Tag Archives: Architecture

Mar 15 2011

Guest Blogging for the Estates Gazette

I posted a guest blog for Lisa Pilkington at the Estates Gazette yesterday – you can read it here. It was my view about MIPIM and Nottingham – with maybe a few tongue in cheek comments about the softe Southerners. Well it made a change from the Baa ‘issue‘ in at the MIPIM Derby dinner last week.

My colleague Matthew Hannah was very keen to point out some Bauhaus Architecture in Nice as we passed by in our Taxi at the speed of sound. And that got me wondering – would that same Architecture in Derby be known as Baaa-Haus??

Just a thought….

Mar 7 2011

Nottingham gets two Civic Trust Awards for 2011

You might remember that I acted as a Judge for the Civic Trust Awards late last year – and blogged about it here. I really enjoyed getting to see some new buildings. None of the schemes I looked at won, but two Nottingham based projects have come away with main Awards – announced last Friday. You can download the brochure from the Civic Trust Award website today.

The Meat Factory The Meadows

The awards are for “projects that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment. Award level schemes must demonstrate excellence in architecture or design, sustainability, inclusive design and make a positive social, cultural, environmental or economic benefit to the local community.”

And both of our local winners do just that. I have blogged about both of them before, so it’s really great that they have been recognised.

The first is The Meat Factory, in The Meadows Nottingham. Julian Marsh’s house is a brilliantly designed modern piece of architecture that was a labour of love for him. He deserves every accolade – he really did put his faith in his own design! My blog post about my visit can be found here.

The Nottingham Trent University

And the second is the Nottingham Trent University extension between the Newton and Arkwright buildings. Again when this opened last year I thought it was a truly great piece of design that had transformed an area into a building fit for the 21st Century. My blog post is here.

So, well done Nottingham – it’s brilliant to see us getting some National recognition for architecture. And for two very different pieces of work!

Feb 22 2011

New York – Part five – the last chapter

The time has come to head back to Blighty. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone – we need to plan to come back soon.

I have been thinking about what draws me to this place. Clearly if you have an interest in architecture this helps – there are some brilliant buildings here, new ones from Gehry to Libeskind – but some great works of art like at Guggenheim (Frank Lloyd Wright) and The Chrysler Building – by William Van Alen. Wherever you look you can find great architecture.

If I am honest I am not a fan of midtown Manhattan – The bright lights of Times Square are not the real New York – they are just the glossy veneer of a place which is much more interesting below the surface.

My favourite parts of the City run around Bleeker Street – Soho, The Village and the Meatpacking District. These places have a more human scale. They are more quirky – although Soho is more commercialised now – with the big names having moved in. But you can still find some gems around the areas if you look hard enough. But you do need to explore and be prepared to go off the beaten track.

The independents survive here somehow, they have learned to differentiate their products. Some have even learned some manners! I am sure they have to work very hard to make a living as rents in the City are eye-watering. You can rent a window space!

So I think that is it – what draws me is exploring the myriad of grid-iron streets – and finding new things. They don’t have to be designer shops – just different. And each time I come I find something new…

Dec 2 2010

The story of Buildings

I have been catching up with some Grand Design episodes which I never seem to get around to watching until there are a clutch hogging disk space on Sky+.

Spot the new bit?

Some episodes are centred around a greenfield development which reflects the ambitions of a furtive mind. But some involve the restoration or development of an old building. These projects, to some extent, are a much more difficult proposition. The propensity to get it horribly wrong are huge.

I dislike pastiche architecture. Faux gothic timbers have no place in architecture. Pre-weathered materials usually look just awful. They smack of impatience. I am never sure why – unless the designer thinks the building won’t be around for long?

In one of the recent episodes of Grand Design a couple were restoring a former Guildhall in Suffolk. The Guildhall element was around 500 years old – and despite looking like an agricultural barn it had an important ‘story’ to tell in the local history of the village. It had a ‘narrative’. This is important.

Buildings evolve over time. They are often adapted and building historians are able to read them. They do this by investigating changes. So, if we introduce ‘matching’ or ‘pretend old’ it doesn’t work. It is therefore important that if it is our turn to alter a building we should do it in our own style and with our own time materials. Matching in is the worst thing we can do.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t have sympathy for an old structure. But in 2010 we have access to a vast array of materials which are of our era. Some of them will compliment an old building without detracting from it or violating it.

It is not always easy to get restoration or renovation right. But it should be possible to show our intervention in a positive way and clearly representing our part of the buildings history. It is part of the story!

Nov 30 2010

Sustainable buildings – the competitive advantage?

One of my colleagues, Craig Straw, spoke at an Investment Property Forum conference at Nottingham Trent University a couple of weeks ago. The theme was whether sustainable buildings are gaining a competitive advantage in the current marketplace. I have blogged about the relative value tests on sustainable / non-sustainable buildings here.

My view was – and still is – that there is no visible or tangible price differential at the moment. If there is it is marginal. The latest IPD study published last week suggests that environmentally sustainable properties have underperformed their less “green” counterparts by 4% since the first quarter of 2008. The IPD UK Sustainability Property Index (ISPI) reveals that for the properties examined in the 11 quarters to Q3 2010, “less” sustainable properties delivered a cumulative total return of -10.8%, compared with -14.9% for more sustainable properties.

But the conference suggested a slightly different ‘take’ – that sustainable buildings have a competitive advantage over other properties. It seems that there may be some evidence that sustainable buildings might be emerging as more attractive. It is fair to say that they will have more protection against future obsolescence. Provided they differentiate green bling and truly sustainable features.

My personal view is that if this is a trend then this will start to feed through to values. But valuers do look back (we don’t ‘make’ a market – we just report on what is has done) and this will take some time to drip feed through.

My guess – as I pointed out at the HS2 conference a few weeks ago, is that it is the next generation (our kids and theirs) will start to drive this green agenda.

And perhaps the next generation are now getting into management / ownership positions where they can influence buying decisions.

What is also clear though is that building owners are having to find ways of making their property more attractive in a difficult market. Having green credentials is one of those factors which may well be able to help…

Nov 25 2010

Nottingham Contemporary – take 5

I have been to see the British Art Show 7 at Nottingham Contemporary twice in the last week. Firstly, at the weekend – which included a trip to the fantastic cafe. But then on Tuesday evening with the Invest in Nottingham Club. My firm are members.

a little piece of the Charles Avery piece

We were given a special tour on Tuesday evening by Alex Farquharson – the Director. It was great to hear his enthusiasm for the place. He even likes the outside (I think it is a marmite building!)

The show is quite interesting for the The Contemporary as it is curated by The Hayward Gallery – not by the in house team. So they have nothing to do with the art displayed. The Curators are Lisa Le Feuvre and Tom Morton and they have chosen this year’s theme to be “In the Days of the Comet”, in emulation of H.G. Well’s 1906 novel. is held every five years and tours the UK. From Nottingham it goes to London, then Glasgow and finally, Plymouth. So we had the honour of the opening of the show. Another coup for Nottingham.

The Gallery was quite busy on Sunday morning which was reassuring – on Tuesday night it was packed with the Great and The Good from Nottingham.

But what of the art?

Well, I have to be honest and say that this is probably my least favourite exhibition to date. Some of the installations are quite challenging – which you need to see to judge for yourself.

But – I loved the Charles Avery pen and wash piece “Egg Eats Egret”. The detail is brilliant and you could look at it for hours – and see different things each time. I love the perfection of the building in the piece and the various characters.

I struggled with Karla Black’s ‘pile of soil’ – I just didn’t get it. Even after Alex had explained it to me…

We really are lucky to have The Contemporary – as I blogged last week it does give Nottingham profile. You don’t have to love the art all of the time. Nor, in my case, the building. But we should as a City support it – it does nothing but good…

Nov 14 2010

The Civic Trust Awards 2011

I spent an interesting day last week acting as a Judge for the Civic Trust Awards 2011.

John Lewis Leicester - winner of last years award in the East Midlands

I can’t divulge the schemes I looked at for obvious reasons. There are three Judges for schemes put forward. I was accompanied by an Architect and an Occupational Therapist. It was interesting to hear their viewpoints – especially the OT – as she had a very interesting ‘take’ on architecture. It was much more for her about how the building worked for users – especially Disabled people. The Architect had a very “aesthetic” approach – and I guess I sat somewhere in the middle!

My concern is always about how buildings work for people – both abled bodied and disabled. But I think I also have a very keen eye for what makes good architecture too.

We had some interesting discussions about what was good and what was bad!

As with all of these things the assessment is very subjective – although interestingly we didn’t disagree.

The Civic Trust award was first given in 1959 and over 6,500 awards have been made.

The criteria are that the building or project needs to move beyond just good architecture. It needs to make a better place for people. It also needs to capture people who visit and those who just pass by. Perhaps most of all it need to have some resonance with the local community.

It was great so see some different architecture… and I shall look forward to seeing the outcome of my voting when the results are announced in January. As we voted independently I don’t know…

Nov 1 2010

Architecture and the biggest prize

I had missed the presentation of the Stirling Prize for Architecture a few weeks ago, but caught up with it at the weekend.

The £20,000 prize has gone to Zaha Hadid for the Maxii museum in Rome.

It took 11 years to build and cost euro150m! It has been described as Super-Modernism.

I like it but, as is usual with Stirling, I liked the Bateman’s Row scheme in London better. It was a labour of love for its Architects who made a workplace, home and apartments. It has a great human scale and is more ‘real world’. It was a real fight to make it work and Soraya Khan and Patrick Theis, the architects have done just this.

Sometimes these prizes are won by ‘money’ rather than ‘design’ – although I can appreciate Maxii’s design credentials. It would have been disappointing with the time spent and the money thrown at this project if it had been ‘ok’?

I guess that in the current climate we are going to see fewer major projects in our current funding climate – that is unless you head over to China. My vote would have gone to the Ningbo Museum I blogged about here. I can imagine in a few years time that there will be a clutch of awards heading east – to the Far East!

In the meantime here’s a video of the Maxii

Oct 22 2010

appalling architecture and concrete cows

I was in Milton Keynes last week and saw the house in the image. I haven’t photoshopped something out of it. Or into it. It is a pure unadulterated image.

It is difficult to rationalise this in architectural terms. Perhaps a schoolchild in year one had given the inspiration Playschool style. “Here is a house, here is a door and a window”. After that I am struggling. Perhaps the kid ran off – and decided to play dolls instead?

Brutal simplicity. Or just ugly beyond belief. The latter I think.

Sadly someone has to actually live here – unless it is some form of holding pen? I had wondered whether it might be a Spooks ‘safe house’ but it is so bland that it isn’t anonymous. It stands out like a proverbial sore thumb.

Would it inspire you? It makes me feel depressed just looking at it.

When I was in Shanghai last month we visited Ningbo and the new housing ‘town’. I remarked to the Chief planner that is was very similar to Milton Keynes. I had our translator ask if there were going to be concrete cows. She thought I was mad (true?) but dutifully translated. They weren’t. They were bemused.

Some of the architecture in Shanghai and Ningbo might be described as pastiche, but I didn’t see anything as bad as this!

Milton Keynes was allowed to experiment with its layout and architecture in its gestation. The layout works most of the time (it is difficult to get a grid-iron system wrong) but this sort of building is just woeful. I cannot imagine what the designer was thinking.

It makes me want to say that Poundbury is good. Which it isn’t. But it – and most things – are better than this!

Sep 25 2010

Another milestone….

A few minutes ago, my blog reached 20,000 hits. I reached 10,000 on 6th May.

The list of most popular blogs goes something like….

1. An interesting opportunity in Russia
2. Jamie Oliver brings Italy to Nottingham
3. Justice – Crown Court or Twitter
4. MIPIM 2010
5. Architecture – the great divide
6. ipad – a new beginning
7. Cruel April Fool
8. I hate Sainsbury’s
9. Rage against Cowell
10. Little Boots food menu

Thanks for dropping by….