Architects Journal
September 2011

View all stories from this issue.

A2 directors positive despite studio going into administration

Directors at Liverpool-based A2 Architects claim the studio is in a ‘strong position moving forward’ despite the appointment of administrators last week
Bye bye to BT Tower dishes

The communications dishes on London’s iconic BT Tower are set to be removed following concerns over their safety
C20 Society slams survey linking riots to post-war estates

The Twentieth Century Society has hit out at a report linking post-war housing estates with this summer’s riots, claiming it reinforces prejudices against ‘a certain type of architecture’
Cuts threaten success of £270m MyPlace youth centres

News feature: Projects by several high-profile architects are at risk, while seven MyPlace schemes have already been mothballed
From rural development to protecting heritage sites, the NPPF will change the way we build, writes Karen Phull

Never before has planning attracted so much attention from the press. Over the past few months, headlines in various newspaper have declared ‘Hands Off Our Land’ and in the Guardian, Simon Jenkins described the planning reforms as a ‘recipe for civil war’.
New Practices #81: Jack Woolley

The latest in a series of practice profiles looking at architects who have recently decided to go it alone either through choice or redundancy
New Practices #82: Coombes:Everitt Architects

The latest in a series of practice profiles looking at architects who have recently decided to go it alone either through choice or redundancy
News feature: Enterprise zones 'ridiculous'

Bid to boost local businesses with tax breaks will not benefit whole country, say critics of the policy
Planning by appeal on rise

Applicants say appeals process is faster and more likely to result in approval
Schools debate: Colin Stansﬁeld Smith on the James Review

The Hampshire schools pioneer fears calls for standardisation in school building will lead to ‘a depressing repeat of the 1950s and 1960s’
St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust contest: shortlist revealed

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris has been named on an eight-strong RIBA contest shortlist to design inpatient facilities for South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust
WAF preview lands in Tokyo for UIA convention

Visitors to this month’s Tokyo UIA conference have the opportunity to see a special preview of WAF Awards entries and shortlisted projects
What now will go before the 'Mo'?

Ian Martin struggles to find a new design prefix
‘Ideal Theatre’ design competition for students

[Requests to participate must be received by 17 November] Launched by The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, this student competition looks for an Ideal Theatre proposal formed through interdisciplinary work
A chapter ends: Farewell to Amwell

Reading habits rather than rates are closing our much-loved bookshops, writes James Pallister
A week to prove the importance of architecture

Open House and Green Sky Thinking are what we need to fight Gove-ism, says Christine Murray
AAVA unveils plans for four-home scheme in London conservation area

[First look + plans] London starlet AAVA has submitted plans for this four-home scheme in Greenwich, south-east London.
ACA seeks architects' input for fee survey

The Association of Consultant Architects (ACA) has called on architects to submit data to its new fees survey which is based on the hours taken to resource a job
Aedas latest practice to take on Euston station

Aedas has become the latest in a line of practices to be handed the task of overhaulling Euston station in London
Airport of the Future ideas competition

[Requests to participate must be completed by 31 October] US-based Fentress Architects has launched an ideas competition calling for students to imagine a futuristic airport
AJ editor shortlisted for magazine Oscar

AJ editor Christine Murray has been named among the finalists in the British Society of Magazine Editor’s (BSME) annual awards
AJ exclusive: Jestico + Whiles wins Doha College contest

Jestico + Whiles has scooped the competition to design the new Doha College in Qatar
AJ Open House London photography competition launches

Capture an Open House London architectural moment and win photographic prizes courtesy of Lomo
AJ Specification 09.11 – Doors & Windows

Case studies of the YMCA, Crewe, by Terence O’Rourke, House in Crouch End, London, by AAVA and CRMZ, Widnes, by Austin-Smith:Lord
AJ supplements downloads: Exclusive to subscribers

AJ subscribers can now download supplements including Small Projects 2011, AJ100 2010, Stirling Prize 2009, Greening Your Office and Designing for Healthcare
AJ Writing Prize ﬁnalists revealed

The shortlist for the inaugural AJ Writing Prize in association with architecture practice Berman Guedes Stretton has been announced
Alex de Rijke named new RCA head

Co-founder of dRMM Alex de Rijke has been named as the new head of architecture at the Royal College of Art (RCA)
All aboard: Bblur's Slough bus station opens

London-based Bblur Architecture has completed this £7 million replacement for the infamous Brunel Bus Station in Slough
Allies and Morrison takes Reading scheme back to the drawing board

Allies and Morrison is working on revised plans for a major mixed-use redevelopment project in Reading previously designed by Scott Brownrigg and Chapman Taylor
Allies and Morrison wins planning for Royal Mail depot overhaul in Reading

[First look] Allies and Morrison has landed planning permission to redevelop a 2.4 hectare Royal Mail site in Reading, Berkshire
Allies and Morrison's contentious Winchester plans resurrected

Developer Henderson Global Investors has kick-started Allies and Morrison’s controversial and long-running Silver Hill development in Winchester
Aluminium panel falls as Westfield shopping centre opens

A large Aluminium ceiling panel fell just 10 metres away from London mayor Boris Johnson during the opening of the £1.8 billion Westfield Stratford City shopping mall yesterday (13 September)
An Gaeláras by O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects

O’Donnell + Tuomey has neither made a divisive icon nor created a civic museum. It has made a home for Irish-speakers, says Stephen Best
Ancon supplies England’s stunning Rugby World Cup venue

Over 400 Tension Bars from Ancon Building Products have been installed on the Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, where England will play their first three matches in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.The steel tension bars are installed in the roof and in the South and West stands of this brand new stadium, to brace the impressive overhead structural steelwork.
Angela Brady: ‘Correction: I’m bringing Hoxton to the RIBA’

Brady’s light-hearted opening to her inaugural speech struck down claims she will relocate the RIBA, then turned to address serious issues facing the profession
AOC to design courtyard extension to 1950s theatre studio

AOC Architecture with Urban Space Management has been appointed to design a three-storey extension to the National Theatre’s Studio in The Cut building in London
Architect fights back over claims Donald Trump clubhouse design is 'gross'

Acanthus df director Douglas Forrest has hit back against claims by an academic that his Donald Trump clubhouse is ‘gross’ and looks like a ‘hideous leftover from the Victorian era’
Architects not let down by the press, debate decides

A hearty and wide-ranging debate last night (6 September) exonerated the architectural press of accusations it had failed in its duties towards the profession
Architects should charge more for small projects, ACA survey early results show

Preliminary findings from the Association of Consultant Architects (ACA) fee survey reveal that architects continue to under-charge for their services, especially on projects with a total build cost of less than £250,000
Architects sought for artists studios in Essex

[Tenders must be received before 31 October] Thurrock Development Corporation calls for architect-led teams for the design of new artist studios at High House Production Park in Purfleet, Essex
Architectural education and global difference – lessons from South Africa

Paul Finch’s letter from London: Last week this column discussed UK and European perspectives on architectural education delivered at the RIBA in the last of three debates in memory of Peter and Muriel Melvin. This week we turn to comments from South Africa and South America, and the view from the RIBA itself.
Architecture crowd-sourcing website criticised

Architects have slammed a ‘threatening’ new crowd-sourcing website in the US which promises to reduce clients’ costs
Architecture isn’t immune to TV’s love of yoof speak and psycho-wash

Rory Olcayto discusses the Secret Life of Buildings on Channel 4
Arup Associates recruiting again as work rolls in

Arup Associates has begun a recruitment drive after landing several major projects including the new £355 million advanced engine facility in Staffordshire for Jaguar Land Rover.
Ashton Porter completes back garden studio

[First look + plans] Emerging practice Ashton Porter has revealed these images of its new ‘suburban studio’, built in the back garden of a north London home
Atkins snaps up former US infrastructure chief

Atkins has appointed former US secretary of transportation Rodney Earl Slater as non-executive director of its board
Back to school: Rockcliffe Manor primary by Haverstock Associates and 4orm

[First look + plans] Haverstock Associates and emerging practice 4orm have completed this £650,000 primary school in south London
Balcony detail, Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres, by Bennetts Associates

[Working Detail 29.09.11] Auditorium balcony detail at the RSC
BDP lands Glasgow Queen Street station revamp job

[First look] Network Rail has appointed BDP with Buchanan Partnership to transform Glasgow’s Queen Street train station
Benefits of 'ignored' smart meters questioned

New research has questioned the benefit of the governments’ £11 billion plan to reduce energy consumption by installing energy meters in every home by 2020
Bennetts lands chapel job for Grade I-listed school

[First look] Bennetts Associates has won the contest to design a new chapel and music centre at the Charles Barry-designed Canford School in Dorset
Best practice: ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it’

How we transformed frustration and a desire to build into real, fee-paying work, by Chris Bryant
Bird College, Sidcup

[Requests to participate must be received by 12 October] Launched on behalf of Bird College in Sidcup, this RIBA-led design competition calls for expressions of interest from architects for a £13 million overhaul of the college’s existing sites
Bispebjerg hospital masterplan, Copenhagen

[Requests to participate must be received by 28 October] Danish authorities are on the hunt for masterplans for a new hospital complex in the Bispebjerg suburb of Copenhagen
Bookies clean up after Hadid's shock Stirling win

Bookmaker William Hill is laughing all the way to the bank following Saturday’s surprise RIBA Stirling Prize victory for Zaha Hadid Architects
Brady on Brady

Quickfire Q&A with the RIBA’s new president
Broadway Malyan unveils plans for world’s ‘second-tallest’ tower

[First look] This is Broadway Malyan’s new project to build what is claimed to be the second-tallest tower in the world in Istanbul, Turkey
Building a defence: Architecture in Uniform

Wartime architects faced unique challenges – and opportunities – during WWII. A book explores the architectural legacy of the conflict, writes Adrian Forty
Capita Symonds snaps up CLG housing chief Richard McCarthy

The top civil servant for housing at the Communities and Local Government department Richard McCarthy has announced plans to join Capita Symonds
Chipperfield, AZPA and Foster vie for Spanish infrastructure jackpots

Foster + Partners, Richard Rogers, David Chipperfield and AZPA are flying the British flag in two Spanish railway projects worth £86 million
Choose your favourite to win the Stirling Prize

The RIBA has launched an online poll to find out which scheme the public thinks should win UK architecture’s largest prize
Cincinnati transport station design competition

[Registration must be completed by 14 October] The city of Cincinnati in the state of Ohio has launched an ideas competition to design a public transport station
Cladding detail, Evelyn Grace Academy, by Zaha Hadid Architects

[Working Detail 29.09.11] External cladding and terrace balustrade
Coffey wins 2011 Stephen Lawrence Prize for St Patrick’s school extension

Coffey Architects has won this year’s Stephen Lawrence Prize for its St Patrick’s School Library and Music Room in Kentish Town, London
Competitions: Editor's Pick 08.09.11

Chicago’s Navy Pier, a Latvian coastal resort and public realm improvements in Bath. The editor’s pick of this week’s top competitions
Concourse bridge detail, Velodrome, London, Hopkins Architects

[Working Detail 29.09.11] Concourse bridge at the Olympic Velodrome
Confidence drops as unemployment rises

The number of practices predicting a drop in a workload rose to 23 per cent last month, according to the RIBA’s latest Future Trends survey
Conran wins go-ahead for super-green Brighton offices

[First look + plans] Conran + Partners has won planning permission for this six-storey office building on the Astoria Cinema site in Brighton
Constructing the Ineffable: Contemporary Sacred Architecture

A new collection of essays expand on Le Corbusier’s definition of sacred space in architecture to illuminating effect, writes Ayla Lepine
Council backs Viñoly's Manchester City academy plans

Plans by a team led by Rafael Viñoly for a huge training facility and academy next to Manchester City’s current Eastlands home have been approved
Council retains contractor despite canopy collapse at BDP-designed school

Telford and Wrekin Council has reaffirmed its commitment to award Kier Moss three schools contracts before the end of the year despite a major health and safety incident
CPMG bosses complete management buy-out

Four directors at CPMG Architects have completed a management buy-out of the Nottingham-based company
Crucible Theatre by RHWL, Sheffield (1971)

AJ Buildings Library project of the week: Opened in 1971, RHWL’s grade II listed Crucible Theatre celebrates its 40th birthday this year
D5 completes £2.4m Milton Keynes rugby pavilion

[First look + plans] D5 Architects has opened the doors on this new home for the Milton Keynes Rugby Union Football Club
Danish Cabinetmakers unveil 38 white chairs in South Kensington

Danish design association Cabinetmakers has unwrapped its autumn exhibition featuring 38 white chairs at the Drill Hall Depot in South Kensington
Danish practice wins 'Next generation of pylon' contest

Copenhagen-based practice Bystrup has ‘unanimously’ won the competition to design the UK’s new generation of electricity pylons
Design competitions are ‘abusive’, says Viñoly

International starchitect Rafael Viñoly has hit out at the competitions process, claiming design contests are ‘abusive’ and calling for a new process
Design Council CABE hands out £114k for communities work

Design Council CABE has named the 14 organisations who will pocket grants totalling £114,000 to fund work with local communities to raise design quality in their area
Dixon Jones lands John Lewis redevelopment job in Chelsea

Dixon Jones has been appointed to transform a 1930s John Lewis depot into luxury housing in Chelsea, London
Dogma, design or technical details: How should architecture be taught?

Paul Finch’s letter from London: Global differences in architectural education
Donald Insall unwraps Elizabethan house overhaul

[First look + plans + project data] Donald Insall Associates has released these shots of its £10 million restoration and expansion of a dilapidated Elizabethan mansion in Anglesey
Donald Trump clubhouse scheme by Acanthus revealed

An Acanthus Architects DF-designed clubhouse for Donald Trump’s £750 million golf course scheme near Aberdeen has been revealed
Don't go mimsy on the NIMBYs, Greg

Paul Finch’s letter from London: Greg Clark has the unenviable task in the NPPF of putting town and country planning into perspective
Doors open on £1.8 billion London Olympic shopping behemoth

[First look] The 176,500m² Westfield Stratford City in east London has opened its doors to the public
Doors open on S&P's £23 million Dagenham pool

Work has completed on the £23 million Becontree Heath leisure centre in Dagenham, east London
DOSA museum design contest, Sardinia

[Proposals must be received by 18 October] The Sardinian city of Villaputzu in Italy has invited architects to submit proposals for a new museum which will accompany an archaeological site
Duggan Morris wins go-ahead for Curtain Road showstopper

[First look + plans] Duggan Morris Architects has won planning permission for a £2 million mixed-use extension to a Georgian building on Curtain Road in east London
Earls Court, London, by Charles Howard Crane (1937)

AJ Buildings Library project of the week: Opened in 1937 the exhibition centre is host to 100% Design this weekend
Ed Balls urges VAT cut on home improvements

The shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called on the government to chop the VAT on home improvements to just 5 per cent for one year
Edinburgh Council investigated for housing repair fraud

Lothian and Borders Police is investigating Edinburgh City Council’s property conservation department amid claims statutory repair notices were used fraudulently
Evelyn Grace Academy by Zaha Hadid Architects

The building’s segments resemble supersized, tensely interlocked graffiti script, spray-canned in silver, grey and black, says Jay Merrick
Exclusive interview with Angela Brady: ‘I will stand up and fight’

RIBA president Angela Brady, who will be inaugurated next week, promises to shake-up 66 Portland Place and to revolutionise the competition system and procurement, as well as tackling the government and public perception of architects
Extension to Vienna's University of Applied Arts, Austria

[Requests to participate must be received by 18 October] Vienna’s University of Applied Arts has launched a design competition seeking proposals for a 7,000m2 city centre extension
Facade detail, Museum Folkwang, by David Chipperfield Architects

[Working Detail 29.09.11] Double-skin facade at the Museum Folkwang
Facade detail, The Angel Building, by AHMM

[Working Detail 29.09.11] East elevation of the Angel Building
Fee scales and small projects just don't mix

We need a new way to make architecture pay, says Christine Murray
Finally: West 8’s Jubilee Gardens scheme to start on site

Dutch landscape architect West 8’s project to revamp Jubilee Gardens on London’s south bank is to start on site – 12 years after the company first won a competition for the site
Foster + Partners set to make Israel debut

Foster + Partners has won the competition to new home of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Foster, Rogers, Hadid and HOK in running to build world’s largest airport

Foster + Partners, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, and HOK have been shortlisted to design the world’s largest airport in China
Gale and Snowden complete UK's 'first' Passivhaus council flats

Gale and Snowden Architects have completed the UK’s first social housing apartments built to Passivhaus standards in Exeter
Garsington Opera Pavilion, Buckinghamshire, Snell Associates

Snell Associates’ Garsington Opera pavilion is eclectic, lightweight, demountable and connects with its landscape setting, says Felix Mara. Photography by Dennis Gilbert
Geoff Wilkinson’s Regs: Staircases

The design of domestic staircases causes a number of problems – here are just some of them
GKD media façade braves “Eye of the Storm”

To mark the beginning of the hurricane season, Hurricane “Irene” caused fear with those living on the east coast of the United States. On the last weekend of August the calm before the storm in New York was literally over. With a wind speed of over 150 kilometers per hour, Hurricane “Irene” advanced along the East Coast of the United States toward the city. With “only” 100 kilometers per hour the tropical storm with a width of more than 1.000 kilometers hit the metropolis causing heavy rainfa
Glazing detail, Jason Lee House, Redbridge, London by Peter Barber Architects

[Working detail 01.09.11] Courtyard glazing and roof verge for homeless hostel
Grisales ‘robbed’ of future, says Stephen Lawrence trust boss

Stephen Lawrence Centre managing director Paul Anderson-Walsh has spoken of his sympathy for the family of murdered 21-year old aspiring architect Stephen Grisales
Ground Zero deserved quick procurement and brilliant architecture, but got neither

Ten years after an event that demands great design, we have an incomplete tower with few notable features, sustainable or otherwise, says Christine Murray
Hadid joins ranks of stars to design Miami parking

Zaha Hadid Architects has become the latest big-name architect to be asked to design a car park at Miami Beach, Florida
HCA funding blow leaves Preston contest winner in lurch

RCKarchitects competition-winning housing scheme in the Preston is facing an uncertain future after failing to receive Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) funding
Hodder bags planning for £35million overhaul of Seifert's Gateway House

Manchester City Council has approved Hodder + Partners’ proposed redevelopment of Richard Seifert’s 1965 Gateway House, next to Piccadilliy Station
Hodson wins go-ahead for Grimsby college extension

[First look + project data] Hodson Architects has won planning approval for this new £1.2 million classroom block at Franklin College, Chelmsford Road, Grimsby
Hotel design competition, Latvia

[Requests to participate must be completed by 10 October] A design competition has been launched for the design of a four star hotel in Latvia’s coastal resort of Jurmala
How innovative spelling could save a fortune in heating bills

Ian Martin invents ‘smart metres’
How to design a proton beam centre

[First look + plans] Rolfe Judd has won planning for this proton beam therapy centre in the City of London,
If you want to live longer, buy a ground-floor flat, says Rory Olcayto

Last week, something truly incredible happened at CERN, the world-famous centre for nuclear research in Switzerland: very tiny objects – neutrinos – were observed to have travelled faster than the speed of light.
'I'm looking for an architect,' says Tesco chief

Tesco’s chief architect Martin Young has invited AJ100 practices to propose designs for a contentious supermarket in Hadleigh, Suffolk
In pictures: Stanton Williams' Eton Manor Olympic venue reaches home straight

Stanton Williams’ Eton Manor stadium for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Stratford, east London, is nearing completion
In pictures: The RIBA Stirling Prize 2011

An evening of surprises for the hundreds gathered at Stirling Prize ceremony as the Evelyn Grace Academy gives Zaha Hadid the most prestigious award in UK architecture for the second year in a row
Insolvency warning: more practices ‘will go under’

Insolvency practitioners Grant Thornton has warned that it is ‘inevitable’ more practices will go under following the news that Browne Smith Baker (BSB) had gone into administration
Introduction to Forgotten Spaces Sheffield

RIBA Yorkshire regional director Emma England introduces the Forgotten Spaces Sheffield shortlist
Jan Kaplicky's doomed Prague library reborn as bus stop

Jan Kaplicky’s unrealised National Library scheme for Prague has been recreated in miniature as a bus stop in the Czech city of Brno
Kalzip’s solar solutions certified

Kalzip’s AluPlusSolar and SolarClad solutions have been approved under the internationally recognised quality assurance Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and they have also gained the British Standards Institute’s (BSI) world-renowned and trusted Kitemark - Certificate No: KM 558106. The UK Government is using MCS as a yardstick to ascertain which microgeneration installations are eligible for financial incentives (Feed-in Tariffs) under their Clean Energy Cashback scheme.
Kathryn Firth appointed Olympic Legacy design chief

Ex-PLP director Kathryn Firth has been appointed chief of design at the Olympic Park Legacy Company in east London
KPF to redevelop 1970s towers in Vauxhall

KPF has been appointed to design two new skyscrapers to replace the 1975 Market Towers in Vauxhall, south London
KPF’s One Nine Elms scheme revealed

[First look] KPF’s scheme to redevelop the site Vauxhall’s 1970s Market Towers in south London has been unveiled
Lee Valley Park design services, Enfield

[Proposals must be received by 13 October] Architect-led design teams are sought by the Lee Valley Park Authority for design and project management services
Legalese: The small print

Beware: small words can change the meaning of an entire contract, writes Mark Klimt
Lend Lease's Labbad to co-chair Green Construction Board

Lend Lease’s Dan Labbad has been appointed as Green Construction Board co-chair alongside business minister Mark Prisk
Libyan contracts expected to revive

Libya’s transitional government is expected to honour contracts made with the former Gaddafi regime, the AJ has learned
Listless at Broadgate

Back in June, the Twentieth Century Society lost its battle to have Arup Associates’ Broadgate buildings listed, paving the way for demolition of part of the 1980s office campus and the arrival of Make’s contentious £340 million UBS bank project
London bias in Stirling judging, claims Bennetts

Rab Bennetts, whose RSC Theatre project in Stratford has been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize, has claimed the prestigious award is biased against schemes outside London
London Design Festival: The punters' view

From Amanda Levete to John Pawson and David Chipperfield, Abigail Gliddon reviews the architectural contributions to this year’s London Design Festival
London Luton Airport expansion

[Requests to participate should be made before 3 October] Luton Airport, the UK’s fifth busiest airport, needs architects to help win planning consent for an expansion that would see it handle 18 million passengers a year
London mayor approves Make’s Croydon tower scheme

London mayor Boris Johnson has given the green light to Make’s 55-storey Cherry Orchard Road residential skyscraper scheme in Croydon, London
London Met says sorry over short notice fees increase

London Metropolitan University has apologised for failing to tell its part-time students about huge fee hikes
Make bags planning for Hornsey gasholders overhaul

Make Architects has landed outline planning permission for its £250 million Hornsey Gas Works redevelopment scheme in north London
Manser Medal shortlist announced + Stephen Lawrence prize and Client of the Year shortlists

MVRDV’s cantilevered Balancing Barn is one of six contenders for the £10,000 award for best house or major extension. Stephen Lawrence Prize and Client of the Year shortlists have also been announced
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, by Keith Williams Architects

Keith Williams Architects’ considered reworking of the Marlowe Theatre will boost Kent’s cultural tourism, says Felix Mara
Marriot launches restaurant design contest

[Submissions must be received by 4 October] The global hotel chain Marriot has launched an ideas competition seeking flexible and adaptable designs for its restaurants
Memorial garden marks decade since 9/11 tragedy

A memorial garden, dedicated to the 2,753 people who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, will open on Sunday, 10 years after the towers were destroyed
Molly Bismuth and the funking-up of British architecture

Ian Martin judges the Shit Building Of The Year Award
More big names to join Spiller at Greenwich

Head of Architecture at Greenwich University Neil Spiller has attracted three top colleagues from the Bartlett, his former school, and hopes to recruit more big names
Moxon Architects designs house for What Not to Wear celebrity

Moxon Architects has revealed this images of a new family home for fashion guru and What Not to Wear presenter Trinny Woodall
Museum Folkwang by David Chipperfield Architects

What is it that David Chipperfield uniquely does? … He does architecture better than any of his contemporaries, says Rory Olcayto
Museum of Liverpool, Mann Island, Liverpool by 3XN/AEW

From its ill-thought out commission, to its flawed execution, the Museum of Liverpool dispels the myth of the once heralded ‘Bilbao effect’, writes Rory Olcayto
Napper designs shipping container home for Sunderland co-operative

[First look + project data + plans] Newcastle-based Napper Architects has designed this new base for the Hendon Co-op Centre made from 40 recycled shipping containers in Sunderland
Nashua City design Competition, New Hampshire

[Submissions must be completed by 11 January] Nashua City Hall is seeking design concepts for the Nashua Millyard and adjoining areas on the city’s recently completed Broad Street Parkway thoroughfare in New Hampshire, United States
Navy Pier revamp, Chicago

[Intent to participate must be received by 20 September] An international design competition has been launched seeking proposals to revamp the Navy Pier tourist attraction in Chicago, United States
Neuchâtel 2020 masterplan, Switzerland

[Registration must be completed by 31 December] The Neuchâtel Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Switzerland has launched an international ideas competition seeking masterplans for two of the city’s regions
New build framework with the Home Office

[Expressions of interest must be received by 29 September] The UK Home Office is on the lookout for expressions of interest from architects for a four year £20 million framework agreement covering new build and refurbishment projects
New Guide Showcases Daylight Diffusion

Kalwall is the most highly insulating, diffuse light-transmitting, structural composite technology available. Other translucent materials cannot match the high performance and unique benefits of this highly insulating walling and roofing system.
New Oxford University nursery opens

[First look + plans] Spratley Studios has completed this conversion of a Victorian Arts and Crafts building into a nursery for the University of Oxford
New Practice #83: Synthesis Design + Architecture

The latest in a series of practice profiles looking at architects who have recently decided to go it alone either through choice or redundancy
New Practices #80: Trolley Studio

The latest in a series of practice profiles looking at architects who have recently decided to go it alone, either through choice or redundancy
New Practices #84: Collaborative Design Studio

The latest in a series of practice profiles looking at architects who have recently decided to go it alone either through choice or redundancy
NHS chiefs hit back over PFI ‘legacy of debt’ claim

NHS bosses have challenged health secretary Andrew Lansley’s accusation that PFI deals had left several hospitals struggling for survival
Nils Norman and Junebum Park at CUBE, Manchester

[THIS WEEK] Artists in Manchester are using play to explore architecture, writes James Pallister
No hike in ARB annual retention fee

The Architects’ Registration Board (ARB) has confirmed it will keep its retention fee at £80 for next year (2012)
Norman Foster reveals Manchester hospital plans

Foster + Partners has unveiled this image of its proposed new £70 million private hospital in Didsbury, Manchester
NPPF to unlock 1,000 major developments a year, government estimates

The government’s planned shakeup of the planning system could allow an extra 1,000 large-scale developments to proceed, documents reveal
NPPF will have 'negative impact on investor confidence' says HTF

The Historic Towns Forum has warned that the government’s streamlined National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is too vague and could deter investment
NPPF: Clark hints at 'brownfield first' policy u-turn

Planning minister Greg Clark has suggested the government may be willing to make concessions around the wording of brownfield development in the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
Obituary: John Bancroft (1928-2011)

Veteran Brutalist architect John Bancroft has died at the age of 82
Oliver Chapman unwraps Edinburgh house extension

[First look + plans] Oliver Chapman Architects has completed this end-of-terrace Victorian home extension in Edinburgh
Open House London: Win BT Tower tickets

Join the discussion about Open House and win a pair of tickets to the BT Tower this weekend
Open Practice: Visit the architects driving sustainable building and retrofit

As part of Green Sky Thinking, some of the UK’s leading practitioners in sustainable design will be sharing their expertise through a range of events hosted in their own offices and in locations around London
Osborne and Pickles: Do not underestimate government commitment to planning reform

Chancellor George Osborne and communities secretary Eric Pickles have defended the governments’ proposed planning reforms amid fierce opposition from conservation groups
Permeable paving

New products that flush out pollutants in surface water are becoming ever more popular, says Laura Mark
Pevsner, Hitchcock and Giedion

Gervork Hartoonian’s study of the inner life of architecture’s greatest historians relies on theory rather than facts - which is a problem, writes Stephen Games
Planners veto CZWG’s Arsenal student tower

CZWG and Muf’s proposed student tower and public realm scheme close to the home of Arsenal football club has been rejected on height grounds
Planning inspectors told to take into account draft NPPF

The planning inspectorate has issued guidance to its officers to start viewing the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) as a ‘material consideration’ in their decisions
Plans submitted for Allies and Morrison’s Westfield White City expansion

Allies and Morrison has submitted outline plans for a £1 billion extension to the Westfield shopping centre in White City, London
Police prepare for potential battle over unplanned Basildon homes

Police have not ruled out the possibility of a violent confrontation as efforts to evict 400 travellers living in homes without planning permission in Basildon, Essex proceed
Populous’ mega-church starts on site in Manilla

Work has begun on a 50,000-seat indoor venue for religious meetings in the Philippines designed by Populous
Practice hit with £33,000 software piracy ﬁne

Belfast-based Coogan & Co has been hit by the latest clampdown on unlicensed software
President Brady's grand ambitions

Angela Brady wants to revolutionise the RIBA once and for all. We should support her, says Christine Murray
Public spaces for Bath City Centre

[Intent to participate must be received by 12 September] Architect’s proposals are sought for the rennovation of public spaces and streets in Bath, Somerset
Rafael Viñoly finally completes 'Golden Banana'

[First look + project data] Rafael Viñoly Architects has finally taken the wraps off its £28.2 million Firstsite visual arts museum in Colchester, Essex
Re:Connect ideas competition, Vancouver

[Registration must be completed by 2 November] The city of Vancouver in Canada is calling for design ideas for three urban areas
Reaction to Hadid's Stirling Prize win: 'There was a collective groan'

The decision to give this year’s Stirling Prize to Zaha Hadid’s Evelyn Grace Academy is met by shock, surprise and even anger
Read the AJ monograph of Hopkins Architects' London 2012 Velodrome

Read a digital version of the AJ’s in-depth monograph looking at Hopkins’ Stirling Prize-shortlisted Velodrome for the London 2012 Olympics
Republic of Fritz Hansen invades London

Danish furniture brand Republic of Fritz Hansen opened its first store in London yesterday
Resignations follow RIBA’s ‘shoebox’ housing report

Key members of the RIBA’s housing group have resigned following the publication of a contentious report accusing housebuilders of creating ‘shameful shoebox homes’
Retrouvious scoops planning for Tim Burton house overhaul

Architectural salvage and design company Retrouvious has landed planning permission to revamp the home of acclaimed film director Tim Burton in London
Revealed: 3DReid's Cuba Street skyscrapers

3DReid and Gültekin Architecture have submitted plans for their Cuba Street residential scheme in Canary Wharf for Turkish developer, the Agaoglu Group.
Revealed: Designs of Carlsberg Brewery revamp finalists

Carlsberg has unveiled designs by all the shortlisted practices, including finalists Wilkinson Eyre, in the competition to transform the Danish drinks giant’s brewhouse complex in Copenhagen, Denmark
Revealed: 'extreme' restoration for Newcastle's Theatre Royal

These are the first pictures of the newly restored Grade I-listed Theatre Royal in Newcastle
RHWL unwraps Watford Colosseum

[First look + plans] RHWL Arts Team has completed this £5.5 million project to revamp the 1930s Watford Colosseum in Watford, Hertfordshire
RIBA hands out record £100k in research grants

The RIBA has dished out close to £100,000 worth of research grants for the coming academic year, the largest amount ever given in its history the institute claims
RIBA’s report on homes is a Gerald Ratner moment, claims property consultant

McBains Cooper has likened the RIBA’s contentious Case for Space report to a catastrophic gaff made by jewellery tycoon Gerald Ratner in the early 90s
Riot rebuild sees Design for London expand

Design for London has admitted it is in ‘urgent need’ of more staff to help with a raft of post-riot rebuilding projects
Robert Adam reveals rival to 'destructive' Winchester scheme

The urban design branch of Robert Adam’s practice has unveiled an alternative to Allies and Morrison’s controversial Silver Hill shopping scheme in Winchester
Roofing delay for Chipperfield’s Size + Matter installation

David Chipperfield’s all-glass Size + Matter installation for the London Festival at the Southbank was incomplete when shown to the press this week
Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres by Bennetts Associates

Shackled with a Grade II*-listed building, Bennetts was under pressure from an audience clamouring for a worthy response, says Felix Mara
RSC named 2011 RIBA client of the year

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC )has been named the 2011 RIBA Client of the Year supported by the Bloxham Charitable Trust
Ryder merges with London-based JAA

Ryder Architecture has merged with London practice Jeffery Associates Architecture (JAA)
SAS International products specified for T2 Dublin airport

SAS International designed and manufactured a range of solutions for the new 75,000 square metres Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, Ireland. According to Dublin Airport Authority this new second terminal will be capable of comfortably handling up to 15 million passengers per year.
Schmidt Hammer Lassen and PTE complete Granary overhaul

Work has finished on this £4 million refurbishment and extension of a 1870s granary building in Barking, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Schmidt Hammer Lassen completes Aberdeen library

The University of Aberdeen has opened its new £57 million library designed by Danish stars Schmidt Hammer Lassen
Schmidt Hammer Lassen's Sheffield learning centre opens

[First look] Danish-based practice Schmidt Hammer Lassen has completed this £2.5 million community library in North Sheffield
Scott Brownigg unveils huge marina plans in Cyprus

[First look] Scott Brownrigg has submitted plans to redevelop a 28 ha waterfront site in the ancient Byzantine city of Larnaca, Cyprus
Sebastopol City Centre design competition, California

[Registration must be completed by 17 October] The American Institute of Architects along with local sponsors, seek ‘innovative and challenging’ designs for the renewal and redesign of Sebastopol city centre, north California
Seeking strong voice for profession, rich baritone preferred

Ian Martin hears that the Prince of Wales is challenging Dr David Starkey to a rap battle
'Shameful shoe-boxes': Yorkshire's new homes smallest in RIBA survey

New homes in Yorkshire and Humber are the smallest in the country according to new research by the RIBA
Shapps’ red card

Grant Shapps’ call for Liverpool Football Club to speed up its future development plans pushed even Astragal’s taste for punnery to the limit
Sheffield University's revamped Arts Tower re-opens

Sheffield University’s School of Architecture has returned home to the top of the Grade II*-listed Arts Tower following a major refurbishment of the 78m-tall landmark by HLM Architects
Shortlists for major Olympic Park contests revealed

Heneghan Peng, David Kohn and Ushida Findlay are among practices shortlisted in two major design competitions for the London 2012 Olympic Park announced today (22 September)
Slovenia’s 'Silent Revolution' comes to London

An exhibition of Slovenian contemporary design products is taking place at Tent London from 22-25 September 2011 as part of London Design Festival
Social change and sustainability at the RCA

Design as a tool for social change is the focus of three exhibitions at the Royal College of Art as part of London Design Festival 2011
Speculative work ‘endemic’ to the profession

Architects are reporting an ‘endemic’ rise in speculative, developer-led bids that see practices work for free with payment conditional on the winning of planning approval
Squire and Partners bags Paddington planning

[First look + plans] Squire and Partners has won the go-ahead for this mixed-use housing scheme on an ‘underused’ 1960s car park in Paddington
Stanton Williams’ Millbank scheme under the hammer

[First look] Stanton Williams Architects project to redevelop Riverwalk House on Millbank, London is understood to be in line for purchase by property tycoon Gerald Ronson
Stirling Prize 2011: Hopkins' velodrome wins 'People's vote'

Hopkins’ London’s Olympic Velodrome has been voted the public’s favourite of the six buildings vying for the RIBA Stirling Prize 2011
Stirling Prize: What the judges think

Exclusive insights from Angela Brady, Peter Cook, Hanif Kara, Dan Pearson and Alison Brooks
Surge in applications for home extensions

The number of planning applications made by homeowners for extensions has risen by 5.4 per cent, according to figures released to the AJ
Tate Modern to unwrap Herzog & de Meuron ‘fuel tanks’ by 2012

Tate Modern has announced plans to open the first phase of its £215 million Herzog & de Meuron-designed extension next summer
TFP Farrells completes Kingkey Tower in Shenzhen

[First look] TFP Farrells has completed this 441.8m-tall skyscraper in Shenzhen, China – the tallest building ever designed by a British architect
The Angel Building by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

A building that contrasts between sharp and cool, an understated exterior and invitingly complex interior, says Joseph Rykwert
The answer to the housing crisis: unblocking planning

Craig Casci of Grid Architects argues that housing problems are a symptom of the broken planning system, not the lack of land or delivery
The Corner House, Greenwich, by Friend and Company Architects

The stripped-down, utilitarian design uses only glass and wood to allow a furniture-like construction of stacking components
The Diary of an Anonymous Architect #3

The third in a new series about the day-to-day travails of an embattled practitioner. This week: Switching Off
The Flint House, Blackheath, by Nick Willson Architects

Sustainability in practice: From custom-made door handles to integrated baby gates, we considered every little detail in this completely bespoke home
The Houl, Dumfries and Galloway, by Simon Winstanley Architects

Sustainability in practice: This single-storey longhouse embodies our belief in low energy consumption, high levels of insulation, and on-site electricity generation
The new place space race, and my five-point plan for shrill recovery

Ian Martin gets his traction on
The real Nikolaus Pevsner

Susie Harries’ biography of the art historian overturns his image as a hapless, workaholic professor and finds a man desperate to belong, writes Steve Parnell
The Shadow House, Camden, by Liddicoat & Goldhill

Our tough little house on a 38m² site was a response to protracted negotiation with Camden’s planners
The tale of two Localism Guides

Everybody wants to know what the impact of the government’s localism agenda will really be. Here are two, very different, explanatory guides
This Way Up: Exhibition and sale to support new design fellowship

The British Council has teamed up with curator and producer Unity to create an exhibition and sale entitled This Way Up: 15 Years of Architecture, Design and Fashion at
Transforming familiar spaces at the London Design Festival

Familiar spaces at the V&A, Covent Garden, St Paul’s and the South Bank have been transformed by installations that force visitors to re-evaluate their surroundings
Trashy, but cool

Sofie Mollekens, of Trashilicious in Belgium is partnering with her London-based compatriot Walter Raes at his exhibition, ‘Dun Roamin’
TV celebrity architect George Clarke splits from partner

George Clarke and business partner Bobby Desai have agreed to go their separate ways
University of Alberta launches shopping centre ideas contest

[Submissions must be received by 30 November] The University of Alberta in Canada has launched an open ideas competition focusing on the reinvention of American shopping centres
University of East Anglia tenders new teaching facility

[Requests to participate must be made by 14 October] The University of East Anglia in Norwich is on the hunt for architects to design a new teaching facility
University of Sheffield consultancy framework

[Requests to participate should be made before 30 September] The University of Sheffield is on the hunt for architects for its four-year Estates and Facilities Management consultancy services framework, featuring projects worth up to £1 million
Up-cycling at the LDF2011

Two designers have teamed up to show the value of discarded materials by creating innovative lighting products
Urban open-space for Hamburg's Baakenhafen quarter

[Requests to participate must be received by 14 September] Architects are invited to submit masterplan proposals for Hamburg’s Baakenhafen quarter – a waterfront location which is set to become a family orientated workplace, with homes and a leisure centre
US summer camp seeks concept designs for parkland structures

[Submissions must be received by 31 December] Beam Camp children’s art and building camp in New Hampshire has launched an open brief design contest for parkland structures
Vaizey ‘amazed’ ARB still standing

Culture minister Ed Vaizey has admitted he was ‘amazed’ the government had failed to abolish ARB, two years after promising he would scrap the register
Velodrome by Hopkins Architects

I thought it was going to be just another self-conscious icon. In many ways it is a one-liner… But what a line, says Edwin Heathcote
Video: Chipperfield on the London Design Festival

David Chipperfield and London Design Festival director Ben Evans discuss this year’s Size + Matter installation on the Southbank
Video: Edinburgh high-rise housing demolished

The 1960s North Sighthill estate in Edinburgh has been demolished to make way for a new housing development yesterday (26 September)
Walkie Talkie duo reunited at Pringle Brandon Drew

Miriam White has rejoined former Rafael Vinoly colleague John Drew after leaving RMJM to become a a director newly created Pringle Brandon Drew
Wall detail, An Gaeláras, by O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects

[Working Detail 29.09.11] Cut-away section through courtyard wall
Wapping sell-off spikes Amanda Levete redevelopment plans

Plans by Amanda Levete Architects to re-model News International’s headquarters have been derailed by a decision to sell the east London site
Waterford Courthouse refurbishment, Ireland

[Expressions of interest must be received by 14 October] Ireland’s Office of Public Works is seeking architectural services for the refurbishment of the 1849 Waterford Courthouse in Waterford, Munster
We Made That scoops contest for Olympic legacy play space

Up-and-coming practice We Made That has won the Architecture Foundation-organised Three Mills contest to design a new play space next to the Olympic Park in London
We regret to inform you that good airport design has been delayed

Paul Finch’s letter from London: Escalators to nowhere, garish retail and poor signage: how airport architecture makes travel painful
When the media is a mirror

Paul Finch’s letter from London: The 9/11 anniversary and a debate on the merits of the architectural press
White collar factory

A new architectural typology is gaining currency in London’s workplaces, spearheaded by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, writes Rory Olcayto
Why AJ ♥ the RIBA Stirling Prize

AJ Editor Christine Murray on why the AJ sponsors the most prestigious building prize in UK architecture
Why I'll miss Design and Technology lessons

[THIS WEEK] Every now and then, a cause reminds you of an organisation’s purpose, writes James Pallister
WOHA’s Bangkok Met scoops Lubetkin Prize 2011

The Met in Bangkok, Thailand by WOHA has landed this year’s Lubetkin Prize awarded for the best international building outside the EU
Work starts on Broadway Malyan's 53-storey Manila tower

[First look] Construction has started on Broadway Malyan’s 340-home Milano Residences tower in Manila, the Philippines
Work starts on Surface's UEL entrance

Construction has started on this £1 million entrance pavilion designed by Surface Architects for the University of East London (UEL)
World Green Building Week, and the progress of the UK’s low-carbon building agenda

Footprint: The green building agenda is gathering pace but the task ahead is enormous, writes Hattie Hartman
World’s first LEGO greenhouse installed in Covent Garden

The world’s first greenhouse built entirely from LEGO bricks has opened in Covent Garden as part of London Design Festival 2011
WTC ten years on: Ground Zero today

A detailed report by the AJ’s sister publication NCE on the rebirth of Twin Towers site in New York
Zaha reveals Miami Beach car park proposals

Zaha Hadid has unveiled her plans for a new car park at Miami Beach, Florida
Zaha wins Stirling Prize for second year running

Zaha Hadid has won the Stirling prize for a second year running, after her Evelyn Grace Academy in London was handed the prestigious accolade last night (1 October)
Zaha's second Stirling: The crowd was shocked, the judges unanimous

I asked the judges why Evelyn Grace and not the Velodrome - the reply was unequivocal, says Christine Murray

Architects JournalSeptember 2011

Architects Journal
September 2011