The Avenue / Sheppard Robson
Architect: Sheppard Robson
Location: Manchester, UK
Project Manager: Gardiner & Theobald
Structural Engineer: Capita Symonds
M&E Engineer: Grontmij
Quantity Surveyor: Mooney Kelly
Main Contractor: Lend Lease
Client: Allied London Properties
Project Area: 5,000 sqm
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Hufton+Crow
Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) / Sheppard Robson
Architect: Sheppard Robson
Location: Lancaster, UK
Client: Lancaster University
M&E Engineer: Hoare Lee
Structural Engineer: SKM Consulting
Contractor: Morgan Sindall
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 4,900 sqm
Photographs: Hufton+Crow
Straw Bale Cafe / Hewitt Studios
Architect: Hewitt Studios LLP
Location: Holme Lacy, Herefordshire, UK
Client: Herefordshire College of Technology
Cost: £180,000
Completed: November 2010
Structural Engineer: Integral Engineering Design
M&E Engineer: Hicks Titley Partnership
Project Manager/QS: Ridge
Main Contractor: Sturland
Photographs: John Hewitt, Paul Younger
Update: Foster + Partners Thames Hub proposal faces opposition
Foster + Partners Thames Hub proposal has continuously made progress throughout the year of 2011, however reports say the practice is facing some opposition in the new year. In early November, Foster + Partners revealed the £50bn project that plans to include a £20bn high-speed Orbital Rail line around London; a new £6bn Thames Barrier and crossing; and a £20bn international Estuary Airport, with annual capacity for 150 million passengers.
As seen on BD, Councilors in Essex plan to rally up their colleagues in January in attempt to battle the “disastrous” proposal. Councilor Peter Martin stated, “Lord Foster has been known to build all over the world, so we cannot sit idly by and let this happen. We must have a loud voice when it comes to opposing the airport.”
It will be interesting to hear their critiques of the project and see what pans out in the New Year for the Thames Hub proposal. What are your thoughts on the project?
Reference: BD
Westborough Primary School / Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
Architects: Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture Ltd.
Location: Westcliff-on-Sea, UK
Client: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and the Governors of Westborough Primary School. (The project was also partially funded by the Department for Education)
Photographs: Anthony Coleman
Lloyd’s building joins Grade I Elite
The futuristic Lloyd’s of London building has become one of the few postmodern buildings to be granted Grade I listed status, elevating the building to the top 2.5% of all listed buildings. Following Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano’s success with the great Pompidou Center in Paris (1977), Rogers designed the Lloyd’s building to replace the insurance company’s original headquarters in London’s medieval financial district. The building was completed in 1986 after eight years of construction, requiring 33,510 cubic meters of concrete, 30,000 square meters of stainless steel cladding and 12,000 square meters of glass to construct.
Continue reading for more information and images.
Video: Hampstead Lane / Duggan Morris Architects Winner of RIBA Manser Medal
The renovation of a house, Hampstead Lane in North London, won Duggan Morris Architects the RIBA Manser Medal of 2011 for the best new house or major extension in the UK. The video gives an inside look with the architects of the project on the design and renovation of the house.
More after the break.
Snøhetta submits plans for Aberdeen Maggie’s Center
Sitting near the southern boundary of Foresterhill at the edge of the Westburn field, Snohetta’s plans for Maggie’s Cancer Care Center at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is envisioned as a pavilion within the parkland. The facilities will be mainly on the ground floor with a mezzanine area for office functions.
The Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation (EMF) and Maggie’s are raising £3m in an attempt to bring a Maggie’s Center to Foresterhill Hospital in Aberdeen to provide for the families of Grampian. Aberdeen is Scotland’s third largest caner treatment center but is the only clinical center in Scotland not supported by Maggie’s.
The Krishna-Avanti Primary School / Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
Architects: Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
Location: London, UK
Project Team: Brian Vermeulen, Richard Cottrell, Simon Tucker, SangSoo Bae
Client: I-Foundation
Temple Design: ARP Associates
Planning Consultant: DP9
Photographs: Anthony Coleman
Modernist and Traditionalist on Establishment Bias Against Traditional Architecture
Tensions mounted between modernist and traditionalist camps earlier last month when Paul Finch, UK Chairman for the Commission for Architecture and the Build Environment, praised the fact that modernists had won bids to design buildings for the 2012 Olympics. In response, Robert Adam, member of the Traditional Architecture Group, and Michael Taylor, senior partner at Hopkins, the firm that designed the Olympic velodrome, met for a discussion on hegemony, timeliness, and pastiche moderated by Guardian staffer Lanre Bakare.
The conversation is lively and aggressive. Ironically, the ‘progressive’ Taylor comes off as complaisant (“Let’s agree vast parts of our cities are covered in very bland modern buildings with too much glass and steel.” “There are some buildings where there will be common ground – for example, the works of Brunel, or Crystal Palace.”), and opinionated (“Anyone would recognise the problems with modernism and see values in traditionalism which they like, but the problem is traditionalism is fixed and isn’t something that people think is moving forward.”) and Adams, a bit of a snob, (“MT: People are benefiting from cars, aeroplanes and other modern technology, and so to take the appearance and facades of your architecture as one separate element which should make a very clear and literal quotation back to history seems to be inconsistent. And I think people struggle with that. / RA: I think only architects struggle with that. Most people don’t have a problem with a Ferrari in the drive and a Georgian house behind it.) proves to be keenly aware of traditionalism’s place in contemporary Britain (“The prejudice towards traditionalists is rather like sexism. It’s just in the culture. If you’re in the profession, that’s just what you do. When you’re delivering the prejudice you don’t really notice it, but if you’re on the receiving end of it, then it’s a problem”). More an exhibition of conflicting ideologies than a conversation about contemporary viewpoints, the discussion is a fascinating look into how two feuding camps see themselves and their place in the world at large.
Follow this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/05/architecture-modernism-vs-traditionalism-olympics
Foster + Partners chosen for Thames Estuary Airport
From the people who brought you Masdar, an airport in the Thames Estuary.
Flights will be able to operate 24 hours a day at the planned site on the Isle of Grain, by the Medway in north Kent. London mayor Boris Johnson, previous champion of proposals to build an airport on two artificial islands on the Thames estuary, described the Foster proposal as ‘exciting’.
Foster + Partners previously designed Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport, built on an island reclaimed from the sea.
UK “Architecture Minister” Mocks Profession, Cites Mr. Bean
A minor transatlantic controversy erupted last month after UK “architecture minister” aka Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with responsibility for architecture and the built environment John Penrose apparently compared architects with other negatively-stereotyped groups, noting architects are “just one of those groups people love to mock.” The comments were part of a longer blog post about Rowan Atkinson, Dreamland, and VisitEngland’s new Smartphone-based marketing campaign.
Hunsett Mill / ACME
Architects: ACME (Friedrich Ludewig, Stefano Dal Piva) with Karoline Markus, Nerea Calvillo, Chris Yoo
Location: Hunsett Mill, Chapel Field Road, Stalham, Norfolk, England
Contractor: Willow Builders
Structural Engineering: Adams Kara Taylor
Sustainability: Hoare Lea
Client: Catriona and John Dodsworth, Joanna and Jon Emery
Project Area: 213 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Cristobal Palma
RIBA Stirling Prize 2010 Shortlist
Now in its 15th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is awarded to the architects of the best new European building ‘built or designed in Britain’. The winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize Dinner on 2 October, and broadcast live on BBC Two’s The Culture Show at 6.30pm, presented by Kevin McCloud.
Complete shortlist after the break.
Poundbury: Architectural shame with a worthy aim
On holiday in Dorset last month, I happened to drive past Poundbury in Dorset, UK. Poundbury is Prince Charles’s attempt to create his architectural and planning masterpiece next to Dorchester. I used the excuse of being up with my new baby at 7am to go and take some photos of it to show you here.
What can I say, it’s not great (I’ve changed that sentence so many times to try and balance the architectural lack of ambition versus the worthy aims of such a project). It’s a mish mash of styles from different centuries, all added together. It’s a toy town, a museum of a mythical past. There is no soul, no heart, a perfect example of the need for difference, for organic spaces created over time.
Finalists of the Integrated Habitats Design Competition announced
RESET Development are pleased to announce that the eight finalists for the first ever UK Integrated Habitats Design Competition have now been announced. Submissions included entries from a variety of backgrounds including students, architects, ecologists, landscape designers and engineers. The judges were impressed by the diverse range of projects proposed and will be awarding prizes to the top three entries.
First prize of £2000, runner-up of £1000 and highly commended places will be presented as part of CIRIA’s bi-annual World Green Roof Congress at 6.00pm on Wednesday 15th September with the top three finalists also receiving a free ticket to the 2-day congress which is run in partnership with livingroofs.org. The eight finalist proposals will be published online and will also be showcased at the 5 week IHDC Exhibition will will open on Monday 13th September.
Based on a similar competition organised by the City of Portland in 2007, the IHDC emphasises the importance of biodiversity in the built environment. The competition invited holistic designs that integrate biodiversity, emphasising the value of good quality design that puts nature at its heart. Complete list of finalists after the break.
Brutalism in the UK
Brutalism is the term coined to describe the raw architecture often made with concrete during the 1950s and 1960s (with a later resurgence). I’m an architectural photographer and my fascination with these concrete buildings has led to me document a number of them across the UK (an on-going project).
The Shingle House / NORD Architecture / Living Architecture
Set for completion this October, NORD Architecture’s Shingle House will be part of the Living Architecture vacation houses, a project aimed to enhance the public’s appreciation of architecture. For their project, the young practice responded to the site’s strong winds and incorporated a modern take on the typical shingle homes that are scattered across the area.
More images and more about the home after the break.
A Secular Retreat / Peter Zumthor / Living Architecture
Although Peter Zumthor’s success is undisputed in the architecture world, it was interesting he would tackle a residence for Living Architecture as his past works have gracefully unfolded after years of development. For Zumthor’s project, entitled A Secular Retreat, the architect employs his signature strategy of using nature as a source of relaxation. The hill-top retreat is a quiet and passive design, truly taking the backseat to the surroundings. The home is designed to exploit the beauty of its location, capitalizing on views and providing perfect places for reflection. The home, Zumthor’s first project in the UK, is the perfect residence of the Living Architecture projects to visit for some peaceful downtime.
More images after the break.
Update: The Balancing Barn / MVRDV / Living Architecture
As promised, we are starting our coverage of the Living Architecture houses beginning with MVRDV’s Balancing Barn. We first shared this project awhile back on AD, and now, since the home’s completion, we have new interior shots of the rent-able residence.
More about the home and more interior images after the break.
Introducing Living Architecture
With all the projects we feature, it becomes second nature to envision yourself occupying that space if not only to critique its success, but also to merely imagine what it would be like to live there. But, what if, instead of just daydreaming about living in a certain residence designed by your favorite architect, you could actually spend a week or two in a house designed by Peter Zumthor, or JVA, or even MVRDV? Living Architecture, a new not-for-profit organization, offers the chance to rent houses in different areas of Britain for a vacation starting at £20 per person per night. ”We are dedicated to introducing you to the best of contemporary architecture, as well as to curating unique and enjoyable holidays,” explained the organization.
More about Living Architecture after the break.
