architecture news + design news in the uk
wind turbines threaten ecosystem by killing bats
Posted yesterday by oube | Comments (0)
Labour's vision of building up to 7,000 wind turbines by 2020 could bring ecological dangers by killing Britain's bats, according to a study published yesterday. Because bats play a vital role in the ecosystem by preying on insects, a reduction in the bat population could mean a dramatic upswing in insect infestations, the researchers warned. Seven of Britain's 17 native bat species are already rare or endangered. Full story...
four firms make Waterloo Square concept design shortlist
Posted yesterday by oube | Comments (0) | London
Four practices have been shortlisted to draw up concept designs for a new 'city square' in Waterloo, south London. DSDHA, EDAW, LAB Architecture Studio and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands will battle it out to land the commission to reshape the area outside the station and around the BFI IMAX cinema roundabout. Full story...
Cabe highlights concern over design for 2012 stadium
Posted yesterday by oube | Comments (0)
The demountable stadium design for the London 2012 Olympics by HOK Sports has been praised by Cabe and Design for London, although they express concerns about some unresolved aspects. The idea that the larger upper tier of 55,000 seats could be demounted and recycled after the four-week games was praised by them as “simple, elegant and efficient”. Full story...
expressions of interest sought for Greyhound Opening site
Posted yesterday by oube | Comments (0) | East
The RIBA Competitions Office is organising an Invited Design Competition on behalf of the Delivering Affordable Housing Partnership. Registered architects are invited to submit Expressions of Interest for an exciting, mixed tenure, affordable housing development to regenerate an area less than a mile from Norwich City Centre. Full story...
planning permission granted for Oaklands College circular design
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 05:17 by oube | Comments (0) | East
Oaklands College has received planning permission from St Albans District Council for a new-build college designed by Bond Bryan Architects. The college is amalgamating its current separate sites in Borehamwood, St Albans City Campus and Welwyn Garden City into a central campus at St Albans Smallford. Full story...
CABE report reveals lingering concerns over HOK's Olympic Stadium
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 05:15 by oube | Comments (0)
CABE has continuing concerns over certain aspects of the design of HOK Sport's 2012 Olympic Stadium, according to a design review released today. Although the design watchdog praised the firm's 'simple, elegant and efficient' approach to temporary seating, it still has issues over the external 'wrap' and public space around the stadium. Full story...
E.ON struggles to demolish Sheffield's Tinsley Towers
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 05:13 by oube | Comments (0) | Yorkshire
Icons of the M1, the Tinsley Cooling Towers in Sheffield, were demolished at 3.00am on Sunday 24 August by owner E.ON. Several thousand people, many gathered on the upper decks of the nearby Meadowhall shopping centre car park, watched the two concrete towers disappearing from the skyline. Full story...
Eric Parry to design Royal Academy's Palladio exhibition
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 05:12 by oube | Comments (0)
The Royal Academy of Arts has appointed Eric Parry Architects to design the exhibition devoted to the 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio. The exhibition, which opens in January next year, will be the most significant showcase of Palladio's work for more than 30 years, with 200 exhibits displayed in a series of themed rooms. Full story...
ice arena plan at Gateshead sports stadium
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 00:15 by oube | Comments (0) | North East
Plans to build an ice arena next to Gateshead's International Stadium have been announced. Gateshead Council also wants an indoor winter sports complex, a links golf course, restaurants and shops at the seven-acre site. Full story...
architecture after the flame goes out
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 00:12 by oube | Comments (0)
What happens when the Olympic Games are over? If precedent gives any clue, nothing much – or worse. World record-setting projects in architecture and urban design rarely pay off for host nations. Lack of use, expensive upkeep and bewildering construction costs have plagued cities that have undertaken similarly grand missions for the Olympics. Full story...
nautically inspired plans sail into Gravesend
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 00:09 by oube | Comments (0) | South East
Gravesend Heritage Quarter is a new development for the port town in Kent in what is a joint venture between property company Edinburgh House and local Gravesham Council aimed at exploiting some of the momentum the Thames Gateway offers. Coming from the pens of Leslie Jones Architects, the project features 1,000 square metres of new offices, 12,000 square metres of general retail space, 2,000 square metres of new space for leisure and restaurants, and 600 apartments including many in a tower. Full story...
piling starts at Riverside South
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 00:08 by oube | Comments (0) | London
Piling work is finally underway on the Riverside South site in Canary, almost seven years after this website first revealed the existence of the project. Since then the two Richard Rogers buildings with a shared podium have evolved into three separate ones with the two towers having gradually been refined and increased in height as the developer tries to get ever more space into them. Full story...
London Wren church reinvented
Posted 26 Aug 2008, 00:07 by oube | Comments (0) | London
Plans for St Nicholas Cole Abbey in the City of London have come with an idea on how to reinvent the church for the 21st century and still retain its religious use, a rare end result, by being turned into a multi-denominational centre for religious education. Originally built in 1144, conversion will be helped by the fact that the Blitz left the church a completely gutted shell after World War 2 and it was fully rebuilt inside over subsequent years. Full story...
RIBA seeks architects for affordable-housing competition in Norwich
Posted 22 Aug 2008, 09:22 by oube | Comments (0)
The RIBA is inviting architects to throw their hats into the ring for an affordable mixed-tenure housing development just outside Norwich city centre. Organised on behalf on the Delivering Affordable Housing Partnership (DAHP), the project will involve the design of roughly 100 dwellings which meet the criteria for special-needs housing. Full story...
Derby knocks back Omaston Road plans
Posted 22 Aug 2008, 06:18 by oube | Comments (0) | East Midlands
Derby City Council has knocked back the plans for what would have been one of the first tall residential buildings built in the city for many years. The plans by ADDC Architects are for a ten storey "gateway" building at 76/78 Omaston Road consisting of ground floor retail, offices and a mere 14 apartments on the upper levels. Full story...
now it's the turn of the rotating trees in Liverpool
Posted 22 Aug 2008, 06:16 by oube | Comments (0) | North West
Rotating tree’s have become the latest addition to Liverpool’s artistic landscape. They are among a group of 17 Hornbeams on a former brownfield site close to Liverpool's Anglican cathedral. New York architects Diller, Scofidio and Renfro are behind the creation of the Arbores Laetae, or Joyful Trees, which is part of the Biennial arts festival opening on 20 September. Full story...
English Heritage on the hunt for Stonehenge architect – again
Posted 22 Aug 2008, 06:14 by oube | Comments (0) | South West
English Heritage (EH) has once again put the call out for an architect to design a new visitor centre at Stonehenge. The move comes eight months after Denton Corker Marshall's £67 million scheme was ditched, following the abandonment of proposals for a bypass underneath the site. Full story...
HOK to design medical centre behind British Library
Posted 22 Aug 2008, 06:12 by oube | Comments (0) | London
HOK has landed a contract to design a medical research centre in King's Cross, London. Backed by the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation, the centre will house 1,500 staff and will be situated on 1.5ha of land at Brill Place, behind the British Library. Full story...
green gadgets just 'eco-bling'
Posted 22 Aug 2008, 00:58 by oube | Comments (0)
A leading green architect has criticised many renewable energy technologies as "eco-bling". Full story...
what are bridges for these days?
Posted 21 Aug 2008, 08:59 by oube | Comments (0)
No longer solely in the business of getting people from A to B across a waterway, bridges are now also about putting a place on the map and kick-starting wider investment. Get bridge. Make bridge. Thrive. Once upon a time bridges were all about getting people from one side of a river to the other. Full story...
