Rykwert on Parry

Sustainable design with Sheppard Robson and Reiach and Hall plus How green are the Games?£4.95   THE ARCHITECTS’ JOURNAL   THEAJ.CO.UK

footprint

0315.03.12

06�Week�in�pictures King’s Cross Station, Enzo Ferrari museum09�Front�page Urban Splash replace Tutti Frutti with flatpack homes10�News�feature London booms as regions go bust15�Competitions�&�wins Knight wins Paddington Basin bridge22�People�&�practice Obituary of the photographer Robert Elwall30Building�study Sheppard Robson’s all-timber Waingels College42Case�study Reiach and Hall’s rescued Scottish bothy48Feature Sustainability and design at the 2012 ‘Green Olympics’60���Culture Landform Building is the subject of a new book

���This�week�online Check out the new-look Footprint blog for daily sustainability news and opinion TheAJ.co.uk/Footprint

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If the rise and fall of icon architecture has taught us anything, it’s that shifts in architectural taste are as

much market-led as linked to fashion. When property developers were interested in flipping buildings for profit, the sparkle dust of starchitecture was the order of the day.

Since the recession, a new austerity in design has been mooted, said to emerge from a growing distaste for bankers’ fat wallets and luxe living. But what I found out at MIPIM last week was that a hunger for the White Collar Factory (AJ 15.09.11), and its long life and loose fit, is more likely being driven by the continued lack of liquidity in the market.

The banks still aren’t lending. Gone are the debt-funded days of development, when clients could borrow enough dosh for a plot of land, a great design and the money to break ground. Nor can first-time buyers get a mortgage to buy off-plan (although the new mortgage indemnity scheme should at least help them borrow a bit more).

Over lunch, Martyn Evans, marketing and creative director of developer Cathedral, spoke of the challenges of kickstarting a project, admitting his feed funds are gleaned from friends, family and faithful investors. The initial concept sketch is key to securing the rest, but first he needs to rustle up enough money to bid on the land.

This new market paradigm is what’s driving Nick Johnson, Jonathan Falkingham and Tom Bloxham of Urban Splash into mass housing. ‘You don’t need the full funding in place to build houses, as we would with a scheme like Chips,’ Johnson said, referring to the Will Alsop-designed apartment block in Manchester’s New Islington (pictured). ‘For houses, you need the land, but then you can build in phases.’

You can build six houses, or even one house, sell them off, and then build some more – a model Countrywide Properties is following on a larger scale. Housebuilders can no longer construct hundreds of homes in a single

What I learned at MIPIM: forget iconitecture, clients want long lives and loose fits, writes Christine Murray

15.03.12 05

From the editor

Gone are the days when clients could borrow enough dosh for a plot of land, a great design and the money to break ground

phase – with the current funding gap, you’ve got to be selling as you build.

The type of investor buying into property is changing too – rather than looking for a fast turnaround, these buyers are talking about long-term, sustainable growth. There was talk at MIPIM of a return to the Great Estates model, where investors fund buildings that will stay popular with tenants for decades: high quality and low maintenance with built-in adaptability.

What does this mean for design? Fewer projects will be built, but of higher quality, and more of the kind of buildings we actually need, with an emphasis on making the end user happy. There will also be a continued focus on prime locations, such as London.

The eurozone crisis has been good for the capital (see page 10) – Italian buyers accounted for eight per cent of prime central London property in January and February, according to Knight Frank, overtaking Russians for the first time, while around three per cent of purchasers were Greek. The continued success of London will anger those who, like Johnson (see page 11), see the capital profiting while the rest of Britain burns. christine.murray@emap.com

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Week in pictures

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italy The new Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena

opened last week, the final project of Future Systems co-founder Jan Kaplický before his death in 2009. The project, which rises over the house where Ferrari was born in 1898, was delivered by ‘loyal assistant’ Andrea Morgante of London-based Shiro Studio

lincolnshire Jonathan Hendry Architects has won

planning permission for eight houses in the village of Waltham, north-east Lincolnshire. Based on the idea of ‘a medieval walled garden’, the buildings’ simplistic detailing references English garden cottages. Work is expected to start on site later this year

london S333 has won planning permission for five

townhouses and two commercial buildings on the site of a former dairy in Bloomsbury, London. The 3,000m2 scheme aims for an ‘organic yet industrial feel’, and the triangular site is sandwiched between Regent Square’s terraces and St George’s Gardens

east sussex HAT Projects has taken the wraps off its

£4 million Jerwood Gallery in Hastings. The scheme is part of a larger redevelopment of the historic Stade area in the coastal resort’s Old Town, and will house the Jerwood Foundation’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century paintings

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Picture credits: 01 shiro studio 02 Jonathan hendry architects 03 s333 04 ioana marinescu 05 John mcaslan + Partners

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london John McAslan + Partners’ dome-roofed

concourse for King’s Cross Station will open to passengers this weekend. The £547 million revamp, which triples the size of Lewis Cubitt’s Grade I-listed masterpiece, includes a Stanton Williams-designed public square, set to finish next year

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Picture credits: 01 shiro studio 02 Jonathan hendry architects 03 s333 04 ioana marinescu 05 John mcaslan + Partners

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To launch the AJ / Kingspan Benchmark ‘Sketch a facade’ competition, professor Alan Dunlop will be giving a lecture at Kohn Pedersen Fox’s new London gallery on the importance of sketching to architects in the 21st century.

6.30 –  8.30pm Wednesday 21 March

Kohn Pedersen Fox 7a Langley Street London WC2H 9JA

Please RSVP to  AJ.RSVP@emap.com a

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Competition

15.03.12 09

manchester Regeneration expert and urban developer Urban Splash has chosen the former Tutti Frutti site in Manchester for its � rst foray into mass house building.

� e AJ can reveal that Shedkm, which was set up by Urban Splash’s chief executive Jonathan Falkingham, has already won permission for a 44-home scheme on the canalside New Islington plot and construction work on the � rst eight homes could start in weeks.

� e customisable two to three-storey family houses, which can be given di� erent facades and layouts, will replace the much-publicised Tutti Frutti self-build terrace proposals.

Back in 2008, Urban Splash won planning permission for an initial phase of six homes, part of wider plans for 26 plots, each designed by a team of competition-winning architects led by the homeowner. � e project stalled when the recession hit, but these new plans could revive the site.

Speaking to the AJ at MIPIM, directors Tom Bloxham and Nick Johnson said the move into housing was partly inspired by the lack of liquidity in the market.

‘You don’t need the full funding in place to build houses, as we would with an [apartment

Front page

scheme] like Chips. You need the land, but then you can build in phases,’ said Johnson.

Bloxham added that the Manchester-based developer was

well-placed to meet a growing gap in the housing market.

He said: ‘80 per cent of people don’t want to buy a new house. � at shows how much of a problem there is with the current housing under development.’

Bloxham said if the company moved into housing, its space standards would be more generous than other house builders, and o� er unique yet accessible designs. Planning documents show Shedkm has taken a pattern-book approach to the houses.

Urban Splash will be bolstered by news this week that the government is rolling out its mortgage indemnity guarantee scheme, which the industry believes could result in 100,000 extra new home sales. Under the scheme, buyers of new-build properties will only need a down payment of � ve per cent.

Stephen Chance of Chance de Silva, one of the original architects on the Tutti Frutti scheme, said: ‘It’s no surprise Urban Splash has revised the masterplan. We were pressing for this even at the time of our involvement.

‘[However] from a personal point of view, it seems a shame that they have combined two sites on that peninsular and not o� ered any opportunity to the people who put such a lot into Tutti Frutti.’ Richard Waite

44Prototype homes with planning for

New Islington

Urban Splash to replace Tutti Fruttiwith modular family homesDirectors say construction is poised to begin on � rst round of Shedkm-designed mass housing on New Islington canalside site in Manchester

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News feature

theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

London booms as regions go bustAs a wave of residential projects win planning, the gap between London and the regions has widened dramatically. An ‘unquenchable thirst’ for property is behind the disparity, with the capital benefiting from its reputation for stability amid global financial turmoil, writes Richard Waite

ian simpson architectsDollar Bay, Canary Wharf, for Londonewcastle and European Investments

london Talk at the MIPIM property fair of the flourishing residential market in London was corroborated by a glut of planning approvals for housing schemes in the capital last week.

The continued growth was also backed up by figures released by estate agent Knight Frank, which claimed residential land values in London had risen more than 20 per cent during 2011.

Although there were reasonable showings at MIPIM from Birmingham, which was showcasing the Glenn Howells-designed Paradise Circus scheme, and Manchester, which was lauding its ‘graphene hub’, there was little to cheer in the regions. Despite developers such as Urban Splash battling to keep the regional markets alive (see page 9 and opposite), the majority of investors headed to the London pavilion, where announcements were being made about large-scale schemes such as Earl’s Court.

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Last week Careyjones Chapmantolcher closed its Leeds and Manchester offices.

Mark Farmer of consultants EC Harris said: ‘London’s residential market is booming, underpinned by international investors seeking a safe haven and exploiting sterling’s relative weakness.

‘London is benefiting from global uncertainty, including Arab unrest and the Greek debt crisis.’

He added: ‘The wider regional UK residential market, however, remains at a crossroads.’

In the last few days alone, local authorities in the capital rubber-stamped Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ £42 million, 121-home redevelopment in Deptford (pictured left); UNStudio’s 190-flat tower at City Road; and Ian Simpson’s 180-home Dollar Bay project.

Nigel Ostime of 3DReid said:

‘International investment is bolstering the London prime residential market, with more than 95 per cent of some developments being sold to foreign investors.’

Ken Shuttleworth of Make added: ‘There is an unquenchable thirst for prime London residential. If property is ‘frozen money’, then it is considered

rather like a secure piggy bank. There is a ripple

effect from this, and eventually those ripples will reach beyond [the capital].’However Martyn

Evans of Cathedral Group had another

theory about why so many schemes have recently been consented. ‘I suspect [the rush] is to do with councils and developers wanting to get consents prior to the community infrastructure levy, which might divert Section 106 contributions away from local authorities.’

glenn howells architectsThe 15.4-hectare Minoco Wharf in east London’s Royal Docks for Ballymore

studio egret west/guy hollaway architects£90m regeneration of Bromley town centre for Cathedral Group

unstudioThe 30-storey, 190-flat residential tower at City Road in Islington, north London

At the AJ roundtable on retrofit at MIPIM, the property conference held in Cannes last week, chair Paul Finch fired an ‘opener’ at each of the guests: ‘So how is it for you?’ It was an attempt to take the pulse of the world of architecture and property in the midst of ‘austerity Britain’. The guests laid out a barely recognisable picture, to non-Londoners, of life at the pulsing heart of a thriving international metropolis.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m a Londonphile. I recognise its international status, its appeal to those on the fickle and flighty international wealth circuit, the value of its stability to the recently displaced and, potentially, dispossessed international über-rich, and its cultural richness, diversity and quality of life – assuming that a life of quality is something you can afford.

Fuelled partly by frustration and partly to provoke, I spoke of the ‘arrogance’ of our capital city. An arrogance that stems from the fact that while the rest of the country bears a disproportionate burden of the tide of austerity, the built environment businesses that operate in the capital are doing rather well – thanks to a tight geography that defines an unpoppable polyp of prosperity, and business horizons that look south, east and west but in the current climate, rarely look north.

If you did look north, you could actually make a case that London should no longer be part of the UK, but devolved to the G8 or G20 international premier league of cities where, thanks to technology and transcontinental travel, we render geography irrelevant. And I suppose that’s

view from the north

my problem, the point when geography becomes irrelevant – and it’s not.

Geography used to define regional identity; it used to give the reason for the existence of ‘place’. Market towns served the growers and producers that made and grew things for sale; manufacturing towns made use of climate, minerals and waterways to do the same thing. That we have lost or are rapidly losing our regional identities is the greatest crime of globalisation. That we believe the costly and breathless pursuit of an increasingly uniform, and largely undistinguished, global identity suggests we are simply powerless puppets that ‘follow the money’.

So where does it take us? It’s all about balance. At the moment the country’s scales are tipped in London’s favour, and for how long we don’t know. That reliance on foreign funny money is no different to the funny money banks traded that got us into this mess the first time around. It’s just a curious reversal that global money happens to have a seemingly tight geography, for now.

The restoration of balance needs two things: it’s about being grown up, and recognising that England has an ‘other’ city (I’ll keep quiet on whether that’s Birmingham or Manchester, but it’s in the title of two teams at the top of the premiership), and that regionalism and the celebration of regional identity is the antidote to all that is bland, corporate and controlling in that self-serving idea(l) of global capital(s).Nick Johnson is director of Urban Splash in Manchester

20.3%Rise in residential

land values in London during

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The Norfolk-based conservation architect stood down following the leak of two emails attacking Brady. In one message Reform Group leading light George Oldham referred to Stephen Lawrence Trust-backed candidates in the ARB elections as ‘the ethnics’.

Brennan netted 584 votes while fellow Reform Group members Andrew Mortimer and Hans G. Eisner took 620 and 558 respectively.

RIBA-endorsed candidate John Assael came out on top with 743

votes. No Stephen Lawrence-supported candidates were elected.

Three academics – RIBA-backed UCL tutor Susan Ware, University of the West of England architecture

professor Richard Parnaby and University of Bath

head of architecture Alex Wright – won seats.

Just 4,637 architects voted in the

election which had a record low turnout of

13.7 per cent. Participation was 15 per cent in 2009 and 23 per cent in 2006. The board will select a vice chair from its architect members in May.

Practices bid for six lots within the wider plan, with projects ranging from apartments to pubs.

A spokesman for competition organiser Colander said: ‘The breadth and depth of the submissions received was extraordinarily high and the appointments panel was faced with a cornucopia of talent, different approaches, ideas and collaborations to discuss.

‘The final selection was difficult as so many excellent submissions had to fall by the wayside.’

Winners are being chosen in two groups with the first three lots announced towards the end of June and the remainder at the end of July. Richard WaiteTheAJ.co.uk/Cambridge

UK news

13.7%Proportion of ARB members who voted

in the election

Cambridge shortlist coupChipperfield, Mecanoo and BIG compete for one of six Cambridge sites in AECOM masterplan

arb Ruth Brennan has been resoundingly re-elected to the ARB board despite calling RIBA president Angela Brady ‘a prat’ and resigning from her seat on the committee last month.

The ARB Reform Group candidate came third in the overall vote and is eligible to serve on the board for a further three years.

However, 82 per cent of members cast their votes prior to her ‘short-term’ resignation in the penultimate week of the election.

Brennan declined to say whether she would accept the position, but an ARB spokesperson said: ‘Ruth Brennan was re-elected so yes, she’ll sit on the Board again.’

Brennan re-elected to ARB boardAssael said it was important

to ‘engage the profession more’ to improve turnout.

Mortimer said that a retention fee ‘reduced and kept low’ at £80 meant members had less at stake in the election.

Outgoing ARB vice chair Gordon Gibb said no ‘agenda groups’ had a ‘significant enough stake to impose their will,’ but warned board members left feeling ‘slighted and badly treated’ by the RIBA could lead to ‘some further interesting debate.’ Merlin Fulcher TheAJ.co.uk/ARB

cambridge An impressive collection of leading UK and European practices has been shortlisted in the competition to design a new urban extension in north-west Cambridge.

Among names in the running for plots within the proposed mixed academic and residential scheme are a string of Stirling Prize-winners, including David Chipperfield Architects, Wilkinson Eyre and Maccreanor Lavington, as well as Bjarke Ingels Group, Mecanoo Architecten and Sauerbruch Hutton.

Backed by the University of Cambridge, which has already submitted AECOM’s masterplan for the site, the contest attracted 340 submissions from 158 firms.

12 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

cambridge city key

lot 1 Food store, energy centre, flats• Bjarke Ingels Group • Grimshaw • LAN • Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands • Panter Hudspith Architects • Wilkinson Eyre lot 2 Shops, pub, cafe, housing• David Chipperfield Architects • Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with 5th Studio and Mole Architects • HKS Architects with Metaphorm • Hopkins Architects • Stanton Williams lot 3 University apartments• Allford Hall Monaghan Morris • John McAslan + Partners • Maccreanor Lavington with Witherford Watson Mann • Mecanoo Architecten • Sauerbruch Hutton with Fletcher Priest • White Arkitekter AB with Alison Brooks and S333lot 4 University and family flats • C F Møller Architects UK • Cottrell Vermeulen Architecture with AOC and Sarah Wigglesworth Architects • Dixon Jones • dRMM • Edward

Cullinan Architects with Sustainable by Design • KCAP Architects & Planners lot 5 Student housing • David Morley Architects • Eric Parry Architects • Page \ Park Architects • R H Partnership Architects • Richard Murphy Architects with NRAP and Richard MacCormac • Rick Mather Architects lot 7 Community hall, clinic, police• Architype • Cowper Griffith Architects • Heneghan Peng • Ian Ritchie Architects • Marks Barfield Architects • MUMA

candidate votesJohn Assael (RIBA) 743Andrew Mortimer (ARG) 620Ruth Brennan (ARG) 584Hans G. Eisner (ARG) 559Susan Ware (RIBA) 558Alex Wright 489Richard Parnaby 457

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london KPF is working on a new 30-storey skyscraper for an unknown client close to Richard Rogers’ Lloyds of London in the City of London, one of three central London schemes KPF is working on.

KPF was also interviewed on Friday alongside Foster + Partners and SOM to design Goldman Sachs’ £1 billion European headquarters in London.

KPF has already designed the bank’s existing o� ces within the old Daily Express and Telegraph buildings on Fleet Street.� eAJ.co.uk/KPF

london Austin-Smith:Lord (ASL) has decided to close its London o� ce almost four months after entering company voluntary administration.

� e one-time AJ100 giant’s King’s Cross

studio, which once had 162 sta� , will shut forcing its remaining sta� into redundancy.Last month, ASL

partner Ian Brebner jumped ship to join

global giant AECOM.Neil Chapman, executive partner

at ASL said: ‘Despite our best e� orts we have been unable to secure su� cient new work for the team in London.’ � eAJ.co.uk/ASL

birmingham K4 Architects has redesigned its controversial redevelopment of Birmingham’s former central ̈re station, which originally featured a 30-storey tower. Following criticism from DC CABE and consultation with the local authority, the new scheme (above) is now seven storeys shorter and 17m narrower. � eAJ.co.uk/Birmingham

KPF drawing up 30-storey City tower

Austin-Smith:Lord to close London offi ce

K4 Architects redesign Birmingham fi re station

News on � eAJ.co.uk

14 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

venice dRMM, Aberrant Architecture and Toh Shimazaki are among 10 ‘explorers’ participating in the British Pavilion (right) at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, which runs run 29 August to 25 November.

Named this week, contributors to the British Council-run Venice Takeaway project will travel to locations including Russia, Nigeria and Argentina next month to gather research for the pavilion.

� e teams are: Aberrant Architecture (Brazil); Laura Allen, Geo� Manaugh and Mark Smout (USA); Ross Anderson and Anna Gibb (Russia); Darryl Chen (China); dRMM (Netherlands); Forum for Alternative Belfast (Germany); Torange Khonsari,

Biennale Venice Takeway explorers picked� e British Council is sending 10 teams to far-¿ ung locations to ̈nd inspiration for the British Pavilion theme at this year’s Venice Biennale

director Vicky Richardson said: ‘We were really pleased that so many people from diverse backgrounds responded to the Venice Takeaway brief. � e proposals contained many surprises and new ideas; and we’re excited to see what comes out of the next stage of the project.’

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Francis and John McLaughlin have been made commissioner and curator respectively for Ireland’s pavilion at Venice. � e duo will focus their exhibition on Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects, which McLaughlin says ‘exemplify the globally networked ways of making architecture that are now possible’. Merlin Fulcher � eAJ.co.uk/Venicebiennale

THIS WEEK ONLINE

1 Debate the merits of

each of the 23 projects on the Doolan Prize longlist (AKA the RIAS Awards shortlist) and predict the winner� eAJ.co.uk/Doolan

2 Follow overseas news

with the AJ: read how Populous designed a temporary stadium for earthquake-hit Christchurch; why Broadway Malyan is hiring dozens of architects for its Istanbul o� ce; and what Foster and Partners plan for Marseille’s Vieux Port � eAJ.co.uk/international

3 Check out the new-look

for Footprint sustainability blog – Hattie Hartman’s daily digest of sustainability news, case studies and opinion � e AJ.co.uk/footprint

4 See images and drawings

for more than 200 RIBA Award winning projects in the AJ Buildings Library. If your practice has received a RIBA Award please contact Tom.Ravenscroft@emap.com to feature your scheme in the Library AJBuildingsLibrary.co.uk

5 Read digital editions of the

AJ and AJ Speci� cation: a library of page-turning versions of recent back issues � e AJ.co.uk/AJdigital

Current number of ASL sta�

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Andreas Lang, Owen Pritchard and Alex Warnock-Smith (USA and � ailand); Elias Redstone (Argentina); Liam Ross (Nigeria) and Toh Shimazaki ( Japan).

Each team is charged with ̈nding case studies on housing,

school design, risk consciousness and the role of the architect that are ‘pertinent’ to the British and international context.

British Council architecture

Competitions & wins

15.03.12 15

Knight wins Paddington Basin bridgeThe bridge specialist’s Japanese-fan design triumphs over a secret shortlist. Knight will be the third architect to work on the pedestrian bridge

COMPETITIONS FILE

The London Borough of Croydon (pictured) is seeking architects for a new-build housing programme, from feasibility study through to planning permission and into development of documentation for Design and Build tenders. The services are valued up to £1.5 million. [Requests to participate must be registered 11 April]

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority is calling for expressions of interest for the the Xiqu Centre, the first of the area’s 17 planned arts venues. The scheme features one 1,100-seat theatre and a smaller 400-seat venue. Four to six design teams will be shortlisted with each receiving £80,000 to develop proposals. [Expressions of interest must be received by 10 April]

North Brooklyn’s Open Space Alliance is on the hunt for proposals for a temporary concert venue in New York. Proposals for the 7,400m² site on Kent Avenue in Brooklyn must function as a public recreation area between concert dates. The venue will host the 2012 Williamsburg Waterfront concert series. [Registration should be completed on 15 March] Sean Kitchen TheAJ.co.uk/competitions

london Knight Architects with engineers AKT II has beaten a top-secret shortlist to design a pedestrian bridge in Paddington Basin, London.

The High Wycombe-based bridge specialist is the third practice to work up a crossing for the site, which currently hosts a temporary structure by sculptor Marcus Taylor known as the Helix Bridge.

Knight Architects’ 20-metre long moving structure, which opens with an action ‘similar to

that of a traditional Japanese hand fan,’ is one of the final pieces of the canalside area’s 32-hectare regeneration.

The stainless steel scheme features a three-metre wide cantilevering deck, which is hinged at its north end and raised using hydraulic jacks.

In 2006 Sutherland Hussey Architects won a competition for the site, but fell out with the client following planners’ criticism. In 2007 Hake Associates was drafted in to replace the practice, but their

designs were superceded following the adoption of a new masterplan.

The latest bridge for European Land Developments is part of a 116,000m² mixed-use scheme masterplanned by Robin Partington Architects, which won detailed planning consent last May and has now started on site.

Partington said the brief for the bridge changed as a result of the new masterplan, which features a ‘pocket park’ and four mixed-use buildings, including Westminster’s tallest tower. Merlin Fulcher Th

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Construction wobble The total volume of construction output in Q4 of last year fell by 0.5 per cent compared with the previous quarter. If the trend continues, the UK will enter recession for the third time since 2008

41%SME loan applications in the UK refused in the three months to February

£11bnExpected cost of the Olympic Games, almost £2 billion over the £9.3 billion planned

12%Fall in construction output in January 2012, compared to December 2011

1.03tn yen

Dec 2011 Jan 2012

745bn yen

Statistics

construction Japan’s top 50 construction firms saw orders fall 28 per cent in January as the strong yen and weak global economy hit the country’s fragile built environment recovery.

The firms recorded orders of 745 billion yen (£5.75 billion) in the first month of this year, according to official figures released this week.

This was down from 1.03 trillion yen in December 2011, although it represented a 25 per cent rise from January 2011.

The year-on-year increase in orders was boosted heavily by central government spending. Public-sector work was up 74 per cent on January 2011, while local

public-sector bodies spent 20 per cent less than a year earlier.

Private-sector spending with the top 50 contractors was up 22.6 per cent year-on-year. TheAJ.co.uk/Japanconstruction construction Balfour Beatty

have reported £11 billion in group revenue in 2011, a five per cent increase from 2010’s £10.5 billion figure.

The group’s professional services reported growth of seven per cent, with an order book increase from £1.5 billion to £1.6 billion, thanks largely to wins in South Africa and Qatar which offset reductions in the UK and the US.

Growth was also reported by Balfour Beatty’s support services, which posted growth of 13 per cent in 2011, bringing the order book value to £5.1 billion – a record level in all activities except water.

Setback for Japanese construction recovery

Balfour Beatty revenue up by £500 million

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15.03.12

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2%Expected annual growth in the US economy after 227,000 new jobs were created last month

18 theaj.co.uk

UK construction output excluding repair and maintenance Source: onS/ace Quarterly economic Snapshot

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The Green Deal, the government’s flagship energy efficiciency scheme, is coming and it will bring with it substantial changes to the way the construction sector does business The headline policy instrument of Zero Carbon Buildings will address only about 20 per cent of the building stock by 2050, the remainder having to be refurbished. The coalition’s Green Deal, previously known as Pay as You Save under the Labour government, is designed to make the up-front costs of energy efficient refurbishment more palatable to homeowners and small businesses by deferring payment and financing it through future savings on utility bills.

The rate of refurbishment required to achieve 2050 targets amounts to about one building per minute for the next four decades. This is a tremendous opportunity for our industry, but it brings with it great responsibility. If we get it wrong we could not only set back vital climate change mitigation, but also damage our reputation irreparably. Research, such as the Carbon Trust’s report Closing The Gap: Lessons Learned On Realising The Potential Of Low Carbon Building Design and The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Low-Carbon Housing: Lessons From Elm Tree Mews, demonstrates just how far, as an industry, we are from being able to reliably deliver low-carbon new construction, let alone refurbishment. We need to rapidly assimilate these lessons and move on to a robust model for delivering eco-retrofits. The Green Deal has the potential, but the design professions urgently need to engage with the government to ensure that it delivers rigorous and verifiable solutions rather than perpetuating the present ad-hoc approach to low-carbon.

For example, the recent consultation on the Green Deal indicates that the government believes it is acceptable for Green Deal advisors to be employed by companies that will benefit financially from retrofits. Supposedly, the Green Deal advisor will act impartially in preparing the initial report and recommendations, although he or she is then free to act as an agent for an installation company, manufacturer or supplier. This is totally contrary to the model for design and consultancy services, where architects and engineers are required to be independent.

15.03.1220 theaj.co.uk

Comment

Architects need to help the government shape the Green Deal... it’s too important to fail, writes Doug King

It is clear that for the Green Deal to be a success, the government needs to establish a system where advice is free at the point of delivery. However, in present proposals it is hard to see how advisors can remain impartial when their employment relies on the success of a single supplier or installation company.

Further, it is estimated that out of the 25 million homes in the UK, at least 7 million will be hard to treat, requiring special measures such as solid wall insulation. In these cases a simple checklist approach, as is currently applied by domestic energy assessors, cannot deliver appropriate recommendations. Hard to treat homes will require consideration of issues, such as interstitial condensation and indoor air quality, by experienced design professionals.

Decarbonising the UK building stock will be easy or

Architects should trial the Green Deal legislation and quickly feed back necessary improvements to government

cheap. The range of estimates for low-carbon retrofits, from £10,000 for an average home assumed in the Green Deal to the £70,000 to £80,000 being spent on some trials of hard to treat housing, implies spending a significant proportion of the one per cent of GDP that Nicholas Stern estimates is necessary to decarbonise the whole economy. It is vital that money spent decarbonising building stock is spent wisely, as every year we delay action the cost of mitigation increases exponentially.

The government has plenty of experience in creating market incentive structures, but a much poorer record of consulting with design professions. It is now essential that the construction industry engages with those in Whitehall charged with delivering the Green Deal to help them produce legislation that works. As designers, we know that nothing is ever perfect on the first attempt and we should be prepared to trial the legislation and quickly feed back to government our inevitable necessary improvements. Doug King, principal, King Shaw Associates consulting engineers Find out more about the Green Deal at TheAJ.co.uk/Footprint

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People & practice

22 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

Where have you come from? Previously project director at Assael Architecture until 2007, then managing director at Hughes Jones Farrell (HJF) until its liquidation in 2011. What work do you have? David Hughes Architects was born out of the closure of HJF in November last year. We managed to retain a few of the HJF projects, which we are taking forward this year. Our main work is either London-based residential property development or theatre and performing arts work. We’re currently preparing planning applications for two residential apartment developments in London as well as the on-site works for the new Park Theatre in Finsbury Park (pictured).

What are your ambitions? We’re quickly becoming known for theatres. We’d like to expand into other performing arts and cultural projects, mainly in the UK but we would look for international work as we get bigger. How optimistic are you? Pretty – the experience and then closure of HJF taught us a great deal about how to – and how not to – deal with the recession and ensure we have a sustainable business model in place. Clients want the certainty of delivery, combined with an individual they trust. It’s difficult to convince our developer clients that as a small company we can consistently deliver and compete against the big boys, even if they want to work with us as individuals.

David Hughes Architects

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obituary Assistant director of the British Architectural Library at the RIBA, Robert Elwall passed away on Wednesday 7 March 2012 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

A champion of architectural photography for more than 30 years, Elwall (pictured) enjoyed a distinguished career as curator, author, critic, conservation advocate and lecturer. He built the largest collection of architectural photography in the world at the RIBA – over 1.5 million images, including the preservation of many important photographic archives previously at risk. In 2006, he created RIBApix, a digital image database that today has over 60,000 images available to researchers and the public.

He curated dozens of exhibitions exploring the relationship between architecture, photography and society in libraries, museums and galleries. His exhibition on photography and the architecture of Italian Modernism was the first British exhibition to be shown at Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI Museum in Rome, in the spring of 2010.

The author of a dozen monographs, Elwall became an internationally recognised authority on architectural photography due to his Building with Light: the International History of Architectural Photography (2004), which was nominated for the 2005 Bruno Zevi Book Award and named as a ‘Book of the Decade’ in Wallpaper magazine.

His most recent monograph, Evocations of Place: the Photography of Edwin Smith (2007) was shortlisted for the British Book Design Awards. Elwall contributed hundreds of articles, columns, reviews and, above all, little-known images to the media. Only last month, Elwall wrote an insightful and touching obituary about former AJ and AR photographer Martin Charles, who he described as a ‘superb craftsman’ (AJ 23.02.12).

Elwall worked to bring architectural photography to the widest possible audience and at the same time, illuminate its importance as a means of architectural and cultural expression. In his many public talks, he emphasised the contribution that architectural photography has made in enhancing of our sense of place and our collective cultural memory. Elwall was made an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA this year.

He is survived by his wife and collaborator on his many publications and projects, Cathy Dembsky Elwall. Irena Murray is director of the RIBA British Architectural Library

Photographer elwall dies Robert Elwall, assistant director of the British Architectural Library at the RIBA, has died at the age of 59, writes Irena Murray

main people David Hughesbased Hampton Wick, Londonfounded November 2011contact dharchitects.co.uk

NEW PRACTICES

23

Brits abroad

networking No detail was too small, no afterparty too debauched for followers of the AJ MIPIM blog. Readers were treated to gritty real-time accounts from the international property fair in Cannes.

Hardened MIPIM veteran Jack Pringle of Pringle Brandon went undercover to spy on the French. ‘Curiously everything in the Paris stand is written in English. Have the French � nally given up on their language? Someone should tell the Institut Francais.’

MIPIM virgin Stephen Ardern, from architectural visualisers Uniform, reported on

his early introduction to MIPIM madness on the 8.15am � ight from Liverpool: ‘It seems that the legends are true about MIPIM – our � ight to Nice was running low on red wine and change.’

AJ editor Christine Murray, in a Tuesday morning cruise around the bunker with news editor Richard Waite, spotted projects by Winy Maas and Snohetta on the Oslo stand. Quizzing the city o� cials, Waite found out they’ll be hosting open competitions for a massive piece of city in Oslo harbour – a place to watch.

Other reports featured Joe Morris of Duggan Morris with Paul Karakusevic of Karakusevic Carson, and Richard Coutts of Baca dancing to live bongos and saxophone

Astragal

at the Germany country of honour party. While AJ MIPIM blogger Cany Ash of Ash Sakula spotted ‘a new take on Get Britain Building’ outside the Manchester bar (bottom) at 2am with Azhar Azhar of Conran & Partners leap-frogging barriers to pose on a yellow digger for Newham’s Clive Dutton.

Qatar’s MIPIM debut

middle east Visitors to the palais this year were greeted by the giant portraits of Angela Brady, Will Alsop, Richard Rogers, Massimiliano Fuksas and Bill Dunster advertising the Qatar Urban Forum line-up of speakers at the Qatar pavilion. ± e only two-storey tent at MIPIM, the oil-rich nation apparently splashed out a quarter of a million euros on its virgin MIPIM outing. A fair bit must have been spent on its stunning timber model of Mushreib, which avoided the slight delay the life-sized masterplan.

Spinning the decks

culture ± e Cannes jamboree was signed oµ with the now-traditional Hang the DJ party at tucked away nightclub Sparkling. ± e annual shindig is a platform for selected MIPIM merry-makers to play three � oor-� lling tracks of their own choice.

An early set from Nathan Cornish from Urban Splash, included bad boy tracks from Black Grape and techno pioneers Altern8 with classics crashing in from Tom “Rock the blocks” Bloxham and crowd ‘shocking’ drum and bass belters from Alison Brooks. ± ese were supported by Ibiza anthems from Argent top dog David Partridge and the frenzy-inducing White Lines by Grandmaster Flash spun by Matt Fairman of Assembly Studios – who was banned from using the microphone.

Sadly Argent’s Angela Fielding’s Common People was cut short. Perhaps the Bacchus-backed Bourgeois overlord of Cannes put his foot down.Read more at � eAJ.co.uk/MIPIMW

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A trawl through Hellman’s archives, in which we uncover gems that are as relevant now as they were then. Hellman writes: With the news that a mass of housing has been approved for London,

it is hoped this will avoid the failures of past large-scale developments. ± is cartoon is from the AJ 21.08.68, published in black and white and with rounded corners (very sixties).

The Hellman Files #61

MIPIMSPECIAL

15.03.12

Visiting a major London teaching hospital recently, we were told it was not possible to use the striking staircase

that runs up the hospital atrium because of ‘health and safety’. Apparently some poor soul had taken a dive from one of the landings and now only staff can use it. I asked whether it would still be open to visitors if a member of staff had been the diver, but was met with a blank look.

This story might be a metaphor for how we discuss the NHS and the relationship between supplier and users. I remember with some fondness my student years when I spent each holiday working as a porter at Westminster Hospital (now converted to luxury apartments). All human life was there, and it was my first introduction to both birth (as a theatre porter at a couple of caesareans) and to death (helping prepare bodies for visits by relatives).

Technology has changed, but the hospital atmosphere, and that relationship between the system and its consumers, has remained pretty constant. Now, as then, for both patients and visitors, the human interaction with nurses and doctors is crucial and the medical kit taken for granted. There still seems to be huge admiration for the NHS as an idea and as a principled approach to equality of healthcare, but grumbles persist about the details of delivery on the ground. This is not helped by the mind-numbing mantra that the NHS is ‘free at the point of delivery’, when that is also true of private healthcare paid for by insurance.

The challenges facing the NHS, however, have little to do with the detail of who does what and whether it is better to, for example, contract out cleaning. The big picture is about demographics and funding. Given the welcome but unnerving fact that the proportion of the population comprising old people is rising, the success of the NHS is guaranteeing that care of the elderly increases substantially, simply because we can keep people alive longer today.

The future of the NHS depends on how we design for birth, death and everything in between, says Paul Finch

15.03.1224 theaj.co.uk

No matter that the NHS spends most money on most people in the last 18 months of their life; it would be politically impossible to deny people treatment when they have paid for it all their working lives via National Insurance, the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme (there is no record of the money you and your employers have paid in).

Curiously, how to treat older people so that they enjoy a decent life during their final few weeks has attracted little discussion in relation to architecture. Maggie’s Centres are a magnificent example of an initiative to change both attitudes and physical environments for cancer sufferers, but they are noticeable for being an exception.

You might have thought that hospices would by now

have been given more attention, as a civilized half-way house in the final days, when most people say they would rather be at home than in hospital. But then, nor has there been much attention paid to converting parts of homes and apartments into decent spaces where the ill can lead a reasonably civilized existence.

Instead we have focussed on massive centralised megastructures that the PFI hospital programme has largely comprised, producing buildings that are in some ways inferior to 19th century precedents. Tomorrow’s medicine is about home treatment and miniaturisation of technology.

This is a far cry from the current debate about the future of the NHS; but like its buildings, that will need to be determined through a process of design.

There has been little attention paid to converting parts of homes into spaces where the ill can lead a civilised existence

Letter from London

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It’s the marketing element of the ‘Bilbao effect’, the city as brand, that so many find offensive, as if the

architecture itself is reduced by the fireworks exploding all around it. But branding can be good too. It can even make the architecture look better. Glasgow, the subject of last week’s column, was famously Miles Better in the eighties. In the years between that initiative and its reign as UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999, few buildings of significance were built to justify the tag. Glasgow’s renaissance was largely based on perception.

The Miles Better campaign was borrowed from the successful I Love New York template of the seventies. It’s easy to forget how frightening New York seemed to America and the world at large 40 years ago. Crime was at its highest level in its history. And there was no money. In 1975, when president Ford denied federal assistance to rescue the city from bankruptcy, the Daily News headline read: ‘Ford to City: Drop Dead’. In 1977, an extensive blackout led to rioting and looting and 4,500 arrests. In the same year however, New York State commissioned Madison Avenue advertising agency Wells Rich Greene to market the state and city as a prime tourist destination. Designer Milton Glaser provided the front end, the I♥NY logo: pop-art algebra with a soppy, affirmative message.

9/11 changed all that. Glaser even created a modified

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The Big Apple, I♥NY, 9/11... it’s time New York called in the Mad Men for a rebrand, writes Rory Olcayto

15.03.1226 theaj.co.uk

Black box

version of his much-copied logo to commemorate the shocking event, reading ‘I♥NY more than ever’, a little black spot on the heart symbolising the World Trade Center site and its location on Manhattan Island.

Understandably, the city still bears the weight of that awful day. A cynical view would have 9/11 badged as the city’s most precious brand, and one more intimately wedded to Manhattan’s architecture than Glaser’s logo and its sentiment ever was. It’s why New York needs the Mad Men to rework its image once again.

The focus this time should be purely architectural. Here’s the pitch: it’s not the city of the future anymore. But that’s good. Manhattan is a period piece. A petrified forest. A classical skyscraper city dressed in ornamental stone and statues. New York as a new-world Rome. And like the Eternal City, its older buildings are the best. (The only tall building erected in recent years that comes close to the quality of its vintage towers is Frank Gehry’s 8 Spruce Street, a smart nouveau high rise with undulating facades and a melted-candle profile.)

New York is an urban experiment that will never be repeated. Writing in Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas described the gridiron, proposed in 1811, as ‘the most courageous act of prediction in Western civilisation’. Might UNESCO yet consider Manhattan a world heritage site? With New York’s gift for spin, anything is possible. And compared with Shanghai and Hong Kong, it already looks like one.

Inbox This is Virgin Atlantic’s $7 million clubhouse in New York’s JFK Airport, designed by Slade Architecture. With 100m2 of leisure facilities – bars, restaurants, a billiards table, a spa and plenty of space to lounge about – it doubles the size of the previous upper-class passenger offer. Richard Branson himself opened the venue last week and I was there on behalf of the AJ, with Hayes and James Slade, the charming husband-and-wife

team that head up the Manhattan firm. If you’re a frequent flyer with Virgin, bag an upgrade so you can sample its very particular details: sunken snugs, a sofa fashioned from flame-red leather balls and the Arne Jacobsen ‘Swan’ chairs dotted throughout the plan. Or maybe just take in the views of the greatest airport building ever designed: Eero Saarinen’s TWA terminal is just across the way.

AJBuildingsLibrary.co.uk

Still home to Sheppard Robson, this former plating works in Camden was converted into the architects’ offi ce and fl ats for the practice’s partners in 1975. Search for ‘Sheppard’ to see 10 photographs, three drawings and a working detail on AJBuildingsLibrary.co.uk

AJBuildingsLibrary.co.ukBrowse thousands of projects in the AJ Buildings Library, a digital archive of built work, part of your AJ subscription

15.03.12 27

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Project of the WeekPractice HQSheppard RobsonLondon, 1975

Last issueAJ 08.03.12Established 1895

£4.95  THE ARCHITECTS’ JOURNAL THEAJ.CO.UK

Dixon Jones’ Exhibition Road makeover plus Adams & Sutherland’s canal walkway& Sutherland’s canal walkway&

08.03.12

Public realm

� e Architects’ JournalGreater London HouseHampstead RoadLondon nw1 7ej� eAJ.co.uk020 7728 4574E ­ rstname.surname@emap.comT 020 7728 plus extension

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On school design

Thank you for highlighting the positive impact of the Building

Schools for the Future programme in your ‘7 schools’ issue (AJ 09.02.12). Arguably the worst consequence of the government’s decision to abolish BSF was the media potrayal of the programme as a waste of money. Your article went some way to redress the balance.

As a teacher in one of the inner London boroughs that benefi ted from BSF, I can testify to the impact of the built environment on pupils’ learning. Poorly designed and built schools meant cold draughty classrooms in winter that transformed into poorly ventilated greenhouses in summer. The new buildings addressed some of the concerns that so frustrated teachers.

But the most encouraging aspect for me of the whole BSF process was the opportunity for teachers and architects to talk about what makes a good school. What a pity our politicians are unwilling to do the same.Peter Larvin, London

communal stairwell as required under Approved Document E has been dealt with, given surfaces within this space appear to be entirely ‘hard’. This is not explained. The only possibility of incorporation of absorptive surface, according to the section illustrated, would appear to be the panels fronting the services riser and the ceiling of the ground fl oor entrance area. I note there was an acoustic consultant on the team, so perhaps there is a clever solution we should all know about?Tim Williamson, Exeter

Clear sign language

Exhibition Road (AJ 08.03.12) does look attractive. However my son lives nearby and told me that people, particularly visitors, have real diffi culty in understanding that it is not a pedestrianised area until they have to ‘dodge’ the traffi c. Visual indicators to separate function are poor, and try to spot the roundabout – it looks neat, but not very visible. I suspect that it will be festooned with signs to make it clear that it is there.Ron Gonshaw, via TheAJ.co.uk

As an architect working in Ireland, I read your Leader on the Irish government’s schools competition with a sense of bewilderment. While all the right noises are being made in the competition brief, the reality is that the brief is so prescriptive and the budget so tight (£786/m2) that achieving even one of the goals, let alone all of them, would constitute a miracle.

You show some wonderful examples of school buildings, yet the budgets range from twice to over four times the budget of the Irish schools. We can but dream of such budgets. In the meantime, it’s back to trying to put together a 3D jigsaw of predetermined shapes in such a way that there is enough money left to paint the exposed blockwork.Barry Kelly, founder, Carew Kelly Architects, Dublin, Ireland

Absorbing acoustics

There is much I fi nd interesting about the construction of Amin Taha Architects’ Ada Street mixed-use development (AJ 01.03.12). I am very curious to learn how the issue of sound reverberation within the

LETTER OFTHE WEEKLETTER OFTHE WEEK

Letters

28 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

Editor Christine Murray (4573) Deputy editor Rory Olcayto (4571) Acting administrator Rakesh Ramchurn (4574)Digital editor Simon Hogg (4572) News editor Richard Waite (07918 650875) Reporter Merlin Fulcher (4564) Editorial intern Alvaro MenendezTechnical editor Felix Mara (4568) Senior editor James Pallister (4570) Sustainability editor Hattie Hartman (4569) Sustainability intern Ruth Dreyer AJ Buildings Library editor Tom Ravenscroft (4644) Art editor Brad Yendle (4578) Designer Ella Mackinnon (4567) Production editor Mary Douglas (4577) Sub-editor Abigail Gliddon (4579) Contributing editor Ian Martin Editorial director Paul Finch Group chief executive Natasha Christie-Miller Managing director of architecture and media Conor Dignam (5545) Group commercial director Alison Pitchford (5528)

Commercial director James MacLeod (4582) Business development managers Nick Roberts (4608), Ceri Evans (3595) Group advertising manager Amanda Pryde (4557) Account managers Hannah Buckley (3762), Simon Collingwood (4515), Steph Atha (4609) Classi� ed and recruitment sales Elise El Ouardi (4518)

� e Architects’ Journal is registered as a newspaper at the Post O� ce. © 2012. Published by Emap Inform, a part of Emap Ltd. Printed in the uk by Headley Brothers Ltd. aj (issn 0003 8466) is published weekly except Christmas and August. Subscription price is $420. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, nj and additional mailing o� ces. Postmaster send address corrections to: aj, c/o Mercury International Ltd, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, New Jersey 07001. Distributed in the us by Mercury International Ltd, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, nj 07001.

Letters should be received by 10am on the Monday before publication. The AJ reserves the right to edit letters.

The letter of the week’s author will receive a bone china AJ mug.

Post to the address below or email letters@architectsjournal.co.uk

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Pre-fab timber meant low costs and a speedy build at Sheppard Robson’s Hertzberger-inspired Waingels College, writes Hattie Hartman

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30 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

Building study

heppard Robson’s Waingels College on the outskirts of Reading is virtually all wood.

Yet sustainable design did not drive the decision to build a timber school.

Delivered through the Building Schools for the Future One School Pathfinder programme, under which local authorities are given the opportunity to completely redevelop one (and one only) secondary school in their area, the multi-phase project largely replaces an existing secondary school on the same site. While both client and project team viewed timber as sympathetic to the school’s location at the edge of the green belt, the deciding factor was the operational

flexibility offered by prefabrication. ‘We looked at a full decant, but that would have cost £2.5 million and we preferred to put that money into the building itself. Prefabrication enabled us to build cheek by jowl with the existing school,’ says Sheppard Robson design director Lee Bennett.

The school is organised in four blocks around a central outdoor court, bucking the ubiquitous trend for an enclosed central atrium in favour of offering students a breath of fresh air between lessons. A palette of softwood cladding and coloured render wraps four buildings – an entrance building housing the main hall and library and three specialist

classroom buildings – which are almost identical in massing and differentiated by subtly coloured renders representing the four seasons. Despite value engineering on the landscaping, the result is a well-proportioned and uplifting collective outdoor space for the entire school.

The brief for the teaching spaces – developed with client design adviser Paul Fletcher – was adventuresome, even though the project’s initial environmental aspirations were less so. Teachers were seen as role models and mentors, not disciplinarians, and this called for buildings that would enable passive supervision and blur the distinction between

Main picture Softwood cladding coupled with coloured renders wrap the four buildings of the rebuilt Waingels Collegem

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15.03.12 31

teaching and learning. The architects responded by minimising cellular classrooms and maximising open learning areas organised around central fora, Hertzberger-inspired stepped auditoria, which can each accommodate up to 250 students.

While it is a brave move, the long-term flexibility of these stepped spaces is questionable. They could prove a straightjacket over time, compared with similarly-sized halls on a single level. Their appeal is not helped by the combination of carpeted treads, timber risers and aluminium nosings, which are a significant departure from Hertzberger’s all-timber Apollo School stairs in Amsterdam.

Nonetheless, the forum spaces provide useful, strong orientation within the teaching blocks.

The fora are surrounded by highly flexible open learning areas, made possible by the use of long-span glulam structure. The result is deep-plan buildings, which create challenges for daylight penetration, natural ventilation and acoustics. With the input of services engineer Skelly & Couch, a robust design was developed which uses timber’s light weight. Butterfly roofs over tall clerestory-lit volumes – approximately a storey and a half – enable sufficient air changes to naturally ventilate the teaching areas and control potential overheating. >>

Legend

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1. Block A: school entrance, main hall, library and dining areas

2. Block B3. Block C4. Block D5. Central outdoor

court

Site plan

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32 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

Waingels College, ReadingSheppard Robson

Search ‘Waingels’ for more drawings and data

AJBuildingsLibrary.co.uk

Mark Skelly, of Skelly & Couch, explains that school buildings primarily require cooling and that, as soon as the exterior temperature rises above 3oC, the demand for cooling kicks in. Without thermal mass to lower radiant temperature of the spaces, extra-tall volumes – 5.5m high at the perimeter – allow heat to be quickly removed from the occupied zone. ‘� e rooms are, overall, hotter than a thermally massive building, but much of the heat is at high level, where no one will notice it,’ Skelly explains.

Legend

1. Classroom 2. Arts lab 3. Language lab 4. Break-out space 5. Technical faculty 6. Humanities project

space 7. ICT lab 8. Science labs 9. Library10. Open terrace11. Social area12. Offi ce13. Project space14. Covered 3D arts

area15. Seminar room16. Drama17. Music room18. Food tech room19. Main hall20. Dining hall21. Conference room22. Main school

entrance lobby23. Shop24. Kitchen25. Biomass boiler

room26. Central courtyard

Banks of panoramic windows o� er views to trees. � e e� ect is one of airiness and connection to the outdoors, even though the glazing ratio is a surprisingly low 25 per cent to control solar gain. � e tall spaces also deliver extensive surface area for acoustic control. Attractive perforated timber panels are integrated into the ceiling cassettes, eliminating the need for ba� es.

� e only environmental requirement of the design brief was to meet the government’s 2007 Low

Carbon Schools requirement for a 60 per cent carbon emissions reduction over Part L 2002. Waingels is one of the � rst schools required to do so. � is was achieved by using biomass boilers, sized to meet the 60 per cent reduction and anticipated to meet 90 per cent of the annual heating load. ‘We only look at biomass if there is a robust supply chain,’ says Skelly. It turned out that a Waingels parent was managing director of a local wood recycling company that sources timber waste from construction sites and >>

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Right Heat-treated Finnish pine clads the exterior and provides solar shading for the stepped forum spaces

First fl oor plan

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Waingels College, ReadingSheppard Robson

Legend

1. Science lab 2. Circulation 3. Food technology

room 4. Single ply roof 5. Forum 6. Internet café/

learning resource centre

7. WC 8. Internet café

Block B, section A-A

Waingels’ volumes create a cheerful environment, both indoors and out

landscape contractors. A BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating was considered adequate. Credits were lost on transport, due to the location of the site and the extra investment required to achieve an ‘Excellent’ rating was deemed better spent elsewhere, such as on higher-spec glazing. Unfortunately, no monitoring is planned to measure how the building will actually perform.

Sheppard Robson is developing an expertise with timber buildings. Its portfolio includes two schools in Norwich, the Oasis Academy in Croydon and the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (AJ 27.10.11). So what is the verdict on this school, in which timber is omnipresent? Eurban, the project’s timber designer and supplier of engineered board, champions timber’s familiar qualities as a renewable material. The flexibility of the teaching spaces is a plus, yet one can’t help but wonder about the longevity of the softwood exterior, particularly the brise-soleils. Limitations on budget do not permit the kind of detailing which transforms timber, knots and all, into visual delight. Yet, in the hands of skilled designers, Waingels’ volumes and daylighting have been manipulated to create a cheerful educational environment, both indoors and out. n

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15.03.12 35

Block B, section B-B

Project data

start on siteApril 2009completionSeptember 2011gross internal area12, 925m2

procurementDesign and buildtotal cost£24 million cost per m2

£1,630 (based on construction value)architectSheppard RobsonclientWokingham Borough Councilstructural engineerCarbon Eng (superstructure), Ramboll (ground-works) m&e consultantSkelly&Couch landscape consultantEdco acoustic consultantSC Acousticproject managerFaithful + Gould approved building inspectorHCD main contractorWillmott Dixon cad software usedMicrostationestimated annual co2 emissions8.1 kg/m² (Estimate based on treated floor area of 9,330m2) airtightness at 50pa2.45m3/hr/m2

annual heating and hot water load29.2kWh/m2

percentage of floor area with daylight factor >2 per cent83.4 per centpercentage of floor area with daylight factor >5 per cent27 per centon-site energy generation40 per cent from biomass boiler overall area-weighted u-value0.25 W/m2Kstructural timber construction and assemblyEurban Construction windowsVelfac timber/aluminium composite systeminsulation to external timber-clad wallPavatex Pavatherm plus wood fibre insulation glulam and crosslamSchilliger Holz external timber claddingFinnforest ThermoWood wood fibre insulationPavatex timber cladding and joinery worksNHE insulated renderPermarock single ply roofingSarnafilpaint finishCrown Paints Clean Extreme Scrubbable matt

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Waingels College, ReadingSheppard Robson

Perspective section through Block D forum

1. wood fibre insulation creates fully breathable facade

2. extensive internal glazing enhances transparency, light and natural ventilation

3. all learning areas naturally ventilated. high-level windows maximise daylight

4. skylight ventilation 5. non-sensitive

spaces act as buffers

6. exposed services 7. Biomass-fuelled

heating 8. toilets and music

rooms mechanically ventilated

9. Prefabricated solid timber minimises site waste, time and labour

10. Brise-soleil modulates forum light

11. Double-sided ventilation to all rooms

Dialogue Hattie Hartman & Felix Mara walked around Waingels College and discussed how it squares up

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Hattie i really like the courtyard space but it’s a shame they used untreated softwood for the external cladding and brise-soleils. i wonder

how it will hold up?Felix Yes, it would have been better if they could have used hardwood, which has a much longer life. cost savings, i suppose.

Felix all that blonde timber looks a bit cheap and mean, especially with all the knots.

Hattie But the light levels are very good, especially on account of the clerestories, and i think it helps to have reflective timber surfaces

Felix i like the geometry and the setting out, the manipulation of strong

elements, such as those fin columns and the different combinations of standard components.Hattie Yes, but maybe that could have been taken further. the layouts of blocks B, c and D are pretty similar.

Felix they spent a lot of money on the glass spec, which could have been used in other ways. But more reflective glass would

have looked pretty tacky, especially with all that ‘cheap and cheerful’ timber. i really like the colour highlights: for example the external render. Hattie i agree. the combination of timber and coloured render works really well. it would look pretty bland without them. too bad the green roofs were Ve’d out.

15.03.12 37

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Hattie Those large steps don’t really work for me, especially with timber risers and carpeted treads.Felix Yes, although it looked good

when I first saw the drawings and model. But the scale doesn’t really work now that I’m here. Also, it seems a bit of a dumb gesture, directing everyone at the central courtyard and the steps make this space inflexible.Hattie I don’t know. That courtyard works really well and is such an essential part of the scheme. But I agree about the lack of flexibility.

Felix Those timber cassettes really work, providing 7.5m spans and also acoustic attenuation.

Hattie Yes, the perforated soffits look great, too, and it’s good that the fibrous timber insulation was in the same package.

Hattie The timber frame members are huge. That must have really helped to speed

up the programme.Felix Yes, but it would have looked better if the frame members were more articulated.

Felix The co-ordination of the exposed services isn’t fantastic. I suppose it’s a cost saving, but I thought one of the advantages of

timber construction is that you can hack away at it and chase things in.Hattie It looks ok on the ceiling, but there are places where it does look a bit rough.

Felix Those coupled mullions are really thick.Hattie Yes, the

sightlines aren’t great but I like the banks of panoramic windows and the views into the trees.

Hattie One of the problems is that timber has low thermal mass, so they addressed this by

creating larger volumes. The generous spaces are an asset and they don’t feel too big.Felix The 3.6m ceilings at ground floor level are very generous. I suppose the alternative would have been concrete panels on the ceiling, although solid timber does have some thermal mass.

38 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

Detail 1 First floor Lignatur panel section Detail 2 Lignatur roof panel section

Technical study

aingels College is lignophile heaven. Nearly everything is wood: the

structural frame, the floors, the ceilings, the external cladding, the brise-soleils, the stairs, the internal sections of the composite windows, and so on and on. Even the thermal insulation is a timber product1, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the loo seats were wood as well. If it wasn’t a school it would probably be a place of pilgrimage for tree worshippers. In fact, according to Liam Dewar, director of Eurban, which designed the engineered timber, Waingels is internationally regarded as an exemplar of contemporary wood technology and is Britain’s largest laminated timber building.

All of which raises two questions. Why is Waingels so relentlessly wooden? And how successful is its timber construction on the levels of performance and architectural quality?

With its ubiquitous unstained timber, Waingels College is regarded as an exemplar project in contemporary wood. But how does it perform technically and as architecture? asks Felix Mara

Blonde on blonde

Responding to the first question, Sheppard Robson partner Lee Bennett and associate Pierluigi Chinellato recite the usual truisms about timber’s warmth, explaining that Waingels’ green belt site influenced the choice of materials and that research in Germany demonstrated that pupils preferred timber finishes to plaster.

But Dewar, being responsible for building this contractor-designed portion, quickly gets down to brass tacks. ‘The main drivers were cost and speed, which is really important in school projects – engineered timber provided a 30 per cent time improvement2.’ On top of this, he argues that timber also trumped concrete and steel because of its constellation of thermal, fire, structural and acoustic properties and its inherent sustainability and adaptability.

It is essential to unpick the various types of timber construction at

W Legend

1. Countersunk screw2. Upstand3. Steel angle with

screws at 200mm centres

4. Nailplate5. OSB deck6. Lignatur timber

cassette with perforated soffit

7. 8mm screw with large washer head

8. Woodchip wood fibre insulation

First floor, Block A

Roof, Block A

First floor, Block A

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Right The storey-high timber truss supporting the library above the main hall in Block A has immense visual weight

Detail 1

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15.03.12 39

Detail 3 Crosslam wall panel fixing plan

Waingels to avoid confusion. First, structural walls are FSC-certified cross-laminated timber, manufactured in a Swiss vacuum press. Second, large-span beams and columns are generally glulam, from the same manufacturer and source. Third, the floors and roof decks are structural timber cassettes, also Swiss, with perforated soffits and wood fibre insulation, and these provide acoustic attenuation, avoiding the need for surface-mounted or suspended absorption. There is also a storey-high timber truss, which enables the library in Block A to span 11m across the main hall. All of this was designed, supplied and installed, although not manufactured, by Eurban, with structural engineering by its sister company, Carbon Eng. Eurban also installed Velfac’s composite windows. The unstained softwood external cladding, with a life of 25 years, was manufactured by Finnforest.

The construction logic is convincing. Cassettes were chosen because they are more cost-effective for the required 7.5m spans than solid timber panels and, because their perforated soffits carry wood fibre acoustic quilting, the number of on-site packages was reduced. ‘Crosslam wasn’t the cheapest option,’ says Dewar, ‘but it offered a number of benefits.’ Its standard thicknesses, in 20mm increments, simplified the design process, enabling everyone >>

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Main picture Yellow highlights relieve the symphony of blonde timber in Block C but conduits and sprinkler pipes cross at right angles and timber components are not articulated

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Waingels College, ReadingSheppard Robson

to work with round numbers, and made it easy to align Crosslam and glulam elements. ‘Being made from “sliced glulam”, Crosslam is very stable, so it was suitable for the extensive exposed construction,’ adds Dewar. Sprinklers and limited requirements for acoustic separation in many areas also meant the timber had to do less.

Timber also offered environmental benefits. The Swiss manufacturing plant was relatively close to the site and is an integrated works, avoiding transportation between sawmill and factory. Because the Crosslam and the glulam came from a single manufacturer, there was better co‑ordination of design and materials delivery. Waingels could ultimately serve as 2,208m3 of fuel and, although solid timber cannot compete with concrete’s thermal mass, this limitation has been addressed by increasing the volume of internal spaces. ‘Hanging concrete off the ceiling is a very clumsy solution,’ says Dewar.

Putting time, cost and performance to one side, you could argue that the main reason why Waingels is so utterly timber is to do with the way Sheppard Robson envisioned the school, or that it even rests on philosophical premises, either flaunting timber as an ecological emblem or returning to the idea that buildings’ construction should be expressed – a conviction that would explain the decision to avoid concealing the structure and services, although this approach would only save money if the project team tolerated bodged details, such as the crossing conduit runs at Waingels. Good architecture with co‑ordinated exposed services costs time and money.

‘There’s generally a rawness to some of the timber,’ says Bennett, ‘but I think it’s an acceptable one. It’s the

ambience that matters.’ It’s acceptable, because state schools shouldn’t, and invariably cannot, be extravagant. And maybe that’s why Waingels has skirtings that fail to return around corners and cover strips forced into corners. The quality of some of the finishing is not great. But another reading of the timber’s rawness would involve seeing Waingels as brutalism reincarnate. It could be regarded as a parallel to the rugged qualities of Le Corbusier’s béton brut, although of the three grades of timber finish at Waingels, the Grade D structural work is intended to be concealed. Alternatively, on a deeper level3, Waingels is brutalist in its readiness to grapple with technological change without being afraid of offending delicate sensibilities. If the outcome at Waingels lacks finesse, this could be because this ‘new’ new brutalism is in its infancy.

So there are places where Waingels does not work on a visual or tectonic level. There is little articulation between structural members, for example, at sloping beam‑to‑column

Another reading of the timber’s rawness sees it as brutalism reincarnate

junctions. These assemblies look as though they’ve been run through a jig‑saw and enlarged by 5,000 per cent. The material may as well be cheese for all its detailed design tells you about it. But there are also places where it succeeds. Given material homogeneity, with none of the distraction of contrasting finishes, Sheppard Robson has emphasised the geometry. Although this symphony of knotty, blonde timber feels cheap, cheerful, mean and bland, it does succeed in reflecting the ample internal daylight and, generally, this emphasises the form, rather than dissolving it.

But, ‘new’ new brutalism or not, engineered timber cannot match the gravitas of in situ concrete and perhaps this is why, as at Sheppard Robson and Eurban’s Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Waingels’ ultimate visual success rests on a dialogue between its timber background and highlights provided by contrasting materials – aqueous polycarbonate cladding at the institute and colourful external render and internal paint finishes here. n

Above Block D humanities project space. Perforated ceiling cassettes provide the acoustic attenuation needed in potentially noisy open learning areas

footnotes1 Wood fibre insulation2 See Mark Klimt’s

Legalese column, AJ 09.02.12

3 This is not to say that Le Corbusier’s béton brut was not a response to the challenges of modern technology

15.03.12 41

The cross-laminated timber construction of Waingels College reflects the school’s vision to create an environmentally sustainable community. The location and generous proportion of the windows is informed by the strategy to naturally ventilate and maximise daylight and views. At ground floor level the windows reflect the domestic proportion of the residential surroundings and provide direct connections to the external teaching spaces. At first floor level the classrooms have two sets of windows: a low-level, manually openable module which allows panoramic views and is positioned so that every child can see out when seated, and high-level clerestory windows that allow daylight to penetrate deep into the plan and cross-ventilate all internal spaces.Pierluigi Chinellato, associate, Sheppard Robson

Waingels College, ReadingSheppard Robson

Clerestory window detail

0 100mm

Working detail

Legend

1. Metal parapet edge capping

2. 18mm plywood lining

3. Crosslam cross-laminated timber upstand

4. Pavatherm Plus wood fibre insulation

5. Single ply membrane

6. 150mm insulation 7. Vapour barrier 8. 18mm OSB 9. Finnforest

softwood cladding10. Insect mesh11. DPM cavity tray 12. 50mm wood fibre

insulation integral to timber cassette

13. Lignatur perforated timber floor/roof cassette with integral sound absorption

14. Timber reveal15. Top-hung Velfac

composite window with concealed actuator

16. External window sill17. Crosslam

cross-laminated timber wall with visual grade finish. All exposed timber walls protected during construction

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How we extended and refurbished an abandoned bothy in a remote Scottish valley as a retreat for two artists, writes Neil Gillespie, Reiach and Hall

Hearth of stone

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42 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

Case study

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leeper Gallery is a small, windowless room located in the basement of our o� ce in

Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town. Initiated by artist Alan Johnston and me, artists from across the world who have shown in this modest space include Douglas Gordon, Alan Charlton and Franz Graf. Many of them have left their mark, shifting our perspective and giving us cause for re� ection.

One artist who has been particularly in� uential is Roger Ackling. Roger is a key � gure in the group of British land artists that includes Richard Long and Hamish Fulton, and was professor of � ne art and painting at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Roger draws with light, focusing the sun through a magnifying glass; he burns marks, beautiful measured etchings on discarded timber fragments gathered from the Norfolk foreshore. Our conversion and extension of the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney, owes much to

this idea of adding a new, indelible mark to an existing situation.

During a walking break in the Scottish Borderlands, Roger and Martin Cook, a friend from art college, hatched a plan over a beer or two to buy a retreat. � ey eventually found one, an abandoned bothy of acute Calvinist simplicity on the northern slopes of the empty hills south-west of Selkirk. � e site sits between two hill burns that � ow north into the Ettrick Water. � is would always have been a lonely place, probably a shepherds’ shelter; no rowan tree >>

Legend

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Location plan

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Ackling Cook Bothy, Ettrick ValleyReiach and Hall Architects

Search ‘Reiach’ for more drawings and data

AJBuildingsLibrary.co.uk

marks the door, and there is no sense of dwelling or grounding.

Roger, Martin and his wife Sylvia asked us to help them renovate and extend the existing shell. � e bothy now accommodates a large living and dining space, with a sleeping gallery along with a kitchen and toilet in the old shell. � e new extension contains two bedrooms with a shared bathroom.

� e bothy’s roof was still intact and the stone structure basically sound, although the building lacked services connections and had been � ayed of all

Upper fl oor

Ground fl oor

Legend

1. Entrance2. Living/dining3. Kitchen4. Bathroom/WC5. Bedroom6. Sleeping gallery

� nishes and partitions. A major initial task was to form an access track and lay on electricity, drainage and water supply. � en an in-situ concrete retaining wall was cut into the slope to the south, and a concrete slab was created between the old shell and the new wall. � e in-situ wall also serves to divert water run-o� from the hills to the south, channelling it around the bothy. A simple timber-framed box sits on the slab. � e majority of the building works were carried out by a local builder, Robert Reid, while

Martin constructed many of the � nishing trades himself, including the larch cladding to the new extension.

� e essence of the project is straightforward. However we were struck by the melancholy of the site and the spirit of Roger’s work. We indulged in a kind of architectural storytelling. We imagined the existing bothy almost as if it were building jetsam; a once-useful shelter now abandoned and scoured of all traces of past inhabitation. We talk of the extension being burned into the hillside. Burning of moorland has been practised for generations in an attempt to improve grazing. � e apparent wilderness of these hills becomes a visible patchwork of toil and intervention.

� e concept for the new extension is a shadow on the hill, imagining cultural enlightenment from the north; a shadow is cast southwards from the elemental bothy form. � is idea combines notions and passions about Scotland with an understanding of and reference to Roger’s work. � e prismatic form of the extension is clad in delicate timber battens held o� a black weather-proofed timber structure. � e larch battens have been charred, a direct reference to Roger’s practice, while at the same time acting as a traditional weathering technique. � e battens are taken above the black box feathering the edges and softening the pro� le of the extension. � e roof pitch takes on the slope of the hill at

Left Finishes to the large new kitchen/dining space in the existing shell are kept simpleRight Siberian larch battens add visual depth and soften the impact of the EPDM membrane behind

0 1mN

15.03.12 45

The prismatic form of the extension is clad in delicate timber battens

the back. The resulting building is at once reticent and strangely powerful.

While the exterior of charred larch at times merges with the grey landscape and the weathered stone of the existing bothy, the interior is light-filled and positive. Again larch battens are used, to the gallery edge, this time painted white. The internal screening reverses the effect of the exterior screening. Internally the white battens capture and reflect light down into the ground floor from small rooflights, while externally the battens tend to absorb light and dissolve the building form.

We are extremely grateful to Roger, Martin and Sylvia for allowing us to explore, through this very personal project, some themes that haunt our practice. ■

Project data

start on site October 2008completion June 2011gross internal floor area 134m2

form of contract Minor Workstotal cost £205,000 (excluding timber screen)architect Reiach and Hall Architectsclient Roger Ackling and Martin Cookmain contractor Robert Reidstructural engineer SKMmechanical engineer KJ Taitexternal walls in extension Timber frame construction, with Prelasti EPDM to external face of plywoodcladding to extension Siberian larch fitted by client outside the contractrooflights Velux to new extension New conservation rooflights to existing roofsanitaryware Ideal Standardironmongery Allgood

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The extension to the Ackling Cook bothy is almost invisible, a charcoal-clad, stealth-like form that shadows the existing stone house. The construction and material specification of the bothy are equally modest and underplayed. An in-situ retaining wall and ground slab creates a simple platform for an insulated timber-framed box. The whole mono-pitched form is wrapped in a black EPDM membrane. A further layer of burnt larch battens, spaced off the outer membrane, adds visual depth to the facade while softening the profile and impact of the black membrane. The larch screen continues across the small timber-framed tilt and turn windows to the bathroom. Internally the finishes are basic and straightforward; plasterboard to walls and ceilings with birch-faced plywood to window reveals and fitted furniture. Neil Gillespie, principal, Reiach and Hall Architects

Ackling Cook Bothy, Ettrick Valley, ScotlandReiach and Hall Architects

External envelope

0 1m

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1. Protective board to DPM/Firestone EPDM overlap

2. 6mm Thermal Economics 2L2 cold break insulation

3. Softwood flooring 4. 70mm Kingspan K3

Kooltherm insulation between joists

5. Gyproc Wallboard 6. 140mm Rockwool

Flexi insulation 7. Timber-frame

structure 8. Prelasti EPDM

membrane 9. Charred Siberian

larch cladding10. EPDM bonded to

metal angle forming ventilation slot at head of wall

11. 2 layers 75mm Kingspan K7Kooltherm between joists

12. 25mm K3 Kooltherm below joists

13. Plywood sliding shutter

14. Projecting plywood surround to all sides of window

15. Timber-framed double-glazed tilt and turn window

16. Level varies17. Perforated field

drain to soakaway

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46 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

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5212 BA Systems - AJ Spec Advert V3:Layout 1 08/03/2012 16:55 Page 1

Hattie Hartman gives a venue-by-venue guide to London’s ‘Green Olympics’, from cable-net roofs and low-carbon concrete, to the the site’s infrastructure. Photography by Edmund Sumner

Marathon not a sprint

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spectacular one-off mega-event that mobilises more than 14,000 athletes and

millions of spectators from around the world may seem at odds with a sustainable agenda. Yet London has seized the opportunity to demonstrate how the Games can be approached differently. The defining mantras of London 2012 have been regeneration and legacy. The hope is that the Games will leave a permanent footprint that will enhance the built and natural environment of east London’s lower Lee Valley and the lives of its residents.

London’s investment in the Games is much more than an Olympic Park full of new sporting venues. It is about the creation of a sustainable urban quarter with an ecological park at its heart, where a quality public realm supports walking and

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Parks. It must also reinterpret Britain’s deep-seated horticultural traditions and adapt them to 21st century environmental challenges.

The message is clear: sustainability cannot be tacked on as an afterthought at the end of the design process, nor can it be pigeonholed as a technical concern. London 2012 has overcome this tendency by making sustainable design a driver from the outset. Notable highlights related to the parkland include the extent of soil cleaning and reuse on the Olympic Park, a park design based on hydrology, flood management and biodiverse habitats, as well as a pioneering water recycling treatment for its irrigation. Likewise, site-wide energy distribution, exceptional design quality of infrastructure buildings, trialing of low-carbon concrete mixes,

and early engagement with supply chains to develop non-toxic products and promote recycling are significant achievements.

Quantitative targets are essential, but they must be tailored to their context. It is no use simply replicating London’s targets in Rio because sustainability is a journey. To move the sustainability agenda on, targets must be relevant to each set of circumstances.

The burning question is how the radical changes to the physical fabric of east London will impact the social and economic opportunities of local residents. Physical transformation must be accompanied by investment in employment training, job creation and community facilities if residents of the East End are to achieve convergence with fellow Londoners. >>

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cycling, and residential areas and community infrastructure are well located in relation to public transport. To be successful, the park must be well-frequented by local residents, in the best tradition of London’s Royal

MLKJIHG

Legend

A. Chobham Academy

B. Olympic and Paralympic Village

C. Eton Manor D. Westfield Stratford

City E. Velodrome F. Aquatics Centre G. North Greenwich

Arena H. Olympic Stadium I. Primary Substation J. Handball Arena K. Energy Centre L. International

Broadcast Centre M. Main press centre

50 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

The Olympic Park, LondonThe 2012 Games and sustainability

The Big Three A lightweight stadium, a daylit Velodrome and a pool that pioneers low-carbon concrete

T he Olympic Stadium represents a sea change in stadium design. Populous’

entire rationale behind the design stemmed from the dual premise of temporary architecture and lightweight construction. The structure for the roof and upper tiers of temporary seating

were decoupled from the permanent concrete bowl so that they could be dismantled independently. Food and hospitality concessions were pulled out of the structure to make it more compact. If the decision to convert the entire stadium to a permanent structure were taken, alterations

in keeping with the lightness of the original design would be most consistent with the environmental message of the Games. This could be an opportunity to introduce elements such as a solar roof fabric or rainwater harvesting, which were unaffordable in a temporary venue. (AJ 07.04.11)

Bird’s Nest Stadium Olympic Stadium

Contrast between Olympic stadiums 2008 and 2012

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he Aquatics Centre is the only London 2012 venue whose architect, Zaha Hadid

Architects, was selected before the environmental strategy for the Games was fully formulated, before, even, London winning the bid in 2005. Compelling visualisations of its wave-like roof were instrumental in securing the Games for London. Afterwards,

he Velodrome, London 2012’s flagship green building, is an outstanding

example of integrated design. The most innovative aspect of the Velodrome is its tensile cable-net roof structure, which was made possible by early contractor engagement at Stage C. Initial costing had indicated that a conventional steel structure was more economical, but more detailed analysis revealed that the cable-net option enabled a cost saving of £1.5 million and shortened the programme by 20 weeks. It also significantly reduced the embodied carbon in the building. Hopkins Architects’ carefully considered rooflights and natural ventilation also reduce operational energy loads. A targeted approach to services employs underfloor heating to keep cyclists on the track warm, while modular air-handling units under the seating tiers keep spectators comfortable. (AJ 22.09.11)

the building underwent a significant redesign, which saw the roof simplified and two temporary stands of seating incorporated. Its form a given, structural and services engineers were tasked with delivering as efficient a building as possible. Extensive trialling of low-carbon concrete established precedents for use of recycled aggregates and GGBS in fair-faced concrete. >>

Above Olympic Velodrome in the north north park Below The Aquatics Centre’s training pool uses 60 per cent GGBS

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Lee Valley White Water Centre A dual watercourse lessens the impact of energy-hungry water pumps and achieves major savings

T he very premise of this venue – the creation of artificial white water rapids

for an Olympic Canoe Slalom course within a flat river valley on the northern outskirts of London – is energy-intensive because it relies on electric pumps to move the water.

Designed as part of a collaboration between Faulkner Browns Architects and S&P Architects, the centre makes a departure from previous Games. It has two watercourses – one for competition and one for training – have been designed. The less energy-hungry practice course can be operated

independently when the elite course is not required. Geothermal ground source heat pumps, whose coils are located under the lake, supply heat to the building. A rainwater-harvesting tank supplies toilet flushing and a solar thermal array with a PV pump provides hot water to changing rooms.

Legend

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A A conveyor takes competitors from the first lake to the starting point B The building uses a fraction of the energy of the water pumps C The training course, used most often, uses 20 per cent energy of the competition course

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Thermal BreaksMasonry support systems from Ancon can now besupplied with Thermal Breaks shaped like a standardkey-hole shim.

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54 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

The Olympic Park, LondonThe 2012 Games and sustainability

Infrastructure The wind turbine may have been abandoned, but the park makes the most of energy generation and water conservation

JB ohn Mcaslan + Partner’s Olympic Park and Stratford Energy Centres (B) enable district-wide energy provision

to the Olympic Park and parts of Stratford (including Westfield) both during and after the Games. The buildings, clad in COR-TEN steel mesh are easily identifiable landmarks, explicit reminders of where energy is generated. They provide heating, cooling and electricity via a gas-fired CCHP and a biomass plant.

A legacy of Robin Lee and Alan Pert’s NORD partnership, now dissolved, the Primary Substation was the park’s first completed building. Its robust brick construction a clear reference to Stratford’s 19th century industrial heritage. (AJ Specification 11.09)

espoke lighting masts on the main concourse incorporate small wind

turbines (A). A proposal for a permanent 120-metre high wind turbine on the Eton Manor site was granted planning permission in 2007. Members of the design team had travelled to Norway where they had seen large-scale, well-established wind turbines in urban settings, and the hope was to jumpstart this technology in the UK. However, changes to the EU Machinery Directive, which regulates lifts in wind turbines, deemed the proposed design non-compliant and the supplier, unable to resolve the issue in time to meet the programme, withdrew from the project. The turbine was cancelled in 2010.

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Search ‘olympics’ for more drawings and data

AJBuildingsLibrary.co.uk

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ointly funded by the ODA and � ames Water as a pilot research project, the Old Ford Water Recycling Plant (D)

houses innovative water cleansing technology. � e plant is located in a small nature reserve south-west of the Olympic Stadium. Sewage from the nearby Northern Outfall Sewer is cleaned through a multi-step process and re-circulated to irrigate the Olympic Park and for toilet � ushing in legacy venues. Wet sewage passes through two enormous sediment tanks outside the building, before being treated inside to remove micro-organisms. A larch-clad steel structure sits over gabion walls that provide a robust � nish to the base of the building and enhance biodiversity on the site. �

he Pudding Mill Pumping Station (C) collects the sewage from the new 1.8

kilometer-long sewer network below the Olympic Park and pumps it 21 metres up to meet the adjacent Northern Outfall Sewer that runs under the Greenway. John Lyall Architects challenged � ames Water’s approved outline design for a brick shed and worked with the civil engineers to build a building out of its component parts. Elements such as an illuminated � ue tower, bright pink odour � ltration tanks and printing 19th century engineering drawings on exterior walls make what could have been an unsightly utilitarian shed, a memorable building. (AJ 12.09.10)

London 2012: Sustainable Design: Delivering a Games Legacy by Hattie Hartman is published by John Wiley & Sons, £49.99. For a 25% discount for AJ readers, go to www.wiley.com/buy/9781119992998 and enter promotion code VB802

Site plan legend

1. Olympic stadium 2. Aquatics Centre 3. Multi-use sports

venue 4. Velodrome 5. BMX 6. Chobham School 7. Olympic and

Paralympic Village 9. Former IBC10. Former MPC11. Hackney Wick12. Hackney Marshes13. Energy centre14. Tower Hamlets15. Greenway16. Stratford City

mixed-use and town centre

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international19. Stratford regional20. Newham21. Waltham Forest

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Products

Litel lintelAs thermal standards improve, attention focuses on other ways buildings lose heat. Significant non-repeating thermal bridging occurs through traditional steel lintels. Glass reinforced plastic is a good alternative to steel and this GRP lintel features a very low PSI value and is a light and effective load-bearer.

Cool-PhaseCool-Phase uses thermal storage to treat excess heat in offices and schools. Heat is absorbed by a phase-change material during the day and ventilated outside at night. In winter the process reverses. Monodraught claims energy use can be reduced by up to 90% compared to conventional systems.

Econovate blocksThese blocks boast impressive environmental features. The quantity of cellulose provides a high level of thermal performance, typically with a U-value of 0.13 through a conventionally constructed 370-400mm cavity wall using 7N blocks without the need for further insulation.

Shower Heat Recovery 60The SHRU 60 is a device for recovering heat from waste shower water to heat the incoming supply of cold mains water to the shower inlet. Waste water flows through the inner pipe, while clean cold water passes through the outer pipe. Waste water heat recovery is recognised with the SAP assessment process.

manufacturer Material Edgefunction Cavity wall lintelmaterial Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP)mass 5.96kg/m

for openings 400 to 1700mmfor cavities 75 to 100mmpsi value 0.04W/mK (steel is 0.287W/mK)website www.litel.co.uk

manufacturer Monodraughtfunction Cooling, ventilation and heat recovery systemsize (l x h x d) 4,000 x 800 x 400mmweight 375kg

normal ventilation rate 0.1 to 0.25m3/smaximum ventilation rate 0.35m3/sthermal energy storage 8kWhwebsite www.monodraught.com

manufacturer Econovatefunction Load-bearing masonrymaterials Waste paper and card, sand, 50% recycled content cementsize (l x h x d) 440 x 215 x 100mm

density 650kg/m3 to 970kg/m3

load bearing capacity3.5N, 7N (750kg/m3) and 10Nthermal conductivity0.074 to 0.25W/mK (depending on density)website www.econovate.com

company Itho UKfunction Water heat exchangermaterial Copperrecommended flow rate 5.8 to 12.5 L/m

heat exchange efficiency 53 to 63% flow-rate dependantoverall length 2108mmoverall diameter 42mmwebsite www.itho.co.uk

The latest crop of green products can be easily integrated into a building’s fabric to solve common problems in innovative ways, writes Sandy Patience

Ten to watch

15.03.12 57

Rako ControlsOmitting the need for new wiring or intrusive re-wiring for retrofit, wireless technology can provide advanced lighting control. Modules are available to suit incandescent, low-voltage and fluorescent lighting to the latest LEDs. Systems can be any size and can also be controlled from an iPhone or Android app.

EdenBloc35This rigid format insulation bridges the gap between synthetic foams and other natural fibre materials. Made without synthetic binders and using 60 per cent recycled wool, the insulation is flexible and can be used to upgrade existing walls, between and below rafters, and in timber frame construction.

InsumateAn absence of holes and niches in ‘sealed envelopes’ means bird populations are falling. The Swift Box is an easily integrated way to return a bit of nature to our buildings while winning BREEAM approval. Insumate solves the problem by joining the fixing method to the support to ensure consistent installation.

SvarreOne of the obstacles to specifying softwood windows is the maintenance needed to keep the wood protected from rot. A common solution is to use aluminium cladding over exposed areas. The Svarre solution pushes the glazing to the very front of the pane, where it can shield the timber, reducing maintenance.

InsumateInsumate solves a common problem with fitting insulation in suspended floors. Where nails or netting are the support, dimensional consistency can be difficult to maintain, leading to the insulation failing. Insumate integrates the fixing method with the support to ensure consistency and simple installation.

VE-GaiaA set of early sustainable analysis tools used to develop bio-climatic responsive architecture, reduce energy demands and use light, sun, shade and wind for passive systems. Guided workflows take the user through how to get real-time feedback direct from climate data and 3D SketchUp/Revit models.

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manufacturer Rako Controlsfunction Wireless lighting controlcontrols Switching and dimmermodule installation In-line with the lighting circuit

module format Individual or rack-mountedwebsite www.rakocontrols.co.uk

manufacturer Second Naturefunction Rigid insulationboard dimensions 1200 x 600mmthicknesses 50, 60, 75, and 100mm (custom up to 350mm)

nominal density 45kg/m3

thermal conductivity 0.035W/mKfacing Paper or low-emissivity membranewebsite www.edenblock.co.uk

manufacturer EcoSurvfunction Wall-integrated bird boxmaterial Lightweight concretesize (l x h x d) 327x 140 x 200mm

finishes Customised to suit brick, stonework or render uk supplier Ecomerchantwebsite www.ecosurv.co.uk

manufacturer Vrogumfunction High-performance windowmaterials Glass, pinewood and aluminium sillglazing Triple

u-value 0.9 (Ug) standard, though 0.5 is possiblecountry of manufacture Denmarkuk supplier Ecomerchant website www.vrogum.dk

manufacturer Insumatefunction Insulation support application Solid wood joists, ‘I’ joists and open web joistsmaterial Recycled polypropylene

sizes For 400 and 600mm centresaccepted for robust details E-FT-1, E-FT-2 and E-FT-3website www.insumateltd.com

company Integrated Environmental Solutionsfunction Performance analysis softwareapplications Early architectural performance analysis for sustainable design

add-on capabilities Automated BREEAM and LEED credit assessmentsmodel connectivity SketchUp, Revit, gbXML, DXF, Trelligence Affinity, IESModelITwebsite www.iesve.com/software/ve-gaia

Architects have the training and expertise to drive the agenda on low-carbon development. Sustainability should not mean compromise and, when considered as an integral part of design, it enhances our built environment. We must lead by example and set a vision for good design that minimises our impact on the planet, and respond to a growing understanding that sustainable architecture is vital to achieving a low-carbon economy.

� e RIBA is increasingly in� uencing the government through proactive engagement on emerging low-carbon policy. We must continue to engage with industry and speak with a united voice. � at voice needs to resonate with the Treasury, recognising current global � nancial pressures and concerns over growth, but also get to the nub of the problem. � e following is a summary of the work the RIBA Sustainable Futures Group (SFG) is currently undertaking to meet these goals.

� e Green Deal� e Department of Energy and Climate Change estimates the Green Deal will lead to a ‘capital investment of some £15 billion in the residential sector alone’. Recognising a potential business opportunity for architects and the inherent risk of poor technical performance, the SFG has been working with the government for the last 12 months to help shape the way this package is released. � ere is still some way to go to make sure the right detail is in place before it is launched in autumn 2012, but there is real potential for architects to engage in both domestic and non-domestic retro� t. � is � nancial package will inevitably provide further stimulus for refurbishing existing buildings.

Toolkits� e SFG will produce some useful Green Deal toolkits for architects in 2012, which set out lessons learned in fabric improvement and retro� t. At Ecobuild, we will launch the RIBA Guide to Sustainability in Practice, which should help architects plan for the impact of advancing legislation, and spells out the opportunities for designers to lead sustainability through integrated design.

15.03.1258 theaj.co.uk

Practice

Footprint It’s time for architects to embrace sustainable design – and reap the rewards, says Alan Shingler

Green Overlay� e Green Overlay to the RIBA Outline Plan of Work (AJ 24.11.11) gives a clear breakdown of sustainability checkpoints, and highlights the activities that support a sustainable approach at every work stage. Architects and clients can see at a glance what needs doing for every step.

CarbonBuzzwww.carbonbuzz.org is a growing and trusted database on post-occupancy energy performance. We encourage architects to publish data on their projects so lessons can be shared and fed back into the design process.

� e government estimates the Green Deal will provide £15bn investment in the residential sector

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AwardsWorking with the RIBA Awards Committee, the SFG is reviewing how the RIBA judges the importance of sustainability in its awards, to ensure that it remains a priority. Criteria have been revised to place greater emphasis on project performance, including handover and post-occupancy feedback. As well as providing data on energy performance and carbon use, applicants are asked to describe how their design choices have had a positive impact on social sustainability, adaptation to climate change and whole-life carbon emissions.

RIBA Sustainability Hub� e RIBA’s continually updated Sustainability Hub contains video interviews, case studies, an overview of future policy, toolkits and other expert advice. www.architecture.com/SustainabilityHub

Alan Shingler is a partner at Sheppard Robson and chairs the RIBA Sustainable Futures Group

Special offer£35 quarterly direct debit www.subscription.co.uk/aj/f1ad

A subscription to the AJ is an indispensable practical resource for any architect, providing news on green policy, incisive industry opinion from sustainability editor Hattie Hartman and the latest in sustainable products and design

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CONSTRUCTING NATUREGillian Darley dissects the semantic confusion of a new book on Landform Building and nds the lines between topography and structure increasingly blurred

Culture

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Landform Building: Architecture’s New Terrain, Stan Allen and Marc McQuade (eds.),Lars Muller Publishers, June 2011, £45

relief from urban congestion.’ The terminology in this debate can be shuffl ed around endlessly: Landscape Urbanism becomes Landform Urbanism becomes Landform Building. But it’s just semantics. Landform offers a lens through which buildings as diverse as 1930s terraces, 1960s mega-structures, airports of the early 2000s, and the latest crop of high-rise offi ces or slab-block educational institutions are viewed as part of a continuum. David Gissen points out that the discussion has entirely hinged on ‘the architectural reconstruction of nature’. Certainly real topography and genuine ecology are outsiders, their noses pressed to the glass of an immense, enclosed room in which ‘mimetic natural form’ is represented as an intriguing, if chilling, virtual reality.

Landform Building explores the topic well beyond the confi nes of the original conference. It includes Tacita Dean’s Found Ice: Berlin, August 2000, in which she superimposed images of frozen, often semi-architectural, formations onto the ghostly outlines of buildings and landscape, as well as Michael Jakob’s stimulating essay on artifi cial mountains. He proves them to be a rich seam of phenomena, whose creation often involved a kind of cire perdue process, so that you can imagine the extraordinary peaks of the 19th century Parc des Buttes Chaumont in Paris as if emerging from an imaginary pit.

But once the theme has been established, the discussion surrounding structures concentrates on ‘density, accumulation, verticality’; semi-formal analyses taken up with silhouettes and diagonals, layering and texturing. The book has been organised to interpose discussions which, printed verbatim, do not always read smoothly or sequentially. Blocks of themed images and case studies of buildings or urban tracts seem to paraphrase geological form, such as the massed monoliths of Giancarlo Mazzanti’s Biblioteca Espana in Medellín, Colombia, or the infi nitely replicated strata of BIG’s Ørestad City housing scheme near Copenhagen. Alternatively, colonising urban wasteground or unused buildings offers opportunities that are successfully exploited in Weiss/Manfredi’s Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle and Manhattan’s High Line by James Corner Field Operations, the transatlantic child of a Parisian parent, the much earlier – here uncited – Promenade Plantée.

The most revisionist schemes on these pages are in Southeast Asia. Assuming the limitless scale of the very landscape, or ‘territory’, Dominique Perrault’s glacial gulch for the EWHA Seoul Women’s University eschews any notion of locale whatsoever. Stan Allen’s own fi rm, SAA, won a competition in 2008 to design the Gwanggyo Pier Lakeside park at Suwon, also in South Korea, a gargantuan project that ‘synthesises landscape, infrastructure and architecture’.

There is little time or place for the subtle or the incremental in Landform Building, with two notable >>

15.03.12 61

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This book, built upon the proceedings of a conference held at Princeton University School of Architecture in 2009, is yet another attempt to place the architectural imperative and the landscape interest alongside one another, or at least to engage in an exchange of views between the two. The paradox at the heart of the enterprise emerges when Stan Allen, dean of Princeton’s school of architecture, points to the genesis of Landscape Urbanism more than a decade ago, as ‘a reaction to the marginalisation of landscape practice’, which came into being at the same time as Kenneth Frampton published his 1999 Megaform as Urban Landscape (his revised essay is included in the book).

By the time of the Princeton event, the landscape element seemed to have been entirely subsumed. As one participant pointed out, not a single landscape architect was present on the platform and only one speaker, Nanako Umemoto, straddled both professions. So as Allen puts it, this is ‘an alternative history of architecture understood as artifi cial landscape.’

For Stan Allen ‘the current appeal to nature is something hard and durable [providing no] comforting

Opposite Tacita Dean’s photography exhibition Found Ice: Berlin, August 2000 Top Biblioteca Espana in Medellín, Colombia Bottom Toyo Ito’s Meiso no Mori crematorium and funeral hall

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Most of my experiences of folk music have come late at night, normally at a friend’s home where, to the enjoyment of everyone in

the � at and annoyance of everyone out, he belts out a few tunes on the acoustic guitar, to enthusiastic but inexpert contributions from the assembled company.

Not then, in a darkened room with just myself and the performer present. � is is new to me. It’s a much more intimate, slightly more serious way to enjoy songs of love and loss. I can thoroughly recommend it. It’s the setup of the long-running project Folk in a Box, which has been touring the country for years, giving people a one-on-one rendition of a song by the musician sharing the box.

Now the group of folksters have a handsome new box to play with, thanks to architect Cristina Monteiro. Formerly of muf and Adams and Sutherland, Monteiro enlisted carpenters Aldworth James & Bond to create the new robust structure whose ogee door, grooved detailing and cubicle dimensions place it somewhere between confessional and cupboard under the stairs (pictured). You enter through a low door, and once in, can’t see much, only a slight silhouette of the backlit performer inside. � e acoustics are great – quite a challenge for a portable appliance that needs to keep its weight down. You can’t hear much from outside,which leaves you free to immerse yourself in music or private thought, or should the groove take you, dance.

� e idea is that they’ll be able to take it round the country, o� ering performances to people for free at fêtes and fairs. � e box is handily accessorised with a fold-down bar, so raucous, group renditions shouldn’t be out of the question.

Folk in a Box gives a whole new meaning to portable music, writes James Pallister

web Folk in a Box, www.Folkinabox.net / Cristina Monteiro, www.dk-cm.com

CultureLandform Building

62 theaj.co.uk 15.03.12

exceptions. One is the seductive Teshima Art Museum, a curling, open-centred, concrete leaf that appears to have fallen on to a gently sloping Japanese hillside, a project from the Offi ce of Ryue Nishizawa. The second is the immense and complex Rolex Learning Centre institute of technology at Lausanne by SANAA and Bollinger + Grohman where, led by Fabian Scheurer of designtoproduction, a properly collaborative process has resulted in a building whose scale and form suggest movement, interior and exterior, a kind of simulacrum of contoured parkland. In this case, an artifi cial landscape shades convincingly into architectural form and embodies 21st century design ambitions, rather than a jaded version of ideas long-since devalued. Gillian Darley is the author of Vesuvius, Profi le, May 2011, £16

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Below Spreads from Landform Building showing the Teshima Art Museum by Ryue Nishizawa and a painting by Tsunehisa Kimura

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Here’s the ideal sports hall at Maelor School Wrexham. Flooded with diffused daylighting, reducing artificial light, eliminating the sharp contrasts of glass and curtains or blinds, it deserves its BEEAM Excellent rating. Kalwall shows exactly why the cladding and roofing system is so popular for sports halls and pools.

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Please visit our website

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*CORRECTION.

The picture of the University of York TFTV

Building published by Tata Steel

on 24.11.11 was published in error.

Whilst Tata Steel’s Colorcoat HPS200

Ultra® cladding does feature on the

University of York TFTV Building, the

visible cladding shown in the picture

published did not in fact show Tata Steel’s

product but that of Marley Eternit’s.

CORRECTION

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15.03.12 65

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To advertise in this section please contact Elise El Ouardi on 020 7728 4518 or email elise.elouardi@Emap.com

the home of British architecturevisit www.architectsjournal.co.uk

DirectorComtechsa is a community-based architectural service, which provides technical support for organisations to refurbish existing buildings or construct new facilities to meet the needs of people and groups in Liverpool and the surrounding area.

We are looking for a Director to manage the organisation and oversee its development for a sustainable future.

For further information and to apply on-line, visit our website or email director@comtechsa.org

Closing date: Noon, Thursday, 28 March 2012.

www.comtechsa.org

We require an Associate to work with the Directors responsible for the residential sector. The Practice wishes to grow its geographical reach, scale and market share.

We work with national house builders and residential developers. We are looking for a Senior Architect who has a genuine passion for the design and delivery of new housing together with a keen understanding of the sector. We expect the successful candidate

to possess the inherent integrity and strong interpersonal skills needed to succeed in a competitive environment and to possess the commercial acumen to enable them to ultimately work at Director level.

Please contact Geraldine Pinder to request further information regarding this role and our expectations.

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Strategic Opportunity in a national practice based in Leeds

Architects

Job Add Final.indd 1 6/3/12 14:24:06

monday. Having a real counterfactual moment. What if I’d stuck with my former business partner Isis de Cambray, the magic arborealist? yeah, if only.

our psychedelic landscaping business was going nowhere when I drifted away. But now look at her. Isis is the go-to garden designer for the rich and fatuous. and suddenly, a celebrated urban theorist.

Her latest book Regenderation is a smash hit on both sides of the atlantic, and in several astral planes. She argues that the age of aquarius will see old, hard, brittle ‘male’ urban landscapes making way for softer, more engaging ‘female’ versions. This environmental gender re-assignment is the key to future prosperity.

‘Regeneration is meaningless without regenderation’. That’s her mantra. ‘I’m not bloody well paying for a copy, I’ll shoplift it instead.’ That’s mine.

tueSday. emergency meeting of the olympic Rebadging task Force. There’s an accommodation crisis.

We accordingly retro-fit an extra £2 billion to the Games budget, to accommodate increased spending. There will be further accommodations of course, but these can be retrospectively envisaged when the time comes.

We all agree that legacy is as much about the past as the future and nod, gravely.

WedneSday. Lunch with Rock Steady eddie the fixer. He heaves a heavy folder out of his holdall. It hits the pub table with a dull thud.

‘Feast your eyes, my son’ he says, indicating a bundle of foxed and dusty papers. ‘We’ve struck gold. These are the copyright documents for Skylon. We’re gonna make a fortune’.

I consider for a moment the wisdom of telling eddie that nicking copyright papers from the national archive office isn’t the same as legally acquiring that copyright, but don’t want to spoil the mood. I agree there’s a surge of affection for this built assertion of post-war identity.

Skylon represented a collective defiance of domestic austerity, international obscurity and newtonian gravity I say, gazing urbanely out of the window. ‘yeah, so I thought we’d start by banging out half-size Skylons for business parks, shopping centres eck cetera. Then maybe do a deal with B&Q for cheapo garden Skylon follies? yeah, motoring now. What about trinkets, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac? Could

How heavy is your urban landscape? also, what gender is it?

15.03.1266 theaj.co.uk

do, like, Skylon lava lamps, Skylon toilet brush holders, Skylon… I don’t know, salad spinners. you not taking notes?’

oh God, I’m supposed to be working this up. ‘no lemon squeezers, that’s been done. Beefy French geezer with the grizzly beard and the twinkle in his eye…’

tHuRSday. exciting commission. one of the major public sector unions wants me to design a working prototype for cheap communal family housing.

The idea is to circumvent the breadheads: the industrial dairy farmers of property development and the pettifogging slo-mo arseaches of social provision. my client has bullied her union’s pension fund into disinvesting the small fortune it had tied up in ‘aerospace’ and the works of damien Hirst. The money will instead be ploughed into modest, spacious homes for people of all ages using the latest technological, wait.

In my defence I’ve got the wrong glasses on and the print’s very small. The union has actually invited me to participate in a fun run for cancer research. Stupid mistake, excitement over.

FRIday. ugh, the bitter taste of envy rises like mental acid reflux. Isis de Cambray has just bagged a

scheme to ‘regenderate’ the Highland city of Blagadoon.out goes the old landscaped patri-architecture –

solemn historic gardens, male topography, the stifling oppression of public ownership. In comes a new porous, plasmic approach to urbanism in which the middle of the town is handed to a billionaire and sympathetically transitioned into acceptable female urban form.

I can’t for the life of me see it, but they can’t all be wrong, can they? The consensus is that the scheme is ingenious and therefore transgenderating. But what makes a new cultural and arts centre plus unspecified commercial opportunities ‘female’ exactly? I’m not sure it’s entirely fair for Isis to dismiss her critics as sexist landscape dinosaurs.

now wondering if there might be more mileage in starting an urban gender theory counter-revolution. I’d have some pretty unsavoury fellow-travellers, but there might – just might – be sympathetic potential clients who LIKe the musky aggression of old-fashioned city planning, with the ladies in the next room preparing sandwiches.

SatuRday. Wow, it turns out there are LoadS.

Sunday. decommission self in the recliner.ha

nn

a m

eli

n

Ian Martin

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