Architects Journal
September 2008

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10 facts about the Big Bang machine

The Cern Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s biggest, most powerful particle accelerator, potentially giving scientists clues about the origin of the universe. Here are 10 facts about one of the world’s most important pieces of architecture.
10 things to see at the Venice architecture biennale

Fresh back from Venice, Christine Murray has recommendations for those planning to visit the Venice architecture biennale.
25 September 2008: in this week's AJ

COVER STORYBurscough Bridge: How 'fairytale' landscape design changed a Lancashire village
5th Studio

Participants: Tom Holbrook, Nathan Jones, Kieran Perkins
A Models has moved...

Architectural model makers AModels have moved to:
Aesthetic attention from Antron® carpet fibre

AntronResearch commissioned by INVISTA Antron® carpet fibre has shown how important a pleasant working environment has on workplace output and that carpeting should be accorded a high priority in the office due to its multidimensional effect on human sensibilities.Carpet may influence atmosphere, acoustics, ergonomics and the quality of the ambient air and climate. Click here
AJ and Allgood announce door handle competition winner

Stuart Martin of London-based Walker and Martin has won the AJ/Allgood competition to design a door handle.
AJ Working Abroad

A 'from first principles' guide to winning and delivering work outside the UK
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris labels school extension 'a bastardised copy'

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) and Essex County Council have clashed amid claims that the council ordered another architect to copy AHMM’s designs (see the full document here).
Allies and Morrison's plans for Leeds Pool site clear first hurdle

Allies and Morrison, and not careyjones, will take forward the redevelopment of the soon-to-be-demolished Leeds International Pool site.
Antron® carpet fibre - aids Burmatex’s evolution in style

AntronUnited Kingdom – 1 August 2008 – The aesthetic and performance advantages of INVISTA Antron® carpet fibre has helped leading carpet manufacturer Burmatex launch modular carpet products Axis and Scan. Merging creativity and substance into a melody of colour and pattern, both ranges epitomise the growing importance that carpet now plays as a design cue in commercial office spaces.
Antron® carpet fibre aids Burmatex’s evolution in style

AntronUnited Kingdom – 1 August 2008 – The aesthetic and performance advantages of INVISTA Antron® carpet fibre has helped leading carpet manufacturer Burmatex launch modular carpet products Axis and Scan. Merging creativity and substance into a melody of colour and pattern, both ranges epitomise the growing importance that carpet now plays as a design cue in commercial office spaces.
ARB's fee hike 'outrageous', says Reform Group

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has pushed through an above-inflation rise in its annual retention fee.
Architectural services in conjunction with the new Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, East Sussex

Architectural services for the development of the Stade Improvements as part of the Destination Stade Programme in conjunction with the proposed Jerwood Gallery.
Architectural snappers go underground

Meet the people who visit, often very illegally, deserted, uninhabited buildings, from asylums to industrial ruins.
Arts Council England asks for opinions on future of Architecture Week

A final decision on the future of Architecture Week has been delayed yet further to allow for more consultation on the ‘indefinitely suspended’ national event.
Arup's green headcount

Juhi Shareef, one of the speakers at the Greengage ‘Greening your Studio’ event hosted by the Design Council on September 16, was an Arup sustainability consultant.
Association of Consultant Architects launches rival to RIBA client contract

The Association of Consultant Architects has unveiled its own rival client contract to the RIBA’s ‘dangerous’ standard form of agreement.
Autodesk

Learn more about Autodesk
Back to basics law: how to make sure you have full construction contract insurance

Antony Edwards-Stuart QC looks at the different forms of construction contract insurances
Battersea Power Station may house rebuilt Skylon

Battersea Power Station has emerged as the front-runner to become the home for a £1.2 million full-size replica of Powell and Moya’s Skylon.
BDP unveils Old Trafford cricket ground overhaul

BDP has unveiled its new designs for the ‘radical’ redevelopment of Lancashire County Cricket Club’s home at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Below stairs

Astragal has found himself an early Christmas present – a spiral wine cellar from Spiral Cellars.
Betsky's Biennale is a decade out of date

On my first night in Venice, just before the biennale opened, I bumped into some friends who were drinking with Bill Menking and Teddy Cruz, curator of and exhibitor in the American pavilion, in a bar in a scruffy bitof town.
Bollocks to architects

No this isn't the famous blogsite of a similar but not the same name. This is House 2.0, 'the online ramblings of the [biannual] Housebuilder's Bible author, Mark Brinkley.' which you can use to bypass booksellers.
Bookies Paddy Power and William Hill offer identical Stirling Prize odds

Bookmakers Paddy Power and William Hill have both named Denton Corker Marshall’s Manchester Civil Justice Centre as the 10-11 odds-on favourite to win this year’s Stirling Prize.
Bridgewater Town Hall, Somerset

Design of works to a complex of Grade II listed buildings at Bridgwater Town Hall Island Site, High Street, Bridgwater.
Buildings Schools for the Future reforms didn’t go far enough

The government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is a multi-billion pound commitment to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England over the next 15 years. So how are we doing, five years on from the launch of BSF?
Buro Happold

Learn more about Buro Happold
Burscough Bridge regeneration, Lancashire by BCA Landscape

In one of the most inventive townscape regeneration projects in recent years, this spring Liverpool-based BCA Landscape completed a £1 million environmental improvement project for the Lancashire village of Burscough Bridge.
Call for designs to improve London's cycle spaces

The Cycle to Cannes charity and the London Cycling Campaign are asking architects, planners and designers to draw up ideas to improve cycle space in London.
Camden house brings green thinking to the 1850s

I attended the September 8th launch of 17 St. Augustine’s Road, London Borough of Camden’s sustainable refurbishment of an 1850s semi-detached house. The message is clear: achieving major carbon savings is really expensive and only possible when doing a full house refurb.
Candy brothers deny split from Rogers Stirk Harbour's Chelsea Barracks

Developers the Candy brothers have told the AJ ‘there is no truth’ in reports that the Qatari ruling family, a joint-venture partner on the £1 billion Chelsea Barracks development, wants to take full control of the project.
Capita Architecture finishes home for BBC's Welsh orchestra

Capita Architecture has completed the new home of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff.
Carbon Buzz explained

The RIBA’s CarbonBuzz tool catalogues anonymous data from real buildings, making it easier for architects to understand building energy use statistics.
Careyjones wins thumbs-up for Bolton 'gateway' scheme

Careyjones has been given the initial green light for its £210 million Church Wharf mixed-use scheme in Bolton.
CF Moller unveils extension to Natural History Museum

These are the first images of Danish practice CF Moller’s £78 million new extension to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, central London.
Champions of speed

Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects has a home page that opens with the practice name zapping across the screen as a myiad of tiny images. It assembles itself into a square underneath and the navigation unrolls down the left hand side. It's wonderfully brief: 'housing', 'houses', 'public' and, and here's a happy substitute for 'other': 'none of the above.'. Naturally, because this puts you in a good mood, it's 'none of the above' which you click first a
Chapman Taylor's Bath shopping centre is hit by fire

A fire has ripped through Chapman Taylor Architects’ unfinished £360 million Southgate shopping centre in Bath.
Cheap not cheerful

Last year the titchy ASUS Eee PC hit the trad notebook market in the solar plexus when it sold millions. It also gutted the PR flacks. What were they to call this miniature beast - and the several dozen putative me-toos about which their clients were making frantic announcements? Even now, nobody knows: notbook,[sic] laptot [sic], nettop, lillipad,(aaargh) liliputer (Guardian's Jack Schofield), netb
City of London blocks Allies and Morrison but backs Eric Parry

Allies and Morrison Architects has been sent back to the drawing board by a City of London planning committee over a proposed nine-storey mixed-use building in Bank.
Colorpan brings long-lasting good looks to Scottish apartments

CEPCEP’s Colorpan premier weatherboarding has been chosen to provide a lightweight, low-maintenance façade solution for a new £10 million residential development in Johnstone, Renfrewshire.Linenmill Court occupies the site of the historic Barbush Linen Mill on the High Street in Johnstone, a busy Renfrewshire town just 20 minutes from the centre of Glasgow.Click her
Conservation starter

I was delighted to read in AJ 24.07.08 of the success Eleanor Fawcett of Design for London has had in managing to get Newham Council to declare Sugar House Lane (pictured below) in Stratford, East London, a Conservation Area (‘Stealthy conservation action saves Lea Valley gem’). She has recognised the social value of a collection of simple brick workshop buildings.
Construction Marketing Awards

Awards for marketing and business-development professionals in construction.
Cookie-cutter cities

I ran a story about a 3D building printer a couple of years ago, but now Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California's project has been picked up by Caterpillar, the earth-moving globcorp, and soon we may really see whole apartment blocks being printed.
Council turns down Studio BAAD's controversial Hebden Bridge scheme

Studio BAAD’s controversial ‘wonky’ homes scheme in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, which sparked an intimidation campaign against the firm, has been rejected by the local authority.
Credit crunch 'complicates' BSF finance deals

The credit crunch has made the financial deals behind the government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme more ‘complicated’, according to a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) specialist.
Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North is the focus of landscape competition

The Imperial War Museum North is hunting for a team to design a 'spectacular and dramatic' landscape around Daniel Libeskind's iconic Manchester landmark.
David Chipperfield makes National Theatre shortlist

David Chipperfield is among the finalists vying to masterplan the future development of the National Theatre on London’s South Bank.
Design Services for Performing Arts Centre/Learning Centre, Walsall Campus, University of Wolverhampton

Expressions of interest are invited from suitably qualified and experienced consultants to provide professional design consultancy services in respect of the proposed Performing Arts Facility/Learning Centre at the University of Wolverhampton's Walsall Campus.
Discussing white balance with Lemn Sissay

On the chartered plane on the way to Kangerlussuac to meet the boat I am sitting next to the Lemn Sissay, who writes witty and beautiful poetry amazingly quickly. He is reading poetry and I am reading my new camera manual, which sums up a few things.
Dixon Jones' Kings Place opens in King's Cross

Dixon Jones Architects today (25 September) opened Kings Place, its £100 million mixed-use arts venue and office development in London’s King’s Cross.
Double enquiry into Ian Simpson and Wilkinson Eyre towers gets under way

The joint public enquiry into Ian Simpson’s 52-storey Mirax-Beetham skyscraper and Wilkinson Eyre’s twin-tower scheme in Southwark, London, opened yesterday (11 September).
Dust extractor revealed as culprit in Cutty Sark blaze

The fire that ripped through the Cutty Sark last May was started by electrical equipment being left on over the weekend.
EDAW and Proctor and Matthews win green light for Chesterfield village

The first phase of the £300 million Chesterfield Waterside urban village, a 16ha mixed-use project designed by EDAW and Proctor and Matthews, has been given the go-ahead.
English Heritage and Westminster Council to challenge Doon Street approval

English Heritage (EH) and Westminster City Council have today (29 September) announced that they will be mounting a legal challenge against Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands’ Doon Street tower.
Environmental analysis directly from Google sketchup

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES)The IES VE plug-in sits within Google SketchUp™ and gives direct access to all of IES's environmental performance analysis tools: VE-Ware, VE-Toolkits, the Full <Virtual Environment>. Empowering energy, carbon, daylight, solar, and many more analyses can be undertaken at the touch of a few buttons without re-building geometry. Plus IES VE-Ware is free! www.iesve.com/sketchup
Fiona Scott: architect at home

Jay Gort and I started our practice in March last year. It’s been just over 18 months. I was working at Adjaye before that and Jay was working at Superstudio.
Five things to do 25 September - 8 October

1.Francis Bacon at Tate BritainScreaming popes and visceral landscapes abound at this massive retrospective of one of the 20th century’s greatest paintersUntil 4 January 2009, Tate Britain, London SW1P. www.tate.org.uk/britain
Fletcher Priest makes Brussels shortlist

A team led by Fletcher Priest Architects has been shortlisted in the competition to restructure the European Quarter in Belgian capital Brussels.
Flood of ideas

Robert Barker of baca Architects has some provocative proposals for how to build in floodplains which make a lot of sense for the Thames Gateway.
Florian Beigel wins competition to design Korean city

Florian Beigel and Philip Christou’s Architecture Research Unit (ARU) at London Metropolitan University has won the competition to design a new city on the south-west coast of South Korea.
Foreign Offices Architects' Birmingham New Street designs unveiled

These are the first images of Foreign Office Architects' competition-winning designs for Birmingham's New Street Station.
Foster + Partners' Northampton business academy opens

Foster + Partners’ Corby Business Academy in Northampton has opened for the new school year.
Framework agreement for housing, Cambridge

The Housing Corporation has appointed Cambridgeshire Partnerships Limited, led by Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (the Contracting Authority) to deliver the vision of the Cambridge Challenge.
From the archive: Christine Murray interviews Alex Moulton, inventor of the Moulton bicycle

Meet Alex Moulton, engineer of the much-loved Moulton bicycle — Norman Foster and Reyner Banham’s favourite set of wheels
Future Systems' Prague library supporter sacked

Future System’s contentious competition-winning Prague library scheme is looking increasingly doubtful after its main supporter was sacked.
Future Systems to design News International HQ

Future Systems has been appointed to design a new corporate campus for media group News International, which owns the Sun and The Times newspapers, in Wapping, East London.
Gareth Hoskins' Scottish pavilion unveiled at Venice Biennale

It’s great to see these images of 'Gathering Space'. Gareth Hoskins’ design is Scotland’s first purpose-built exhibition space for the Venice Biennale.
George Ferguson: architect at home

I came to university in Bristol and that simple choice was the biggest life-changing decision I could possibly have made. I was attracted to Bristol in the first place because I thought it was a very diverse city.
Giant spider arrives in Liverpool

Arachnophobes in Liverpool will be horrified by the arrival of a giant spider.
Glenn Howells Architects' Bradford tower falls prey to credit crunch

Glenn Howells Architects’ 38-storey Citygate tower for Bradford has become the latest high-profile project to be scuppered by the credit crunch.
Gorbals housing, Glasgow

Design and contract supervision of approxmately 50 very sustainable housing units.
Gordon Brown launches £1 billion social housing scheme

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to launch a £1 billion plan to build more affordable homes and acquire more social housing.
Gordon Murray + Alan Dunlop Architects scoops major international design award

Gordon Murray + Alan Dunlop Architects has won the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design International Architecture Award for its Hazelwood School in Glasgow.
Government's three million new homes target 'not enough'

The government’s target to build three million new homes by 2020 will not be enough to meet demand, a new report claims.
Grand union

Richard Vaughan who's currently running AJ's newsdesk sent me Union North's site with the warning: 'You could literally spend hours on the homepage.' 'Bone idle newso.' I thought. Twenty minutes later I decided I'd better stop bouncing the components of the practice's name about a black screen and take a serous look at the rest of the site. It also occurred to me that the site had already achieved the primary goal of all commercial sites: making peopl
Graphic lessons

Greengage (see previous posting) was all very green and surprisingly useful, chaired by Three Trees Don’t Make a Forest .
Great in aggregate

Design Observer is an aggregator blog, which is to say that it has a certain amount of its own material but is mainly a collection of interesting stuff from elsewhere on the Web.
Green Sky thinking

Bere Architects, whose new offices I went to check out last week, is one of 25 practices who will open their doors next week as part of Green Sky Studios, a new Open House initiative which will takes place on Sept 24-26, following Open House weekend.
Hattie Hartman's sustainability blog

Hattie Hartman is sustainability editor of The Architects’ Journal. In this blog she keeps up to date with the latest developments, and gives her opinion on great innovations and greenwash.
HCP provides anti-ligature heating solution for new Mental Health Unit at Barnet Hospital

SAS InternationalHCP, a division of SAS International, supplied and installed a ceiling mounted radiant heating panel solution to the new-build Mental Health Unit (MHU) at Barnet Hospital.The project utilises HCP’s new Dutch fold anti-ligature panels, which provide a secure heating solution suitable for secure facilities such as MHUs and prisons. Further information can be found at http://www.hcp-sasint.co.uk/radiant-
Heathfield Children's Centre and Nursery, London, by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects

Sarah Wigglesworth Architects is using a timber roof structure and brightly coloured detailing to create a vibrant and accessible children’s centre.
Herzog & de Meuron unveils 'stacked' tower in Manhattan

Herzog & de Meuron Architects has revealed these designs for its startling new 57-storey residential tower in New York.
HIRE OR FIRE?

The AJ answers your questions on recruiting in the credit crunch. We talk to architects and recruitment specialists to find out how to take on staff amid the financial downturn.
Hire or fire?

The AJ answers your questions on recruiting in the credit crunch
HLM designs a Barking tower

HLM Architects has designed this 27-storey building near Barking station, East London.
HOK Sport splits from HOK

HOK Sport, the practice behind Arsenal FC's Emirates Stadium and London's 2012 Olympic Stadium, is to break away from its parent group HOK.
Hopkins Architects to revamp Edwin Lutyens' Hampstead school

Hopkins Architects has finally succeeded where 17 others have failed by winning planning permission for the redevelopment of Edwin Lutyens’ Grade II*-listed Henrietta Barnett School in north-west London.
Housing framework agreement, Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council is seeking specialist market leading consultants to form a number of framework agreements for the feasibility, design, cost planning and construction of social housing schemes.
Housing minister demands action on Liverpool stadium plans

Housing minister Grant Shapps has written to Liverpool Football Club demanding a quick decision on plans for the club’s future home
Housing projects of all sizes vie for Manser Medal

This year’s Manser Medal shortlist, sponsored by the Rooflight Company, takes a different approach from previous years.
Hurricane Ike rips into Havana's World Heritage Site

Hurricane Ike has battered historic buildings in parts of Old Havana, a World Heritage Site in Cuba’s capital.
Ian Simpson named on preferred bidding consortium for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

A design team, led by Ian Simpson Architects, has been unveiled as part of a preferred bidding consortium to deliver the 2014 Commonwealth Games Village in Glasgow.
Ideal storage for bikes

I couldn't resist this pic of the reception area of longstanding 'green' practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios yesterday when I was at their London office to catch up with their sustainability guru Bill Gething. He had to cut the meeting short to hop on his bike to catch the train home to Bath.
Images show full extent of flood damage to Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House

The full extent of the damage to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s seminal Farnsworth House in Illinois, USA, which was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike earlier this month, is starting to emerge (AJ online 16.09.08).
Imperial War Museum North – Competition to Develop External Spaces

The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester seeks design proposals for external spaces. The competition is open to architects and landscape architects.
In vogue with Lees Carpets from The Mohawk Group

Lee CarpetsA stunning new range by Lees Carpets from The Mohawk Group is taking style to the next level on the carpet catwalk and took its first foray into the limelight at NeoCon, the world’s most highly regarded trade fair for commercial interiors.En Vogue is Lees’ latest modular creation that is inspired by the slinky fabrics and elegant drapes of designer clothing, bringing polished patterns and bold hues to contract interiors.
Ireland becomes first EU member to fall into recession

The Republic of Ireland has officially fallen into a recession, according to data released yesterday, making it the first Eurozone member to topple following the US sub-prime loan crisis.
Irish graduate architects face job famine

The president of the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) has warned Ireland’s young graduate architects that they face a job famine because of the property downturn.
Irish pavilion at the Venice architecture biennale: see a slideshow

AJ columnist Patrick Lynch has sent these photos of the Irish Pavilion at the Venice architecture biennale, in which he is an exhibitor.
Is the China boom over?

Thamestown is a copycat slice of England outside Shanghai. The thrown-up development echoes much of what has been happening across China in recent years and reveals the country’s insatiable desire to emulate the West in double-quick time.
Isi Metzstein: architect at home

The practice of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia was terminated in 1985 and we gave our archives to the Glasgow School of Art. Last year they exhibited the material with The Lighthouse.
Jestico and Whiles gets to grips with bins

I met recently with Sian Moxon, Green Team leader at Jestico + Whiles, one of the practices featured in this week’s Green Sky Studios .
John McAslan to overhaul Hornsey Town Hall

John McAslan + Partners has become the latest architect charged with the project to restore the Grade II*-listed 1930s Hornsey Town Hall in north London.
Kalzip launches education brochure

Kalzip“Creating the learning environments of the future”, a new education brochure from Kalzip, celebrates the installation of 2 million sqm of Kalzip on over 1,000 school projects in the UK and Ireland alone. In Kalzip’s 40th anniversary year, this landmark has itself been endorsed in “Picturing School Design” from CABE in which 2 of the 7 case studies feature schools with Kalzip roofs. To obtain your free copy, please Telephone: 01925 825100 or Email:
Kalzip makes a splash in Cardiff

KalzipSports and leisure specialists, S&P Architects specified over 5,000m² of Kalzip stucco embossed aluminium standing seam roofing for the magnificent new £24 million Olympic-sized swimming pool complex that will become the centrepiece of Cardiff Bay’s International Sports Village. Teamkal contractor, Central Roofing South Wales installed all the roofing sheets together with Kalzip perforated liners and fabricated gutters for the project’s main contractor, Laing O’Rourke.
Keith Williams Architects shortlisted for Munich's Nazi museum

Keith Williams has been named on the competition shortlist for the Munich Nazi Documentation Centre, alongside the likes of Moshe Safdie and Peter Eisenmann.
Kids' toys pick up prize at Venice Architecture Biennale

Furniture made from squashed children's toys has helped its creator win one of the top prizes at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
King's Cross Charrette opening party - see the photo gallery

Last night (3 September) saw the opening of the King's Cross Charrette exhibition at New London Architecture.
Kingston gets creative

Do not despair if you missed the The Creative Resource exhibition on recycled materials which closes this week at the Building Centre in London.
KPF and Land Securities submit new Victoria planning application

KPF Associates and Land Securities have submitted a new planning application to transform central London's Victoria today (19 September).
Landscaping design competition, Oslo

Open international landscaping design contest for design of the City Park Nedre Foss in Grünerløkka district, Oslo
LDA Design Appoints Director of Urban Design

Colin James joined LDA Design last month as Director of Urban Design.
Lee/Fitzgerald to rework Gillespie Kidd and Coia's Wadham bookstore

Lee/Fitzgerald Architects has won a competition to refurbish and adapt Gillespie Kidd and Coia’s Grade II-listed music bookshop in Wadham College, Oxford University.
Levolux launches new Universal Curtain Walling Bracket

LevoluxThis new bracket provides an effective method for fitting Solar Shading to short nosed mullion curtain walling systems, in compliance with the very latest building codes and regulations.The Universal Curtain Walling Bracket offers:* Easy off-site installation* Significant reductions in cold bridging* Effective Sound Isolation* Zero Interstitial Condensation risk
Light fantastic

You may be well ahead of me on this, but according to Phillips the next big thing is organic light.
Liverpool FC yet to sign lease for HKS Architects' new stadium

More misery has been heaped on HKS Architects’ plans for a new Liverpool Football Club stadium on Stanley Park.
London Olympic stadium could be flattened at the end of 2012 Games

The HOK and Peter Cook-designed London Olympic stadium could be demolished when the 2012 Games are finished.
Manchester's conservation chief steps down

Manchester City Council’s long-serving conservation chief Warren Marshall is to hang up his boots at the end of the month.
Manchester's sinking gasbags, London's floating aerodrome

MONDAY. To Manchester, and the Labour Party conference. For a few days MPs can forget they're barristers or journalists or PR consultants or whatever and walk around like tribunes of the people, without ties on.
MechoShade Window Management Solutions

Faber BlindsMechoShade Systems offer a full range of innovative shading solutions for commercial installations. It effectively manages and controls excessive daylight and brightness, impacted daily on buildings. Featuring in many key buildings both in the UK and worldwide, MechoShade products are fabricated in the UK under license by Faber Blinds Ltd. E-mail address: contracts-uk@faber.dk
Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House floods again

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s seminal Farnsworth House in Plano, on the outskirts of Chicago, is again underwater - for the sixth time in its 57-year life.
Modest mae

Mae is a US rock group but mae architects, if you're looking for them on Google, are the London practice. I'm not sure about the two blokes in black suits down the bottom right corner of the home page. Despite the absence of Lord Norm-style shaven skulls, what else could they be but architects? So overkill then. However Alex Ely and Michael Howe, for it is they, later turn up as posterised monochrome mugshots which, oddly, adds gravitas to their solemn coun
More trouble with Elonex

Following my posting last week about the trouble with my tiny laptop, eventually Elonex did call back and arranged for two replacements of the OneT, the Small Cheap Computer with the seven inch screen and light as a feather.I ha
MPS Appoints Head of Architecture

Joanna Matsumiya has been appointed as Head of Architecture by design, engineering and project management company Morgan Professional Services (MPS).
New details emerge for HOK's Olympic Stadium – see images

The roof of HOK's 2012 Olympic Stadium will not harvest rainwater and will still only cover two thirds of spectators, it has emerged in a report by the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA's) planning committee.
New images of Foster's spaceport unveiled – exclusive

Foster + Partners has released new pictures of the world's first Spaceport in New Mexico, USA.
Newly revealed Spence Associates' Wear Bridge may never be built

This leaked image shows Spence Associates’ never-before-seen New Wear Bridge – a design Sunderland Council has been trying to keep under wraps for the last three years.
Newspaper storage project, Boston Spa, West Yorkshire

Design of a fully automated newspaper storage facility in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire
Nigel Hugill steps down as chair of Lend Lease Europe

Nigel Hugill has resigned as chairman of Lend Lease Europe.
Nightingale Associates Spreads its Wings in South Africa

Nightingale Architects (SA) Pty Ltd opened for business yesterday in Cape Town, offering a unique new architectural service to the South African public and private sectors.
Non-compliant glazing to Hopkins hospital must be replaced

The glazing in the roof of Hopkins Architects’ multi award-winning Evelina Children’s Hospital in Southwark, south London, will have to be replaced.
Off-site integration with a textured paint finish at Colmore Plaza, Birmingham

SAS InternationalOff-site prefabrication from SAS International was specified for the exciting new Colmore Plaza office development in Birmingham. Aedas Architects and the project development team, Abstract Securities, specified a System 330 ceiling with SAS FT, a fine textured paint finish for Phase 1 of this prestigious Class A office building. Apertures for luminaires and other services were factory formed reducing on site wastage and installation time. A prefabricated solution
Oliver Chapman Architects Change of Details

From 29.09.08 Oliver Chapman Architects will be moving to new,larger premises in Edinburgh's Old Town.
Open contest launched for new Yorkshire pavilion

Yorkshire Forward, the region’s economic development agency, has launched a contest to design a new £650,000 mobile, Expo-like pavilion.
Open International Competition for Glyndŵr University, Wrexham

The RIBA Competitions Office is launching an International Open Design Competition on behalf of Glyndwr University, Wrexham.
Over a third of RIBA competition-winning schemes are unbuilt

A study carried out by the AJ into RIBA competitions in 2005, 2006 and 2007 has revealed that winning an RIBA contest does not necessarily mean the practice will get to build the work.
Pachydermous posturing

Absurd playwright Eugene Ionesco's best play was Rhinoceros. Plot? Everyone turns into rhinoceroses.
Pagans enlist Gods in protest against Bernard Tschumi's New Acropolis Museum

Greek pagans were out in force in Athens yesterday as part of a protest against Bernard Tschumi Architects’ £94 million New Acropolis Museum.
Page Park wins Warwick University competition

Page Park Architects has seen off the likes of Stanton Williams and Schmidt Hammer Lassen to win the contest to design 500 student flats for the University of Warwick.
Peel Holdings threatens to pull out of £10 billion Broadway Malyan Merseyside schemes

Peel Holdings, one of the UK’s largest developers, has threatened to pull the plug on its proposed £10 billion Liverpool and Wirral Waters scheme if the two projects are called in.
Pelli Clarke Pelli and Land Securities submit Victoria scheme

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Land Securities have submitted a planning application for this 12-storey development in Victoria, central London.
Perfectly flat architectural wall panels

SpeeddeckFlat 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 more informatio
Peter Zumthor named as architecture's Praemium Imperiale Laureate

Peter Zumthor has been named as 20th Praemium Imperiale Laureate for architecture by the Japan Art Association today (16 September).
Planners bowled over by Will Alsop's plans for cricket ground

Will Alsop has been given the green light for this 4,000m2 stand at the world-famous Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground in Leeds.
Preparing to sail for the Arctic

The polar regions hold a profound, and even primal, fascination for so many of us. In the case of the Arctic, real journeys of adventure from Lief Erikson to Peary and Fiennes, and imaginary ones from Jules Verne to Philip Pullman, have added layers of meaning to its magnetic attraction, so to speak.
Preview of the Turner Prize 08 exhibition

'Is it all a fix?' read the placard belonging to art group, The Stuckists, who were yesterday handing out leaflets reading 'The Turner Prize is crap' outside the Tate Gallery's Turner Prize Exhibition. The mannequins on the loo, collages of other artist's work and a film of an elegantly-maniqured lady smashing bone china that are part of the four shortlisted artists work, will ensure that The Turner Prize continues to be controversial. Before you make up your own mind about the work, take a l
Promotion at DLG

National practice DLG Architects has promoted Richard Austwick to Associate Director at its Leeds office just eight months after joining the firm.
Protect your name

The callsign for California-based Rios Clementi Hale Studios is http://rchstudios.com. It's probably not intentional but this is perilously close to the name of Italian practice Archstudios. Add an 'A' or lose an 'A' and you get the other's site.
Prue Chiles to head up Sheffield architecture school

The University of Sheffield has appointed Prue Chiles as its new director of architecture.
Rem Koolhaas unveils 'peek-a-boo' New York tower

Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has revealed images of its first residential skyscraper in New York.
Review - the Rule of Regulations

Alex Ely visits a show that challenges an ever-expanding set of Building RegulationsThe Rule of Regulations. Until 13 September, at the Closet Gallery, 57 Ewer Street, SE1 0NR. www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/closet
Review - Thinking Allowed: Imagination and suburbia and more...

Shumi Bose lets her imagination loose on the subject of suburbiaBroadcast 13, 20 and 27 August. ‘Imagination and the City’ is available on the BBC iPlayer until 8 September. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
RIBA president and Jarvis Cocker to set sail for Arctic

RIBA president Sunand Prasad is to sail to the Arctic with Jarvis Cocker and a host of other artists.
RIBA Special Awards shortlists unveiled

The RIBA has unveiled the shortlists for all its special awards, which will be awarded at the Stirling Prize ceremony in Liverpool on 11 October. The shortlists are presented in full below.
RIBA to open three new international chapters

The RIBA has announced that it will be opening three new international chapters in Singapore, the Gulf region and Hong Kong.
RIBA urges government to scrap planning target to speed up process

The RIBA has urged the government to drop the eight- and 13-week planning targets imposed on local authorities to speed up the planning process.
Richard Rogers' Chelsea Barracks project must address local fears

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’ (AHMM) controversial Chelsea Barracks scheme ‘needs to address local residents' concerns’, according to Westminster City Council.
Richard Rogers' Chelsea Barracks scheme must address local fears

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’ (AHMM) controversial Chelsea Barracks scheme ‘needs to address local residents' concerns’, according to Westminster City Council.
RMJM to design two Libyan campuses

Globetrotter RMJM has been picked to design two huge university campuses in Libya.
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners hits back at CABE's Wood Wharf criticisms

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has hit back at claims by CABE that its massive, high-rise Wood Wharf scheme on the Isle of Dogs in East London could create a ‘ghetto’.
Rolf Fehlbaum, Vitra Chief Executive, talks architecture and design

Stars such as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid clamour to work with Vitra chief executive Rolf Fehlbaum. He talks to Laura Houseley about architecture and design
Ruth Reed: architect at home

I became president elect of RIBA on 1 September which is hugely exciting. It’s a great honour and privilege. You hear those words used and it’s only when they are applied to you that you really understand what they mean.
Scottish Construction

Are you ready to capitalise on the enormous opportunities in Scottish Construction?
Scottish government to review design watchdog

The Scottish government has announced it will carry out a review of the country’s design watchdog, Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS).
Sean Griffiths: architect at home

I live in a house that FAT designed; The Blue House. I live with my mistakes.
Second Life comes of age

In the past this column has been a tad lukewarm about the virtual world, Second Life (SL). There is that stuff regularly hauled out for inspection by journalists scraping the story barrel, about virtual naughtinesses and how exciting that is. But Second Life's blocky graphics structure and lack of interesting things to do have failed to impress. Now however at the Serpentine Gallery you can see Chinese artist, Cao Fei, and her RMB City, an experimental art community on an island in SL. You ha
See inside Liverpool's Le Corbusier exhibition

These photos are from the show Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture, which opens today (2 October) in the Lutyens-designed crypt of Liverpool's Roman Catholic cathedral.
See inside the British pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale - video

First impressions of this year's British pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale were of a beautifully designed, very sober, quite stark, black and white exhibition using wooden models, graphs comparing space standards across Europe and magnificent photographs by David Grandorge and John Davies.
See videos from the AJ/Argent King's Cross Charrette

The AJ/Argent King's Cross Charrette exhibition opens at New London Architecture today (4 September).
SEEING THE LIGHT

The AJ, Lighting magazine and sponsor Lutron brought a panel of architects and lighting designers together to discuss their working relationship.THE PANEL:Mark Bax BDPMaurice Brill Maurice Brill Lighting DesignTony Ingram 3DReidKieran Long editor, The Architects' JournalMark Major Speirs and Major AssociatesJohn McRae ORMSR
Sergison Bates among big names shortlisted for Newcastle housing expo

Sergison Bates, FAT, dRMM and Niall McLaughlin have been named on an impressive 12-strong shortlist of practices vying to build houses as part of the groundbreaking Scotswood Expo in Newcastle.
Sheppard Robson scoops planning for 20-storey city offices

Sheppard Robson has landed planning permission for this 25,000m² office scheme in the City of London
SIV

Learn more about SIV
SMC bounces back into the black

The SMC Group’s ‘restructuring’ has seen the UK’s second largest practice bounce back into the black, according to its six-month interim results to June 2008.
Spence Associates' 'iconic' Wear Bridge comes face to face with 'basic' rival

The rival to Spence Associates and Techniker’s New Wear Bridge has been unveiled and the public is being asked which one it prefers.
Spence Associates' Wear Bridge comes face to face with 'basic' rival

The rival to Spence Associates and Techniker’s New Wear Bridge has been unveiled and the public is being asked which one it prefers.
Standing up straight

It appears from AJ 28.08.08 that Wakefield is to be (or is already) subjected to the currently fashionable blight of wonky columns. They are structurally inefficient, generate a functionally useless space shadow and make buildings appear unstable.
Stefan Behling of Foster + Partners on innovation in glass

Foster + Partners' Stefan Behling, creator of Glass Technology Live, talks about his exhibition and symposium showcasing the latest innovations in glass. The event is part of internation trade fair Glasstec.Photograph by Ståle Eriksen
Stirling Prize judges visit London projects - video

The AJ joined the Stirling Prize judges yesterday for an exclusive insight into the judging process.
Stirling Prize-shortlisted Maccreanor Lavington loses funding on troubled Pathfinder scheme

The wheels have come off an ‘exemplar’ Pathfinder project in Lancashire, piling more misery on to the government’s controversial housing renewal programme.
Stirling-shortlisted Alison Brooks teams up with volume housebuilder

Stirling Prize-shortlisted Alison Brooks Architects has teamed up with volume housebuilder Linden Homes for a new project in Essex.
Studio BAAD's Hebden Bridge scheme triggers death threats

Hebden Bridge-based Studio BAAD has become the victim of a hate and intimidation campaign after submitting revised plans for a mixed-use development in the West Yorkshire town.
Studio Egret West completes Nottingham Science Park

This is Studio Egret West’s Nottingham Science Park, completed earlier in the summer.
Sustainable Design Summit

Practical approaches to sustainability in mainstream design
Sustainable new-build social housing

Architects: Levitt Bernstein; DO Architecture; Anne Thorne Architects Partnership; PCKO; PRP; Collective Architecture; Cole Thompson Anders Architects.
Ten things to do at the London Design Festival

Follow the AJ’s 10-point guide to this year’s celebration of design in the capital. The London Design Festival runs until 23 September, at various London venues. For more information, visit the LDF website.
Terraced house refurbishment, Mottingham, London by ECD Architects

Considered use of products should ensure that ECD Architects’ retrofit of a social-housing property achieves an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions.
That crashing sound is your derivative workload collapsing

MONDAY. Marx would have made a great estate agent. He loved rhetoric, and spotted Clerkenwell’s fantastic potential years before anyone else.
The credit crunch must not scupper regeneration

This week, our news team has looked at three regeneration projects at different states of stasis (see pages 8-10). We found that most stakeholders are still bullish, but pragmatic and are refocusing their objectives.
The Venice Biennale British Pavilion remains steadfastly London-centric

According to Emily Campbell, head of design and architecture at the British Council, Britain has an ‘expanding cast of architects held in high regard internationally’ (AJ 28.08.08). They will not be represented in the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which will once again grandstand a small coterie of London practices.
Thinking about geo-engineering

The participants on the Cape Farewell voyage were asked to respond to a talk by David Keith at Ted.com about geo engineering. Sunand's response was as follows.
Thomas Beney joins Grace Lea Associates

Grace Lea Associates has appointed Thomas Beney as Development Executive.
Three chairs for recycling

While at the Design Council for the Greengage event (see previous posting) I saw this exhibition of chairs made from waste materials, called Sitting Comfortably.
Tickertape genius

Ay-architects... Look this lower case stuff was en vogue years ago. But modern wordprocessors almost always uppercase the first word in a sentence - as has happened in the previous sentence. You are on a hiding to nothing however cool it looks. Still, you might point out that urls are case in-sensitive and So? Whatever when you type in the site name up comes 'ay-architects' and the four section headings 'Studio', 'Projects', 'News' and 'Contact' (in upp
Tony Fretton describes his Vassall Road housing scheme - audio slideshow

Hear Tony Fretton talk about the design of his Vassall Road Housing, subject of a building study in this week's AJ.
TRADA £75K research competition

Launching a year of celebrations to mark its 75th anniversary in 2009, at its AGM earlier this month TRADA announced a research competition for both Corporate and Professional members. Three or more winners will share research funding of up to £75,000.
Tumbling tourists add to Santiago Calatrava's Venice bridge woes

First it was long delays, angry heritage campaigners, and locals disgruntled over poor disabled access. But now injured tourists have heaped scorn on Santiago Calatrava’s new bridge in Venice.
UK-GBC recruits Code for Sustainable Buildings task group

The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has announced the panel of experts that will help to shape a Code for Sustainable Buildings.
Unsung glory of Branson Coates

A respected correspondent, grumpy with my recent severe view of the Venturi Scott-Brown website, urged me to take a look at the Branson Coates Architecture site. I think it was s a bit of a test.At first I imagined the home page was a badly photographed band set waiting for the drummer to walk on, but on mature reflection it seems to be a restaurant interior shot from the street. Move your cursor anywhere and up comes a semi-transparent block
Urban Splash cuts jobs as sales slump

Developer Urban Splash has confirmed it is shedding staff and has refused to set timescales for a number of proposals still on the drawing board, including Tribeca in Liverpool.
Vassall Road housing, London by Tony Fretton Architects

Tony Fretton's housing and medical centre in London epitomises the 'peculiar conditions' of housing provision in the UK.Photography by Peter Cook.
Venice architecture biennale is like nerds talking about sex

This year’s Venice architecture biennale has been hijacked by awkward ambassadors of the parametric mafia and the elite of the avant-garde.
Venice Architecture Biennale: see the first pictures

As this year's Venice Architecture Biennale opens, the first impression is that the theme of 'out there' has indeed led to some pretty out there stuff, much of it reminiscent of the hippy ethos of the 1960s, from nude folk singers to heart beat bubbles and a focus on sci-fi and interactive exhibits.
Vitesse architectural wall cladding - the next generation

SpeeddeckSpeedDeck Building Systems invite you to see the latest developments in its wall cladding systems at 100% Detail.Visit us on Stand T80 and find the latest in wall cladding solutions including the new Vitesse, Elan and Rainscreen systems. Visit www.eleco.com/speeddeck for more details.Click here to request more information
WalkSafe Fall Proof Covers

Latchways plc Latchways offers the ultimate access solution for retrofitting onto fragile roofs with the installation of WalkSafe fall proof covers—providing passive fall protection in designated areas. The covers can be used adjacent to WalkSafe walkways on flat or pitched fragile roofs and can work in conjunction with other Latchways fall-protection solutions ensuring a safe working environment is created.
WalkSafe Fall Proof Covers - Latchways Plc

Latchways plcLatchways offers the ultimate access solution for retrofitting onto fragile roofs with the installation of WalkSafe fall proof covers—providing passive fall protection in designated areas. The covers can be used adjacent to WalkSafe walkways on flat or pitched fragile roofs and can work in conjunction with other Latchways fall-protection solutions ensuring a safe working environment is created.
Waterways Renaissance Awards

The British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) and The Waterways Trust are calling for entries to The Waterways Renaissance Awards 2009.
'We are down to brass tacks' – Jack Pringle reacts to Wall Street crisis

Former RIBA president Jack Pringle has spoken of the potentially devastating consequences of the collapse of American investment bank Lehman Brothers this morning (15 September).
What does BDP stand for?

Britain’s biggest practice has an image problem. Rory Olcayto visits BDP’s Manchester HQ to try to understand the firm’s design and culture. Photography by Martine Hamilton Knight
What planet is this?

Astragal is a big fan of Star Trek. But not as much as one of the directors from auctioneer Phillips de Pury.
What the best dressed buildings are wearing

AlucobondALUCOBOND is a versatile composite material consisting of two 0.5mm aluminium cover skins and a 3mm plastic or mineral filled core. ALUCOBOND panels are stable, flexible, of optimum flatness and available in an unrivalled range of colours and finishes. The new Spectra colours series changes colour depending upon the material's pigment type and the observers viewing angle.Click he
Wilkinson Eyre and Horden Cherry Lee submit mixed-use Temple scheme

Wilkinson Eyre and Horden Cherry Lee have submitted this mixed-use project next to Temple Station in central London for planning.
Wilkinson Eyre's Oxford science building wins green light

Wilkinson Eyre has won the go-ahead from the city council for Oxford University’s new £29 million Department of Earth Sciences building.
Will Alsop and Charles Holland of FAT battle it out on go-kart track

Will Alsop and Charles Holland of FAT launched an event by newly launched RIBA London group 'The Social' with a five-lap race against each other at Mile End go-karting track.
Wrexham university seeks 'top class' architect for student flats

Glyndwr University in Wrexham is looking for ‘top class’ architects to design new student accommodation north of its Plas Coch campus.
Zaha Hadid wins planning permission for revised Oxford college extension

Zaha Hadid’s revised proposals for an 1,200m2 extension to the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College in Oxford have been granted planning permission.

Architects JournalSeptember 2008

Architects Journal
September 2008