Brighton and Hove Council’s decision to give the go-ahead to Frank Gehry’s King Alfred scheme seems a little less surprising when you consider the quality of some of the objections raised at Friday’s council meeting. Valerie Paynter of Save Hove, one of the project’ most vociferous opponents, presented two buildings by FAT to prove that ‘Frank Gehry is not cutting edge any more. This is cutting edge’. She then went on explain how the original King Alfred building was built at almost exactly the same time as Tate Modern and therefore could be regenerated to the same effect. Not by the same architect, granted. But hey, it’s either a vintage year or it’s not. There was also concern that Gehry would not be able to deliver the Kalzip roof in the colour represented in the planning documents. Gehry Partners’ response? ‘Somebody always says we can’t build our buildings. And you know what? We always do.’
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