Architects Journal
October 2008

View all stories from this issue.

2012 Athletes' Village: more cutbacks

Penoyre & Prasad Architects’ proposed health centre for the London 2012 Olympics Athletes’ Village has been shelved.
A Brand New Finish from Formica Limited Brings Texture to Life

Formica LtdFormica Limited continues to innovate through its ongoing product design and development process. The premium new texture, Sculpted by Formica®, is a testament to this.Texture adds another sense to your surroundings. Equally important, it creates interest. Whether used on interior wall coverings, on furniture and fittings or as panels, Sculpted will transform a surface.
A soft take on luxury living from Lano Carpets

Lano CarpetsAdding to the stunning vistas of residences at Elm Park in Dublin, Lano Carpets has utilised its manufacturing flexibility to supply 50 bespoke rugs and 1,100m2 of Modena carpet to fulfil the design concept of G.H Loveday Interior Design.Elm Park is one of the most talked about commercial and residential developments in Ireland and thanks to the production capabilities of Lano Carpets.
Abu Dhabi World Trade Centre

Foster + Partners provide the eco-friendly centrepiece to the Al Raha development
Abu Dhabi: 2030 masterplan

Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 is a staggeringly ambitious document that promises tens of thousands of hectares of new build
Abu Dhabi: boom to bust?

Doubters are asking if the Gulf’s £1.2 trillion construction boom is built on sand
Abu Dhabi: building in a vacuum

Are the sheikhs putting form before content? There is no currently no art to hang in the Louvre Abu Dhabi and no orchestra to play in the Performing Arts Centre
Abu Dhabi: cashing in

The emirate’s rulers have masterminded a merger between business and politics, and expect a return from any investment in architecture
Abu Dhabi: development frenzy

Land prices have tripled in a year; new developers open ‘almost daily’ and there are few planning barriers. Welcome to Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi: the instant Middle East

From sex on the beach to US foreign policy, tensions between Western and Middle-Eastern traditions could disrupt Abu Dhabi’s bright future
Abu Dhabi: the sheikhs mean business

Abu Dhabi’s ambitious rulers have a plan to restructure their entire country.
Abu Dhabi's Masdar invests in UK wind farm

If you want to follow where the renewables industry is heading, it's worth tracking recent investments by Abu Dhabi’s Masdar initiative. Masdar recently announced a 20% interest in our own Thames estuary wind farm – which the Guardian refers to as the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Accordia wins the Stirling Prize

Accordia, the housing project in Cambridge designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS), Alison Brooks Architects and Maccreanor Lavington Architects, has won this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize in association with The Architects’ Journal.
Accordia wins the Stirling Prize: exclusive comment, photos and video from UK architecture's most prestigious awards

Accordia, the housing project designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects and Maccreanor Lavington Architects, won this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize in association with The Architects’ Journal.•Video of post-dinner reactions on the winners
AF and First Base launch public realm competition

The Architecture Foundation and developer First Base have launched a contest to design a piece of public realm in Elephant and Castle, south London.
AJ seeks entries to 2008 Small Projects Awards

The AJ is seeking entries for its annual AJ Small Projects Awards, sponsored by Rambøll Whitbybird.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris' Westminster Academy named as favourite to win Stirling

Bookkeeper William Hill has placed Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’ (AHMM's) Westminster Academy in London as this year’s favourite to win the RIBA Stirling Prize.
Allies and Morrison braces itself for Three Sisters decision

Allies and Morrison founder Graham Morrison has admitted the practice’s Three Sisters scheme is not yet home and dry, despite a change of heart by London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Álvaro Siza scoops RIBA Royal Gold Medal

Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza has scooped one of the industry’s most prestigious prizes – the RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal.
Álvaro Siza speaks to the AJ

Last week, Álvaro Siza, 75, joined an exclusive club of architectural giants by winning the RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal. The AJ caught up with the elusive Portuguese architect to talk about the award, working in England and the dangers of specialising.
Álvaro Siza: swimming pools with depth

The design of Álvaro Siza’s Portuguese rock pools has the freedom of a hand drawing, says Patrick Lynch
Animate your architecture

Animation technology is opening up a new world of architectural design
Antron® carpet fibre turns the attention to aesthetics

AntronINVISTA Antron® carpet fibre’s ability to turn design dreams into flooring reality is imaginatively illustrated in its latest innovative, must-have, designers’ accessory - the Art Box.As part of its campaign to highlight the importance of a creating a pleasant working environment, the new Art Box is a unique way to demonstrate how carpet design plays a vital role in influencing interior design, and with it work-output and results.
Architype appoints a new associate

Architype has announced the appointment of Ben Humphires as a new Associate to its London office.
BDP wins Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award

The Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, East Sussex, designed by BDP, has won the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award this year.
Beautiful icebergs and a history lesson

Qeqertarsuaq is a settlement of 800 people on the southern tip of Disko Island. The church, Lutheran like most of inhabited Greenland, sits at the highest point in the village and the houses are scattered on the hillsides mostly on individual plots.
Blown-up bulbs

Nissen Adams has designed a £20,000 lighting installation for an office refurbishment on Bowling Green Lane, London, for The Rathbone Trust.
Bookies clear up after Accordia's Stirling win

Bookmaker William Hill has cleared up after rank outsider Accordia scooped this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize on Saturday night (11 October).
Brickwalling a way through the crisis, with louder architecture

MONDAY. Finish the conceptual proto-drawings for my new Peopling of Britain Museum. It’s a narrative architecture. Lots of spaces, or ‘chapters’, linked by a ‘story’ of corridors, circulation areas and signage. You can’t be too careful, or too patronising.
Buyer's guide: smartphones

James Morris compares the latest smartphones
CABE criticises FLACQ's Morecambe project

FLACQ’s competition-winning Morecambe Central Promenade scheme has been criticised by CABE for potentially cutting off the town from its seafront.
CABE weighs in to Queensgate Market row

CABE has waded into the furore surrounding the future of Huddersfield’s Grade II-listed 1972 Queensgate Market.
CarbonBuzz workshop

I stopped into one of three workshops being held at the RIBA in London this week to trial CarbonBuzz, the free online platform for benchmarking energy use in buildings.
CEP makes a splash in leeds

CEP CladdingsCEP Claddings has secured a new contract with award-winning property developer Urban Splash on a £30 million redevelopment on the outskirts of Leeds city centre.The project will transform the two dilapidated 1960’s social housing blocks formerly known as Parade and Drive and renamed Saxton, which upon completion will deliver 400 contemporary residential apartments.
Classicism set to beat Modernism at Hampton Court

Allies and Morrison looks set to lose out in the Modernist v Classicist ‘battle of the styles’ at Hampton Court later tonight (28 October).
Commercial carpet utopia with INVISTA Antron® carpet fibre

AntronINVISTA Antron® carpet fibre has given Bentley Prince Street the aesthetic power and in-situ performance to provide office buildings a slice of modular or broadloom utopia.Building Eutopia is the latest collection from the American manufacturer to employ Antron® Brilliance® carpet fibre, which combines the soil hiding capabilities of hollow filament with fibre engineering to deliver rich and vibrant colours.
Construction Products Association predicts three-year decline for construction industry

The construction industry should brace itself for a three-year decline in output of at least 7 per cent over the next three years. And there will be no return to growth until 2011 at the earliest, according to a report released today (2 October).
Couch Perry & Wilkes celebrates 30 years with a new Leeds office

Couch Perry & Wilkes, on of the UK's larges environmental building services consultancies has announced the opening of a new office in Leeds.
Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North revealed as energy-guzzler

Some of the country’s best-known contemporary buildings guzzle as much energy as their older cousins, an investigation by the Guardian has uncovered.
David Nossiter Architects have moved

David Nossiter Architects have new contact details:
DECs mean there's no hiding your building's actual energy use

The UK government introduced Display Energy Certificates (DECs) this week for all buildings over 1,000m2 occupied by a public authority. Until now, any new-builds or buildings bought, sold or rented, needed an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), or asset rating.
DEGW announces new director

The international workplace strategist DEGW has named Bernice M. Boucher as the firm's director, North America.
Denton Corker Marshall bags Sustainability Award after missing out on Stirling Prize

Denton Corker Marshall picked up the RIBA/English Partnerships Sustainability Award after missing out on this year’s Stirling Prize.
Design Museum eyes Commonwealth Institute

The AJ has uncovered top-secret plans to move the Design Museum from its existing home close to Tower Bridge in London to the revamped Commonwealth Institute.
Designing Colleges and Universities

Further and Higher Education: procurement, policy and practical approaches to design
Desso - introduces new Carpetecture Colour Dimensions collection

DessoDesso’s new Colour Dimensions collection of contemporary carpet tiles highlights the importance of colour in floor covering design and presents four new inspiring products, bursting with over 100 vibrant colour choices. These exciting new products can be seen for the first time at a launch event taking place at Desso’s London showroom on Thursday 13th November.To register you interest please email showroomlondon@desso.com or
Discrete, Versatile and Very Cool: Artika Inground Spotlights from Woodhouse

WoodhouseThe Artika inground spotlight range offers a series of superbly engineered, high performance lighting tools for enhancing the night-time appearance of architectural features, monuments and landscapes, while being highly discrete, to minimise daytime visual intrusion. Artika comes in two sizes, and its wide choice of light sources, comprehensive portfolio of accessories, high-quality optics and excellent luminous efficiency, make it a versatile lighting solution for all lightin
Emilie Heinonen at HLM relocates to Cardiff

Emilie Heinonen, who has been with HLM Architects for over four years, has relocated to the practice's Cardiff office from London.
Entrants wanted for KPF travel scolarship

KPF Architects has launched its search for entrants into its annual travel scholarships contest.
Fancy Fridges

Ever since the invention of the ice box the cry has come down the ages, 'You've left the effing door open again.'
Fantastic fjords and cool conversations

Kangerlussuaq means 'big fjord' and the big fjord that runs from the airstrip to the sea is 90 miles long. Karen Filskov, a native of Greenland, joins us here as guide, the first time Cape Farewell has had an Inuit crewmember.
Fastlock keeps the weather at bay at community swimming pool

FastlockUsers of a community outdoor swimming pool in Devon are celebrating the first use in the UK of an innovative, single-skin polycarbonate roofing panel that protects them from the elements, although this summer’s were rain rather than UV-dominated.The flexible, weather-resistant transparent and white Fastlock panels, which use an innovative and invisible fixing system that negates screws and holes.
Fast-track roofs for Network Rail

CorusThe Corus Hi-Point off-site modular roofing system has been used for the fast-track construction of the first new railway station to be built in London since the 1930’s. Eastfields Station near Mitcham in south London was commissioned by Network Rail who worked in close collaboration with their designers, Jabcobs Babtie and Corus Infrastructure Services.Click here to request more
FAT unveils designs for Darlington wool-factory site

London-based practice FAT has submitted these plans to convert the site of a former wool factory in Darlington into 1,200 homes and office space ‘for several thousand’.
FaulknerBrowns' Olympic canoe and kayak centre wins planning

FaulknerBrowns Architects’ White Water Canoe Centre in Hertfordshire, which will be used for the London 2012 Olympic Games, has been granted planning permission.
Fields of gold

Fieldoffice is the site of two tutors at Clemson university school of architecture, Douglas Hecker and Martha Skinner.
FinnForest Merk proposes PassivHaus terraces for the UK - MAYBE

It took 4 weeks and repeated phone calls to get a call back from FinnForest Merk www.finnforest.co.uk about the PassivHaus details on their stand at 100% Design - one of the most interesting things I saw at Earl's Court this year.
Fiona Scott

An Urban Design Scholar's High Street highs and lows in suburbia
Five things to do 2 October - 10 October

1 Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert LancasterDiscover the architectural satirist's doodlings (pictured) at The Wallace Collection.Until 11 January. Hertford House, Manchester Sq, London W1U 3BN, www.wallacecollection.org
Five things to do today: 28 October

Copper sulphate - Monty Python - World Architecture Festival - design in Bristol - Chelsea Barracks
Five things to do today: 29 October

Free cameras - 1,000 artworks - write like an architect - iPhone Google Earth - Infinity Bridge
Five things to do today: 30 October

Wildlife snaps - Black Panther design - free Photoshoppery - woody chair - British sports car
Five things to do today: 31 October

Serpentine Gallery - spooky space pics - house prices - bad investments - Obama the intern
Five things to do today: Monday 27 October

Shy chair – Saudi's cities – iPhone clock – TV repossessions – Vanishing eco-towns
Fjord heaven

Into the second half of the expedition the focus has moved on from assimilating masses of experience and information about the geography and culture of these parts, to what our own response to climate change might be.
Floating dreams

All you old Modernists out there moaning away about how Zaha and Greg Lyn and Frank Gehry and suchlike are doing proper architecture should take a look at Pointclickhome's feature, 'Gravity Defying Homes'
Forces of good and evil met again in Venice battling for the soul of architecture

The conflict stirred up by the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and the fact that it ignored curator Aaron Betsky’s theme of pseudo-critical masturbation, was the latest salvo in a battle for the soul of architecture today.
Formica Limited introduces AR plus® high gloss plain colours

Formica LimitedOn trend with the bold colours and gloss finishes being used in today's commercial and residential interiors, AR plus® high gloss laminates demonstrate how Formica Limited continues to produce innovative surfacing materials. The range features 29 colours and offers twice the performance of traditional gloss. It is highly resistant to scuffs and mar abrasions and has been accredited by the LGA Quality Testing Institute in Germany.
Foster + Partners reveals Saint-Étienne arts venue

The AJ can reveal the first pictures of Foster + Partners’ new theatre and arts venue in Saint-Étienne, southern France, which opened on Monday (6 October).
Foster's Crossrail station fails to convince CABE

CABE is ‘unconvinced’ by Foster + Partners’ designs for the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf, London, according to the latest design review.
Fourth time lucky for new Northern Ballet Theatre

The Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) has finally been given a new home in West Yorkshire – at the fourth attempt.
Fretton, Hadid and FOA on stellar Norway shortlist

Tony Fretton has been named on an all-star shortlist to design the new Munch Art Museum in Oslo, Norway.
General consensus says upturn is three years away

It’s probably a very good time to be going to architecture school. If you were 18 now and starting your undergraduate degree, you will probably be facing three great years of being taught by very good architects (who suddenly have the time to teach), and the prospect of emerging just as the downturn ends.
Glenn Howells bags key Manchester scheme

Glenn Howells Architects has seen off FLACQ, Stanton Williams and Austin-Smith:Lord to win the competition to redevelop Elisabeth House in Manchester’s St Peter’s Square.
Going for gold

S&P Architects aims for sporting glory with its overhaul of RMJM's Royal Commonwealth Pool.
Grafton Architects wins world's best building award

Grafton Architects’ Universita Luigi Bocconi building in Milan, Italy, was named as the first World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival on Friday.
Historic Buildings

Legislation update, design solutions and practical know-how for architects working on historic projects
HOK unveils vast Bahrain masterplan

HOK has released these images of its 60ha masterplan for Water Garden City in Bahrain.
Hotel Design

Successfully managing costs, realising what clients want, and grasping current trends in hotel architecture
Hunters have a new website

Hunters' new website is now live: www.hunters.co.uk
Ideas competition for Northshore Development Partnership, Tees Valley

RIBA competition for architect-led design ideas for 3.4hectare site in the Tees Valley
In pictures: Zaha Hadid's Tokyo store designs

Zaha Hadid Architects reveals concept designs for the flagship Neil Barrett store in Tokyo
Interbuild 2008

Sustainability at the Birmingham expo: the award-winning EcoWall is worth a look, but the EcoHouse is worthy but dull
James Bond: behind the scenes

Ken Adam created sets for seven James Bond films including Dr No, Goldfinger and Moonraker
James Dyson: 'Planning is a blight on progress'

The vacuum-cleaner magnate and engineer talks to Richard Vaughan about his axed Bath academy and why he’s appalled by the UK’s planning system
James Dyson's Bath academy scrapped

Engineer and inventor James Dyson’s plans for a new academy in Bath have been scrapped after the government decided to pull its funding.
Jan Gehl vies for Salisbury square win

A team headed up by Danish urban designer Jan Gehl has been named on the shortlist for the competition to overhaul the historic market square in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Joe Morris

An Urban Design Scholar on shopping, canoeing and how to ponder 'specificity, culture and ethnicity'
John McAslan submits central London scheme

John McAslan + Partners and developer Land Securities have today submitted a planning application for the practice's Wellington House development in Victoria, London.
Jonathan Hendry unveils Lincolnshire village hall

Jonathan Hendry Architects has released images of this proposed £550,000 village hall in Great Coates, North East Lincolnshire.
Jubilee Campus, Nottingham by Make

Make struggles to reconcile surface glamour with enduring architecture at Jubilee Campus, its first significant project.
Karastan Contract

The Mohawk GroupEnticing patterns, eye-pleasing colourways and elegant style come together in Covet, the latest carpet incarnation by Karastan Contract from The Mohawk Group. Uniting tufted modular and woven carpet in one cohesive collection, Covet brings a sense of luxury and sophistication that promises to take interiors a step above the rest.Click here to request more information
Keim Mineral Paints Factory

Factory location Diedorf, GermanyWebsite www.keimpaints.co.ukTelephone +44 (0)1746 714543The formula for Keim’s mineral paints was invented by Adolf Wilhelm Keim in 1878, by order of King Ludwig of Bavaria. The king wished to create
King's Cross public square contest runs into delays

Network Rail has confirmed the timetable for the competition to redesign the front of King's Cross station has been derailed.
Landscape and the Public Realm 09

Interdisciplinary working, improved collaboration and holisticapproaches to landscape
Latchways' VersiRail – Rooftop Guardrail System

Latchways PlcIntroducing Latchways’ new quick and easy to install, lightweight aluminium guardrail system – VersiRail.VersiRail is available in a variety of styles (curved, inclined or straight) and finishes (natural, polished or RAL coloured), as either a fixed or freestanding option, so there’s bound to be a configuration that will meet your specification requirements.Click
Latchways’ VersiRail – Rooftop Guardrail System

LatchwaysIntroducing Latchways’ new quick and easy to install, lightweight aluminium guardrail system – VersiRail.VersiRail is available in a variety of styles (curved, inclined or straight) and finishes (natural, polished or RAL coloured), as either a fixed or freestanding option, so there’s bound to be a configuration that will meet your specification requirements.Click her
Latest Athletes' Village designs revealed

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and Lend Lease have released the latest designs of the Athletes' Village today (8 October).
Libyan Schools by LCE Architects

LEC Architects’ flexible exemplar school model for Libya could be rolled out to 180 schools across the country
Life after the Olympics

RMJM's Beijing 2008 Olympic media Centre was designed with legacy in mind.
Listen to the Stirling Prize winners' acceptance speeches – video

Listen to the full acceptance speeches from this year's Stirling Prize winners: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects, Maccreanor Lavington Architects and landscape architect Grant Associates.
Lord Browne leaves Foster board

Former BP chief executive John Browne has resigned from the board of Foster + Partners, the AJ can reveal.
Lukewarm welcome for government's spending plan

The architecture profession has tentatively welcomed government proposals to spend its way out of the impending recession.
Maccreanor Lavington submits Canning Town proposals

Maccreanor Lavington has submitted a planning application for the first phase of the regeneration of Canning Town and Custom House in East London.
Make and Maccreanor Lavington vie for Norwich housing scheme

Five practices shortlisted for Greyhound Opening affordable-housing project in Norwich
Make bags planning for new Leicester Square Odeon

Ken Shuttleworth’s practice Make has won the green light for this new Odeon cinema and hotel complex on a ‘neglected’ corner of London's Leicester Square.
Manchester redevelopment: first pictures

Manchester City Council has released images of the proposed Deansgate redevelopment
Margaret Beckett returns to cabinet as housing minister

Labour veteran Margaret Beckett has taken over from Caroline Flint as housing minister as part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s latest cabinet reshuffle.
Margaret Hodge replaced by Barbara Follett as architecture minister

Margaret Hodge has left her role as architecture minister due to her husband’s ill-health.
Mark Kingsley Architects have moved

Due to the expansion of the practice, Mark Kingsley Architects have a new office:
Masdar City

Foster + Partners have designed a six million square metre zero-carbon, zero-waste micro-city
Masterplanning and Urban Design

Current and future theory and practice: a route-map to successful masterplans
Minster School bags RIBA Sorrell Foundation Schools Award

Minster School in Southwell, Nottinghamshire by Penoyre & Prasad has landed this year’s RIBA Sorrell Foundation Schools Award
Mobile Tate scheme hits the buffers

The long-awaited Mobile Tate scheme has been mothballed for at least two years.
Modernisation and expansion of student accommodation, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd

Design team (architectural and engineering) sought for the construction of a proposed 500 bed student accommodation facility on the university's Treforest campus.
Moxon submits Preston office scheme

Moxon Architects has submitted this 4,000m2 office building in Preston, Lancashire, for planning.
Nationwide sustainable housing awards for students

Working in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the annual ideas competition is open to all undergraduate architecture and design students.
New appointment at Assael

Kati Tschawow has been promoted to the position of Associate of Assael Architecture and Assael Architecture International.
New appointment for expanding DKS Architects

Senior architect, David Mack, has joined the award winning team at Stokesley based DKS Architects and will be instrumental in progressing the practice's ongoing contemporary design-led work.
New architecture-school figureheads talk to the AJ

Three new architecture-school figureheads talk about CAD monkeys, the credit crunch, and why they’re not in London.
New design director for Barton Willmore's Solihull office

Leading planning and architectural consultancy, Barton Willmore, has recruited Christopher Boyce - who joins the firm's Solihull office as a design director.
New senior level appointment at NLP

Andy Groves has joined Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners as a Senior Associate Director in the Newcastle office. He was formerly with One NorthEast.
New website from SAS International goes live

SAS InternationalMarket leader SAS International’s new website is now live at www.sasint.co.uk. The site has been designed to provide the definitive online guide for specifiers and customers, across SAS International’s product portfolio. It includes details of products, a project archive, up-to-date news on latest projects, and full information on metal ceilings, room comfort and architectural metalwork solutions. The new website should prove to be
Niall McLaughlin, DSDHA and Tonkin Liu to battle for six Lancashire squares

Niall McLaughlin, DSDHA, Graeme Massie Architects, Tonkin Liu and Neu Architects are among 26 practices shortlisted to redesign six town squares across Lancashire.
Norman Foster and Daniel Libeskind battle to extend Monaco into the sea

Norman Foster and Daniel Libeskind have come out as frontrunners in the battle to design an artificial extension to Monaco.
Northern Ireland Sustainable Planning Awards 2009 call for entries

The second annual Sustainable Planning Awards 2009 launched on Wednesday 1st October at the Orchard Building, Stranmillis University College. Presentations will be made to the winners in February 2009.
Not that Forbes. Nicer

You sign up for the Studio Forbes newsletter here. It's based on the blog of San Francisco design entrepreneur, Rob Forbes.
ODA admits raiding Olympic contingency fund

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has admitted raiding £95 million of the London 2012 Games’ £2.2 billion contingency fund to start work on the Athletes' Village.
Operation Odyssey Bio at Plymouth hospital

Marshall-TufflexEleven operating theatres at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, have been equipped with Marshall-Tufflex’s new antimicrobial curved cable containment system, Odyssey Bio. Cat 6 compliant Odyssey Bio has been tested to ISO 22196:2007 and is proven to exhibit reductions in bacterial viable counts of more than 99.99%. The silver-ion based active ingredient is mixed into the PVC-U and continues to work if the plastic is scratched.
Perfectly flat architectural wall panels

Speed DeckSpeedDeck’s flat Vitesse architectural bi-modular RockWool cored wall panels have been used on over 100 projects throughout the UK. The flat panels have been used recently on the Acergy office project in Westhill, Aberdeen manufactured in Dobel XT200 coated steel. Vitesse can also be supplied in convex and concave curved shapes at radii from 5m to 35m.Click here to request mo
Performance Feedback on Buildings

A guide to improving design through post-occupancy performance feedback
Peter Ackroyd named among new RIBA Honorary Fellows

Writer Peter Ackroyd, Observer architecture critic Stephen Bayley and Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen, have all been handed Honorary Fellowships by the RIBA.
Peter Smith lights up doomed Glasgow blocks

Architect Peter Smith has designed Multicolours, a lighting project celebrating Glasgow’s residential tower blocks, more than 50 of which are due for demolition in the next decade.
Piers Gough reveals 'Odalisk' tower for Croydon

Piers Gough has told the world that ‘the days of drab grey buildings are at an end’ after unveiling his new £350 million high-rise scheme for Croydon.
Post-dinner reactions on the Stirling Prize winners – video

Armed with a video camera, the AJ had exclusive access to architecture's major players at the Stirling Prize awards, including Paul Monaghan, Tom Dyckhoff, Neven Sidor, Robert Adam and John Sorrell
Press for green

Apparently, the EcoButton will let you switch your PC to 'ecomode' at the press of a, er, button, although exactly what it is and how it differs from your usual sleep or hibernation mode is a bit of a mystery. Neither of these modes necessarily saves a lot of energy. Although switching off at the mains does.
Ralph Steadman: 'London is a Frankenstein city'

Rory Olcayto meets cartoonist Ralph Steadman, whose monstrous vision for an arch on the Thames Gateway launches the GEZE in partnership with The Architects Journal competition to design an entrance to London.For competition details click here or go to www.gezecompetition.co.uk
Ramboll Whitbybird appoints 'sustainability champion'

Ramboll Whitbybird building services has announced a new associate director appointment, Stephen Appleton.
Renzo Piano's Shard to be built despite market meltdown

The Shard will begin on site next year despite the economic downtown, developer Sellar Property Group has said.
Renzo Piano's Shard to be built despite market meltdown – see video

The Shard will begin on site next year despite the economic downtown, developer Sellar Property Group has said.
Richard Rogers' plea for 'good design' in Planning Bill fails

A bid to embed ‘good design’ in the new Planning Bill has fallen on deaf ears, despite a plea from Richard Rogers in the House of Lords yesterday.
Safety fears close Evelina atrium

The atrium of Hopkins’ award-winning Evelina Children’s Hospital in Southwark, London, was closed off this month after a ‘loose’ bolt fell from the roof.
SAS International provides the ideal solution for two new French business

SAS InternationalSAS International’s System 330 metal ceiling system has proved the perfect fit for the new Tour T1 and Batiment B office projects in Paris’s business district, La Défense. System 330 was specified throughout the offices, with special trapezoidal panels supplied to Tour T1, in addition to the rectangular panels, while trapezoidal profiles were specified for Batiment B.
See more pictures from the 2008 RIBA Stirling Prize awards ceremony

See more photographs of the revelry at Saturday's Stirling Prize awards. From the solemnity of the prize-giving to the drunken merry-making of the after party, see all the pictures here. Warning: may include photos of grown men table dancing...
Sheppard Robson submits Waingels College plans

Sheppard Robson has submitted a planning application for the £29 million Waingels College in Woodley, Wokingham.
Shortlist unveiled for the biggest cash prize in UK architecture

The 11 schemes shortlisted for the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award – famously the largest architectural cash prize in the UK – have been announced.
Simon Conder's Kent house wins Stephen Lawrence Prize

El Ray, a private house in Kent, by Simon Conder Associates has won this year’s Stephen Lawrence Prize funded by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation
Sitejam

The Building Centre continues its terrific run of evening lectures directed by the man with a thousand contacts, the ever-youthful P. Cook, knight of this realm.
SKL Sets the Scene at Bella Italia

SKLSKL is helping to set the scene for diners at Bella Italia restaurants nationwide by supplying the decorative lighting for interior and exterior illumination. The warm Mediterranean welcome at Bella Italia is enhanced by the SKL supplied Lighting. The theme continues with the flavour of Italy infused throughout the menu of pizza, pasta and house specials, served in relaxed surroundings.
Software: Digital Project

At Marks Barfield Architects’ Kew Gardens Treetop Walkway project, a radar survey of tree root activity at proposed foundations and other site constraints were modelled in Digital Project
Software: Navisworks

Autodesk NavisWorks can be used to create a variety of animations
Software: SolidWorks

Engineer Price & Myers used Dassault Système’s SolidWorks program to animate the spinning motion on artist Richard Wilson’s free-rotating Liverpool artwork Turning the Place Over
Spence escapes Turner gallery legal row

Stephen Spence of Spence Associates will not be dragged into a costly legal battle alongside Norwegian co-designer Snøhetta over the failed Turner Contemporary art centre in Margate.
Stanton Williams begins reduced Salisbury scheme

Stanton Williams has started work on its significantly reduced redevelopment of the 18th-century Bourne Hill building in Salisbury.
Stirling Prize almost too tight to call, says bookies

Bookmaker William Hill has said this year's Stirling Prize is one of the closest in the history of the high-profile architectural award.
Stirling Prize revellers give their thoughts on the winners

The AJ had exclusive access to the good and the great of the architecture community at this year's Stirling Prize awards ceremony. This is what some of them thought of this year's winner: Accordia by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects and Maccreanor Lavington Architects.
Studio: Pikcells

‘With [Leeds retail development] Broadgate, we were getting into film production on a scaled-down platform’ says Pikcells’ Richard Benson
Studio: Squint/Opera

The animation created for London’s Olympic Stadium by Squint/Opera film studio is a far cry from the ‘abstract, computer-ish ’80s fly-throughs sometimes associated with animation,’ according to Cocke
Successful landing

Perdlerfiup Kangerdlua is a remote fjord at about 710 North and two glaciers discharge into its Y shaped end.
Successful Practice Management

Maximising efficiency, exposure and profits
Terry Farrell criticises government's Thames Gateway plans

Terry Farrell has warned the governing bodies in control of the Thames Gateway that their method of regenerating the region is ‘wrong’.
The 10 scariest buildings in Britain

The AJ has browsed hundreds of properties - haunted, unsafe, ugly and just plain creepy - to bring you this Halloween list of 10 buildings to see (shortly) before you die
The AJ/RPS Urban Design Scholarships with Design for London

Three AJ readers are working on an urban design project of their choice with the London Mayor’s urban design agency
The curse of flash

I'm not against bewildering sites providing the proprietors aren't under the impression that the special effects, or whatever contributes to the bewilderedness of the auditor, will draw in new clients.
The flooding of Mies' Farnsworth House should agitate us

Seeing Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, up to its neck in floodwater is enough to bring out obsessive-compulsive symptoms in even the most relaxed of us.
The sad loss of Woolworths - Alicia Pivaro

An Urban Design Scholar attempts to bring naughty thinking and messiness to the dull, prosaic process of change
The Stirling Prize winners talk to the AJ

This year’s RIBA Stirling Prize was given to a housing project for the first time in the award's history. The three winning architects – Keith Bradley of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks of Alison Brooks Architects and Richard Lavington of Maccreanor Lavington – give their first interviews exclusively to the AJ.
The theatre of architecture

Last week I promised a look at Squint/Opera which operates anywhere between architecture and film.
The year of the rat

There we were imagining there was not a lot of point in the Intel v AMD chip race because significant increases in central processor speeds have recently been matched by scarcely noticeable improvements in hands-on performance.
UK-GBC releases new guidance on carbon emissions

The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) handed a report to government yesterday outlining recommendations to lower CO2 emissions and increase ‘green collar’ jobs.
US government to stage design comp for new London embassy

The US government will launch an international competition to design its new embassy in Wandsworth, south London.
Video: Norman Foster at the World Architecture Festival

Richard Vaughan speaks to Norman Foster about the festival and how architecture might fare in the global downturn
Video: Rogers builds house in under a day

The AJ has uncovered this incredible timelapse of the construction of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners' Oxley Wood housing scheme in Milton Keynes.
Wall Street redesigned with a 'Tamla Motown' transparency

Ian Martin extends fantasy professional advice to Prince Charles, the Olympics and Wall Street
Watch an interview with the creator of Liverpool's Le Corbusier show

You've seen the photographs and read the reviews – now watch an exclusive interview with Graeme Russell, curator of the RIBA Trust.
West Coast Modern: Arts and Architecture magazine in pictures

Arts and Architecture 1945-54: The Complete Reprint, a newly-released Taschen boxset brings together facsimiles of 10 years of the Californian magazine that documented the West Coast Modern movement.
Why do architects wear black?

Architects including Richard Rogers, Peter Zumthor, Albert Speer and Wiel Arets give their answers
Woods Bagot draws up 1km-tall tower for Dubai

Dubai developer Nakheel has unveiled this image of a 1km-tall tower designed by Woods Bagot Architects.
Woods Bagot wins green light for 'layer cake' hotel in Liverpool

Woods Bagot has won planning permission for this ‘layer cake’ extension to a Grade II-listed building in Renshaw Street, Liverpool.
Working Abroad

A 'from first principles' guide to winning and delivering work outside the UK
Working Detail: Wexford Opera House by Office of Public Works Architects and Keith Williams Architects

[WORKING DETAIL 16.10.08] Sound diffuser

Architects JournalOctober 2008

Architects Journal
October 2008