa associate Anthony Staples. That The largely glazed
exemplary quality was one factor in the MacEwen facade is open and
welcoming.
Awards jury’s decision to anoint it this year’s winner.
‘What I like is that this is utterly replicable’, noted judge
The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com ribaj.com The RIBA Journal February 2022
12 Buildings 13
Front elevation advertising two events. First came a community IN NUMBERS shopfronts reveal an airy room with stylish furniture
painting day, brightening up the shabby shutters of and a hand-painted ceiling depicting a cornucopia of
the vacant units with a mural devised by the project’s £850,000 fruit and veg – imagery derived from efforts at the youth
project cost
graphic designer, Bandiera; the architects were on the centre. The aluminium frames of the shopfronts are
street, brushes in hand, to answer questions. Soon after, 420m² left raw while big sliding doors and opening windows
the colourful mural was the backdrop to a free al-fresco building area are picked out in bright green. One is the window to the
meal, where residents contributed recipe suggestions high-spec commercial kitchen, so staff can lean out and
and gave feedback on the proposed uses. Finally, RCKa £2023 chat to passers-by.
cost/m²
and Bandiera ran workshops at a local youth club, The initial thought was that lessons might take place
where children used produce from Shepherd’s Bush in that space, but after sampling classes elsewhere the
market to make patterns and letterforms which were architect realised that novice cooks need something less
RCKA (2)
incorporated into the interior design and branding. bewildering and more domestic. A separate teaching
The rejuvenated shutters set the tone for the interior kitchen is arranged around a giant island within the
taking shape behind, but ditching them was among the open-plan dining room, which occupies the three
Above An outdoor meal Below Shabby shutters Below The hand-painted
architects’ top priorities. ‘Getting wary people through central shop units.
built local support for were rejuvenated ceiling mural extends
the door is critical’, says Staples. ‘We didn’t want any over the teaching kitchen
Café customers and students enter together, and are
the planned hub. in an architect-led
community painting day. barriers; the facade should look as open as possible.’ at one end of the dining greeted at a dedicated counter. Diners browse a short
Below a yellow fascia of backlit metal mesh, fully glazed room. menu of healthy meals (‘prices are a guide, please donate
Denise Bennetts. ‘There are so many spaces which

could be put to community use like this’.
RCKa’s vibrant venue sits on one of London’s more
obvious faultlines. It transforms five retail units – a
former post office that had been shuttered for years –
in a block on the edge of the Edward Woods Estate. A
line of bollards outside marks the boundary between
Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of
Kensington & Chelsea, whose stuccoed streets and
squares begin on the other side of the road. Turn
right out of the front door and the neighbours are
handsome houses that go for £4 million. Turn left and
Grenfell Tower comes into view. To be successful, the
Nourish Hub has to attract patrons from all parts of
the community. That called for an open, welcoming
character, and led RCKa to initiate a creative, targeted
programme of public engagement ahead of the opening.
As well as building awareness that change was
afoot – and allay any suspicions about that – the aim
was to test the business case and to generate a visual
identity for the Hub that ties it to the neighbourhood.
The design team flyered homes and places of worship,
A sliding window
to the kitchen
makes a serving
hatch to the
street.
Buildings 15
‘There are so many spaces

Right Patterns made
with fruit and vegetables
at youth club workshops
which could be put to informed the branding of

Nourish Hub.
community use like this’

Ceiling graphic
RCKA
what you can’) before finding a spot at robust wooden
tables. The ambition to create broad appeal seems to
have been fulfilled. ‘There’s a real mix of people – some
eating for free and others who pay it forward’, says
the Hub’s education and outreach co-ordinator, Ffion
Hayward. Students make their way to the far end of
the room, stopping on the way to pick up crockery
from open plywood shelves that line the walls. ‘You are
invited to help yourself, like being at home’, observed
MacEwen judge Eleanor Young. ‘Nice gesture’.
With the M&E installation and kitchen fit-out
accounting for almost half the budget, the architect
1 Serving hatch 8 Teaching kitchen
had to make considered use of the rest – something the
2 Main entrance 9 Rental unit judges commended. ‘By picking moments to invest in,
3 Events entrance 10 Store they have created a space that is very inviting, and not
4 Rental unit entrance 11 Hall institutional’, noted Percy Weston. Tables are custom-
5 Service entrance 12 Office
made by furniture designer Tim Denton, and imagery
Elegant roofs
6 Commercial kitchen 13 WCs
7 Main dining space 14 Plant
from the youth club workshops is applied to digitally-
printed tiles used for splashbacks, and as manifestations
and walls for a wide

on the glazing.
‘We thought hard about the things we have to do,
like lighting and paint’, says Anthony Staples, ‘because
range of building types

there wasn’t money to do anything more’. Value was
1 2 3 4
added by working closely with subcontractors. The
catering supplier made its first venture into front-
of-house woodwork to build the cabinetry, and the
shopfront fabricator was induced to forgo powder-
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0 5m
Ground floor plan

16 Buildings
Above The commercial products. ‘You couldn’t wallpaper the facade for that
kitchen serves the café little’, says Staples. Careful co-ordination of services
and produces meals-on-
helps too. ‘I’ve never spent so much time on a reflected
wheels for elderly people
in the area.
ceiling plan’, he recalls. ‘We kept ductwork to the sides
Left A hand-washing so the painting could really sing’.
station for catering Numerous thoughtful touches help to make the Hub
students stands next to inclusive. Some groups are easily distracted or sensitive
the welcome hatch.
about cooking in public, so the teaching kitchen can be
enclosed by a curtain. Its central island has a dropped
section to accommodate both children and wheelchair-
Credits users, so everyone can work together. Security features
Client LB Hammersmith
& Fulham that protect offices at the back are hidden to avoid
Key stakeholder giving any impression that customers are not trusted.
UKHarvest With its quirky details and eye-catching palette, the
Capital funding GLA
Architect RCKa Hub is an uplifting place. ‘It looks like it could feature
Project manager Inner in a Jay Rayner restaurant review’, said MacEwen judge
Circle Consulting Denise Bennetts. For RCKa, though, the principal
Quantity surveyor
Measur architectural achievement is not the space itself, but
Graphic design Bandiera the ideas and the processes behind it. ‘Sure, it’s nice to
Structural engineer design something nice’, says Staples, ‘but this project
Conisbee
M&E engineer Milieu is really about partnerships. That’s where architects
Main contractor – as professional generalists – can be really powerful. A2
Carmelcrest Positioning ourselves between a local authority with
Catering supplier
Bettaquip a problem asset, a community in need and a charity
Facade BSF Group willing to help, we can make all the difference’. •

18 Buildings 19
MacEwen Award – commended
The building faces The government’s prospectus for Institutes building in Dudley is sandwiched between important for what it is providing, the ap-
towards the quieter
of Technology emphasises that they are ’em- the A4037 and the slopes of Castle Hill proach taken to its design and build, and
access road to Dudley
Zoo, allowing it to be
ployer-led’. For leaders of one of the first to and the zoo. It glints even on a dull day, its its scale. It is a big intervention. If all sheds
almost entirely naturally open, the Black Country and Marches Insti- punched aluminium rainscreen cladding re- looked like this I would be happy. The pro-
ventilated. tute of Technology, the job is to put its locals flecting every bit of light. This is one of the pi- cess they adopted ensures its quality, they
alongside and in front of employers. Manag- oneers of Integrated Project Insurance. And chose to go down a route that did not reduce
ing director Georgina Barnard asserts: ‘We at the same time as the inter-disciplinary the quality of the building right to the end –
talk about careers not qualifications.’ team, including Cullinan Studio and prac- that decision is one of the ideals of what we
In an area that has lost many traditional tice leader Peter Inglis, was working through are trying to achieve with the MacEwen
manufacturing jobs and where a lot of young this new form of collaboration, weighing up award. The more I look at it the more I like it.’
people leave education at 18, this is a pow- difficult decisions as an IPI board, it was also The institute of technology – or IOT –
erful message. And such directed education working out a form for the institute of tech- grew out of Dudley College in partnership
could be a powerful tool to help boost local in- nology; a new building type. with universities and local employers, who
dustries that have been targeted for growth. Judge Kathy MacEwen gave the project together make up its governing body and
The new 4750m² institute of technology a resounding thumbs up: ‘This project is include steel components manufacturer
Shiny new route to work

High quality drove Cullinan Studio’s in
itute of technology in
Dudley, the government’s fir
’employer-led’ college
Words: Eleanor Young Photographs: Hufton and Crow
20 Buildings Buildings 21
MacEwen Award – commended Xxxxxxx
1 Attenuation pond IN NUMBERS

0 5m
2 Café terrace
3 Conference room £12.4m
4 BIM suite contract
5 Foyer
6
7
Office
Tiered seating /event
4,750m²
area
8 Materials testing lab
3 4
9 Laboratory workshop
10 Digital technologies
£2611
5 cost per m² (indicative)
6 11 Innovation hub/hangar ‘build cost’ equivalent
1 2 (NB IPI ‘contract costs’
include all project costs,
fees, expenses and VAT =
7 £17.4m)
8 9
11
10
Below The oversized
steps of the central
atrium act as an informal
social space, leading
down from the lobby to
the canteen.
THE BLACK COUNTRY & MARCHES INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY : GROUND FLOOR PLAN 1:400@A3
If all sheds looked like this

N
Hadley Group (which supplied the SFS sticks and a 5m high BIM cave for students and lo- Above A teaching room, Below The IOT’s hangar
that make up the frame), Balfour Beatty cal industry – and firms can take over one of this one fi tted out for gives a drive-in space for
robotics. big kit and the freedom
Vinci and NHS Estates and Facilities.
Those board places hint at the three spe-
the three bays fitted out with three and six-
phase power as well as water. But it is early
to invite in potential
employers and local
I would be happy – the more
I look at it the more I like it
cialisms of the IOT, advanced engineering days: when I visited, the stripped back steel businesses to use those
and manufacture, modern methods of con- hangar, light filtering through its translucent facilities.
struction and medical engineering. Teach- polycarbonate, was being used for volunteers
ing these areas to 16-22 year olds introduces putting together food parcels.
them to the software and kit, some in simu- Cullinan Studio inherited a feasibility
lated environments such as a hospital ward project for two buildings but brought them
where they can get used to fixing life critical together on the sunken bed of an old railway
machines safely. HNCs, T-levels and appren- siding. It sits significantly below the level of
ticeships are brought together with adult the A-road alongside, and the planted em-
CPD, as many of the learners of all ages will bankment acts as a bund, buffering some of
also be in jobs. It expects to have 2000 learn- the traffic noise. This and the plan enabled
ers by 2025. The building had to set the tone. the team to restrict air conditioning to just
Executive director of estates and capi- a few rooms that needed windows on this
tal projects at Dudley College, Steve John- facade. The T-shaped plan creates quieter
son, and IOT managing director Barnard spaces for the windows of each wing to open
were keen that the building appeared adult, onto, allowing the rest of the building to be
more adult than a school or even a college. naturally ventilated. Sustainability ambi-
And it had to have flexible teaching spac- tions were set early on, in the strategic brief.
es, including a drive-in collaboration space This was before the RIBA 2030 Climate
for working with industry. The design de- Challenge or LETI targets but embodied and
livers all that with a sense of openness and operational carbon figures show the building
confidence. You enter into the centre of the four years ahead of target. This is thanks to
building: in an airy toplit atrium, board room a mixture of fabric first – with air tightness
and learning room flank the entrance and a (2.79 m³/hr/m² air loss), good levels of insula-
formal reception desk gives the sense of a tion, and ceilings in profiled white steel that
workspace. Giant steps create a social space. act as permanent formwork and radiators
The south-facing canteen spills out on to an – due to low temperature heating pipes and
attenuation pond and wild flowers. 170mm of concrete giving just enough ther-
A ‘hangar’ acts as a flexible hall for con- mal mass. No doubt the absence of fossil fuel
ferences and exhibitions and is soon to be fit- in the form of gas also played its part – the
ted out with a robot arm, a 3D metal printer building instead uses air source heat pumps.
22 Buildings
Xxxxxxx
Lea Fields
Crematorium
The building is ‘robust’, as noted by judge investigation into foundation options which Above left A simple Above The canteen
clerestory brings terrace faces onto
Denise Bennetts, and it has no pretensions – resulted in remediation and less concrete in-
light into the top of the a pond that will be
though its quality marks it out in this land- tensive raft foundations, and an early shift college. surrounded by a bank of
scape of sheds and out of town leisure. But of the building by 5m so the construction wild flowers.
the sense of airiness and transparency was lorries avoid having to execute a three-point
important even working within Department turn; and (now invisible) the Cullinan-drawn
for Education benchmarks, and glazing bet- up Covid configuration for the site huts. And
ween teaching rooms and circulation was an the BIM model, including costs, was shared,
important part of this. Inglis is proud that it which immediately made it simpler for the
still came it at £130/m² below the DfE’s cost architect to optimise the design. Perhaps
benchmark. And it has already proven that its most radical was the positive feedback on
spaces can flex, as the programme for some the reduced pressures on the team’s mental
has changed through the project with a lab health. That, for Inglis, is priceless. Credits
Client Dudley College of
being replaced by a model operating theatre. The IOT plans a strong contribution to
Technology
The client, in the form of Dudley College, the local economy where manufacturing has Architect Cullinan Studio
had already completed one building using been in decline as part of the Local Enter- Independent facilitator
IPInitiatives
Integrated Project Insurance, Advanced II. prise Partnership (another key player) and
Primary constructor
But for Cullinan Studio it was a first. As he to widen participation in STEM subjects for Speller Metcalfe
Section AA The crematorium benefits from the addition of formal and
walks around, Cullinan’s Inglis points to under-represented groups. It is an interest- 1 Lobby MEP constructor Derry
informal landscaped gardens, which produces a border
Building Services
some of the improvements that collaborative ing and energising application of education 2 Tiered seating/ event of serenity to envelop the warm and calming tones of the
Structures and civils
decision making and risk sharing brought: and Cullinans and the IPI team have given 3 Teaching space
GCA Consulting building itself.
4 Digital technologies
the decision to pay for more time for struc- it a head start with this shiny new building. MEP engineer Cundall
5 Business lounge Digital co-ordinator
tural engineering and specialist ground Perhaps a model for the next tranche. • The brick colour incorporates an ‘earthy’ palette of natural
6 Informal workspace Fulcro
cream tones, with the addition of timber and bronze framed
window panels, to complete a building which perfectly
represents the peaceful and neutral memorial space offered.
The £6m project was managed by Willmott Dixon, whom

6 5 Taylor Maxwell worked with to specify and supply our
5
Haverstock Architects have designed the award-winning Lea exclusive Carsington Cream facing brick, from our Select
Range, which were expertly installed by Phoenix Brickwork
Fields Crematorium to provide an elegantly thoughtful space
1 3 (UK) Ltd.
for memorial and respectful ancillary facilities.
2
4 0 5m To find out more about our products visit taylormaxwell.

Taking its name from the nearby village of Lea in Gainsborough, the co.uk, email us at enquiries@taylor.maxwell.co.uk or call us
project has been widely recognised for its success through being on 0203 794 9377.
shortlisted for numerous awards in 2021, including winning the
‘Architects’ Choice’ at the Brick Awards and the Civic Trust Award. Photography by Jonathan Gooch.

24 Buildings 25
Church broadens
IN NUMBERS
£350,000
community reach
contract cost
475m²
GIA
A near-abandoned Portsmouth church found a community £737

cost per m²
lifeline by providing space for services that locals really
need. Its response upped congregation numbers too
Words: Hugh Pearman Photographs: Richard Chivers
Traditional churches have a big problem with slightly strange building – bricky, flying-but-
dwindling, increasingly elderly congrega- tressed Edwardian with a 1950s frontage and
tions based in often uninviting, hard-to- gallery and a 1980s church hall alongside –
maintain buildings. So what, you might say, appeared to have little to offer and inevitably
especially if like me you’re not one for religion faced the chop. But the diocese gave it one
of any kind? Well, this project is a convinc- last chance, bringing in an outreach team to
ing riposte from one diocese of the Church of establish what people were lacking, what fa-
England, working with a small and growing cilities they could benefit from that a church,
firm of architects committed to community with voluntary help, could provide – even on
engagement and enlightened reuse. To use a a shoestring budget. Then they set to work.
bad pun, it performs a real service. Today it is the same physical building, but an
St Margaret’s was decaying and all but entirely different kind of place: a real mixed-
abandoned a few years ago, unlisted, its tiny use community asset for everyone, not just
remaining congregation dispersed. This those who happen to be people of faith.
Left Snug place for kids'

reading. Like most of the
fittings it can be wheeled
around.
Right ‘The aisle is full of

noises’. With apologies to
Shakespeare’s Tempest,
here is the children’s
multi-level play area.
26 Buildings 27
Ground floor plan chairs in the café area were donated from the flexibility and mobility have enabled us to
0 5m
staff restaurant of the local Debenhams de- move very quickly from concept to site; we
partment store when it closed down. are now enjoying the results of that work.’
7
The key to making everything work, This is anything but a secular project, be-
2 4 16 8 says architect Darren Bray, was one costly ing firmly in the evangelical wing of the CoE.
item: the floor. This is a zonally heated, pol- Aside from the footfall from non-committed
10 ished-concrete floor powered by air-source people using its facilities, its core congrega-
3
heat pumps (there is a gas-boiler back-up for tion is up from a mere handful at its low point
extremely cold conditions). At a stroke this to around 200. A second phase designed by
4 11 13 14 16 transformed the look and feel of the interior: the architects envisages a copper-clad en-
1
it became a pleasant place, good for just about trance building at the front, linking the
any activity. Salvageable portions of the pre- church with its adjacent hall under cover.
vious 1950s parquet floor were sold to help The MacEwen judges appreciated the in-
the funding (some remains in ancillary spac- genuity and effort on a tiny budget (much as-
9 6 6 8 5 15 12 es). And when metal thieves started remov- sisted by funds from the Community Infra-
ing the leadwork from the side-aisle roofs, structure Levy). BDP’s Robyn Poulson noted
the church promptly sold the remaining
leadwork (it’s not visible from the streets) to
‘You don’t have to do much ‘This provides a template showing you don’t
have to do much to turn a church back to the
Left A new more welcoming entrance to the

1
2
Reception
Kitchen
7
8
Children’s room
Flexible faith space
13 Stage
14 Chancel
help fund new non-valuable roof coverings.
Metal thieves also tried to make off with the
to turn a church back to the community to enliven it.’
Denise Bennetts added: ‘What I like
1950s frontage is respectful of the architecture.
Below Wide nave and aisle arches suit the new

3
4
5
WCs
Café
Bike workshop
9 Food bank
10 Disabled WC
11 Nave
15 Church office
16 Shop Arts and Crafts brasswork of the lectern and
communion rails inside but were caught
community to enliven it’ about this intervention is that it celebrates
the building and the volumes. It acknowl-
uses. The heated polished concrete floor is a boon. 6 Soft play 12 Prayer room in the act and fled, so that survives – albeit edges the joy of the building.’
somewhat damaged. Kathy MacEwen commended the fact
It contains a well-used food bank, a café, a The diocese, advised by both the Victori- that ‘It is working really hard as a building,
shop specialising in second-hand clothes and an Society and Twentieth Century Society, offering a lot of different things in terms of
housewares, an impressively large two-sto- insisted on keeping those fittings along with its reach and connectivity.’
rey children’s soft-play area and – in a church the stone pulpit and some good stained glass Percy Weston appreciated the practi-
context perhaps the most unexpected func- but pretty much everything else could be cality of it all. ‘They started with the basics
tion – a bicycle repair workshop. This is run changed if need be, and was. and continued to add more uses – it can be
Credits
by the local youth-support charity Motiv8, What’s notable is how the original layout Above Pleasingly simple Client St Margaret’s executed in multiple phases. This move is
its purpose being to impart useful, employ- of the church lends itself to the new function. partition and sliding Community Church, smarter than it looks, it’s important in get-
able skills to youngsters who have slipped The nave is wide, as are the arches to the door to the meeting and Diocese of Portsmouth ting the building back into use.’
Architect Studio B.A.D
through the education/training/care net. aisles, while there are usefully-sized spaces Sunday School space. Eleanor Young noted its ‘good feeling’
Architectural consultant
I arrive in Portsmouth at exactly the same to either side of the chancel. The arch into Roger Tyrell and how it achieves more than some projects
Below Tucked away Environmental
time as Storm Barra. The wind is gusting, the one of these now has a birch-ply partition and beside the chancel is a
with much more money. ‘It has been done
consultant MESH Energy
rain is sluicing down, the coast road is closed sliding door to make it a more private space two-floor bike workshop Concrete consultant cleanly, neatly, allowing it to do so many
by crashing waves. Inside St Margaret’s, for Sunday schools and meetings, though still providing skills training. Grey Matter more things.’ •
they are dealing with a roof leak. But it’s only with glazing. Glazing is also important at the
a small one and, given that the whole roof front where a new, less forbidding door has
needs replacing, on a day such as this that’s been fitted along with a gentle pavement-ac-
not bad. For now it has been patched up. cess ramp. The entrance lobby now has sever-
The key to this project was to do the max- al new toilets, essential for any building with a
imum possible in fundable chunks, getting programme of events. The main central space
the new uses running as soon as the place flanked by the new activity zones, one per bay
could be safely used – rather than waiting (two bays for the soft play) is roomy enough to
years to accrue the money to do a total refur- take on something of a bazaar feel.
bishment. There’s a lot of ‘meanwhile use’ Bray is clear that none of this would have
thinking, involving clever use of cheap ma- been possible were it not for the ideas and
terials such as rebar-and-plywood shelving, energy of his client, the ‘lay pioneer minis-
scaffolding structures, and the repurposing ter’ Fran Carabott. In return Carabott re-
of existing church furniture where allowa- marks: ‘Key to the project’s success has been
ble. Two large heavy communion tables from the practice’s relationship with the diverse
former side chapels have been given wheels group involved at St Margaret’s; it’s really not
and now serve as counters in the food bank just a church in the traditional sense, more
for instance. And the rather nice tables and like a hub for the community. Studio BAD’s
28 Buildings 29
Green on black
1
‘Until recently, it didn’t even have a name. It 1 Off-road cycle track IN NUMBERS
2 Wildflower meadows
was known as the black path because of the
Tarmac.’ So says Gabriel Warshafsky, direc-
3 Garden extensions £400,000
4 Outdoor living room* cost
tor of projects at Jan Kattein Architects, of 2
Jan Kattein Architects worked with locals to turn an 5 Hawksmoor growing club
uninspiring Tarmac cut-through at Thamesmead estate

Claridge Way, the site of the practice’s recent 6 After-school orchard*
16,000m2
community co-design project in Thames- 7 Café kiosk* site area
into a valued, interactive green space mead, south east London.
5
3
8 8
9
Twilight play
Woodland adventure walk
Visiting on a bright winter’s morning, the
Words: Pamela Buxton Photographs: Jan Kattein Architects 10 Exercise benches
path is now anything but anonymous. Playful 4 11 Painted play route
floor markings weave along the length of the *Not yet implemented
approximately 500m stretch of public realm,
which is also populated by clusters of brightly 7
coloured exercise benches, a woodland play

6
trail, planters and a school gardening club
area. At this time of year you have to use your 9
11
imagination to picture the wildflower mead-
Below An exercise bench
on Claridge Way multi-
ow in bloom. However I’m assured it was an
‘Instagram moment’ by Kate Batchelor, head 10
tasks as seating and
playspace. of landscape and placemaking of Peabody,
which since 2014 has owned the majority of

the land in Thamesmead. Our contribution was to work with the community to gain their ex-
pertise and input, co-ordinate it and develop
Certainly this is a project that is far great-
er than its sum of fairly modest parts. work with the community to it spatially.’
Despite diverse priorities across the com-
It reflects Peabody’s placemaking ap-
proach to an area that had suffered from long- gain their expertise and input munity there were some common threads,
for example how residents particularly value
term under-investment and found it hard to green space and nature. And while there is
shake off negative perceptions, fuelled in plenty of this in Thamesmead, which has an
Below Bright wall and
part by its association with A Clockwork Or- floor patterns enliven
extensive network of lakes and canals, access
ange, which was filmed there 50 years ago. an underpass along to it is not always maximised.
Claridge Way is situated in the Moor- Claridge Way. Three key ambitions emerged from the
ings, part of the third phase of Thamesmead
constructed in the mid-1970s. The stretch of
land formed an important thoroughfare link-
Caption copy here copy
here ing the Moorings to local schools, a nature
reserve and the small retail centre, which
Caption copy here copy includes a soon-to-reopen social club. The
here challenge was how to turn this rather fea-
tureless and unloved space into a place that
locals could enjoy and would want to spend
time in, rather than just passing through.
Instead of starting out with preconcep-
tions of the outcome, the key to the £400,000
project was forming a creative dialogue with
the community, which enabled the archi-
tect to ‘tease’ out a brief. This was achieved
through a broad range of consultation events
– kicked off with a giant street party along
the path – that included VR sessions and
workshops with residents, schools and youth
clubs. These events reached hundreds of res-
idents of all ages.
‘It wasn’t about dropping a shiny master-
plan onto the place,’ emphasises Warshafsky.
‘Our contribution as architects was to
Buildings 31
ROOM FOR
IM AG INATION
Above Claridge Way VR Credits

consultation – that the area should be an Architect Jan Kattein
‘Very rarely do you see people doing exer-
workshop (left), part of
interactive play landscape, that it should extensive collaborations Architects cises but I do see people sitting on them and
be an open and liberating place to socialise, with residents and other Client Peabody chatting,’ says Batchelor, adding that they’ve
Collaborators
and that it should be a place to grow things local stakeholders
Hawksmoor Youth Hub,
become ‘social spots’. More work may be
and linger. These underpin the strategy for (above) including in the needed to encourage their use for fitness.
Windrush Primary
local primary school with School, Hawksmoor
the site, known as A Common Plan for Clar- There is also seating integrated into some
a play workshop (right). School, Woolwich
idge Way. Polytechnic, Safety
of the planter structures in the growing club.
The plan consists of a series of micro- Net, Good Life Garden, Larger planters have been created using re-
interventions that encourage a greater sense Titmuss Avenue cyclable concrete manhole rings in order
Gardening Association,
of involvement from those bordering the Radio Thamesmead,
to accommodate new fruit trees including
site, by (in some cases quite literally) break- Hobs3D cherry, pear and apple.
ing down the barriers. The path is bordered Contractors CL The community consultation certainly
Roadmarkings, MJO
on one side by the garden fences of homes Signwriting, Accent
appears to have been key to shaping the brief
backing onto the path. Willing residents London, Demco and manifestations of the micro-projects. In
were able to choose attractive new fences Construction, Duncan & particular, workshops with school children
Grove, James Green
from a variety of style and colour options. yielded a key idea for the playscape that runs
These incorporated new back gates that gave Below left Residents through the new public realm – ‘snakes and
getting involved in
them direct access to the path in exchange ladders of doom’ proved too good an idea to
planting. To the rear, new Below Members of the
for tending new planters, some integrated fencing includes planters gardening club from the
pass up, says Warshafsky of the suggestion
into the fences themselves. Similarly the and a gate, giving direct nearby school tend the that inspired the playful new floor markings
Hawksmoor School now has a new garden access to Claridge Way. planters. now meandering along Claridge Way. More
and growing club located alongside the foot-
path and Windrush School has moved its
R A K- P L A N O main entrance to open onto Claridge Way.

The introduction of five sets of exercise
RAK-Plano is a new and versatile countertop benches has proved popular as focal points
along the path since they double as seating
solution which matches perfectly with the RAK-Joy and informal play structures.
and RAK-Joy Uno furniture range. Available in 4
colours and a wide range of sizes, it is suitable for all
bathroom and modular settings and offers endless
possibilities and applications.
RAKCERAMICS.COM
32 Buildings
MacEwen Award
colour has been introduced in a jungle-in- For example, the suggestion for an off-road
spired mural beneath an undercroft along cycle track wasn’t considered appropriate
the route. A woodland adventure playwalk, on Claridge Way, but may be able to be ac-
created by thinning a dense thicket, includes commodated elsewhere in Thamesmead.
a treehouse, plentiful logs and stumps and Meanwhile the Claridge Way project as a
the inclusion of bird boxes, bug houses and whole has been valuable in helping Peabody
scavenger hunt elements. Bees are also en- test the co-design process.
couraged by the introduction of a wildflower The hope is that the improved spaces
‘bee road’ along the path. along Claridge Way will help local people to
Warshafsky has been heartened by ‘re- reconnect with their environment and en-
ally positive’ feedback from local residents. courage them to take ownership of the public
‘The overall tone is that there’s clearly been realm. Already, a Moorings Neighbourhood
a step change. People spend a lot more time Forum has been established and is now in the
in the green space. Children love it,’ he says. early stages of putting together a neighbour-
The project, which completed in late hood plan.
2020, has been a very positive experience for While all involved know that mainte-
the practice: ‘We’ve learnt so much from the
conversations we’ve had with people about
People spend a lot more nance will be key to the long-term success of
the new public realm, the re-energised Clar-
the ways they connect with public space.’
Judges liked both the extensive collabo-
time in the green space. idge Way has certainly got off to a promising
start thanks to a large extent by prioritising
ration and the end result. Percy Weston felt
it ‘ticks all the boxes’ by engaging with com-
Children love it a co-design approach.
‘It’s an amazing platform to build off,’
munities along the route, and being executed says Warshafsky. •
‘with sensitivity and innovation’.
And Robyn Poulson described the project
as ‘nicely thought about – it is re-enlivening
the route, doing the job’.
While not every idea that emerged from Above Tree house,
the consultation was implemented at this part of a new woodland
adventure walk.
stage, all the consultation has been ‘cap-
Right Stepping carefully
tured’ in the Common Plan document and Below Repurposing the on the new logs in the
will help inform future projects in the area. exercise bench. woodland walk.

34 Buildings 35
MacEwen Award – shortlisted
Full Circle @ Docklands community centre
MacEwen shortlist
Knight Architects’ ‘beautiful St Pauls, Bristol
and resilient’ bridge, with its
Askew Cavanna Architects
unique structural solution,
has reconnected the
Established in 1980, Full Circle @ Docklands
Eight more model projes impressed the MacEwen judges, Ullswater community.
is a black-led charity promoting inclusion and
including leisure, community and education spaces as well enhancing life opportunities for young Bris-
as a modular housing faory and a Lake Diri bridge tolians. Its service provision includes a youth
and community centre housed in a historic
20th century building.
Askew Cavanna Architects was appoint-
ed to redesign this underperforming space
amid the challenges of a hugely restricted
budget and the 2020 lockdowns. The prac-
tice was nevertheless able to hold extensive
consultations with community stakeholders
including teenagers, youth workers, repre-
sentatives from homeless charities, therapists
and dance school leaders.
This diverse feedback helped priori-
tise those architectural interventions that
provided maximum social value, namely:
increased flexibility of space, new showers, a
welcoming reception area, co-working spaces
‘It is so nice to see designers
Below Extensive Above The history of
and improved accessibility and acoustics. stakeholder consultations the charity is expressed
The clients and users also wanted to be resulted in teenagers within the building
able to express the charity’s ethos and histo-
ry within the building (it was initiated after
being given authorship of
their space, leading to a
through mural artwork.
care even when there is a
restricted budget’ Percy Weston
wider range of uses.
the 1980 St Pauls riots, themselves a product
ALEX CAMPBELL
TOM MCNALLY
of social and racial inequality and margin-

alisation). This led to artwork being used as
a narrative device accompanying the users’
Pooley Bridge The materials are intended to age nat- of a traditional deck arch bridge but struc- journey through the building. The archi-
Pooley Bridge, Cumbria urally with low maintenance, as the old turally does not transfer horizontal reactions tect’s interventions were light-touch, such
Knight Architects stone bridge had done over the course of to the low-capacity ground on the river- as robust flooring and furniture and simple
centuries. The open spandrels lend a certain banks, thanks to the side-spans within the and strategic use of paint to celebrate spaces
In December 2015, severe flooding washed transparency to the bridge’s appearance, abutments. of social interaction .
away the structure that gave the Cumbrian allowing unhindered views over the river Judge Kathy MacEwen pointed out: ‘It According to Full Circle, the redesigned
town of Pooley Bridge its name: a 250-year- while minimising obstruction to the flow of makes us reflect on the concerns around facility is ‘beautiful, functional and … we can
old grade II listed three-span stone arch the river at times of exceptionally high water. flooding and it’s giving people access and ease be proud to invite people into it. Our clients
bridge across the River Eamont. The town Sustainability also influenced the mate- of movement.’ are happier and people spread the good word
forms part of the Lake District’s Unesco rials choices with the steel containing one Fellow judge Denise Bennetts agreed. ‘It that we’re a place to run their activities from.
World Heritage Site and the bridge was a fifth of the embodied carbon of the global av- meets all the criteria perfectly,’ she said. ‘It This means activity that causes social change
critical infrastructure link for the town’s erage and the concrete mix including ground is a project-appropriate approach and an in- is finding a home in our community centre.’
inhabitants. granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) cement genious structural solution. The social-eco- Giving younger users’ authorship of the
Cumbria County Council began a tender substitute. nomic impact is great; replacing an existing space led to new uses of the building, includ-
process for a new bridge, with stakeholder The new crossing, the first stainless-steel bridge for the long term and in a robust way is ing cooking, dance and media-skills classes,
involvement, in mid-2017. It had to be both road bridge in the UK, gives the appearance incredibly important.’ as well as the building becoming a hub for
flood-resilient and future-proof. Knight ‘Cumbria County Council is delighted other local organisations.
Architects was appointed as ‘concept guard-
ian’ of the design, which comprises a slender ‘An ingenious structural with the new bridge,’ said council represent-
ative David Brown. ‘Not only has it recon-
The judges were won over by the project’s
modesty, ingenuity and reach. ‘It was an im-
40m-span open-spandrel arch with a stain-
less-steel and high-strength concrete struc- solution with a great social- nected the Ullswater area, it has reconnected
the community and is an embodiment of the
aginative way of spending a small amount of
money,’ commented Eleanor Young. ‘It is so
economic impact’ Denise Bennetts

ture. This emerges from reinforced concrete village and wider Cumbrian society; beauti- nice to see designers care even when there is a
abutments clad in local sandstone. ful and resilient.’ restricted budget,’ agreed Percy Weston.
36 Buildings 37
Home-Made: Lockleaze Culture Palace

Lockleaze, Bristol Enfield Palace Gardens, London
Alex Dutton / SNUG Homes Dallas-Pierce-Quintero
‘Our housing market is broken, fuelling so- ‘Shopping centres need things to happen
cial inequality and climate breakdown. The in them that are different,’ observed judge
solution is collective action to create housing Kathy MacEwen, regarding Culture Palace.
which serves our needs.’ This is the ethos of ‘What is their function? What is their future
Ecomotive, the Bristol-based workers’ co- is going to be?’
operative responsible for delivering Home- The project is a 300m2 temporary creative
Made, a modular housing factory, combining hub, housing a performance space, museum,
high-quality ecological housing production bookshop, café and screening room in Enfield
with community participation. It offers em- Palace Gardens shopping centre. It responds
ployment, self-build training and housing to Enfield Council’s strategic focus on how
support, and is located in Lockleaze, one of ‘Culture Connects’. going to be used in the future. There are a lot
the city’s most deprived neighbourhoods.
Ecomotive and SNUG Homes started Above The SNUG homes offsite modular homes. They are designed to
Architect Dallas-Pierce-Quintero (DPQ)
was commissioned to develop a cultural strat-
‘It is a very light touch but of them and we need to find uses.’
DPQ’s role went beyond the architectural,
Home-Made in 2019, when the first ‘SNUG
home’ was completed in conjunction with
are designed to be built with
hand tools and self-finished.
be built with hand tools, using readily availa-
ble, low-impact materials to achieve net zero
egy for a mixed-use scheme but the pandemic
shifted the remit to include interim uses for
a fun way of testing and to include cultural strategy, liaison between
tenants and landlord, lease brokerage and
a training programme and community en-
gagement activities. Partnering with Lock-
Below The compact homes
performance and low embodied energy.
The footprint is small and the building
the shopping centre so as to encourage hes-
itant shoppers to return. Repurposing the
reinvigorating shop uses’ project management.
With over 7,000 visitors in the first month,
leaze Neighbourhood Trust (LNT), the group
have a small footprint
to be inserted into compact (‘snug in size and snug in warmth,’ vacant retail space had benefits for the com- Robyn Poulson and 2,500 attendees to ticketed events over 10
is developing five self-finish zero-carbon backland plots. commented judge Eleanor Young). Some of mercial landlords and for the local authority months, the clients consider the intervention
the judges raised concerns about space stand- in need of a temporary home for its arts centre a success. ‘The audience is diverse and ranges
ards but agreed that if the housing was a tem- and museum, which had been requisitioned across all ages, helping the local community to
porary provision, it addressed a substantial as a vaccination centre. reconnect in an uplifting environment,’ said
Above The repurposed
problem well. The intervention demonstrated the im- Rebekah Polding of Enfield Cultural Services.
space comprises a
The scheme aims to regenerate areas by portance of arts and culture in the recovery performance space, ‘The only problem is this is a meanwhile space
bringing backland plots back to use. It is also of the high street, piloting new uses in the museum, bookshop, café – we want it to last forever!’
committed to a number of linked social fac- space that were not purely commercial. Judge and screening room. While the concept is far from new, the
tors: home provision for existing residents; Robyn Poulson praised this aspect, saying: ‘It judges noted that many such schemes are
Below Culture Palace
diversity of housing provision; high-quality is a very light touch but a fun way of testing in areas already considered to be emerging
addresses the problematic
design; climate change mitigation; low run- and reinvigorating shop uses. We have to question of high-street cultural hotspots; this isn’t the case here,
ning costs for occupants; skills training and think about how these shopping centres are shopping malls’ future use. meaning the benefits are felt even more.
employment for local trades and individuals.
‘It’s great to have a housing factory com-
ing forward for the award,’ said judge Kathy
MacEwen. ‘It’s a big step; maybe they will go
on [to create more]’.
‘To have homes aiming for net zero is
pretty exemplary,’ said judge Denise Ben-
netts. ‘It is tiny, and not necessarily what we
want to be living in long term, but as a step-
ping stone it is appropriate … the fact that
they are taking a broad interpretation of sus-
tainability goals, prefab and self-build goals
to create a pleasant environment is fantastic.
‘They are taking sustainability,

prefab and self-build
goals to create a pleasant
TONY GILBERT
LUKE HAYES
environment’ Denise Bennetts

38 Buildings
MacEwen Award
The Alder Centre

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
The Alder Centre – linked to Alder Hey

Children’s Hospital, Liverpool – is a unique
service providing support to bereaved indi-
viduals after the death of a child. AHMM’s
architectural intervention provides sensitive
and restful purpose-built spaces.
The concept is that of a house set within
a ‘secret garden’ to create a familiar, domes-
tic-seeming environment. At the heart is a
large communal area comprising a lounge
and kitchen from which seven counselling
rooms unfold, each with a private garden and
openable skylight. Other rooms within the
orthogonal grid include a training room, of-
fice and base for a bereavement helpline.
The design team worked directly with vol-
unteers, parents, families and staff. ‘AHMM
went to exceptional lengths to understand the
project,’ said the client, ‘to deliver an iconic
building which ultimately won an award at
the European Health Congress 2021.’
To fund the project, the engineers, design
team and contractors engaged in fundraising
efforts of their own – contributing £100,000
as well as securing donations from suppliers
and product manufacturers, including Vitra,
Dornbracht, Velux, SCP, RB12 and electrical
subcontractor Senate.
These endeavours moved the judges.
For Kathy MacEwen, this is ‘a beautiful,
well-considered project providing a tranquil,
‘A beautiful, well-considered
Above Each counselling room
safe space to be … the intricacies and fund- opens to a private garden and
raising efforts were admirable’. is lit by an openable skylight.
The architect’s painstakingly collabo-

rative approach with staff and service users
Below The plan is based project providing a tranquil,
safe space’ Kathy MacEwen
around the concept
was commended by Denise Bennetts, who of a house set within
noted that, considering its troubled past, ‘if a secret garden.
anything needs healing it is Alder Hey itself’
and that AHMM’s process seems to have
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40 Buildings 41
Right The new Green Room Old Library, Liverpool Below Existing
entrance pavilion activates volumes and spatial
Green Lane, Liverpool
the building’s frontage, characteristics were
OMI Architects
opening it to the street. respected throughout
the remodelling.
Below DSDHA’s extensive Grade II Listed Andrew Carnegie Library, in
remodelling has doubled Tuebrook, Liverpool, was in a state of dilap-
the usable space within
idation, but OMI has now extensively refur-
the building.
bished and remodelled it into a multipurpose
scheme for childcare charity Lister Steps.
As well as accommodating the client
and the children who use its services, the
building now also houses community spac-
es, a café, and hot-desking office spaces. The
project, funded by the National Lottery Her-
itage Fund and Liverpool City Council, was
expensive; it required considerable work to
return such a derelict structure back to a us-
able condition.
While some areas were restored, such
as the reading room which is now the main
communal space, others were boldly re-
configured. However, throughout, existing
volumes and spatial characteristics were
respected. New openings in the facade were
designed to improve visibility between
inside and out. These look out on to new-
ly landscaped gardens. Within the build-
ing, child-size internal windows peek into
National Youth Theatre
Holloway Road, London
naturally ventilated, well-lit open spaces
for teaching, rehearsal, recording and per- ‘As a piece of transformation, double-height voids, creating playful visual
interest for the children.
I think it is excellent … the

Below Large double-height spaces have
DSDHA formance. Within the existing warehouse ‘It is nice, because it’s got that interaction
been repurposed into spacious child-
building, columns were removed to accom- between floors; there is legibility to it,’ said friendly rooms with visual interest.
‘I was walking down Holloway Road, I saw
it and thought: wow!’ said judge Kathy Mac-
modate a 200-seat theatre space.
Maintaining the structure helped min- street is a big beneficiary’ judge Denise Bennetts.
Community and stakeholder interaction
Ewen, of DSDHA’s major redevelopment of imise the development’s environmental Denise Bennetts were pivotal from the start. The process in-
the National Youth Theatre’s (NYT) London impact; the sustainability credentials of the cluded short courses in historic craft skills
headquarters. The former Mission Hall has build are admirable. The design meets RIBA Below Performance spaces and building conservation as part of an out-
been substantially modified to double its 2030 Climate Challenge recommendations are versatile, acoustically reach and education scheme. ‘The Old Li-
studio space, radically improving its acces- and LETI 2030 targets in terms of embodied optimised and well lit and brary is once again a beautiful heritage asset
ventilated for performance,
sibility and giving visibility from the street carbon, achieved by reusing 90 per cent of in the heart of the community,’ said Gaynor
rehearsal and recording.
to allow NYT to deliver its ‘open door’ policy. the existing superstructure and foundations. Williams of Lister Steps. ‘Local residents are
The theatre now has street presence Funding for drama in state schools has thrilled that this much-loved building has
thanks to a new pavilion, the Green Room, decreased across the UK; this project seeks been returned to public use.’
which replaces a car park and alleyway and to redress this by accommodating twice as Below Visibility between inside and out
provides a welcoming front door. It houses many students, facilitating their entry to the has been greatly improved, linking the
the reception, a members’ hub and a com- creative industries. As the client puts it, the interior to newly landscaped gardens.
munity studio space. Client Joe Duggan redesign has ‘provided a significant boost to
said: ‘Our new pavilion allows us to welcome our mission to put young people’s voices cen-
communities of young people who previous- tre stage’.
ly faced barriers accessing our work.’ The judges universally admired the
Aesthetically, the NYT now has a much scheme for its accessibility, sustainability
stronger and attractive presence, with judge and investment in young people and the arts.
JIM STEPHENSON
Robyn Poulson commenting: ‘The building ‘As a piece of transformation, I think it is ex-
PAUL KARALIUS
looks great and photographs beautifully.’ cellent,’ said Denise Bennetts. ‘The street is a
On the inside, the interiors were overhauled big beneficiary. It is good architecture which
to create versatile, acoustically optimised, will surely win awards.’
42 Buildings
Bale House
Colours, fi xtures,
Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve
fi ttings, tactile surfaces
The Cave Cooperative and braille signage
offer an accessible
On a scenic clifftop in Hastings Country experience delivered
Browse our range of architecture

Park Nature Reserve sits Bale House, a new through high-quality
workmanship.
community hub providing educational space
focusing on empowerment, training, reha-
and design books and gifts.

bilitation, healthy living and the arts. It also
offers refreshment for park visitors.
It is a public project managed by a chari-
ty working with community volunteers. The
brief was developed with the client and the
community through a series of engagement
events resulting in an accessible and flexible
space, committed to inclusive principles.
The building was constructed by a small
group of artisan builders and also involved
the work of local artists and craftspeople.
All routes are via wide, level access paths
and doorways. Colours, fixtures and fittings
provide visual contrast. The signage is tac-
tile, includes braille and is gender neutral.
Sustainability informed the entire pro-
Bookshop now open
cess with a focus on whole life cycle processes
and the circular economy, as well as the use Visit our bookshop at
of natural materials including wood, lime,
straw and wool. The building is constructed ‘It is an exceptional act as insulation and damp proof membrane.
Astonishingly, nothing was sent to landfill or 66 Portland Place, London,
achievement that nothing
from loadbearing straw bales and uses natu- removed as waste – ‘an exceptional achieve-
ral, recycled and local materials; it is the first ment’, according to judge Denise Bennetts. W1B 1AD - now open
went to landfill’ Denise Bennetts
straw-bale public building in the south east. Moreover, the materials can be reused or re-
In the words of client Liz Crisp, the ar-
chitect designed ‘a unique, welcoming,
cycled at the end of life.
Faced with a tight budget, the build is
from 10.00 to 16.30 on
sustainable building that sits lightly on the
coastal landscape. They held community
stripped back; its appearance celebrating the
materials used. ‘The colonnade was nicely
Thursdays and Fridays
workshops and events throughout the con-
struction to ensure community support … It
done and the lime finish has a nice feel to it,’
observed Eleanor Young.
by appointment only.
is a real community asset.’ Since opening last July, the building has
The large Douglas fir roof is anchored
down to resist the extreme clifftop wind
welcomed 12 schools, housed 15 family ac-
tivities and 60 volunteering activities, hosted
To book email
loads. The plinth blocks are made from two large community events, created 13 jobs
bookshop@ribabooks.com
FOTOHAUS
recycled concrete and furnace ash. The lime- and welcomed 25,000 visitors. Its reach is
crete slab sits on recycled glass aggregate to undeniable and tangible.
Left The stripped- Right Sustainability

back approach and the principles dominated the
colonnade drew praise
from the judges.
entire build, as befi ts the
nature reserve location.
RIBABooks.com
44 Rising Stars 45
Roundtable
Balance in hard times

This proved a pertinent observation. our lives – that’s what buildings are really
CAN
For Barnes, whose influences include for in my opinion.’ It was agreed that – as Members of the Rising Stars 2021
the arts and crafts movement and post- programmes such as NLA’s ‘Don’t move, cohort at the discussion
Identity dominated discussions by the latest cohort of modernism, architecture’s idolisation of improve’ try to encourage – homes which Amy Francis-Smith, architect, Pinnegar
modernism is elitist and causes a disjuncture are designed according to the needs of Hayward Design, vice-president,
RIBAJ Rising Stars as they grappled with the tensions between what architects and the general their owners, including multi-generational Birmingham Architectural Association
between serving society’s most vulnerable, the technical public believe is good architecture. occupancy and access requirements, allow Vocal and determined, leading the way on
implementation of climate action and the demands of ‘Superfluous’ or ‘money-wasting’ details are their occupants to remain in residence disability campaigning
often what people remember of a building, longer and alongside support networks, Mat Barnes, director, CAN
today’s business world. Michèle Woodger reports and which add to the rich tapestry of cities. improving community feeling and Emerging design talent with a cheeky sense
Scott Abercrombie supplied an example positively affecting wellbeing and quality of postmodernism
Every year, members of the winning sometimes be addressed through dialogue in support of this: ‘Last year I worked on of life. ‘I wonder what would happen if Charlie Butterwick, founder/architect,
cohort of the RIBAJ Rising Stars Award, (demystifying concepts such as Passivhaus a synagogue in Glasgow where I was able developers truly engaged with the people Architecture Unknown
run in partnership with Origin Doors and and embodied and operational carbon for to introduce decoration borrowed from who are buying the properties,’ pondered Engaging sustainably, innovating
Windows, get together to talk about how those with a foggy understanding but a existing encaustic tiling,’ he explained. ‘I Butterwick. confidently
they see the issues of our time. willingness to learn), it was agreed to be feel I wouldn’t have been able to get away This too is an accessibility issue of Hiba Alobaydi, assistant editor, Foster +
This year our stars found themselves an uphill struggle when regulations and with that on a new build, but here I did sorts; one which revolves around access Partners
almost in the firmament at the roundtable, government policies continually lag behind because there was a historic justification.’ to information and the inclusivity of Mentoring drawing on her own experience
on floor 35 of the Shard. This high-flying what is really needed to reduce the impact of architectural vocabulary. As Hiba Alobaydi Scott Abercrombie, associate director,
cohort of emerging architects descended construction on the environment. There is Closing down creativity observed: ‘The architectural lexicon isn’t John Gilbert Architects
Above Telling today’s stories:
on London from around UK; the issues and no easy way out of these conundrums. In the residential sector, as several in accessible and that is sad… the disconnect Rising Star Mat Barnes’ expressive Heritage cheerleader saving the grand and
opinions raised during the afternoon gave There exists a further burden on this the cohort had experienced, a further between the architect and the client has a architecture transforms one home. the tenement
us a special insight into what this generation generation of architects, directly owing to hindrance to creative expression is the lot to do with language accessibility… that is Hannah Durham, lecturer in architecture,
is doing to progress the profession and the architecture itself. ‘There is pressure and building developer. Incapable or unwilling very alienating to the layman.’ something about making sure our future Oxford Brookes University
causes that motivate them. importance on young architects to deal with to embrace designs which deviate from architects are a diverse range of people; I Caring and committed teacher
Over the past two years we have been the climate crisis and inclusive design,’ said an easily-marketable norm, such systems Where do architects fit? feel very responsible to make sure I can help Conrad Koslowsky, architect, design fellow,
forced to reassess ourselves: how we work, Mat Barnes of CAN, ‘but added to that is the propagate a culture of limited expectations Ben Brocklesby, sales and marketing everyone,’ she said. Conrad Koslowsky Architects
how we interact with others, what is need to focus on the stories that architecture and trap homeowners into a mindset of director at Rising Stars partner Origin Doors The cohort agreed that there was a Dedicated to delivery for his innovative
meaningful to us both as individuals and as conveys… I am interested in how people are viewing houses simply as assets with retail and Windows, has a role that positions him disconnect between secondary school clients
professionals in practice. represented in the built environment of their value. Consequently, homeowners become between architects, builders and clients. He and architectural education, with limited
cities. How do we design in a way that creates afraid of anything idiosyncratic, however observed that builders are often better at visibility of the profession for less privileged
Supporting people memories for people using the building?’ life-enhancing that might be. communicating with ‘the everyday person’, students, and a failure of careers guidance
Understanding the needs of society’s most ‘What we are getting to is a sense of which is detrimental for architects, whose in schools. As Brocklesby summarised:
vulnerable members was one concern. identity,’ Charlie Butterwick commented. contributions to even the smallest projects ‘The funnel is already narrowed because
Below Working with the vulnerable:
Designing with dignity for the disabled and Rising Star Conrad Koslowsky’s
‘Ultimately our experiences, our memories, are hugely relevant. Conrad Koslowsky teenagers do not understand what
elderly, and for children – especially those in Lighthouse Children’s Home. everything hangs on the architecture of went further, arguing that ‘it seems we don’t architecture is and how to get into it. How
care – was a key driver for many. It was clear have a particularly strong architectural do we widen that?’ Amy Francis-Smith
that most of the group either had gained culture in society. There is general literacy experienced the fresh perspective of
direct experience of attempting to improve problem… we have to show clients things accessible education fi rst hand at a workshop
conditions in this field, or had actively they have never seen before – for instance at the Bartlett, encouraging visually-
sought to familiarise themselves. “this is closer to what you want than what impaired students to apply to architecture.
Yet the magnitude of the challenges you think you want”. That isn’t arrogance ‘They had their own means of expressing
visited upon them in so doing soon became but a means of exploration.’ The answer spatial concepts beyond the visual,’ she
apparent: institutionalising forces propped came yet again to the issues of education and observed. ‘Even how they measured and
up by profit-driven mechanisms – that communication. As Butterwick commented: quantified space – based on echoes for
impose parameters on design not in the ‘If we cannot describe necessarily [the instance – was completely different.’ The
best interests of end-users – was one intricacies of ] how the architecture will message hinged again on alternative ways of
stumbling block. Another, particularly in happen, we can couch it in terms of what it seeing, understanding and communicating.
CONRAD KOSLOWSKY ARCHITECTS
conservation, was the complex marriage of would feel like to be in that space.’ So, the issues of the day concerned
access and sustainability needs with those ‘Words are keys, they unlock ideas creating a democratic and accessible
of an inflexible heritage sector, insistent on and help us communicate with each other,’ architecture that adequately represents
prioritising historical fabric over user needs. agreed educator Hannah Durham, who the stories of the people that inhabit it. A
Persuading clients who lack the runs an undergraduate studio around question from Barnes seemed to perfectly
enthusiasm to value sustainability over words, stories and building narratives. round off the discussion: ‘In 100 years’ time
budget, square meterage or aesthetics Access to education was a major concern what will today’s architecture say about the For more on the most recent cohort of
was a further challenge. While this could for her, and others in the group. ‘There is times we are living through?’ Indeed. • RIBAJ Rising Stars see ribaj.com/risingstars
Building standards Mind the performance gap 47
– regulation – contracts
48 54
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48 Intelligence 49
Regulation
U-value of 1.6, against 2.2 previously. approved methodology for testing air tight-
Turning to building services in new ness for non-domestic buildings to avoid
non-domestic buildings, the minimum ef- ’practical difficulties’ of using multiple test-
Legal, regulatory & Design, construction ficacy of lighting installations in new non- ing methodologies.
statutory compliance & technology domestic buildings has risen to 95 luminaire
lumens per circuit watt for general lighting and Part F: Interim uplifts to standards for
Building regs
80 luminaire lumens per circuit watt for dis- non-domestic buildings
play lighting. Lower efficacies in some rooms New guidance includes standards on mini-
can be offset by higher efficacies in others. mising the ingress of external pollutants and
start to tackle
A separate standard for lighting that re- the proper installation of ventilation systems.
quires a high level of optical control, includ- New guidance on performance-based
ing innovative high excitation purity light- ventilation standards will allow designers
carbon dioxide ing, has been introduced.

New non-domestic buildings now re-
quire a Building Automation and Control
to assess ventilation strategies against indi-
vidual volatile organic compounds, based on
data from Public Health England, as an alter-
Changes to the building regulations aim to System if they include a heating or air-condi- native route to using a total VOC limit.
reduce carbon while ensuring healthy levels tioning system of 180kW or over, rather than Part F recommends that all replacement
290kW as originally proposed. windows in non-domestic buildings are fitted
of ventilation. We summarise the key points A minimum standard has been intro- with background trickle ventilators, unless
of five new Approved Documents duced to ensure wet space heating systems in it can be shown that replacement windows
new buildings are designed to operate with a would not reduce useful ventilation or that
maximum flow temperature of 55°C, consid- a mechanical ventilation system is present.
ered important for system efficiency. Where outside noise is an issue, attenuating
All space heating and domestic hot water background ventilators should be fitted. route to compliance based on minimising
RIBA/ PETER ROSEMAN

boiler installations in existing non-domestic On transmission of infection via aerosols, solar gain and removing excess heat. It sets
buildings must now include controls to im- there is a new requirement for the installa- standards based on whether the house or
prove the effective efficiency of the system. tion of CO2 monitors in offices and specifical- residential unit is cross-ventilated, consid-
Minimum standards for air distribution, ly in ‘high risk’ rooms where there may be a ers orientation and introduces a standard for
comfort cooling systems and lighting will risk of airborne infection. the maximum amount of glazing allowed in
also apply. Building automation and control New guidance recommends that me- a single room.
Stephen Cousins
Part L: Interim uplifts to standards for skills that will be necessary, and accounting systems must have a maximum flow temper- chanically-ventilated common spaces in Dynamic thermal analysis methods of
non-domestic buildings for market factors.’ ature of 55°C. offices have a minimum air supply rate of overheating risk in homes allows more so-
A mandatory 30% cut in carbon for all new Non-domestic buildings must achieve an Part L amendments introduce a princi- Part L adopts CIBSE’s TM23 as the single 0.5 litre/s.m², which is below the 1 litre/s.m² phisticated analysis of buildings as an alter-
homes and a 27% cut for other buildings, in- average of 27% reduction in CO2, relative to pal performance metric to measure energy outlined in the government’s proposals. native route to compliance over the simpli-
cluding offices and shops, are among a raft of 2013 standards. This is the more ambitious of efficiency. ‘Primary energy’ will be used in Amended guidance on recirculating sys- fied method.
changes to building regulations introduced two options put forward by the government combination with CO2 metrics to assess com- tems states that they should be capable of Guidance includes acceptable strategies
by the government in the shift towards a Fu- in the consultation, the first being for 22% . pliance with Part L. Primary energy calcu- operating in a mode that prevents recircula- for limiting unwanted solar gain in the sum-
ture Buildings Standard. The government said the mandate will lations take into account factors such as the tion of air within spaces or between different mer, such as shading and other means. Inter-
The Department for Levelling-Up, achieve a balance between making progress efficiency of the building’s heating system, spaces, rooms or zones in offices, unless suit- nal blinds or tree cover must not be factored
Housing & Communities set out the chang- towards the Future Homes Standard, due in power station efficiency for electricity; and able filtering or cleaning systems are in place. into a dynamic thermal assessment because
es, which include interim uplifts to Parts L 2025, and providing industry ‘with the time the energy used to produce fuel and deliver Government proposals to increase re- they can subsequently be removed.
and F, and the introduction of Part O, in its it needs to develop the supply chains and it to the building. quired ventilation capacity in offices and Part O adopts measures to ensure over-
response to a public consultation on the Fu- Most respondents to the consultation specify ventilation rates in ‘high risk’ rooms heating strategies are safe and usable by oc-
ture Buildings Standard, concluded in April. (62.2%) disagreed with using primary energy in response to Covid-19 were not adopted in cupants, taking into account noise and air
The rules will come into force in June
2022, with a one-year transition period to
New minimum efficiency as the main performance metric and the gov-
ernment said the approach will be reviewed
anticipation of more evidence on the impacts. pollution near the home, as well as the safety
and usability of the windows and security,
allow for planning applications under way
at that time. Alongside amendments to the standards for both new before implementation of the full Future
Buildings Standard.
Part O: Standards for overheating in new
residential buildings
which may affect occupant behaviour. In-
formation on overheating strategies must be
Building Regs, five new documents are
published: Approved Document L, volume and replacement thermal The uplifts introduce new minimum ef-
ficiency standards for both new and replace-
Part O aims to ensure that new residential
buildings, including homes, care homes, stu-
passed to the building owner in the form of a
Home User Guide.
1: dwellings and volume 2: buildings oth-
er than dwellings; Approved Document F, elements, windows and doors, ment thermal elements, windows and doors
and will mostly be set at levels proposed in the
RIBA PUBLISHING (2)
dent accommodation and children’s homes
are designed to reduce overheating. It splits Part L: Standards for domestic buildings
volume 1: dwellings and volume 2: build-
ings other than dwellings; and an entirely will mostly be set at levels consultation. For example, the U-value of new
walls is 0.26W/m² K, compared to 0.35W/
England into areas of moderate and high risk
of overheating, the latter including urban
Minimum fabric efficiency standards are in-
troduced for new and replacement thermal
proposed in the consultation

new Approved Document O covering over- m² K before. Most types of new window, roof and some suburban parts of London. elements, windows and doors in existing
heating. window and curtain walling just achieve a The regulation adopts a ‘simplified’ homes. For example, the U-value for walls is
50 Intelligence
Regulation
A mandated checklist is intended to

Part O takes into account
RIBA PUBLISHING (2)
make it easier for renovators to understand

the impact of historic and potential future
work to a building and whether the ventila- nearby pollution and the
tion provision will be sufficient.
Ventilation guidelines will include a rec- safety and usability of
windows and security,
ommendation that replacement windows are
fitted with a background trickle ventilator,
unless it can be proven that the ventilation
was not made worse.
To support homeowners, Part F now rec-
which may affect occupant
ommends that all installations of mechanical
extract ventilation and installations of new
behaviour
background ventilators come with guid-
ance on why ventilation is important for the Industry concerns
health of buildings and their occupants. The interim uplifts to Parts L and F of the
A commissioning sheet and checklist, in- building regulations and the introduction of
cluding design flow rates and maintenance Part O received a tepid response from built
requirements, should also be provided when environment professionals.
ventilation systems are installed. Reacting to the news, RIBA president
Simon Allford said: ‘These uplifts will bring
Looking ahead: Future Buildings Standard us one step closer to decarbonisation, and we
To be implemented in 2025, the Future Build- welcome that. The new minimum standards
tightened, from 0.28W/m²K to 0.18W/m²K; ings Standard will aim to produce non-do- for fabric efficiency and new Part O signal
and for windows and rooflights from 1.6, or mestic buildings running on low-carbon heat real progress, but without regulation of actu-
Window Energy Rating Band C, to 1.4 or with the best possible fabric standards. No al energy use, the built environment will not
Band B. The U-value for doors is cut from 1.8 further energy efficiency retrofit work will decarbonise at the rate required. Regulations
to 1.4. However, fire doors are permitted to be necessary to make buildings zero-carbon must continue to tighten. I look forward to
meet a U-value of 1.8 W/m²K, in line with as the electricity grid decarbonizes. seeing the full document and working with
previous standards. A full technical consultation on the Fu- the government to ensure the 2025 Future
The government has adopted a ‘full fabric ture Buildings Standard is planned to start Homes and Buildings Standard addresses
specification’ for setting the level of the Fab- in 2023, including proposals for the technical the urgency of the task at hand.’
ric Energy Efficiency Standard in new homes detail and associated draft guidance. Speaking on behalf of LETI, Alex John-
under Part L. This is despite the fact that al- stone, architect at Haworth Tompkins, said:
most half of respondents to the consultation ‘The interim uplift to Part L does not tally
(49.8%) wanted a higher FEES than either of with what the industry knows is critical to
the options on the table. Extensions to exist- enable significant reduction in carbon emis- Image: Total Synergy client Laurence Associates project:
ing properties must now adhere to the SAP sions in new buildings. Primary Energy has Gwel-An-Treth – Sennen, Cornwall.
method of compliance for metrics of fabric been introduced as a performance metric.
energy efficiency and primary energy. Ac- This is a confusing metric whose calcula-
cording to the government, this will ensure tion factors will change over time. LETI
that ‘direct electric heating systems are not proposes that Energy Use Intensity is used
used in unsuitable circumstances resulting
in high bills for householders’.
as the actual at-the-meter energy reading.
We need clear and meaningful metrics to Architects save time and money with
In the section on building services, wet prevent constructing new buildings that
space heating systems in existing domestic
buildings must be designed to operate with a
will require retrofit in order to meet net zero
targets.’
Synergy business and project management
maximum flow temperature of 55°C, as with He added: ‘Architects’ decisions for form
non-domestic buildings. and orientation of buildings will greatly
impact a building’s energy use. The regula- Total Synergy makes Synergy software (a cloud-based business and project
Part F: Standards for existing domestic tion is failing to provide a meaningful frame- management solution built with and for architects).
buildings work to drive design changes that will lead
A new requirement demands that when en- to necessary reductions in environmental See how Synergy saves you wasting billable hours on administration, and helps
ergy efficiency work is done, ventilation is impact.’ •
made no worse, in line with existing meas- Hard copies of the new Approved Documents
you deliver more profitable projects in this 15-minute, on-demand webinar.
ures for controlled services and fittings. are available from ribabooks.com
Visit totalsynergy.com/riba
52 Webinar 53
Fire safety
Safety changes leave more

Slowly and steadily a new safety regime in collaboration with Hilti. The bill is He also gave an indication of the culture
HILTI/ LUIS AYLLON

with a fresh set of roles, regulations and continuing its progress through parliament change that would be required. ‘Lots of
practices is being put into place for the and some measures are already being buildings fail from services penetration
questions than answers

construction industry. Although triggered implemented – notably the ‘gateway’ and, as architects, we generally don’t take
by the Grenfell Tower fire, the regime’s process at three stages of project delivery, much notice of that. In the future, we’re
impact will extend far beyond the high-rise which has its first gateway already in place. going to have to do that a lot more,’ he said,
residential buildings considered to post the Changes to the building regulations have adding, ‘We’ll be getting specialist passive
A RIBAJ/Hilti webinar looking at the impact of new safety greatest fire risk. ‘The gist of the Building also been introduced, although Duncan designers, like Hilti, involved a lot earlier’.
Safety Bill was to make fundamental commented pointedly, ‘Why did it take the That collaboration is already being
roles and regulations unearthed some of the implications for cultural changes to the built environment Grenfell disaster to make this change?’. explored in projects under construction, like
architects, and revealed a need for more investigation sector in relation to fire, structural and At the same time, she warned of the new Midlands Metropolitan University
public safety,’ says Jane Duncan, RIBA past potential changes on the horizon, with the Hospital, in Smethwick, which is designed
president and chair of the RIBA Expert government notably proposing alterations by a team led by HKS. Hilti has been
Advisory Group on Fire Safety, noting the to the operation of the Defective Premises involved in the project since its early stages,
wide reach of its proposals: ‘All buildings are Act that could see the limitation period for helping to create a standardised details
in scope of the bill and we need to be aware property owners and leaseholders to claim pack for passive fire protection. ‘Typical
of this.’ compensation for defective work extended design flow leads to engineering judgements
Below An artist’s impression This was one of many messages spelled from six to 15 years. ‘We are very worried for non-standard details and choices that
of the £600million Midlands
out in the online seminar, Fire safety in this could prompt claims against the design can be incorrect,’ explained Luis Ayllon,
Metropolitan University
Hospital in Smethwick,
practice – the Building Safety Bill and team,’ she said. engineering manager of Hilti Great Britain.
Birmingham by HKS the role of the principal designer, which Professional bodies across industry are Early engagement moved passive fire
Architects and Edward was the latest in a series of events about having to respond to the bill with action to protection up the design agenda, allowing
Williams Architects. fire safety, organised by the RIBA Journal raise members’ competence. ‘Competence worst case scenarios and limitations to be
is one of the biggest issues and affects Above A control explored and solutions ultimately identified.
everybody in the industry,’ said Duncan. installation was set up Firestopping early also means ensuring
The RIBA has mapped its direction on on site at the MMUH that the right supporting system is in place
education and continuing professional so firestop installers and that it is fire rated when it’s required, to
could check the precise
development in its framework, The Way ensure compliance.
installation procedures
Ahead, and its approach is evident in the for each application. ‘Early engagement will save a lot of
recently introduced RIBA Health and Safety engineering adjustments and remedial
Guide and online Health and Safety Test. solutions further down the line,’ said Ayllon.
The ARB will assume a new role, with There is evidence of that on the hospital
extra powers to monitor and assess the project. Typically, around half of passive
competence of architects throughout their fire protection applications in a project
career, ‘although everyone is talking about would require remedial solutions. Early
individual professions and roles and the engagement has allowed 90% of applications
competence required for those. Perhaps we at the hospital to use standard details, with
could talk about competence in terms of non-standard situations being dealt with
collaboration,’ suggested Duncan. using custom designs.
Architects, however, have a key part The seminar ended in a string of
to play, she stressed: ‘People are looking to questions from the audience, which proved
architects to lead.’ too many for the speakers to answer in the
Architects look set to assume the new allotted discussion time. The questions were
role of principal designer, for which core an indication of the concern around the
competence principles are being defined in subject and the appetite for answers, and of
SANDWELL AND WEST BIRMINGHAM NHS TRUST
the British Standards Institution’s emerging how much everyone has to learn. •
PAS 8671 framework. For individuals
daunted by the prospect of taking on this
role, Paul Bussey, senior technical consultant
at AHMM and a member of the RIBA Expert
Advisory Group on Fire Safety, sought to
put minds at rest. ‘We’ve been making the Why did it take the
analogy with the orchestra, where you have
a conductor to lead and facilitate the team, Grenfell disaster to
and they need a team to support them, so
you’re not going to be on your own.’ make this change?
54 Intelligence 55
Building performance
ing (during peak winter and summer condi- Left Getting the temperature right for
tions, full capacity and empty) a space is fraught with problems, but
the contract wording can make a lot of
vii) The building will perform at the intend-
difference.
Legal, regulatory & Procurement ed room temperature (or range of tempera-
statutory compliance & contracts tures) for its entire lifecycle.
If a standard form is followed with no
Feeling the heat

amendments, the contractor may have an
obligation to satisfy points one and two only.
Point three makes no explicit obligation for
the contractor to seek approval of the equip-
The performance gap can be reduced with little risk ment, although it is often drafted into the con-
if you can get the contract wording to fit expectations, tract or considered good practice. It would be
less likely to have an obligation to approve a
reducing inefficiencies and keeping everyone happy complete heating ‘system’.
Points four and five may also be consid-
ered good practice and operations and main-
tenance (O&M) manuals are common and
may include this information. However, the
quality of O&M manuals can vary drastically
from contract to contract. Ultimately, it is the
owner’s responsibility to procure an appro-
priate maintenance contract, but this may be
ISTOCK
driven by budget more than quality.
Common contract terms Points six and seven are considered the
Robert Eadie
A post occupancy evaluation can reduce

To demonstrate the relationship between
building performance and the language of
least likely to be an obligation of the contract.
However, they are often the real intentions
the owner’s obligation to detail the proce-
dure for the test and the expected outcome, Owners often overlook performance of a building would not nec-
essarily be considered a defect unless it was
building operational costs and increase oc-
cupant productivity. But what happens when
the contract, consider an intended room
temperature and how that intention might
of the building owner and set a considerably
higher standard than points one and two.
and passing it is a precondition to the Tak-
ing-Over Certificate. Therefore, it is vital questions of the building’s explicitly referred to in the construction con-
tract, such as a standard or specification. If it
operation until after

it shows a building is not performing to the be phrased. These are listed in the order they Some may think points six and seven too that the owner defines the detail of the Test was considered a defect, it may be difficult to
expectation of its original design? are most likely to occur while executing a onerous an obligation to place on a contractor. on Completion. If it fails to do so, the parties dispute, calculate and demonstrate a loss.
Building operational failures can be re- JCT standard form contract: But remember that a POE checks a building may have difficulties executing the contract. Similarly, failure in the operation, func-
garded as teething problems, common with
settling in, and are often blamed on poorly
i) The Contractor’s Proposal includes the
Employer’s Requirements intended room
is performing at an efficient temperature,
which could reduce its energy consumption
This type of contract is common in power
and utility projects, such as power plants and
the contract has been tion, or performance of a building would un-
likely be considered a defect in a lease unless
drafted contract requirements. The failure
of building owners and contractors to under-
temperature
ii) The Contractor’s Design Documents
by 30% for its lifecycle. This saving could
far eclipse the cost of installing the original
renewables – for example, wind turbines. The
mechanism ensures projects operate, func-
negotiated specified in a service level agreement (SLA).
By example, if a heating system was being
stand contract mechanisms is a leading cause were developed and include the intended system. tion and perform required by the owner. operated inefficiently by a tenant after being
for dispute in the construction industry. room temperature Further, consider the importance of a This type of contract is used less in com- ness needs and the actual intention for the commissioned by the contractor it would only
Building performance is traditionally iii) The installation and equipment were ap- more complex, critical system with multiple mercial building projects, despite common building. likely be considered a defect if the contract
measured on completion of the static works, proved and capable of satisfying the intended interfaces. For example, a basic commercial failures in the performance and operation When procuring a construction contract, documents or SLA were explicit on how effi-
the stage commonly referred to as commis- room temperature office block may have a huge range of com- of the building that may lead to significant building owners have near limitless contract ciently the system should operate.
sioning. But has innovation, such as the iv) The intended room temperature was plexity in systems, such as fire suppression or financial loss. types and clause options available relevant to Therefore, despite O&M guidance it is
methods and technology used to validate per- proven during commissioning building management system (BMS). Avoid- completion, handover and future operation. still common for building owners to be unfa-
formance, progressed more rapidly than the v) It has been demonstrated to the client how ing the actual intention for the building could Can stakeholders mitigate potential loss Contract negotiations are one of the first miliar with the operation of their building at
case law and legal interpretation associated to achieve the intended room temperature encourage a merry-go-round of buck-passing from performance gaps in a POE? and most important events when preparing completion – even for a basic operation such
with building performance? vi) The intended room temperature will be if the future operation falls into dispute. There is an opportunity to narrow the gap for building operations. Owners often over- as how to correctly and efficiently operate a
The future operation of a building is more proven during the extreme use of the build- In contrast with the JCT, the NEC stand- of knowledge and understanding between look questions of the building’s operation un- central heating system.
likely to fail as owners grow less familiar with ard form includes an explicate clause for tests building owner and contractor. Careful use til after the contract has been negotiated. In- If building owners are dissatisfied with
modern methods of construction, and more and inspections. Understandably, the NEC of language of the contract’s completions terweaving such complex variations into the the building’s systems interface and are un-
reliant on the language of the contract where
operation and performance are defined. Avoiding the actual intention does not provide the level of detail required
for testing, as this is generally specific to the
provisions can complement a building’s fu-
ture operation and performance.
contract at a later date often leads to disputes. aware of the extent of the building’s ineffi-
ciencies, there is likely little or no recourse
A POE case study by CIBSE found that
actual energy usage was 22% more than the of the building could building. It encourages building owners to
define the works, and expects them to have
Commercial building owners often con-
struct singular bespoke projects. Being gen-
Can poor operational performance be
considered a defect?
for a claim. However, the cost of running a
building inefficiently can be significant over
original design intent. The major causes were
identified as technical issues (such as the op- encourage a merry-go- the knowledge and understanding to do so.
Contracts from the International Fed-
erally less familiar with construction con-
tracts and building performance, they tend
Latent defects are those which are hidden or
unknown and usually become apparent after
the lifecycle of a building. •
Robert Eadie is a chartered building services
round of buck-passing
eration and performance of equipment) and eration of Consulting Engineers have a pre- to rely more heavily on consultants who may the defects’ liability period. engineer and associate technical director
a minor change in the building’s operation. scribed clause for Tests on Completion. It is be less familiar with both the owner’s busi- A failure in the operation, function, or of HKA Global
56 Guest content 57
HP
a larger vision – defining priorities such as well-served during 2020-21, while others laser-focused on it, and [the tool] is informed
growth, design, social impact, profit – that were still floundering. According to Forbes, by the practice area and the practitioners
relevant technologies can be researched and 97 per cent of employees now favour a themselves,’ says Joseph. Engaging staff
adopted in an organic, holistic way. hybrid working model, so flexibility will members early increases their adoption of
A practice that set out, from its inception become crucial to hiring and retaining new releases. Tech solutions also become
in 2014, to follow a flexible path driven talent throughout the industry. part of the client offering. ‘Our clients don’t
by tech solutions is Boston-based Saam Without ignoring the challenges to just come to us for beautiful and functional
Architecture. The profession is notorious for creative collaboration and communication architecture; we also help them make
long hours and scant respect for work-life that remote working entails, many business-savvy decisions,’ he stresses.
balance – particularly punishing for women practices anecdotally report that employees, While strategic technology planning
and those with childcare responsibilities. empowered to manage their own schedules, can require a significant investment, the
‘Whether they have families, a dog, want are proactive and responsive. Reduced effort pays off. As Lee puts it: ‘Firms that
to exercise in the middle of the day – people carbon footprint through minimised really embrace a regular process of looking
have these competing personal demands,’ commutes is also significant. at operations, process, the tools, how they
says Saam’s chief operating officer, architect The principle of letting a firm’s values approach projects, how they approach
Diana Ostberg, ‘and the architecture and aspirations drive tech decisions should business, how they do business development
industry historically has not been very good also apply to larger, established firms, … those are the firms that are going to
at allowing those things to happen during though the challenge may be greater. be most successful in the long term.’ If
normal office hours.’ Joseph Joseph, global director of design architects are responsible for the biggest
As a woman-owned small business, technology at international firm Gensler, challenge on the planet – making our built
Saam’s technology choices stemmed from explains how his team evaluates every environment sustainable and equitable –
this priority to be flexible. Employees are digital investment in light of the practice’s they need the tools to get there.
all equipped with laptops with a webcam larger goals, with a particular focus on HP large format print gives architects
and VPN connection; communication environmental calculation tools. ‘There is a way to collaborate with colleagues
happens via Slack and Teams; digital a general fascination that a tool will solve seamlessly, securely and with sustainability
whiteboard sessions occur via GoToMeeting; everything,’ he says. ‘But we always put in mind. This makes HP’s DesignJet and
connectivity and security are managed by a at the forefront that technology is just a PageWide XL range an essential tool
local IT consultancy; and ‘everyone from the means to an end.’ The practice develops tech for the ultimate task ahead: to achieve
CEO down has that same tech setup’, Ostberg solutions in-house – in collaboration with a just, inclusive and diverse living and
rounds off. Already enjoying a digitally colleagues (‘a hackathon’). ‘If you start with working environment. Let’s create a better
enabled remote culture, the practice was a core problem that you’re solving, you’re world, together. •
Building new ways In her podcast Architecture Disrupted,

US-based architecture business strategist
Je’Nen Chastain discusses some
of working
uncomfortable truths, which ring true
on both sides of the Atlantic: during the
pandemic, many firms ‘didn’t have the
infrastructure set up to support doing
“digital-first”, so there was a correlation to
As many architects have learned during the pandemic, a productivity going down’.
clear strategy that articulates a business’s larger vision can As was true of all businesses – not only
within the architecture, engineering and
prove vital in its strategy for adopting technology construction (AEC) sector – those that
embraced technology were quicker to get
back on their feet. Practices that actually
thrived, however, already had a robust
underpinning to their tech use: strategy.
An obvious approach perhaps, but one that is
surprisingly not universal. For more information please contact:
As Chastain’s co-host architect Isabella Jelinek
Evelyn Lee observes: ‘It really goes UK & I Marketing Manager
back to redefining your values and your Opposite HP Planet Partners Recycling Programme – scheduled
Large Format Printing | HP Graphics Solutions Business
organisation, and understanding how you pickup at reception desk. Mobile: +34 605796393
want to work together.’ Only by articulating Above HP DesignJet Studio lifestyle – smartphone fixed. Email: isabella.jelinek@hp.com
58 Guest content 59
HP
Meeting environmental concerns HP DesignJet marks 30 years

HP printers’ green credentials include energy efficiency and use of recycled materials The first wide-format printer for in-house use continues to be invaluable
Environmental concerns are understandably Left Box for delivery and The HP DesignJet has turned 30. This studio
rising to the top of the agenda for many collection service. workhorse – the fi rst wide-format printer HP DesignJet Printers
practices, prompted by client requirements, available for in-house use – continues to
industry standards, peers, competitors and enable architects and other professionals HP DesignJet
T790/T1300
HP DesignJet
T520/T120
HP DesignJet
T920/T1500/T2500
HP DesignJet
Z6600 / Z6800
T3500 / T7200
HP DesignJet
T730 / T830 / T930
T1530 / T2530
HP DesignJet
Z2600/Z5600
HP DesignJet
T830 24-in MFP
T1700 Printer series
HP DesignJet
Z6 Printer series
Z9+ Printer series
HP DesignJet
T125 Prtiner / T525 Printer
T2600 MFP / T1600 Printer
XL 3600 MFP
HP DesignJet
T200 Printer
T600 Prtiner
Studio Printer
HP DesignJet
Z6 Printer Pro Printer
Z9+ Pro Printer
the desires of employees. This November within the AEC industry to print large-
saw the built environment given a dedicated scale drawings, schematics, renderings, Speed up printing with
easy workflow up to
Compact, easy to use,
Wi-Fi. The most affordable
Top performance with
integrated stackert
Maximum productivity
Preparing to reshape the
Multifunction is reinvented with
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High-impact graphics -
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Connectivity and
security
More quality with
less inks
Experiences Fits the way you work
and where you work
Improve productivity at
highest quality in its
44-inch Large Format Printer technical production connectivity for greater mobility system reducing ink category
platform at COP26, with a half day dedicated and presentations with quality, precision
category and improved collaboration consumption to 20%
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
We were involved in the HP DesignJet printers help HP DesignJet printing First HP DesignJet HP Planet Partners is Eco-Carton ink cartridge – a
to discussing the issues affecting the and ease. And like any career-driven
Sichuan earthquake build the happiest place on technology helps New Jersey Printer using up to the #1 printer supplies carton-based ink cartridge
disaster recovery efforts earth – Disneyland Shanghai Search and Rescue save lives 30% recycled plastic recycling program in replaces plastic cartridges
the industry which provides significant
plastic and CO2e reductions.
sector, not least the 38 per cent of global professional hitting their 30s, the DesignJet
emissions that can be attributed to the continues to respond to sector changes, HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet
construction industry. staying relevant to the industry it serves by

500/800/5000 1500C Plus 110 100/130 4000 3100 Z6100 Z3200 Z6200/T7100/T2300
UK architects are already at the forefront progressing sustainably. Graphics production Higher productivity Expand your in-house Ultra-low cost 24-inch Exceptional colours and The most advanced photo Highest quality meets The most advanced First integrated
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of pushing for change. Last year the RIBA Unlike its predecessors – the
performance for attendance capabilities with embbeded gallery-quality prints ever in large format
workgroups spectrophotometer
2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010
launched the 2030 Climate Challenge – a cumbersome and slow-moving fl atbed

HP DesignJet printers HP DesignJet printing A wide variety of HP and the Kyoto Architect Michel Rojkind HP clients impressed by HP technology helps make Magnum photographer
restore Gaudi’s vision technologies are used to print HP media solutions in the International Culture uses HP solution to present fast implementation green the new gold at the Elliott Erwitt in May 2010
at Sagrada Familia never-seen-before photos of ‘The Science Museum of Foundation help preserve winning Tamayo Museum of design changes in 2009 Special Olympics World examines a large-format
Beatles’ 1964 American Debut Minnesota Japan's cultural heritage design in Mexico D.F. photographic quality Winter Games platinum test print of his
for the worldwide exhibition: ‘The iconic photograph
Beatles Backstage and Behind “USA. California. 1955.”
scheme assisting professionals to achieve friendly, is one small step towards a greener plotters of the 1970s and 80s, which relied
the Scenes’
net zero targets and to design with climate- practice. on a moveable arm and pen – the compact HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet HP DesignJet
conscious motivation. Alongside the Companies can contribute to the circular DesignJet harnessed HP’s innovative
Inkjet TIJ 2.0 650 Inkjet 200 2500CP 1000
Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) economy through their choice of office thermal inkjet technology to render line Easier, faster, Color Roll feed, First entry into large Higher quality
more affordable autoloader format for the at higher sppeds
and advocacy group Part Z, architectural equipment – for example using energy- drawings and graphics, in mono and colour,
graphics market
1991 1993 1994 1998 1999
industry bodies are seeking compulsory efficient printers that have recycled plastic with speed and accuracy.
The first HP DesignJet HP makes big impression AmericanOne repairs boat
was introduced as sponsor to football damage using HP DesignJet
World Cup 1998 755CM large-format printer
and continues competing in
the Louis Vuitton Cup
certification of whole-life carbon and parts or ink cartridges made from recycled From printing rare photos of the Beatles’
regulation of embodied carbon emissions, materials. Anticipating the need from the American debut, to digitising Kyoto’s visual
which account for half the carbon footprint AEC market, the HP DesignJet fulfils all heritage, since its arrival on the scene in
of the average building. Added to the LEED these criteria. 1991, the DesignJet has built an enviable Above HP DesignJet 30 chronology
and BREEAM certification systems, which Paper printouts remain an integral portfolio as the facilitator of countless
focus on user wellbeing and operational part of the design office’s tools, and even architectural and design endeavours. The from recycled materials and producing and transportation, electricity, paper,
emissions, such a change would be another these are responding to the climate crisis. HP DesignJet 1500C Plus, for instance, products destined to be recycled at end and cartridge use, in accordance with the
stride towards a greener AEC industry. with large-scale 3D printing (itself an HP DesignJet large-format printers, which was the technology of choice for the team of life. Consequently, the company been CarbonNeutral Protocol; and this is paving
Yet while such a step relies on industry that is set to explode from are certified as energy efficient, use up to working on Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in 2001. ranked top in Newsweek’s America’s Most the way for other HP products. As the
government intervention for rules to $3 million in 2019 to $1.575 billion by 2024 30 per cent recycled plastic, which reduces In 2006, Michel Rojkind and BIG used the Responsible Companies list for two years design industry turns its focus to saving the
change – and the government’s own net- – an annual growth of 245.9 per cent – and carbon emissions by 7.3 tons per year. In HP DesignJet 3100 to present their winning in a row – 2020 and 2021 – on account of its environment, HP continues to innovate to
zero strategy overlooks embodied carbon a technology that HP is also developing); addition, the DesignJet Studio is certified design for the Tamayo Museum, Mexico DF. sustainability ethos. support this endeavour. •
emissions from the construction supply using offsite modular construction and as net carbon neutral with HP offsetting HP DesignJet T-series technical plotters In terms of the DesignJet, in 2016,
chain in favour of operational heating and local labour; investigating the possibilities its carbon emissions. Such features enable were used in the Sichuan earthquake the T2600 benefited from a 20 per cent
electricity – architects can enact change of AI and machine learning and its design teams to maintain productivity recovery efforts in 2013. In happier reduction in ink usage despite being a
in various ways, be it through designing integration with BIM for carbon analytics and collaboration with tools designed with circumstances, Disneyland Shanghai was six-colour printer. In 2017 the T1700 was
sustainably (material choices, building and predictions; and anticipating buildings’ sustainability in mind. And with the rise also designed using HP plotters. the fi rst in the range to comprise 30 per
methods) and in the way they operate (how future use and end of life options. Such in hybrid remote working, technology such HP’s DesignJet technology has evolved cent recycled plastic and has continued to
a practice is managed and equipped). New considerations are becoming matters of as HP Click can contribute to an easier, in line with the way that architects improve since then. In 2020, the HP Planet
opportunities arising from the convergence best practice for any designer who takes more collaborative workflow, taking up and designers work, catering to usage Partners initiative was the industry’s
of practices’ virtual and physical lives as sustainability seriously. less resource overall; it enables users to requirements for paper size (from A4 to premier supplies recycling program, and
a result of the pandemic are helping to But like everything else, sustainability print multi-size A3/B, A1/D or A0/E paper A0), cutting and scanning functionality, most recently, the Eco Carton ink cartridge
accomplish this. begins at home. Practices’ own operational sizes without needing to switch the media mobility, colour, ink longevity, speed has done away with the need for plastic,
In terms of designing sustainable procedures and day-to-day office lives also source manually. and precision. in favour of carton, significantly reducing For more information please contact:
buildings, the opportunities are huge. They require scrutiny. Without it, they could Throughout its history HP has dedicated Crucially, one such area is sustainability. plastic waste and CO2 emissions. The HP Isabella Jelinek
include renewable and sustainable material easily become subordinated to the larger itself to improving its environmental As architects work dedicatedly to reducing DesignJet Studio Printer was the fi rst in UK & I Marketing Manager
choices; specifying environmentally concerns of the building projects themselves. offering and it continues to strive to the impact of both projects and practices, the series for which HP offset the remaining Large Format Printing | HP Graphics Solutions Business
conscious products; choosing low-impact Ensuring the studio – or, these days, the offer its clients – architects – the tools to technology must support this vision. carbon impact of raw material extraction Mobile: +34 605796393
construction methods; experimentation home office setup – is environmentally design sustainably. • HP has a long history of manufacturing, and processing, printer manufacturing Email: isabella.jelinek@hp.com
My studio, my city Richard Rogers and Chris Wilkinson 61
01 - 03 March 2022 – Balkrishna Doshi – obituaries
ExCeL, London 68 72
The future of the

built environment
Join us at Futurebuild 2022
Register now
Futurebuild is the home of exhibition alongside the world
innovation and the essential class knowledge programme
platform connecting specifiers, will inspire the change needed Given that Sue Barr is head of photography at the the sublime, ‘barely held terrors’ of those hinterlands. Sue Barr
decision makers and disruptors to propel the construction AA School with a PhD specialising in readings of And, like a photographic bell, book and candle, these Die Streifen. Duisburg,
2019
with major brands and start- industry to net-zero. Now is the the modern motorway via the romantic lens of the tools held potential evil at bay in the twilight before
Silvestri Bicam with
ups from across the built time for you to act, join your sublime, her decision to leave the German in-laws on the sun rose. Perhaps her determination was a shield, Phase One digital back
New Year’s Day for a solo Ruhr road trip might look she says, or ‘seeing a woman with a camera at crack of
environment. The curated industry by registering today. and 90mm lens.
like a busman’s holiday. Her book ‘The Architecture dawn breaks perceived notions of normality’. Either
of Transit’ had already exposed her to the belly of the way, her sublime bore her no existential fear.
beast, with forays to document the shadowy, forgotten This shot, in Duisburg’s port area, is really as
spaces beneath Italy’s huge oversailing autostradas desolate as it looks. Barr parked up nearby, drawn
– where it all started – and Germany, where the type to the view’s flat inscrutability that she felt was
reaches its continental apotheosis. ‘spatially reverberant;’ and out of the depth of the
Armed with plate camera, digital adaptor, hood overpass’ darkness and the icy cold, she was gifted a
and tripod she strode out boldly; a woman alone, into lick of candy-coloured popsicle. • Jan-Carlos Kucharek

68 Buildings Culture 63
Xxxxxxx Leader
‘It is not pomodern- yle in-jokes of

architeural fragments but a levity,
humour and a bur of colour’
In praise of caprice
...listen in Eleanor Young defies the cold reality
of winter to enjoy archite ural
Conversations with leading fantasy – and is cheered by today’s
architects, talking about their work, young pra ices’ real brio
their clients, themselves. Coffee, music and the deep shade of Italian piazzas post Grenfell cladding reparation, even if it was only ONLY ON RIBAJ.COM
twist into one in a sunny corner of my brain. They dented by the pandemic). That generation includes
How do we as
Their obsessions, how they operate are thrown together by mixed up memories and the many you will have seen on these pages – Office
architects enable
pleasure of hard Cs and long Os – mercato, staccato, S&M, nimtim, CAN, McCloy + Muchemwa. They are
and where it goes right (and wrong) Livorno, cappuccino. Capriccio belongs there too. working on smaller projects, extensions, the public the community to
In art we see capricci from masters of architectural
fragments, Gandy or Piranesi throwing together
realm – they have wide frames of reference and have
not been diverted by huge contracts and impossible
have a real say in
Now available on ribaj.com walls and arches, draping vegetal fronds across and practice growth. the design? Too
crumbling stones with a certain whimsy. I came These are the ones dancing architecture into the often we are not
across capriccio in praise for the work of Rob Krier – future. They use cheap tricks and imagination, of
Jo Wright, Nick Jackson and sometimes labelled as a postmodernist or new urbanist necessity. Richard Rogers would have been proud
really confronted
Christina Cox of Arup on getting out but most easily recognised as an adherent of classicism. of the way they throw colour at structure, but they by how it will be
there with clients, masterplanning He does indeed collage places together in his drawings
to show how a square or street might work with a
demand pattern too. And texture. They work with flat
panels and use cutouts rather than trying to model
to live somewhere
fine grain into Battersea, delivering different type of enclosure, with an open facade or a costly three-dimensional forms. Following this decades after
for Herzog & de Meuron, and setting stepped back wall. But capriccio is equally applied to the exuberant path is not the route most architects have we’ve left
monumental classical orders punctuated with posing the freedom, or inclination, to take. But inserting Why Madeleine
the pace on retrofit. Plus the blisters torsos that he sculpted for a Bilbao building in 2011. fragments of context, delight and decoration – in tiles, Kessler urges all
architects to read
of site visits and starting your career Capriccio is also defined as caper or prank, a
certain naughty fun. That is what I see on that Bilbao
shapes, colours... whatever way you see fit – gives
back the fun, the capriccio, placing lightness and Caleb Femi’s Poor:
with a baked bean factory. building. And that is what is coming back right now architecture in that sunny part of our brain. •
ribaj.com/madeleine-
kessler-poor
in architecture. It is not postmodern-style in-jokes
of architectural fragments but a sense of levity, a
Eric Parry and Lee Higson of humour and a burst of colour. In music, a tiny dot
Eric Parry Architects on material above the note can signal a whole change in pace and
fun as a waltz swings into action with staccato notes
innovation, avoiding wallpaper and subverting and enlivening it, turning it into a dance.
why Parry gets sore knuckles when
DIRK LINDNER FOR ERIC PARRY ARCHITECTS
The national – primarily city centre – impact of

the brick conservatism that has been called the new
he visits site. And the glamorous side London vernacular has latterly been subverted by
of toilet specifications. decorative courses, hit and miss brickwork and even
STEPHANIE WUNDERLICH
arches. These are the bowler-hatted gents breaking
for a little jig as they flood over Waterloo Bridge.
Find RIBAJ meets on But there is a generation of practices who missed
MEGAN TAYLOR
your podcast app and even riding the coat tails of the high density housing
bubble (which will surely burst following Michael
at ribaj.com/meets
Left Colour, pattern and
Supported by Gove’s statement on developer’s responsibility for texture from nimtim.
The RIBA Journal March 2019 ribaj.com ribaj.com The RIBA Journal February 2022
64 Culture Culture 65
Opinion President
Innovation alone won’t

halt the climate crisis We need to talk
The passing of some big names in 2021 reminds
Only with colleive empowerment can archites us of our fleeting impa : working together is
implement the required solutions, says Charlie Edmonds key to making a difference, says Simon Allford
COP26 was a failure. The UN climate summit was damages to livelihoods and infrastructure in poorer DELVE DEEPER Last year was tough for many, for many different
STEVE MAYES
Chris Wilkinson’s
hailed as our ‘last best chance’ to address the climate countries. Unsurprisingly, this call for climate This topic is too large to reasons. The world of architecture sadly lost a Millennium Bridge,
crisis but what transpired was a series of compromises justice was blocked by the UK, EU and USA – nations do it justice in a short number of key figures, all of whom had been closely Gateshead.
by centralised political power in deference to fossil- that have profited extensively from the legacy of column. I’d recommend connected with the RIBA during their careers. In
fuel capital. A report from Climate Action Tracker colonialism, contemporary extractive economics and anyone who is eager October Owen Luder – the brutalist architect and
found that policies in the wake of COP26 will lead to the carbon emissions that have resulted. to delve more deeply twice RIBA President. In November Oriol Bohigas
a global temperature increase of 2.7°C – resulting in In her piece All Design Is Political, Not All Politics to read Billy Fleming’s of MBM – whose practice was heavily involved in the
more frequent extreme weather events, a devastating Is Design, Leijia Hanrahan critiques the architectural comprehensive essay urban renaissance of Barcelona, leading to the city’s
loss in biodiversity and exacerbated global poverty. tendency to centre our work within the midst of social on the role of landscape receipt of the 1999 Royal Gold Medal. In December
The built environment is responsible for 40 per and political struggle. She encourages architects to see architecture in the climate we lost Chris Wilkinson – whose practice won the
cent of carbon emissions, so it has never been more their profession for what it is, in all of its potential and movement, and Kate Stirling Prize twice, and Richard Rogers – whose
urgent for architects to engage with societal change. limitations, while also having the confidence to look Wagner’s Letter to a practice did the same, while he himself won many
Despite this, the climate crisis is too often treated as beyond their profession. As architects campaign for Young Architect. personal awards including the Royal Gold Medal. As
nothing more than a ‘design challenge’. As part of climate action, it is essential to keep these limitations I write this column I also learn of the passing of Max outcome of the pandemic is that we have had some
its Design for Planet initiative, the Design Council in mind. We must campaign not only for technical Fordham, another visionary who will be remembered time – as the world slowed – to think of our place in it.
released a video promoting the role of design in solutions, but also for the collective empowerment as a pioneer of sustainable design and engineering. And in light of COP26 we must think how we might
addressing the climate crisis. Over a backdrop of and equity required to implement those solutions. I am sure this is not statistically unusual but it did contribute differently to the flight called ‘Spaceship
swelling strings and drone footage, designers were The ‘typical architect’ may emit 162 American feel like a sudden winter flurry of losses of friends Earth’. Of course not all have the luxury of taking
presented as the group that could ‘start solving lifestyles of carbon emissions, but if they are not and colleagues and architects of great note. But stock and reflecting – the hospitality sector, health
some of these big climate challenges’ possessing ‘the empowered to campaign for systems change, they will reflecting on their legacies was also a reminder of the and care services have been hit very hard and – as all
power and a responsibility to address the climate remain an instrument of capital investment. importance of pursuing ideas with conviction – not who have started a practice know – just keeping in
crisis’. This video exemplifies a broader trend in the The climate crisis is an existential threat, but only in the teaching and practice of architecture but business is a an all-consuming task.
creative industries: presenting a depoliticised role for one that can be resolved through a just and equitable in greater engagement in the collaborative design of a The flurry of losses from our profession is a
designers in the climate crisis, as technocratic actors economic transition. For this to happen, we need better world. powerful reminder to make the best of our time. We
pursuing the silver bullet of climate innovation. mass popular action to influence centralised political Indeed, the role that architecture and design play will each have our own view of what is our best. On
During COP26, architect Enlai Hooi claimed the power. The organisation of architectural workers can in rethinking how we live in our cities, and how we an operational level for me it remains about trying
typical architect produces ‘162 American lifestyles’ be a step towards this future, but first the profession connect in the virtual and real worlds, is ever more to focus on what I think I can do to best improve the
worth of carbon emissions throughout their career. must accept that addressing issues of labour and a topic of conversation. Covid has forced everyone quality of my life – better time management, less
Yet the typical architect possesses little-to-no equity are fundamental to effective climate action. • to reconsider how they work, travel and live. This emails (received and sent), more focus on the things
agency in determining how they work or, perhaps Charlie Edmonds is co-founder of Future Architects Front reflection is useful – essential even. And one positive that I actually enjoy doing: thinking strategically
more importantly, for whom they work. As much and a designer at Civic Square about design challenges at all scales, spending time RETROFITTING
as we might like to believe otherwise, the impetus with friends and family – and not taking the loss of a ENGLAND’S INTER-WAR
of architectural work is directed according to the football match or The Ashes to heart! SUBURBS
interests of private clientele and capital investment. As a profession there is much for us all to do. Post- The RIBA’s latest report,
This contradiction of intent vs agency is potentially Grenfell, post-Covid, post-COP. You will all have Hero Homes – retrofitting
the most significant limiting factor for architects’ set out your own ambitions in one way or another, England’s inter-war
capacity to mitigate climate crisis. for yourself, your practice, your life, and I wish you suburbs, urges the
Despite its many failings, COP26 did demonstrate every success in delivering on them as best you can. government to prioritise
PORTRAIT STEPHANIE WUNDERLICH
PORTRAIT STEPHANIE WUNDERLICH

that any work to address the climate crisis that does All I will note is that working together we can achieve retrofitting of inter-war
not also address equity is incomplete and insufficient. a great deal more than working apart. Indeed if we housing. This is essential
This lesson did not come from world leaders or even are each to fulfil any of our no doubt many ambitions if the UK is to meet its
the event organisers but from activist groups and Studio Bark demanding this year, it will be because we worked more commitments on net-zero
RICHARD BRYANT
concrete action as part
the global south. These groups campaigned for the collaboratively – and that includes realising that and raising families out of
NICK NEWMAN
of an ACAN coordinated Maggie’s Centre,

creation of a Loss and Damage fund, which would campaign on COP26
proactive discussions and differing opinions are the fuel poverty.
Hammersmith by
have made wealthy countries, which have created Built Environment Day, Richard Rogers.
first step to establishing common ground. Debate and Visit architecture.com to
the vast majority of carbon emissions, liable for the November 2021. discourse are key to designing a better future. • read the full report
66 Guest content 67
INCA
INCA – showcasing the best in

Left The New Build many: part of the new Edrich and Compton
Scheme with a Brick stands at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Finish was won for
Ecomin 400 was recommended by
external wall insulation

Howard Gardens in
Cardiff, providing superb
Alsecco as a system to address design
student accommodation. challenges encountered on this prestigious
The installer is Build- scheme. The system was applied to the
Therm with the system external facades of the concession pods on
The INCA Awards highlight the best projects to make use of external wall insulation, with designer SPSenvirowall.
the new stands at the iconic home of cricket.
Alsecco was contacted when it became
winners including a Hindu temple, student housing and concession pods at Lord’s clear that its original cladding proposal
of forming tight and sweeping curves on
the new stands would not work. Alsecco’s
the client wishing to match the features Ecomin 400 system, incorporating fluted
of an Indian temple. Careful consideration white ceramic tiles, was selected to achieve
was necessary to ensure the EWI system the desired effect of a striking approach to
achieved the desired u-value of 0.24 W/m2K, the spectator stands alongside the practice
while emulating the natural stone effect nets and playing area, with equal attention
within a traditional place of worship. given to both the front and rear of the stands.
Using preformed insulation shapes, the The ceramic walls of the new stands,
approved installer worked to the Dryvit positioned either side of the media centre,
specification, achieving a serene building for Having had experience with previous needed to completely match the curvature
members of Anoopam Mission. phases of the build, SPSenvirowall was able of the spectacular white roofs. The SFS
Cayleigh Shanks of Dryvit called it ‘a to meet the challenge of colour matching system was faceted, so the roof lines had to
fascinating project to be involved in’, adding: the brick slips for the third phase. Flexible provide the datum for the exterior walls.
‘I not only discovered what can be achieved brick slips are an excellent alternative Using string lines ensured exact positioning.
with Dryvit Shapes, but also uncovered to traditional bricks and, as in this case, Lamella mineral wool boards were used
an understanding of a different culture. an ideal solution for developments with to convert the faceted cement particle
The building needed to reflect the internal limited space. They boast an A2-s1,d0 fire- sheathing boards into a smooth curve. As a
atmosphere – quality workmanship and rated classification in accordance with BS result, the expertly completed Ecomin 400
tranquillity. Outsulation enables existing EN13501-1 for external cladding. system curves beautifully to complement
buildings to meet stringent energy efficiency The building’s facade highlights brick the white roof coverings and architectural
requirements and, the mission being a slip colours Red Bradgate Claret and ironmongery, as well as contrasting with the
charitable organisation, cost efficiencies Staffordshire Blue, expertly matched by grey flashings and wall panels.
INCA, the Insulated Render and Cladding Above Winner of the INCA New Build Scheme with a were an important consideration. Offering specialists. Multiple brick colours from INCA invites any architects involved in
Association, is celebrating its 40th year Render Finish is the Anoopam Mission in Uxbridge. a Dryvit speciality finish enabled the SPSenvirowall’s extensive brick slip range a scheme using external wall insulation to
The EWI system designer is Dryvit.
and is now established as the leading architect to replicate a limestone finish at a mean the building is in keeping with the contact the system designer or installer to
Above and below The innovative design of the new
organisation representing the external wall fraction of the cost.’ aesthetics of the surrounding area. concession pods at Lord’s Cricket Ground bowled
consider submitting entries for next year’s
insulation industry. Technical standards prominent building methods, such as In the category of New Build Project with The winner in the Architectural Design over the judges to pick up the Architectural Design awards, and entries promise to be as varied,
and excellent workmanship are core to timber frame, insulated concrete formwork a Brick Finish, the award went to Howard category is a building that will be seen by Award. The EWI system designer is Alsecco UK. bold and innovative as those of 2021. •
INCA’s values and the recent INCA Awards (ICF) and offsite construction, can also Gardens, a brand new £20 million student
showcased the industry’s best projects benefit from the use of EWI. Designers accommodation development in Cardiff. It
completed in the previous 12 months. of EWI systems provide project-specific offers 390 bedrooms conveniently close to
The winning projects demonstrate the specifications outlining the adhesive and the city centre within four and five-storey
tremendous variety of schemes carried out mechanical fixings of the insulation boards. apartment blocks and a focal point 11-storey
in both the new-build and refurbishment Systems are finished with either high-grade building with courtyard surround.
sectors, providing architects with an decorative coatings or brick slip finishes. SPSenvirowall was invited to propose
extensive palette of innovative finishes from Winner of this year’s New Build Scheme an external wall insulation system fixed to
which to choose. with a Render Finish is the stunning a hybrid steel frame and SFS project. The
External wall insulation (EWI) is a Anoopam Mission in Uxbridge, west London, selected system was Wall System 1, expertly
technology employing insulation boards completed in 2020. The architect and client installed by Build-Therm Services, an INCA
fixed to the sheathing layer of new-build specified Dryvit’s Outsulation system member. 150mm mineral wool insulation
schemes built with steel framing or with combined with a limestone texture finish, was used across 3,000m2 of external
a concrete frame with structural steel selected for its long-term durability, energy façade and completed with SPSenvirowall
framing (SFS) infill, or to masonry walls efficiency and adaptability. SpeedySlip flexible bricks creating a Please visit inca-ltd.org.uk for a list of system design,
in a refurbishment setting. Beyond these An important consideration was the superior finish with perfect consistency contractor and associate members as well as our
common construction types, other less finished aesthetics of the building with throughout. Knowledge Hub for technical support and documentation.
68 Culture 69
Profile
India based Balkrishna Doshi will be awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal
in April. He gave Eleanor Young a rare insight into how Ahmedabad and
his udio there taught him the importance of sound and silence to design,
about flexibility and rejoicing, and putting people fir
Man of
Portrait: Vinay Panjwani
the people
Eleanor Young How has your home city influenced I was also questioning identity of a workplace at
you? that time. Should it look like an office? What is the
Balkrishna Doshi I started my office in the old Indian nature of office? What is the nature of the workplace
city of Ahmedabad, founded in 1411. It was right in that you enjoy?
the centre, surrounded by narrow streets, crowded While designing Sangath, I was constantly
with people and shops. Everything was mixed. searching for ways to modulate light, create warmth,
On the other hand I was living in a very quiet place comfort and moods through manipulation of space,
almost on the outskirts while working in this very play of scales and movement. I was asking myself
dense area. The only difference to now is that 40-odd some very fundamental questions. How do you feel
years ago there were not many cars. There were camel the natural light? What makes you feel comfortable?
carts, some elephants, bicycles and people walking. How can one sense the rain/heat from inside a space?
While working at the drawing board I was constantly These questions intrigue me still today.
surrounded by sound. But I was also thinking about Also at that time I was working on economical
something else, of silence. housing models. I was possessed by a desire to
So really the backdrop to my workspace was very build with minimum resources, using economical
Balkrishna Doshi at
his Sangath Studio,
good because it had lot of human qualities – social, materials and local craft and create a climatically
Ahmedabad in cultural, emotional. It made me think about people sound building. So I went to various construction
December 2021. and the surroundings all the time. But then when I sites and factory outlets to get discarded stones and
went home I was looking at quietness. broken tiles, and made the landscape flooring and the
EY Tell me about your studio, Sangath. You have 60 china mosaic on the vault. The Vault at Sangath was
staff there now, it must have been quite different insulated with ceramic fuses with air trapped inside.
when you set it up in 1981. This way the spaces became climatically controlled.
BD When I bought the land where my studio is today So for me it was an experiment, but today after
it was agricultural – about 3000 square yards, with over four decades I feel it has worked out well.
mango trees. So I said perhaps this is where I can EY Do you think you’ve taken many of those elements
create my dream world. Create a non building – a into other buildings? Have you been able to?
place where people would come and experience the BD Yes, but they were not so much, just in fragments.
silence. Then they could get lost in their own world. Others were perhaps a climate or windows study.
The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com The RIBA Journal February 2022
70 Culture 71
Profile
VASTUSHILPA FOUNDATION
JOHN PANICKER (C) VASTUSHILPA FOUNDATION
EY Tell me about the influence of Le Corbusier – I remember my I always ask my students to narrate and recollect and teaching? Why not create something to rejoice in? Clockwise from ethics. But when you are living and celebrating life
VINAY PANJWANI © VASTUSHILPA FOUNDATION (2)
FABIEN CHARUAU (C) VASTUSHILPA FOUNDATION

you worked with him in Paris and later India. How memories and impressions on the way to the studio So I planted many trees and made a forest at the edge opposite School of you forget the original purpose, and that is important.
important was that to what you did later?
first day at 35 Rue – in doing so they begin to describe the road in where students could rewind, rejoice and reflect. Architecture (1966),
We are teaching schools about function. But
BD Very, very important because Le Corbusier studio de Serves, when I Ahmedabad, many small lanes and galleries, the EY What would you consider your biggest success?
an early project for
the Centre of for
we are not teaching them about the flexibility and
was the first floor of an old aisle adjoining the chapel.
So that was one long studio space, my studio at
entered Monsieur traffic jam, the temple and the bells ringing, the street
vendors, the cars and cows, and the buildings around.
BD Aranya Housing was proposed primarily for
a section of society that included the so called
Environmental
Planning & Technology
multiple use of function.
The most interesting project I did was mixed
Sangath is not the same scale, but it is about 100ft long Corbusier’s office In this recollection they realize that there is diversity, Economically Weaker Sections and slum and in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, income housing. Despite opposition by my client
and 12ft wide with natural light. So you feel that you with a suitcase on there are choices and configurations of experiences. street dwellers from the city of Indore. It is truly India.
at the Life Insurance Housing Corporation project,
are in an atelier. I took all this from him.
Also, I clearly remember my first day at 35 Rue de
my head This leads to such conversations as: What is the
nature of space? What is the nature of activity? What
heartwarming to see how they have flourished
over the years. Some have built three floors, some
Shreyas Comprehensive
the ground floor has 1000ft² for the senior officer,
the upper floor has 450 for the staff and the top has
School Campus (1958-
Serves, when I entered Monsieur Corbusier’s office should be the nature of space? have sub-let the place. All their kids have access to 63), Ahmedabad, India. 70ft² for the support staff and each floor either gets a
with a suitcase on my head. I had crossed the road So I try to demonstrate, not necessarily through a sanitation and education. They no longer belong to terrace or a garden.
Life Insurance
without thinking about the traffic light and suddenly lab, but through a living place. the economically weaker section. I also left the margin/terrace open for future
Corporation Mixed
there was a huge honking, everybody braked and I EY You’ve worked on some projects over a long period, We architects build houses, but never think that Income Housing (1973),
expansion, so that the residents who are on the first
was saved. Looking back, my time at the atelier was 1966 to 2012 on the Centre of for Environmental they will be used in innumerable ways; unexpectedly. Abad, India. or second floor can add another room on the terrace.
almost like rebirth from being saved on the road to Planning & Technology in Ahmedabad. Do you bring At Aranya one can see and learn how families grow, And today it is great success even after four decades.
understanding the true meaning of architecture. So those life lessons to that? houses grow, friends grow, communities grow. That Aranya Low Cost I think this happened because I didn’t look at it as
Housing (1989), Indore,
even today every day I try to reinvent myself and look BD Evolution and growth with time is very important learning is the success of Aranya. architecture, I didn’t see it as building. For me, it was
India.
at everything as if for the first time. to me and my practice. I founded the School of EY What has been the biggest obstacle in your career? to provide spaces for people to rejoice in.
EY So you learnt a lot from an older generation. How Architecture in 1966. Today it is the CEPT University. BD The client (laughs). Sometimes it takes time – a Atira Guest House The purpose of my learning and teaching and
important is it to pass that on? When you talk to your It was built on a brick kiln. I could have chosen a couple of months – to convince them. (1958), Ahmedabad, everything is people oriented, society oriented,
young architects and students, what do you want to regular plot but I like challenges. The thought that And also our views as architects, we say ‘I have India. culture oriented. •
get across to them? constantly came to mind while designing it was why made a nice verandah but somebody has encroached’ Visit ribaj.com/doshi or subscribe to RIBAJ Meets on your
BD I say, do you know the phrase live life to the fullest? should an education campus only be about learning – we think encroaching or deviating is incorrect favourite podcast app to listen to this conversation in full
72 Obituary 73
Richard Rogers
‘How can we be expected to make an architect out of Liverpool Metropolitan of Human Rights building in Strasbourg, the Welsh
a man who cannot make two lines meet?’ demanded Cathedral. Tarn Parliament Building (Senedd), Bordeaux Law Courts,
one of Richard Rogers’ tutors at the AA in an worked with the Art and Terminal Five at Heathrow, the Leadenhall Building
1933 – 2021
awkward meeting with his parents, Nino and Dada. Architecture Department (‘Cheesegrater’) in the City, the International Towers
of the Roman Catholic
Rogers was indeed very bad at drawing, and it was in Sydney, British Museum Conservation Centre and
Archdiocese.
another tutor, James Gowan, who spotted that he got two Stirling Prize winners, Madrid Barajas airport’s
his then girlfriend Georgie Cheeseman to help. She terminal 4, and the Maggie’s Centre in London’s
Revolutionary, charismatic archite who overcame was briefly to be the only fully qualified architect on Hammersmith. Housing ranged from the apartments
early dyslexia to design the Pompidou in Paris and the letterhead of Team Four (making it five people for the mega-rich at One Hyde Park in London to the
Y-Cube modular hostel for the homeless. Theoretical
Lloyd’s of London and founded Team Four and RSHP, at first) when the practice set up in 1963 – the other
four being Rogers’ first wife Su Brumwell, his friend and unbuilt projects include his London As It Could
in an extraordinary career spanning seven decades Norman Foster whom he had met post-AA at Yale, Be plan shown at the Foster Rogers Stirling exhibition
and Georgie’s younger sister Wendy, later to become at the Royal Academy in 1986, and entries for the Right The Millennium first to receive official confirmation, broke the news
GRANT SMITH
Foster’s wife. Emotionally and professionally, Rogers Paternoster Square, Royal Opera House and National Dome was completed in on the phone: ‘Hello old man (‘Ciao, vecchio’). Are you
1999 for £42 million.
always needed a supportive gang around him, always Gallery extension competitions. sitting down?’ Rogers was nearly 38, Piano 33.
Its 320m diameter roof
found one, and always stayed friends with everyone. Rogers was known for his left-leaning politics and weighs less than the air
After all the design, constructional and political
He was born in Florence in 1933 to a long- publications, including A New London in 1992 with contained within. complexities of building the Pompidou Centre
established Anglo-Italian family forced to flee to Mark Fisher for the Labour Party, Cities for a Small (the moving floors concept had to go), it opened in
England as war approached. Enduring the brutal Planet in 1997 and Towards an Urban Renaissance 1977 and was immediately a huge popular success,
regime of a minor English boarding school, he always in 1999, the report of the Urban Task Force which he desite some early inevitable ‘oil refinery’ jibes due
struggled with dyslexia. His experiences there, chaired. He was knighted in 1991, made a life peer – to its brightly-coloured exposed external pipework.
and later in the army during National Service, left Lord Rogers of Riverside – in 1996, and a Companion Although Rogers admired the US architects whose
him with an abiding loathing of bullies and small- of Honour in 2008. Architectural honours include the work he had got to know doing his Masters at
mindedness. But it was helping out in the Milan RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1985), Praemium Imperiale Yale – Wright, Kahn, Rudolph, Schindler – and
atelier of his Italian architect cousin Ernesto Rogers (2000) Golden Lion for lifetime achievement from the the influence of Cedric Price and Archigram was
of BBPR fame, that first made him want to be an Venice Biennale (2006) and Pritzker Prize (2007). clear, the Pompidou took architecture in a totally
architect, in 1953. Not bad for a kid who couldn’t draw at architecture new direction, marking a clean break with the
Below Completed
The career that followed was extraordinary by any school. But some resisted him. He never won over heavyweight mainstream architecture of the time.
in 1986, the Lloyd’s
standards, including the Pompidou Centre in Paris Prince Charles, whom Rogers accused of getting him Building was grade A slump in work followed, and Rogers and Piano
with Renzo Piano, the Lloyd’s of London HQ, Channel turfed off the large Chelsea Barracks regeneration I listed in 2011, the parted professional company. Luckily, another
4 HQ, the Millennium Dome, the European Court project. And Private Eye’s ‘Piloti’ (the late Gavin youngest structure competition, for a new Lloyd’s of London building,
Stamp) mercilessly pilloried him as a permanently to obtain this status. came along. Rogers’ winning building is Gothic in its
Left Richard Rogers, Below Piano & Rogers’ English Heritage
‘suntanned and relaxed’ knighted architect. complexity, Piranesian in scale and drama, designed
Renzo Piano and Pompidou scheme, described it as
engineer Peter Rice on featuring generous Back at the start, Team Four had become a darling ‘universally recognised to erupt from the medieval City streets in glimpsed
the site of the Pompidou public spaces, was of the new colour supplements but work was patchy as one of the key fragments rather than in the round. It is now grade 1
Centre. selected from 681 at first. Among some more mainstream residential buildings of the modern listed. This – achieved with a team of young architects
competition entries. epoch’. including Eva Jiřičná and the late Chris Wilkinson
work it achieved two singular buildings: the 1964-7
house at Creek Vean in Cornwall for the Brumwell (see overleaf) – was his practice’s breakout building.
family and the proto-High Tech building in Swindon, 1986 was not only the year of Lloyd’s completion
Reliance Controls. Following its split in 1967 were and the RA show, but also of a notable biography
two more houses by Rogers and Brumwell, now joined by Bryan Appleyard. This homed in on the fact that
by John Young and Laurie Abbott: a 1968-9 house Rogers was, as much as a revolutionary architect, a
and studio for Humphrey Spender in Hertfordshire fascinating and magnetic personality. His huge house
and the 1969 house in Wimbledon for his own in Chelsea, venue for endless networking parties
parents – now refurbished as a study base for Harvard directed by his second wife Ruth, of River Café fame,
architecture students. With that he experimented became an artistic and political salon. In June 2020 he
with off-the-peg materials such as the insulated finally officially retired from the practice of Rogers
panels used on refrigerated trucks. It led to his more Stirk Harbour & Partners – by now based in the
radical ‘Zip-Up House’ study, highly prefabricated Leadenhall Building or ‘Cheesegrater’ which they had
and insulated, intended for mass production. designed with Graham Stirk as lead partner.
Then Renzo Piano, an Anglophile Genoese He is survived by second wife Ruthie, first wife Su
architect working on similar dreams of an Rogers née Brumwell, their sons Ben, Zad and Ab, his
RICHARD BRYANT
architectural future, asked to join in. Everyone son Roo with Ruthie (their other son Bo died in 2011),
KATSUHISA KIDA
PHOTO CREDIT
TONY EVANS
knows the story from there because of their win in the his younger brother Peter, and 13 grandchildren. •
1971 competition to build the multi-arts complex in Hugh Pearman
Paris that became the Pompidou Centre. Piano, the Richard Rogers in five key buildings: ribaj.com /rogers-five
Wanderer’s
74 Obituary Intelligence 75
Xxxxxxx
Personable, humani archite who united art and science in

elegant buildings across the world, from ations to Maggie’s,
Wonder
the Science Museum to Singapore’s Gardens of the Bay
Chris Wilkinson
IN MEMORIAM
George William Cartmell

ELECTED 1953, LANCASHIRE
1945 – 2021 J Brian Lambert

ELECTED 1954, STAFFORD
Chris Wilkinson’s belief that architecture bridges

art and science provided the fundamental ethos for
projects including the Earth Sciences Building in
Oxford, the Exeter University Forum and several
John William Combs
ELECTED 1962, SURREY
THE RESULTS
WilkinsonEyre, the practice he founded, and runs buildings for Queen Mary, University of London. His
Brian John Marshall
through the extensive catalogue of elegant, thrilling proudest achievement was the Maggie’s in Oxford ELECTED 1968, KENT
buildings it has produced over almost four decades. (2014), a cross-laminated timber structure raised on
Chris studied architecture at Regent Street piloti to make a treehouse in a wood. David Sheppard Cumming
Polytechnic in the early 1960s, contemporaneous with The practice’s second Stirling Prize win, Gateshead ELECTED 1992, NORFOLK Walking, or venturing outdoors, has become a Galvanizers Association is proud to continue its long
three of Pink Floyd. The expansive idealism of that Bridge (2002), gave it international visibility, and pa ime for many more of us over the pa two relationship with the RIBA. The Wanderer’s Wonder
time stayed with him, expressed by an interest in the subsequent work reflects a growing expertise in competition was born out of a need to celebrate, because
use of new technologies in architecture rather than super-high towers: the 104-storey Guangzhou
years. For some it has meant exploring the open of the pandemic, our newfound connection with our
psychedelic space rock – though he liked that too. IFC building was followed by more in Toronto and wilderness or rows of squidgy fields, for others local area. Simplicity, fun and playfulness were core
After spells with Denys Lasdun, Norman Foster, the City of London, and the newly complete One trudging the hard pavements of our towns and requirements of the competition.
Richard Rogers and Michael and Patty Hopkins, he Barangaroo in Sydney, inspired by interweaving Our relationship with the RIBA began with the
formed Chris Wilkinson Architects in 1983, aged 38. curved petals. The cooled conservatories at Gardens
cities. We launched this design ideas competition launch of the RIBA’s CPD Providers Network and
Early work included a boutique for Yves Saint Laurent. by the Bay in Singapore is perhaps WilkinsonEyre’s with the Galvanizers Association to seek proposals has continued through our annual GAGA awards.
Jim Eyre had worked with Chris at Hopkins and most representative international project – elegant for a building or ruure for re /recuperation This complements our remit of offering free advice to
joined him in 1985, forming a partnership in 1987. engineering and cross-disciplinary collaboration construction professionals on hot dip galvanizing (since
Since his student days, Chris had been interested being the essence of the practice Chris established.
that would enhance a walk, rural or urban. It could 1949), including design, specification and performance.
in long-span structures and the Miesian idea of That ethos also informed activities outside the fulfi l any funion at all so long as galvanized eel An important element of Wanderer’s Wonder is
universal space. His 1991 book Supersheds piqued practice. Chris took up visiting professorships was a primary material and it adopted circular its link with the production of Galvanized Steel and
the interest of Roland Paoletti, commissioning at Illinois Institute of Technology and Harvard Sustainable Construction: Solutions for a Circular
architect for the Jubilee Line Extension, which led to and, elected to the Royal Academy in 2006, he
economy principles. Economy. The guide makes clear how designing with
the practice’s Stratford Market Depot, completed in was a champion of hand drawing as a means of The response has been fanta ic. The circular principles in mind greatly reduces waste,
1998, and Stratford Station the following year. communicating a simple ‘beautiful idea’, clearly competition page piqued an intere in thousands maintenance and carbon burdens, while optimising the
Around the millennium, Chris pioneered a move expressed. He had an artist’s eye for an elegant line and use of raw materials and existing products.
into museum work, with projects including the Stirling was exacting in presenting projects with a memorable
of you and many of you entered too. We received an The standard of entries is hugely impressive and it
Prize-winning Magna Science Adventure Centre in image. Although he had reduced his time in the imaginative range of submissions, from an urban is heartening to see the time and effort that has gone
Rotherham, Explore at Bristol (now We the Curious), office in recent years, he remained closely involved book swap grotto to a farm regeneration silo, shelters into the production of the final material. The entrants
and the National Maritime Museum in Swansea. The in projects such as a masterplan for the Wellcome have demonstrated diversity of ideas, enthusiasm and
Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth (2013) was close to Genome Campus at Hinxton and the forthcoming
for an overnight ay, flexible-use portable kiosks the importance of connecting with our environment.
his heart, but it is perhaps the Challenge of Materials Dyson Art Gallery at Dodington. or proposals to ju have a brief sit down. We’ve
Gallery at the Science Museum, featuring a delicate His genial and personable nature endeared seen exquisite drawing too, although it was firmly Iqbal Johal, marketing manager, Galvanizers Association
suspension bridge made of glass planks and hundreds him to clients, collaborators and colleagues alike.
of wires with interactive sensors, that best sums up his Rooted in English high-tech, the practice’s output
decided during the judging that ideas trumped all.
approach to ‘bridging art and science’ – a mantra that has evolved into more poetic free expression, guided Here we celebrate our winner, who receives
also became the title of one of the practice monographs. by Chris’ instinct for clear-thinking and innovative £1,000, the three commended entrants, who each
With humanistic leanings, Chris was a keen problem-solving, matched by his ambition and quest For more information and images of the
advocate for education projects, which included the for adventure. He pushed us all to explore different To inform the RIBA of receive £250, as well as our shortli and longli . winners and shortlist visit ribaj.com
John Madejski Academy in Reading, one of the Blair design challenges and open up new possibilities. the death of a member, Thank you to our judges – and congratulations!
government’s exemplar Schools for the Future, and He is survived by his wife Diana, sister Liz, and please email membership.
ROB GREIG
four schools in Bristol that evolved its kit-of-parts children Zoë and Dominic. • services@riba.org with
approach. Later, we worked together on university Stafford Critchlow is a director at WilkinsonEyre details of next of kin Isabelle Priest, managing editor, RIBA Journal
76 Wanderer’s Wonder 77
Competition
WINNER EUAN HARDIE

JUDGES The Bodach’s steel roof The Scots have a word ‘stravaig’ that Left top The the great outdoors, while being sustainable
gives an abandoned house roughly translates as ‘to wander aimlessly’. Stravaiger brings through the use of standardised elements
new life as a shelter together galvanized
Euan Hardie’s winning proposal consists that can re-enter a circular economy, and
steel sheets and
Part II architectural assistant, Reiach & Hall Architects of two objects inspired by this word that fi xings around a being culturally sensitive and relevant.
sums up an existential idea about life as simple timber-framed ‘The relationship between the timber and
well as an idea about adventure in the bench structure the galvanized material is also really clear
Anna Liu, landscape of a wild country. and purposeful,’ explained Isabelle Priest.
founding director, Left below The
The fi rst part of the proposal is The Overall, the judges found the dual
Bodach’s corrugated
Tonkin Liu Stravaiger, a place to rest weary legs. galvanized steel roof proposal to be well resolved, experimental
Designed as a protective cupped hand, the sits on top of a timber in testing different scenarios and they found
structure consists of a series of metal planes structure to provide a the idea that the objects could become a
enclosing a simple stationary bench. frame that envelops family of interventions displaced across the
an abandoned house
The second is The Bodach – or ‘old man’ – Scottish landscape enjoyable.
and comprises an architectural hat that can
Jonathan Hagos, be built over and around abandoned houses
founding director, to make a shelter for an overnight stay or
Freehaus refuge from the elements. Many of Scotland’s
most beautiful places have these ruins,
reminders of a different way of life before
the Clearances. The Bodach gives them new
life in a familiar way, giving them a wrinkly
Garreth McMahon, roof with a lightweight structure.
co-founder and Both proposals are similar in tectonics.
director, MMAS Each uses a timber frame, of standard-
sized timbers, with simple galvanized steel
fi xings and footings and a skin of corrugated
galvanized steel sheets. They touch the
landscape lightly and could be completely
demountable, reusable or recyclable.
Iqbal Johal, Although there were some concerns
marketing manager, among the judges about the balance of
Galvanizers Association timber to galvanized steel, this proposal was
a standout winner that was difficult to beat.
‘This entry spoke to a sense of place
and an understanding of place,’ said judge
Jonathan Hagos. ‘It has a lightness that is
appropriate for the context. It reminds me
Isabelle Priest, of mnemonic devices – when you are in
managing editor, one place you are reminded of the other,
RIBA Journal (chair) creating a journey architecturally.’
Likewise, Garreth McMahon agreed:
Piers Taylor was unable ‘I loved all the gestures the entrant is
to attend on the day trying to put through. With both parts, the
The stravaiger
corrugated galvanized material is forming
a roof in the landscape that would be visible
Produced by the RIBA from about four to five miles away, playing
Journal in association with an intrinsic part in the overall idea.’
the Galvanizers Association The judges felt that the proposal provided
Supplement editor the balance between opportunity to enjoy
and the bodach

Isabelle Priest
Assistant editor
Michèle Woodger ‘This entry spoke to a
Designer Linda Byrne
Sub editor Sarah Cutforth sense of place and an The Stravaiger provides
a simple resting place
Cover image credit
Moiseenko Maksim understanding of place’ to admire the view
78 Wanderer’s Wonder 79
Competition
The project is designed as a light,
Resting point on Out of the green modular canopy that will enable use in good
weather and bad. It aims to reduce material
Scottish routes to a minimum and use recycled elements
COMMENDED
where possible. The roof is a galvanized steel
mesh, while a polycarbonate layer ensures
sunlight transmission and rain protection.
COMMENDED MATEUSZ MUSIAL The awning is supported by pillars

that double as downpipes, through which
ELENI BISMPIKI and architect, WXCA Architecture Office rainwater from the roof can be collected
in underground tanks to be used for plant
ANNA NIKOLAIDOU
watering. Its envelope of varying-length
Recent rises in property prices have led steel bars also evokes the image of rain.
to public space in cities becoming more The judges agreed the proposal provided
architects, Sto.a squeezed and deprioritised. However, the an ideal urban stopping point, with Garreth
pandemic has shown us how important it McMahon suggesting it could even become
is, providing refuge particularly for those a destination rather than just a place to
without much space of their own. stumble on. Jonathan Hagos felt that the
Out of the Green develops a replicable project ‘dealt with socio-economic issues
scheme for the urban wanderer on an more than other schemes on the longlist’.
underdeveloped infi ll site of low investment Anna Liu enjoyed how ‘it channels attention
value. With relatively small fi nancial outlay, into forgotten spaces and is quite mysterious,
Above The modular Below The steel bars
it turns the site into a local meeting place canopy makes use of that screen the space
like a screened private space between
that encourages biodiversity and shelter for galvanized steel mesh also help to create a wasteland and public realm’, and the way ‘it
animals, while requiring little maintenance. and polycarbonate image of rain could be applicable to many urban corners’.
This climbable shelter in the Scottish the wind (a feature likened to Heatherwick
Highlands is a 4.5m structure mimicking Studio’s Seed Cathedral at Expo 2010 by
the radial symmetrical geometry of a thistle. judge Jonathan Hagos).
A galvanized steel spiral staircase leads the The majority of the thistle – its structure
wanderer up to a resting area, where woven and cladding – is galvanized steel; it is
metal screens provide safety and visual designed to be eventually recycled or reused.
permeability across the countryside. Initially reticent about its size (more
The screens are supported by galvanized of a landmark than a chance encounter),
steel rods connecting to the roof and floor. structural viability and literalness, the
Galvanized steel beams support the timber judges arrived at a revised opinion.
decking, carrying and transferring the ‘I enjoyed the boldness of the gesture,’
structure’s weight towards the central said Hagos. ‘There is something wonderful
column. A domed roof, clad in local, long- about… changing your perspective while on
lasting and aesthetically pleasing Scottish a journey, or changing your view and your
larch shingles, offers shelter. vantage point looking over the landscape.’
The roof of the flowerhead is covered in ‘I liked the minimal impact on the
transparent flexible fibre rods with mini ground and the elevated view; you can
Above Lightweight and Top right The raised
flexible fibre rods on resting area offers an
photovoltaic panels at the ends, which feed picture it in tree foliage and hear the
the roof support mini alternative view of the the lighting system. These droop naturally noises of the surrounding trees,’ said
photovoltaic panels surrounding countryside under gravity, and, like a seedhead, rustle in Garreth McMahon.
80 Wanderer’s Wonder Culture 81
Competition Opportunities
Armadillo shelter
ALSO ON SHORTLIST
(d)well, Harpham, Yorkshire Opportunities
COMMENDED
George Williams and
Joseph Richard Cox
A monocoque CLT structure
knock
clad in corrugated galvanized The RIBA Journal has launched an
FRANCIS MC SHANE steel with an oculus inspired
by local wells as part of a
online opportunities hub, bringing
architect, Mc Shane Architect regenerative scheme for you news of the latest work on offer
farmers’ wellbeing
Leaning gate,
various locations
Francis Mc Shane’s folding shelter – which Simon Lanyon-Hogg and The RIBA Journal is launching an online
creases like an armadillo’s armature – is Rebecca Disney Opportunities Hub. It will be the first news site for
assembled from a series of 6mm-thick, A simple galvanized steel competitions run by RIBA Competitions as well
3.7m 2 galvanized steel panels, fi xed tree as a place to pause, as bringing together tenders and competitions,
together with nuts, bolts and washers. Its rest and eat, with a Braille contracts and calls for interest, public or not, to help
maximum weight is 17.5kg – deliberately description of the view you evaluate what to bid for.
under the 25kg maximum a single adult is We all know that finding the right work is critical
recommended to lift regularly.
Book Swap Grotto, to practices flourishing. The last RIBA Future Trends
This portable concept is demountable,
Wanstead survey was optimistic, continuing 2021’s positive
reusable and recyclable, but not, however,
Stephanie Elward trend of practices predicting increased workloads.
Above The shelter is Below The demountable
intended to act as a tent; rather it is a a quasi-permanent shelter’s flexibility allows An evolution of pop-up street This was backed up by an increase in actual
quasi-permanent structure intended for structure made from it to be used (and reused) libraries with space for one workloads of 10 per cent year on year. Much of that
somewhat longer duration which relies on
galvanized steel panels in a variety of contexts reader to wander through work is from existing clients and local contacts but,
either cast concrete foundations or drilling
the world of books for many growing practices, advertised opportunities
into existing rock. The expanded metal and design competitions are also an important source
seating within is of sufficiently heavy gauge
LONGLIST of work.
to accommodate three adults and mimics Alison Bunning and Lizzie The hub was launched on ribaj.com with a call for
the curved form of the shelter. Induni A corrugated cow expressions of interest for work on the RIBA’s own
This flexible concept could be applied Carol Shea In praise of central London headquarters at 66 Portland Place
in a variety of situations, including ones urban trees – moment for (which closed on 1 February). RIBA president Simon
which require an anti-vandalism strategy shelter and wonder Allford has articulated a new vision for the 1930s
(tighten anti-theft nuts with a torque Christopher Sanders, building, writing in the RIBA Journal about creating
wrench), protection (close off one side with Christian Sanders and a generous physical entity, a ‘House of Architecture’.
galvanised steel sheeting or rammed earth Maureen Sanders The brief outlines an exciting programme of opening
wall) or even concealment (pile stones to Pig ark shelter up the building for members, for culture and
make it look like a cairn) – and this is the Emmet Hanley and Alex learning, and making it fit and accessible for day-
Below The curved metal
aspect that really excited the judges. Morgan Acorn Exchange to-day working. It includes a substantial element grade II* listed building and with strong embedded
ANTHONY PALMER / RIBA COLLECTIONS

seating within the shelter Above The RIBA is
The matter-of-fact presentation, ‘like an is able to accommodate James Butler, Petros of conservation. With a £20 million first phase seeking expressions of sustainability goals incorporating the RIBA 2030
instruction manual’ according to Jonathan three adults Zintilis, Catalina Ionita, and the development of a strategic masterplan for interest for the revamp Climate Challenge.
future phases, this is an ambitious programme on a of its Portland Place HQ. The Portland Place revamp was just one of the
Hagos, is equally utilitarian. Garreth Alex Parojcic and Michael
McMahon agreed: ‘It looks like something Harrison The wind among 15 live opportunities listed on the hub at its launch,
that the armed forces would use.’ Iqbal the reeds along with some fantastic projects in amazing places,
Johal enjoyed the project for ‘following the Lucila Sampaoli and including an Iceland coffee house on a volcano,
brief to the letter by being truly flexible and Benjamin Vivot Hey, mews! treehouses at Kew Gardens, London, and a Surf-
imaginative’ but also ‘quite brutal’. Nick Tyrer Penrose Skate Park in Moray in Scotland. They are all closing
This very crudeness generated wonder Peter Dagger Stop and soon so hurry!
for Anna Liu, a proponent of the project as replenish wonder The RIBA Journal already has a strong strand
soon as the judging kicked off: ‘I immediately Robert Pickering Elliptihaus of pieces on business opportunities and client
MATHIAS RHODE / ALAMY

thought of a person with a shield on their Tommaso Allegra and Luisa interviews and there are more to come over the year
back going through the landscape… I could Lonsdale The willow of as well as the best design competitions and calls for
Left Design of a coffee
imagine the rain making interesting St James Park interest.
shop on a volcanic crater
sounds… It is playful.’ And well deserved for Yuliya Lapshyna King’s in Iceland features in the See the most up-to-date opportunities at ribaj.
the thoroughness of its concept and design. Cross public space project Opportunities Hub. com/opportunities-hub
82 Culture
Parting shot
Editor
Eleanor Young
Deputy editor
Jan-Carlos Kucharek
Managing editor
Isabelle Priest
Contributing editor
Chris Foges
Sub editing
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Simon Aldous
Design
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Production
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The RIBA Journal

MacEwen Award 2022:

RCKa’s Nourish Hub serves up a winner

Cullinan creates Dudley careers beacon

Studio BAD helps church find new life

Thamesmead: Jan Kattein’s path to park

Buildings Intelligence Culture

RIBA/ PETER ROSEMAN

Passionate about all that grows

> Polka Theatre

Autism and Learning Difficulties Reference Group) and ALAG

The Harington Scheme

The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com

Here’s the recipe for Nourish Hub. Take one council

Denise Bennetts. ‘There are so many spaces which

‘There are so many spaces

which could be put to informed the branding of

community use like this’

and walls for a wide

range of building types

importance. A1/A2 combustibility ratings for zinc, 100%

Please contact us for samples and a CPD on Zinc

ribaj.com The RIBA Journal February 2022

The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com

Shiny new route to work

1 Attenuation pond IN NUMBERS

If all sheds looked like this

The £6m project was managed by Willmott Dixon, whom

4 0 5m To find out more about our products visit taylormaxwell.

The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com

A near-abandoned Portsmouth church found a community £737

Left Snug place for kids'

Right ‘The aisle is full of

Left A new more welcoming entrance to the

Below Wide nave and aisle arches suit the new

uninspiring Tarmac cut-through at Thamesmead estate

coloured exercise benches, a woodland play

which since 2014 has owned the majority of

Above Claridge Way VR Credits

R A K- P L A N O main entrance to open onto Claridge Way.

The RIBA Journal February 2022 ribaj.com

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of social and racial inequality and margin-

economic impact’ Denise Bennetts

Home-Made: Lockleaze Culture Palace

‘They are taking sustainability,

environment’ Denise Bennetts

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The Alder Centre – linked to Alder Hey

The architect’s painstakingly collabo-

Construction is trapped in a maze of traditional materials, methods and accepted ways of

and help reshape our city’s horizons forever.

I think it is excellent … the

Browse our range of architecture

and design books and gifts.

Left The stripped- Right Sustainability

Balance in hard times

Welcome to exceptional performance.

carbon dioxide ing, has been introduced.

RIBA/ PETER ROSEMAN

proposed in the consultation

A mandated checklist is intended to

make it easier for renovators to understand

Safety changes leave more

‘It is not pomodern- yle in-jokes of

Personable, humani archite who united art and science in