tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56338888208819035452024-03-13T11:38:31.958+00:00Bad British ArchitectureThis aggression will not standGhost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-7325711125845729162010-04-15T21:42:00.004+01:002010-04-15T21:57:25.655+01:00THE BLADE BUILDING, READING BY SHEPPARD ROBSON<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rbKxPO4CN_GLQKqZOW3_WArfKpgQl974gPajFfm1KJ9rL8K6CkghDvKy-BqVvYCHt8ulO7psecPYZzZ1FvDi9ZYMF1f1or8_FXHgPan8u0QiAdnjiNeufr9ubHErzbJjg_kiXErMX6I/s1600/blade.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rbKxPO4CN_GLQKqZOW3_WArfKpgQl974gPajFfm1KJ9rL8K6CkghDvKy-BqVvYCHt8ulO7psecPYZzZ1FvDi9ZYMF1f1or8_FXHgPan8u0QiAdnjiNeufr9ubHErzbJjg_kiXErMX6I/s400/blade.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460467700637844770" /></a></div>Oh god, it's an icon! Just when you thought it was safe to reenter architecture on the grounds that noone can afford iconic office buildings any more, the Blade arrives. They couldn't afford to do an iconic building either, so they just used some left over cladding panels to give the building a ridiculous Hoxton fin haircut. <div>I think the Blade theme might be a reference to Reading's claim to fame as the stabbing capital of the UK. <div>I've only seen this from the train, admittedly, so I might be missing something about the subtle relationship the building has with the public realm. But I doubt it.<div>Here's the back:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-eEn0xdg541ccVis84zvbLw5qcc2l3nx7UqzU6LXUsoVebyu-GUwaK_7eR6IObiiHuApMFlEaj5qNLVOSWgX9hFdk27yVlXxG8JaqhC0NVMBhyphenhyphenAtaGAcaLIhMNBTLD9mCiwKcrjOlQKQ/s400/blade+back.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460468505746156210" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">I hate it when towns get shat on by a terrible commercial architect from London selling some inane, poncey form and calling it design. This is not architecture, it's bad branding crossed with floorplate.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-76135032194952690502010-04-09T17:33:00.010+01:002010-04-09T18:28:39.518+01:00SAINSBURY'S SUPERMARKET IN CROSBY, LIVERPOOL BY HADFIELD CAWKWELL DAVIDSON<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xwvpfMqK9Nf-gv3DyQCdLxuTBll8rR0Of9MySxhC27gbq6uAPpTPcvHb8rbYLdNqMwvZkOlsH-LhLKEHRRWkJ9RdhSgNNLhRvViCt7OqRY7MWwjO8bEzhm3LBEGcQUHUEEuwRxIaOQY/s1600/S_2010_0350_Others_Design_and_Access_Statement.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xwvpfMqK9Nf-gv3DyQCdLxuTBll8rR0Of9MySxhC27gbq6uAPpTPcvHb8rbYLdNqMwvZkOlsH-LhLKEHRRWkJ9RdhSgNNLhRvViCt7OqRY7MWwjO8bEzhm3LBEGcQUHUEEuwRxIaOQY/s400/S_2010_0350_Others_Design_and_Access_Statement.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458176911648809522" /></a></div>A plaintive cry reaches <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Nairn's</span> inbox. "Help us <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BBA</span>, you're our only hope... well nearly. This 'ethical business' has just put in this absolute crock of white box and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">car parking</span> hell for planning." I'm assuming the ethical business is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sainsbury's</span>, but the architect <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Hadfield</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Cawkwell</span> Davidson also has a thrilling 'culture' statement on their website that I urge you do <a href="http://www.hcd.co.uk/the-company/culture.htm">go and read</a>. The hyperventilating rhythm of 159 words of flatulent good intentions goes beyond the normal corporate bollocks and enters the realm of protesting too much. "We believe that good design can make a positive difference to economic and social value [sic]," they pant. "We are good people, please believe us. We just want to make some money before we retire..." - that's me interpreting. The culture statement should come with that spread <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">better's</span> caveat: "while good design can make a positive difference, we also do some bad design, which can make a negative difference..." <div>Happy to oblige you, dear reader from Crosby. The funniest thing about this piece of crap is that the image comes in the middle of a long and comprehensive Design and Access Statement that shows how sensitively the architects have considered the urban context and so on. They did loads of research, photographed the area meticulously, etc etc. Then they dumped this cereal packet on the site. They did design some elevations, though. Let's take a look (you might need to click):</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDu6NJR8-Poy6Ft7Mw5XJZjrURcjXvgIp8M-Z2Hs2yUX53HeahxnjSm_N1XmxYh3IacNFgMKkwU_9dwBeLwdR2BMqPIdfbjnUonrodNdQBUms4mfJ7sZq_iABJbaCgESgL2kXLnuBmus/s1600/elevation2.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDu6NJR8-Poy6Ft7Mw5XJZjrURcjXvgIp8M-Z2Hs2yUX53HeahxnjSm_N1XmxYh3IacNFgMKkwU_9dwBeLwdR2BMqPIdfbjnUonrodNdQBUms4mfJ7sZq_iABJbaCgESgL2kXLnuBmus/s400/elevation2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458182204367252642" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 70px; " /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKMPVmQrLzQUyhLFUtx-92_n80sJDq5GB39bZ9JzJUYgq_1ZJbc3LGoP49CKHWh_wTKCBt2GG5SeqLeDrzJErHwg3bAC6dJ2sNnmHEamcHk8CfQoUhlceLe0x3CkEI5NSsXK4rwwQAeU/s1600/elevation.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKMPVmQrLzQUyhLFUtx-92_n80sJDq5GB39bZ9JzJUYgq_1ZJbc3LGoP49CKHWh_wTKCBt2GG5SeqLeDrzJErHwg3bAC6dJ2sNnmHEamcHk8CfQoUhlceLe0x3CkEI5NSsXK4rwwQAeU/s400/elevation.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458182147547657714" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 69px; " /></a></div><div>I sometimes think that on projects like this, the architects don't really draw elevations, which is why they turn out so awful. In this case, they drew the elevation, had a meeting about it, thought "that looks great!", buffed it up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">photoshop and sent it out</span>. Stop guys! Listen to that voice inside that you've been trying to kill for decades. You're designing shit, and all the ethical company statements in the world won't save you from the devil at the final architectural reckoning.</div><div>Oh yes, they've also designed a few other buildings around the store, including another cereal packet-like transport interchange with a cladding of grey sticks. But this is one caught my eye.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKMPVmQrLzQUyhLFUtx-92_n80sJDq5GB39bZ9JzJUYgq_1ZJbc3LGoP49CKHWh_wTKCBt2GG5SeqLeDrzJErHwg3bAC6dJ2sNnmHEamcHk8CfQoUhlceLe0x3CkEI5NSsXK4rwwQAeU/s1600/elevation.jpg"></a><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rQSVh4UYwo5p1QZdGq18T575izRxGLVjEnqzMmAkanRVNogvoKasq2zP7Crw8heZJBsIHXqh06rUrrWa_kaW-LiUiwVsH1kmZuDJjSXkSCIxTXmTUl77JsrycLZfHgGa3F63AgUrkRM/s400/community+building.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458183569545461010" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 179px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">This is a 'community use' building for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">da</span> community. Presumably this is the section 106 payoff for letting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Sainsburys</span> dump on Crosby in such offensive style. The architects explain the elegant form by saying: "The massing and scale of the design responds to the building's purpose and surrounding context as well as providing extensive landscaping and planting around the proposal."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Let me translate.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">"We are hoping that this piece of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">undesigned</span> crap that we have imported from a business park we did in 1997 will serve as some kind of public building, and we have specified some trees that will eventually cover it up so you won't have to look at it. Don't push us on this - our client will just walk away. There's a recession on, haven't you heard? This building is for the people. They can do whatever they like in it. Just don't ask us what - we don't hang out in community centres..."</span></span></div></div></div></div>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-7130751627126092122010-04-09T17:18:00.004+01:002010-04-09T17:33:25.165+01:00HERNE BAY REGENERATION IN KENT BY CLAGUE ARCHITECTS FOR DENNE AND COPLAN ESTATES<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8y0W47llk0pnJCL8HJjMoYCbfuSpIL6nW6weU3v6YibnRdDLaP3ctZvoZlin_BmXr6brFiHudDG1DIMajFnHnVHYyJuAYVoHJIvOFndHTp-3AyN1yxXKstBMulfqXpdYIt98F3wAS4c/s1600/herne+bay1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8y0W47llk0pnJCL8HJjMoYCbfuSpIL6nW6weU3v6YibnRdDLaP3ctZvoZlin_BmXr6brFiHudDG1DIMajFnHnVHYyJuAYVoHJIvOFndHTp-3AyN1yxXKstBMulfqXpdYIt98F3wAS4c/s400/herne+bay1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458173284838057346" /></a></div>This might well be a perfectly reasonable, anodyne, mixed-use masterplan. But the images are just so, so depressing. They've bothered to make jaunty colours for the awnings and parasols, complete with a highlight showing the merciless sun beating down on the North Kent coast as if it were the Costa del Sol. But they couldn't really be bothered to make any decisions about materials or detail for the buildings. <div>This is the kind of thing you do when you don't want anyone to think the buildings are going to be too good, because the developer might then actually have to build something of high quality. </div><div>"Keep it vague lads, and stick a hot air balloon in it - that always makes people feel like we're down with whole seasidey, public space vibe." </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HYBTiTJ2g3Q566Kgnu-4I1jeULr_-s_tawSbHdLTeq0HVvVculqvESaAgOcs0fs1Kf7tnGXo77FJhKnlAanMynNSQSjshep264AlQ4Sle07T7-caQcb3N_GAyaZsRpQ5NmADeJax0ZY/s400/herne+bay2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458175830949814674" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 277px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">The fucking wavy roofs are just embarrassing, as is the likely justification for these pointlessly jaunty forms. They look like waves. The sea is nearby. Ergo, the building is contextual. You sorry, sorry bastards. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Loving the vision and subtlety in the paving proposal, too. </span></span></div>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-1281310852650488052010-02-17T13:08:00.008+00:002010-04-09T18:41:48.794+01:00VISION@SEABRAES, DUNDEE BY KEPPIE DESIGN<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1DwTjaoFJ5CHdmYpE1ph7iJ1VVStgVixxrwV_t4wA0A9fmm1-c28ePjvhdhFuSD3FDhlYuSGc4BUaKjY-R1u-m3xKzziGcFmJnaneeHAsliRyAXjep1kHkpXMlokSBD0tkXHk-YfThM/s1600-h/seabraes3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1DwTjaoFJ5CHdmYpE1ph7iJ1VVStgVixxrwV_t4wA0A9fmm1-c28ePjvhdhFuSD3FDhlYuSGc4BUaKjY-R1u-m3xKzziGcFmJnaneeHAsliRyAXjep1kHkpXMlokSBD0tkXHk-YfThM/s400/seabraes3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439199381692476146" /></a></div>This project is actually a conversion of an old jute factory in Dundee into part of a digital media park. Park, in this context, presumably referring to the car park.<div>I mention that it's a conversion so you understand that Keppie probably had many limits on what they could do, constraints that held them back from really fulfilling their ambitions for the project. The biggest constraint of all is their COMPLETE LACK OF ABILITY TO DRAW A SHAPE THAT ANYONE MIGHT LIKE. </div><div>Here's a closeup of the facade:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I5oOlUBeYT-f_VsNVJ9e2JMygsRaTz2k120u83WNMtZfcefH2z9SBSrbbSiTD5rlbfHLwKpdPPHRVCdQ2ZPZd56HaCvN2cDDm_1ls6yZpX3hIl2pvYNUeVR40jCPd_E8uCtWSvDWjV0/s400/VISION.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439200377592170402" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">It's tricky to know exactly what they were going for with the big viridian panels (solar cells, I think) with their slopey, 1970s-album-cover forms and the equally bizarre lozenge shaped windows. I think they're going for a, you know, dynamic, media, digital, new media kind of thing, which, to Keppie, means some sloping bits. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">It's just fucking undignified. Like a middle-aged person trying to rap. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">I think what finally does it is the combination of these pretentious, silly, cack-handed green gob-ons with totally standard glazing systems and the off-the-peg green glass canopy above the door, plus the business park standard parquet brick pathway (very new media) with spindly trees. Gesamtkunstwerk, this is not. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Keppie's view on the subject is hilarious. On their website, they say: "Exernally, the playful elevational treatment is in tune with the world of computer games." Maybe, if you haven't played a computer game since 1979. In fact, there is no computer game in the world today that has as low design values as this building, and certainly not a single one that uses a more horrible typeface than the inept 'Vision' sign above the door. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Vision@Seabraes was designed by a bald man who is <a href="http://www.keppiedesign.co.uk/MartinEnglish.html">'</a><a href="http://www.keppiedesign.co.uk/index.php/about/people/martin-english">an ex-shinty player and drives a Skoda</a><a href="http://www.keppiedesign.co.uk/MartinEnglish.html">.'</a> [Note: they've changed their website and this quote is no longer there - but it's true... GoN]</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Dundee has loads of shit new architecture in it, which I'm indebted to a correspondent for bringing to my attention - I'll get to more of it...</span></span></div>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-79830849111495081312010-02-13T20:17:00.005+00:002010-02-13T20:38:30.950+00:00TESCO, IPSWICH BY MOUNTFORD PIGOTT<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrFySqEuBKgw-merg-GPyLYOoeVr8PYDXsNSmzHgkbKCn-jykcr2C6qmZ0aU4m4TH_ZH9_noX5PkBK7tP2UFbK18wukAuL4ui0KiPpwUnh-FpNr3Yyjyt6asX7JebqRr7IvK34e0N7t4/s1600-h/tesco+ipswich.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrFySqEuBKgw-merg-GPyLYOoeVr8PYDXsNSmzHgkbKCn-jykcr2C6qmZ0aU4m4TH_ZH9_noX5PkBK7tP2UFbK18wukAuL4ui0KiPpwUnh-FpNr3Yyjyt6asX7JebqRr7IvK34e0N7t4/s400/tesco+ipswich.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437826462769770450" /></a>Wow, check out this bad boy. The supercar in the foreground (how many supercar owners shop at Tesco? In Ipswich?) tells you everything about the fantasy world that Mountford Pigott were living in when they designed this one. I'll cut to the chase. Only a man with a very small penis could design this building.<div>Quite where all the shopping is in this incredible monstrosity is a bit of a mystery to me. But the dynamic roofs and the transparency and all that other jazz must have really got them going around the boardroom table. Perhaps the clients had small penises too.</div><div>A proper journalist (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2004/nov/22/architecture.communities">here</a>) has written before about how bad Tesco is at doing buildings, and in that story, he quoted the head of CABE as saying: "From an aesthetic point of view, there is a lot of snobbery surrounding Tesco. In fact, the company works with some highly respected architects." Don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to CABE under Mr Finch leading us into a brave new future for architecture in this country. </div><div>The above building is a planning application, and is pending a decision. Check it out <a href="http://online.ipswich.gov.uk/ppc/application.aspx?iAppID=08/00953/FUL&sType=APP&search_params=appPageNumber%3d0%26txtAppNum%3d08%252f00953%26%26searchparams%3d%26propPageNumber%3d&pro_search_params=&det_search_params#">here </a>if you want to make a comment.</div><div>But because democracy is not really what we're all about here at BBA, I instead urge you to check out <a href="http://www.mountfordpigott.com/main.html">Mountford Pigott's website</a>, navigate to the retail section, and belly laugh with all your work colleagues about how fucking proud they are of the incompetent approximation of architecture that earns them their daily bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>With many thanks to a correspondent for this...</div>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-16292057012380368752010-02-13T19:50:00.007+00:002010-02-13T20:11:09.561+00:00MERLIN TOP PRIMARY SCHOOL, KEIGHLEY, YORKSHIRE BY RACE COTTAM ASSOCIATES<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobxcKRKm47As6DpUsF0NvelWO9k009mL13L5q75yLBqGj6wHqhMwSriCkttESEKRPcvo8Kg_BsEcrBAwxiUc5xoZSC7sb-WaQiqgry5wiSZ5Gre5outJHne9OR3FiEa5_oDKqE_tYdOY/s1600-h/Phoenix-Guardhouse.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobxcKRKm47As6DpUsF0NvelWO9k009mL13L5q75yLBqGj6wHqhMwSriCkttESEKRPcvo8Kg_BsEcrBAwxiUc5xoZSC7sb-WaQiqgry5wiSZ5Gre5outJHne9OR3FiEa5_oDKqE_tYdOY/s400/Phoenix-Guardhouse.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437818425093621682" /></a></div><div>This is the image that Race Cottam presumably paid someone to create of the hideous new special needs school they have designed in Keighley. They had to pay for an image with dramatic sky and jolly looking children jumping up and down, because their own drawings look like this: </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpJQONapQlSSMpmkCgUWzL5PmnkhLJAq5cOkwRoQq_vtguE46briOX8GHJmhsArKao0mjpC2coCgiPOAWWErLz8ooSERThwWDO2sM2B6VdYuZfUzD1cG9NdxChwjunI50heuoPgqra2I/s400/Phoenix-Guardhouse1.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I suppose this image really shows how the strange bike-shed structures help the school relate to the landscape/car park that forms the compelling context that Race Cottam created for itself. </div><div style="text-align: left;">I also think that orangey brown and blue stripes speak to all of us so clearly of contemporary civic identity and our optimism about British education. They also have yellow and green stripes in some of the internal courtyards. Niiice.</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'd be interested to know how Race Cottam came up with the plan for this school. I'm guessing that the design process involved a late night game of Mikado or something. Anyway, Kalzip will be happy. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Race Cottam are one of those practices, that seem to appear a lot on BBA (<a href="http://badbritisharchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/03/perspective-housing-lambeth-london-by.html">this one</a>, for instance), who get prizes from Building magazine for being a good employer. They're almost always bad architects aren't they? </div>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-77409143873765229972009-11-25T16:59:00.003+00:002009-11-25T17:20:40.998+00:00PRESTWICK ACADEMY, SOUTH AYRSHIRE BY RYDER ARCHITECTURAL<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80LgAHEuyiYn0Ok4-YMjIlP5eg7PKTjI_9ES-bf6cByxIuZdZarTGSKZBn_NKK21R_u1tmTAOWr2yU-nTIvboOxvdeSytp6VSimDkxqJ2jaFJFVgPsqrybe09mFYOt6mK8F-DxX6-rsY/s1600/Web189+Prestwick+High+School+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80LgAHEuyiYn0Ok4-YMjIlP5eg7PKTjI_9ES-bf6cByxIuZdZarTGSKZBn_NKK21R_u1tmTAOWr2yU-nTIvboOxvdeSytp6VSimDkxqJ2jaFJFVgPsqrybe09mFYOt6mK8F-DxX6-rsY/s400/Web189+Prestwick+High+School+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408086935572996562" border="0" /></a>This is just deadly, isn't it? This is an academy, the pride of Britain's schools system. The academy programme has created a generation of buildings that by and large are made of render, in white and coloured panels, designed by terrible architects like Ryder who treat them like just another developer piece of shit.<br />Like this one, academies often have glassy atrims to try to look less forbidding and more democratic than Victorian schools, but usually end up looking like they should be on a low-rent business park somewhere in, er, Ayrshire.<br />I like to imagine what the conversation in the Ryder office was like when they chose where to put the yellow panels in the wing on the left hand side. 'No, a bit left.' 'Put three yellow bits in that one." "Move that one a bay to the right." "That's it! Perfect."<br />The public realm outside has been comprehensively galvanised, with only the bits of timber on the benches giving a hint of what might have been.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-76811320504376923502009-11-10T16:52:00.003+00:002009-11-10T17:31:05.273+00:00MOUNTBATTEN LEISURE CENTRE, PORTSMOUTH BY SAUNDERS ARCHITECTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyfDz1gJ3WoVGFdlmg-a5T4E-QVGLVspEGy2_eYQa34M17zoOQRvhLE3fo6vsvgY0szrIBj01G8BAFzQ0MA_ZW4GHSIun1FqlmJ5HWGkRF2d6ej3n6pev69qJolsp_Ytx2x7JCvzfU3Fs/s1600-h/Mountbatten+Leisure+Centre+%28PR+pic%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyfDz1gJ3WoVGFdlmg-a5T4E-QVGLVspEGy2_eYQa34M17zoOQRvhLE3fo6vsvgY0szrIBj01G8BAFzQ0MA_ZW4GHSIun1FqlmJ5HWGkRF2d6ej3n6pev69qJolsp_Ytx2x7JCvzfU3Fs/s400/Mountbatten+Leisure+Centre+%28PR+pic%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402519070697246290" border="0" /></a>Mountbatten Leisure Centre hosts many events every year, including Robot Wars. So when Saunders Architects got hold of the brief for this beauty, they decided to make a weird, wavy alpine roof with a giant piece of pipe smashed into it, in homage. It's basically an innocent wooden shed getting fucked by a giant robotic cock.<br />I know that you guys love the sections that architects like Saunders draw, so here it is - the 'concept drawing'.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiEHGKxx0y4xEMPt3pAzlk_JPnUWIamfhiKLPGkJmzJatpIUVClNHW_OcsiSI20cJ7Zc3Bm9PBIT8OTuAGOe-AMtxIoL7UtYqshbvkPCERvCqwvZ2FmrGLwsiaPaXHHrNtUy6aybNPs0/s1600-h/section2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 99px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiEHGKxx0y4xEMPt3pAzlk_JPnUWIamfhiKLPGkJmzJatpIUVClNHW_OcsiSI20cJ7Zc3Bm9PBIT8OTuAGOe-AMtxIoL7UtYqshbvkPCERvCqwvZ2FmrGLwsiaPaXHHrNtUy6aybNPs0/s400/section2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402528219406820626" border="0" /></a>Brilliant. It really 'emphasises the vibrant nature of the city of Portsmouth', to my eye.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-29818274495342017842009-10-08T17:12:00.002+01:002009-10-08T17:25:42.536+01:00PHOENIX PLACE, BASILDON, ESSEX BY DOVETAIL ARCHITECTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnS3ne8gFJTisZhtCcnmve__WC89dYXK42T-uU00OFK34f7_YLm79B_wJBiPlSDxytHju2FDC1N8TrPAzw1-bdt9lGPgTsvGEdZrMm6hEGeCj_YJLcRX1zGHLrq07X6Aa_4jIDMYKdQZ0/s1600-h/FRONT+COVER+LEFT+VIEW.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnS3ne8gFJTisZhtCcnmve__WC89dYXK42T-uU00OFK34f7_YLm79B_wJBiPlSDxytHju2FDC1N8TrPAzw1-bdt9lGPgTsvGEdZrMm6hEGeCj_YJLcRX1zGHLrq07X6Aa_4jIDMYKdQZ0/s400/FRONT+COVER+LEFT+VIEW.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390262942133213218" /></a><br />It's quite an amazing feat to make a building that has so complete a lack of texture that it looks like the windows are drawn on to the facades. This is curtain walling at its most bland, taking the building beyond bad into the realms of the hyper-real. <br />Dovetail (?!) Architects seem to be bad at bits of buildings that need to stick out, so they do as few as possible. <br />The ones they do do are great. I'm really digging the 'giant eyebrow' motif at the top of the entrance tower, together with the robotic quiff of the roof itself. And, in particular, the tiny little entrance canopy, which gets its own gutter and two (count 'em) downpipes. Do it's a bit like a classical portico. With a bit of sheet steel and some downpipes. <br />Go Basildon!Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-34022446065523267812009-10-02T16:30:00.006+01:002009-10-02T17:04:35.121+01:00MURRAYFIELD HOUSING, EDINBURGH BY ARCHIAL FOR RUMNEY MANOR LTD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUl8ANUX04ZrJubkFFzYdZZ5gP5jogU5ABsSCq5stSRXy4AyEqz0JUoax6yqznljorBNqAHZMLATwJLYuO4pFxDHfkMZNSKu22uMoudvXBhMscun1_0AWxFmHYp85bWckqqQhVYPgABA/s1600-h/bsh+alt2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUl8ANUX04ZrJubkFFzYdZZ5gP5jogU5ABsSCq5stSRXy4AyEqz0JUoax6yqznljorBNqAHZMLATwJLYuO4pFxDHfkMZNSKu22uMoudvXBhMscun1_0AWxFmHYp85bWckqqQhVYPgABA/s400/bsh+alt2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388026241680376562" /></a>ARCHIAL, I AM TRYING REALLY HARD NOT TO PUBLISH SO MUCH OF YOUR SHIT. I HAVE NO PARTICULAR AGENDA, I DON'T WANT TO HATE YOU ANY MORE THAN ANY OF THE OTHER SHIT ARCHITECTS IN THIS COUNTRY. BUT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE WHEN YOU KEEP SENDING OUT IMAGES LIKE THIS. <br />THIS IS A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT (DESPITE LOOKING MUCH LIKE A 1980S BUSINESS PARK). IT'S IN A CONSERVATION AREA IN EDINBURGH AND HAS PLANNING PERMISSION. <br />ARCHIAL'S IDEAS ARE SO PISS WEAK THAT THE DRAWING KIND OF FADES INTO TRANSLUCENCY. THE CAD/SKETCHUP MONKEY WAS PRESUMABLY SIMULATING THE LIMP-WRISTED INABILITY OF ARCHIAL'S DRAFSTMEN TO PUSH DOWN HARD ENOUGH ON THE FUCKING FELT TIP.<br />THE SITE WAS PREVIOUSLY OCCUPIED BY BALFOUR STEWART HOUSE, A QUITE HANDSOME POMOBRUTALIST RMJM OFFICE BUILDING. THE PERNICIOUS MAX HUTCHINSON, FORMER RIBA PRESIDENT AND BOARD MEMBER OF ARCHIAL, PREPARED THE WAY FOR HIS OWN PRACTICE'S PIECE OF SHIT BY COMING UP WITH A SOPHISTICATEDLY DAMNING ASSESSMENT OF THAT BUILDING. HE CALLED RMJM'S PREVIOUS INCUMBENT AN 'INITIALLY SEDUCTIVE COSMETIC WORK OF ARCHITECTURE, WHICH, SADLY, IS CRITICALLY FLAWED IN EXECUTION'. BY WAY OF A REPLACEMENT, ARCHIAL VOUS PROPOSE A NOT-AT-ALL-SEDUCTIVE WORK OF JERRY BUILDING IN THE DEVELOPER VERNACULAR.<br />THE DEVELOPMENT ENGAGES WITH THE STREET BY BUILDING A GIANT FUCKING WALL BETWEEN ITSELF AND THE PAVEMENT. <br />THIS IMAGE BEGGARS BELIEF. REALLY. <br />THE ONLY THING THAT'S POSSIBLY WORSE, IS THE INITIAL, REJECTED APPLICATION. EVEN A TORY FUCKING COUNCILLOR COULDN'T GIVE THIS PERMISSION:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOjJfRgSM5Kc3oHRrjeYg32nty4uhoc2zF4rjh-CEREXbysJD3dhy4UmsqPMF9VdxjFLJz7V7tsXs0brjrrnS_TFdBsUUBgKe9u7_A-7PA2XV4Iv1jhAseUZuh9IoMwIwkgURZT-6K-0/s1600-h/newspic_276.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOjJfRgSM5Kc3oHRrjeYg32nty4uhoc2zF4rjh-CEREXbysJD3dhy4UmsqPMF9VdxjFLJz7V7tsXs0brjrrnS_TFdBsUUBgKe9u7_A-7PA2XV4Iv1jhAseUZuh9IoMwIwkgURZT-6K-0/s400/newspic_276.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388029952069555986" /></a>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-73806994166010671612009-09-30T17:38:00.004+01:002009-09-30T18:07:38.118+01:00OAKLANDS COLLEGE IN ST ALBANS BY BOND BRYAN<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwfB9DRYODj9QJjSnHBbR8CSSu6MQGGXO1DcAuLnyRhU-Vrw-kubtiR_dgB6YCphRYONsFb_BNnKu8Vp3By4C3D2az3t0tjkxNx_Zt6P5bE2g2QBTwkYfnOuj2CMwrqyST863WEjaFyA/s1600-h/Oaklands-high1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwfB9DRYODj9QJjSnHBbR8CSSu6MQGGXO1DcAuLnyRhU-Vrw-kubtiR_dgB6YCphRYONsFb_BNnKu8Vp3By4C3D2az3t0tjkxNx_Zt6P5bE2g2QBTwkYfnOuj2CMwrqyST863WEjaFyA/s400/Oaklands-high1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387301249482325074" /></a>Despite the funding falling through for almost all further education colleges in the country, Oaklands College in St Albans is so desperate to build this beauty that it is going to put up the money itself. <br />The college has already spent £12 million on professional fees and taking the building through a public enquiry (successfully) after the proposal was called in by the secretary of state. Now it wants to spend another £100 million inflicting this strange catherine wheel of a building on the landscape in reality. <br />I really like how carefully the architect has thought about the parking, so that the building relates to the landscape around it about as well as an American supermall might. This building was called in because it was in the greenbelt. What on earth made the government decide this was ok?<br />I think someone at Bond Bryan has been spending a bit too much time with his or her mandala.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-58615607855295689832009-09-24T18:02:00.005+01:002009-09-30T18:07:50.793+01:00BSKYB HEADQUARTERS, OSTERLEY, LONDON BY ARUP ASSOCIATES FOR STANHOPE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSylbZu9DAAHK3CaFwJ4Cq76HbKjPw1-4Koz202CqAcU4oHwH-bolVNJ22ffncLnNPANE27mCr-dTHrOjQz_OJfALGqJITsbYtQiENTVmGYA8OBGz4MeMLbxXFMWsd_aogh6ovt82Axs/s1600-h/H1-Building-original-shot+(2).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSylbZu9DAAHK3CaFwJ4Cq76HbKjPw1-4Koz202CqAcU4oHwH-bolVNJ22ffncLnNPANE27mCr-dTHrOjQz_OJfALGqJITsbYtQiENTVmGYA8OBGz4MeMLbxXFMWsd_aogh6ovt82Axs/s400/H1-Building-original-shot+(2).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385080447109367554" /></a>Oh, this one's shaping up really nicely, isn't it? <br />Surprisingly, the cranes in this picture are actually not demolishing this giant slab of greeny-blue glazing, they're building it, putting the finishing touches to a building that will contribute as much character and joy to the city as it will carbon to the atmosphere - almost none.<br />Arup Associates say that this will be one of the most sustainable broadcasting facilities in Europe (I wonder how much competition there is for that title?), and that 'the architecture of the building dramatically expresses the integrated and world-leading sustainable technology'. Those big white things that look like lift cores are actually natural ventilation chimneys. Why couldn't they make the architecture of the building 'dramatically express' something that actually means something to someone, rather than cladding some big chimneys in white steel to make us aware of how much Mr Murdoch loves polar bears? <br />Lovely work boys, an absolute picture. Hey, Stanhope! Just because it's sustainable, doesn't mean we can't see it's a piece of shit.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-90805002289180035382009-09-23T10:08:00.003+01:002009-09-30T18:08:06.056+01:00THRELKELD VILLAGE HALL, THRELKELD, CUMBRIA BY GREEN DESIGN GROUP<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEjoMLeqoLPMo4aJg1vJuD84mSHjwbUY4qlDq6ws1nKoLl8pK38uxQfdSRhqXT15vYnwZZa-mX_zYGnhMHHaz8NrmaIpdsVN9uyFUJKwpU3oIkfAeGT5-ZwZ6QKFlxrljd_Cu3NLlzcA/s1600-h/Rear+extension+elevation.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEjoMLeqoLPMo4aJg1vJuD84mSHjwbUY4qlDq6ws1nKoLl8pK38uxQfdSRhqXT15vYnwZZa-mX_zYGnhMHHaz8NrmaIpdsVN9uyFUJKwpU3oIkfAeGT5-ZwZ6QKFlxrljd_Cu3NLlzcA/s400/Rear+extension+elevation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384339836640561090" /></a>WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE? WHEN THE GOVERNMENT GIVES OUT ECO GRANTS TO STOP BUILDINGS DESTROYING THE WORLD, THEY SHOULD REALLY FUCKING READ THE APPLICATIONS TO ESTABLISH WHETHER THE BUILDINGS THEY ARE FUNDING WILL INSTEAD DESTROY OUR RETINAS WITH THEIR EXTREME FUGLINESS. <br />LOOK AT THE BIG PURPLE SLOPEY COLUMN. LOOK AT THE 'FULLY DDA COMPLIANT' ENTRANCE SEQUENCE. LOOK AT THE TRULY BIZARRE INWARD SLOPING WINDOWS ON THE RIGHT.<br />THIS HAS ACTUALLY GOT PLANNING PERMISSION, BUT THEY'RE STILL FUNDRAISING, SO WE CAN STILL MAN THE BARRICADES IN THRELKELD. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THRELKELD IS, BUT I'M PRETTY SURE IT'LL BE ON GOOGLE MAPS. WHO'S WITH ME?<br />AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE CHILDREN DOING TO THAT DOG IN THE FOREGROUND OF THIS PICTURE?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvM7Rew3sOBGsb9f5CFbWn2JmKNxXZxS_-tleQfK-DJrAlXQrFb8Mhwn76uQVy_adWU5HFSHhwhziMoBfyAj0xx_uxJ_nYq3rOwWt85h41WrdHXRyosq8cYKrwsWOEK_s4xTojCqp6P0/s1600-h/REAR+VIEW+NEW.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvM7Rew3sOBGsb9f5CFbWn2JmKNxXZxS_-tleQfK-DJrAlXQrFb8Mhwn76uQVy_adWU5HFSHhwhziMoBfyAj0xx_uxJ_nYq3rOwWt85h41WrdHXRyosq8cYKrwsWOEK_s4xTojCqp6P0/s400/REAR+VIEW+NEW.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384342182882889650" /></a>Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-84725045935656231132009-09-22T17:55:00.005+01:002009-09-30T18:08:19.731+01:00DERBY COLLEGE CAMPUS, DERBY, BY MABER ARCHITECTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6SAvQmpeYhCcpxki42fd1QCmMygK6Rogyxnh9fmLbXAR-YNBoVdhZEGttgeBxoJSMGaCZ0MrbJx-yNpM9QslqAnMsQGMt7AGKsuC1xkaaZxKU6y8p9tjq3UmFBuDo1ohGOmhZ3M1z8I/s1600-h/Derby+Roundhouse+03+Bowmer+%26+Kirkland+credit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6SAvQmpeYhCcpxki42fd1QCmMygK6Rogyxnh9fmLbXAR-YNBoVdhZEGttgeBxoJSMGaCZ0MrbJx-yNpM9QslqAnMsQGMt7AGKsuC1xkaaZxKU6y8p9tjq3UmFBuDo1ohGOmhZ3M1z8I/s400/Derby+Roundhouse+03+Bowmer+%26+Kirkland+credit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384337241840873058" /></a>This building is part of a broader masterplan for Derby College, made up of buildings of bad-to-mediocre quality by Midlands-based Maber Architects. But this one is utterly shit. <br />The strategy was to make a really big box, based on the form of a cereal packet, and then 'break down its scale' (this is me putting words in their mouths, by the way) by using a shitty modularised cladding system in grey and black. They had one good idea - the canopy - but that emphasises just how much this building belongs on a business park.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-28503087926964679022009-09-15T18:10:00.001+01:002009-09-15T18:16:00.505+01:00ROCHDALE TOWN CENTRE MASTERPLAN, BY ROCHDALE METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeJE0bszdFWGYkwkskiNvwW3kI0s7AKMkWK4k8iwjS3Xb2m7DeEzi3iRQMb_Yg7XqhyphenhyphenGsKda-yJ9_J3P-NUx0ZnTjC38VaJoqVDCJYAincQ3E4L_LNjUGyuYBNiOfgSiEreCOT8e3nPY/s1600-h/2009911_152733.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeJE0bszdFWGYkwkskiNvwW3kI0s7AKMkWK4k8iwjS3Xb2m7DeEzi3iRQMb_Yg7XqhyphenhyphenGsKda-yJ9_J3P-NUx0ZnTjC38VaJoqVDCJYAincQ3E4L_LNjUGyuYBNiOfgSiEreCOT8e3nPY/s400/2009911_152733.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381737648992353794" /></a>The image above, referred to as a 'masterplan' by Rochdale council, is the city fathers' compelling vision of how they will turn the space around Rochdale town hall into one of Europe's biggest public spaces. I tell you this in case you were labouring under the impression that said image was created by a child in a remedial class with only three felt tips to choose from: puce, flesh and powder blue.<br />If you will permit me to take a quote completely out of context, council leader <a href="http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/29660/town-centre-masterplan-unveiled">Alan Taylor </a>knows it shit but added: "We make no apologies for this." Well, thanks Alan.<br />You might think that this schematic is a little light on use and programme (beyond the visionary 'water features' that multiply offensively across the Stalin-style steppe that constitutes the new public space), but you'd be wrong. Look at the visualisation below:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLiO-ybH5v0z1qqXeUgJyMa1tBNFYKmnUeCqI2CNgmO-jFrsSErLPxuZAb7X44GWZebCZ4Zqx_sgj-ttYUSIS4Uha3OcsNYRMruB6aeqQnAeEvaEVqm7jUQvC4e9i-GTWACs_I50QsfY/s1600-h/2009911_152643.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLiO-ybH5v0z1qqXeUgJyMa1tBNFYKmnUeCqI2CNgmO-jFrsSErLPxuZAb7X44GWZebCZ4Zqx_sgj-ttYUSIS4Uha3OcsNYRMruB6aeqQnAeEvaEVqm7jUQvC4e9i-GTWACs_I50QsfY/s400/2009911_152643.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381737475296941810" /></a>They've thought hard about an innovative mix of 'cafe' on the ground floor with outdoor seating next to a dual carriageway, with 'mixed-use' space above it. Helpfully, they have placed two people in the 'mixed-use' space, presumably doing a mix of things. So you can really feel that mix happening.<br />Finally a key plank of revitalising the city centre will be to plant some trees, and then spray paint them purple:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVBFBjnWPLyC_5f194myyprhOnLTuhrxgrjt-Em1N6tNgwxGHcQBHlAcR6IKggaPvkFG0j6_8AjEvAKvkkuFHlCjBczJn5WZFHRjVxCnemLpysRCFUbpO_P6FYwgJAee6joNGQc7URsQ/s1600-h/2009911_152533.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVBFBjnWPLyC_5f194myyprhOnLTuhrxgrjt-Em1N6tNgwxGHcQBHlAcR6IKggaPvkFG0j6_8AjEvAKvkkuFHlCjBczJn5WZFHRjVxCnemLpysRCFUbpO_P6FYwgJAee6joNGQc7URsQ/s400/2009911_152533.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381737357636647170" /></a><br />Can anyone from Rochdale shed any light on this amateurish nonsense?<br /><br />With many thanks to a contributor for this one...Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-28334726981862505852009-09-08T18:39:00.006+01:002009-09-08T19:11:12.861+01:00BURNS MONUMENT CENTRE, KAY PARK IN KILMARNOCK BY EAST AYRSHIRE ASSET IMPROVEMENT SERVICE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EyV1FHekDUR4824iBY-qmzSzmMFZqU334Mq9fRnBgDFctRuYHzLFzB2Sp4I8-KRgtCGGd9shuZJlpKmeL9ZaQ0Fh-FNzKvJowU37ZMcovRBhEOtiTAqck1JUMM7oi5z4PO1PAoXF4nE/s1600-h/Burns+Monument+Centre_PR+pic+(189).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EyV1FHekDUR4824iBY-qmzSzmMFZqU334Mq9fRnBgDFctRuYHzLFzB2Sp4I8-KRgtCGGd9shuZJlpKmeL9ZaQ0Fh-FNzKvJowU37ZMcovRBhEOtiTAqck1JUMM7oi5z4PO1PAoXF4nE/s400/Burns+Monument+Centre_PR+pic+(189).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379153937661451106" /></a><br />Wow. This is one of those projects that the local authority architect thought: "I can do this. This is my big chance. Those fancy-dan architects from Glasgow/London will finally recognise the genius of us Ayrshire natives." So the local authority didn't have a competition, didn't take any advice and went with its own, terribly untalented architecture office. The result is this embarassing lump of sandstone, stranglingly enclosing what remains of a listed monument. <br />The Robert Burns monument used to be a charming and slightly mad folly of a tower, which burned down in 2006. It was in sandstone, with a mad mixture of Scots baronial, neo-gothic and baroque providing a suitably romantic/absurd setting for the Scottish bard's memory. For its replacement, the designers went with slopey-roofed shit-bikeshed style, with a liberal dash of Kalzip and a touch of Hackney Marshes changing rooms (the old ones). <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF1s7jK3-4pQV_8lRrV6-dj8k0g9rjPUSX44lLQhUHoaopTKwY6MCbfH-J47z6CYgyMo2p9cptEaxXpgqJRBUO1wobAL53-25WxcQ4HtAp3pT0HAaRgd8TgvNmW4qXLxJ3xZ02tkPrXA/s1600-h/Burns+Monument+Centre_PR+pic+(207).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 349px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF1s7jK3-4pQV_8lRrV6-dj8k0g9rjPUSX44lLQhUHoaopTKwY6MCbfH-J47z6CYgyMo2p9cptEaxXpgqJRBUO1wobAL53-25WxcQ4HtAp3pT0HAaRgd8TgvNmW4qXLxJ3xZ02tkPrXA/s400/Burns+Monument+Centre_PR+pic+(207).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379153854900346034" /></a><br />Really <span style="font-style:italic;">loving </span>the powder blue window frames, guys.<br />Many thanks to 'anon' for this one.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-11626003566951121312009-09-07T17:50:00.007+01:002009-09-07T18:04:15.326+01:00UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, EAST WITTERING BY HOME PLAN-IT AND SCOTFRAME<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C4jfKGJNcgohMUD_gUi7Io4lLHIBYikXrM_ub9Lbka9UB7DuLJTGwjQc5spM7nt5GR_mBhn0n-jT9O7zgE1cJTnDi7UPMrSgSUg6mJnDrC6o_8WAX6NMRuSoHYBiIydjO_xGKzHL_cA/s1600-h/Church+completed+-+south+elevation.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C4jfKGJNcgohMUD_gUi7Io4lLHIBYikXrM_ub9Lbka9UB7DuLJTGwjQc5spM7nt5GR_mBhn0n-jT9O7zgE1cJTnDi7UPMrSgSUg6mJnDrC6o_8WAX6NMRuSoHYBiIydjO_xGKzHL_cA/s400/Church+completed+-+south+elevation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378769952230516978" /></a><br />Now, I realise the United Reformed Church is not that interested in the architecture of its churches, and that it hasn't really contributed much to the history of sacred buildings. But this is ridiculous.<br />I suppose you could say that this is the plain style - a shit developer house, scaled up with a cross stuck on the gable. It's not <span style="font-style:italic;">meant</span> to look any different from the places you live. But surely, surely there could have been a little more love taken here without compromising the Calvinist roots of the church? Some pleasure to the entrance sequence instead of an acre of tarmac, for instance? <br />From the outside, it looks as though the internal volume could be ok, an airy space with exposed glu-lam rafters. But no. Instead, they did this: <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nFBEdbhYRFM0VuVhg0-EyURkSxH9q4PaX40k69aoW2-bX_yZQtwxwC6uGaXHEdb4azPQrT1SNnLzHLVbEWLXnpnPeaw6UP9QJ9TZJwrHI3vfnEBSQGtEJaZHXxzac9uOSqGK7brGLVE/s1600-h/Internal+taken+from+north+end.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nFBEdbhYRFM0VuVhg0-EyURkSxH9q4PaX40k69aoW2-bX_yZQtwxwC6uGaXHEdb4azPQrT1SNnLzHLVbEWLXnpnPeaw6UP9QJ9TZJwrHI3vfnEBSQGtEJaZHXxzac9uOSqGK7brGLVE/s400/Internal+taken+from+north+end.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378771478658845362" /></a><br />I'm sorry, but I'd rather burn than spend my Sunday mornings in this place...Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-69400271316413904832009-09-04T16:54:00.011+01:002009-09-04T17:45:38.770+01:00SKY PLAZA STUDENT HOUSING IN LEEDS BY CAREY JONES ARCHITECTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSeLdsSS8wkOH876ftFTTDEKQZyUWODmJshcFihEII5su_Gght0e5C5M6Q31PMIXN-zvtIrI9Z1sX1iDgTh6tsTsNl_dMUI6aK2nQbP5romt002lrTUfrigVBFo1kt8JMx1krvOwNgNY/s1600-h/The_Sky_Plaza.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSeLdsSS8wkOH876ftFTTDEKQZyUWODmJshcFihEII5su_Gght0e5C5M6Q31PMIXN-zvtIrI9Z1sX1iDgTh6tsTsNl_dMUI6aK2nQbP5romt002lrTUfrigVBFo1kt8JMx1krvOwNgNY/s400/The_Sky_Plaza.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377653826307245298" /></a><br />This is a recession, which means that land values are lower than they were, which means that student housing developers can afford to get in there and build some shit buildings for young people to live in. Then, the poor students get overcharged for the privilege of having sex and throwing up and setting off smoke alarms in an eyesore. <br />Unite is the developer of this building, and they're responsible for loads of shite in cities all over the country (<a href="http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation/manchester/oxney-house-and-gardens?">this one</a> in Manchester looks like an old people's home, <a href="http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation/edinburgh/panmure-court?">this one</a> in Edinburgh is a shit bit of Scottish contextualism and <a href="http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation/london/sunlight-apartments?#">this one</a> in London like 1980s housing for people likely to harm themselves). Unite is by no means to only developer doing shit buildings for students, and this will not be the last student residence to appear here.<br />Sky Plaza, above, is in Leeds, and is the tallest student housing IN THE WOOOOOORLD as if that is either here or there. 37 storeys. 103 metres. Look at the pic above: the buildings next door are pretty big. This one's a monster. The proportions are fat and deadening as the lumpen mass of it obnoxiously blots out the sky.<br />The composition of the facades, or lack of, is, in my experience, what really distinguishes bad architects from good. Bad architects don't so much compose facades, as choose a pattern and use a tiling command to extend it across the whole facade. When they do try to design one, <a href="http://badbritisharchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/08/national-curling-academy-in-kinross-by.html">this happens</a>. <br />Here, Carey Jones opted to make loads of tiny windows march across the facade with a monotonous lack of verve.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQh8PBuCLbd5bBDu20NXrYwnkV1lLj_0KpOG1MvAi4bXzqb2TPPY0Qtc9l1KkwBDugqVdUwI0vcJJS3qtFqyzqpfs51v83mOdI65k67KKdy-J4RC5LgJwoIL-SgWszs-yJlWJe26Hd_s/s1600-h/Technal+Sky+Plaza+-+033.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQh8PBuCLbd5bBDu20NXrYwnkV1lLj_0KpOG1MvAi4bXzqb2TPPY0Qtc9l1KkwBDugqVdUwI0vcJJS3qtFqyzqpfs51v83mOdI65k67KKdy-J4RC5LgJwoIL-SgWszs-yJlWJe26Hd_s/s400/Technal+Sky+Plaza+-+033.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377641802611517858" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdb5SS_W6tn5WHPrQDKiOZHcU2JL2mM-MxlR10nNtNGrlO5-iA7Xz4KsX1kApIBFW00nBrXMEaBTldH0xUnHn8MwgecaiKbHRFhRQ6C61VxjyUgmZBIvQhCFGrKG9uD2u76BCqE2gmd6w/s1600-h/Technal+Sky+Plaza+-+026.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdb5SS_W6tn5WHPrQDKiOZHcU2JL2mM-MxlR10nNtNGrlO5-iA7Xz4KsX1kApIBFW00nBrXMEaBTldH0xUnHn8MwgecaiKbHRFhRQ6C61VxjyUgmZBIvQhCFGrKG9uD2u76BCqE2gmd6w/s400/Technal+Sky+Plaza+-+026.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377641732804222402" /></a><br />When the architects at Carey Jones were students, do you think they dreamed of doing buildings like this?Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-50634853865547510632009-08-25T17:27:00.000+01:002009-08-25T17:51:25.278+01:00NATIONAL CURLING ACADEMY IN KINROSS, BY ARCHIAL ARCHITECTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIi54OEZA48X3LU-HpVFrlQau9mBdSEIXbdsD_0DyeU6eZoYu1CQMrW2WsoVubsHbZPY2JVmUTKOSaITS-L3_B4106RyCwOUnY04ncrkQ2LXI3boN6Kf_BgI035ts3HdqNL54DIpc1YE/s1600-h/archial.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIi54OEZA48X3LU-HpVFrlQau9mBdSEIXbdsD_0DyeU6eZoYu1CQMrW2WsoVubsHbZPY2JVmUTKOSaITS-L3_B4106RyCwOUnY04ncrkQ2LXI3boN6Kf_BgI035ts3HdqNL54DIpc1YE/s400/archial.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373939141902535106" border="0" /></a>You might have to click on this one to see it properly, but it is a quite remarkable drawing of possibly the ugliest sports hall you'll ever see. What's really, really bad about Archial is that they can't just accept they're rubbish. They feel a pressing need to 'do design', making funky (as in 'offensively malodorous') windows as in the right-hand side of the north elevation, and bizarre supergraphics.
<br />The supergraphic totally confused me to begin with, until I realised it's a cack-handed version of an Otl Aicher pictogram. It's someone curling, of course. Although it looks at best like an Edwardian rugby player, and at worst someone readying themselves for a painful shafting.
<br />OK, a little competition with this post. Can you make head or tail of Archial director Charles Smith?
<br />From the press release: <span style="font-style: italic;">Charles Smith, director at Archial Architects, said, “The general design features of the building reflect the intentions for a world class facility. The elevational treatment of the building is suitably distinctive and will enhance the site’s sense of identity and linkages to the adjacent rural character, using natural, sustainable materials such as timber cladding within the scheme, which creates a horizontal emphasis to the building."</span>
<br />Hm, OK. I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean.
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“The use of different materials externally relates directly to the internal composition, therefore linking the internal space arrangements with the external appearance which, in turn, relates to the site and its origins."</span>
<br />Sorry, Charles, you've lost me there.
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“Whilst the development is to become an integral part of one of Kinross-shire’s main settlements, the palette chosen specifically reflects the rural setting, enhancing the natural materials and complementing the landscaped setting.”</span>
<br />Yep. Absolutely no idea what you're getting at. Good luck with the planning application, though. The committee should be like a Beckett play if he carries on like that. Might be worth sitting in...<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CKIERAN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->
<br />Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-75658047442345281262009-08-24T17:29:00.010+01:002009-08-24T17:51:49.951+01:00UNDERGROUND CONTROL CENTRE, WEST LONDON BY MORGAN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMNBG6tf57r2nir81BBRPyvzSq_TvpX6E1jN4yFFoJ1wgnla49OW3t6FMt7bcWj6jPVy82glBcVNbk4-wb7xRFRzmGgDoXgg4uFHB8wDe8gZZCjhxCX6bHb1eoUVauF2ZoPyu7dOcfXM/s1600-h/West+London+control+centre+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMNBG6tf57r2nir81BBRPyvzSq_TvpX6E1jN4yFFoJ1wgnla49OW3t6FMt7bcWj6jPVy82glBcVNbk4-wb7xRFRzmGgDoXgg4uFHB8wDe8gZZCjhxCX6bHb1eoUVauF2ZoPyu7dOcfXM/s400/West+London+control+centre+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373569292607347378" border="0" /></a>This is the kind of shite that London Underground commissions these days. While in Switzerland you get signal boxes by Herzog & de Meuron etc, in our nation's capital you get a giant bunker that isn't so much ugly as completely undesigned. It's just acres of grey surface, undifferentiated apart from what appears to be four downpipes marching across the facade. Interesting how shit architects are always very precise about downpipes in their visualisations.<br />Morgan Professional Services is the kind of multi-disciplinary that believes in 'creative collaboration', the kind of platitude that today's construction industry sprouts like acne on a teenager's face. It's impossible to <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>believe in creative collaboration, of course, but when all you have to send press releases out about is a building like this one, you have to ask yourself what all that creativity and collaboration has brought you to.<br />Here's the back:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjBRIZAbQB_ebtfGIGCtl9y9eFiu8YtZqK6cU_cD7tAnEEfsXpCIkXG1asXoMNjwZKEuWz9NPrn0i8g5CflATRuFUp5i-QbYrGuSYz8qXn8JGNS55nIvLwml77L-Lh9esSQzlIT7vR7U/s1600-h/West+London+control+centre+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjBRIZAbQB_ebtfGIGCtl9y9eFiu8YtZqK6cU_cD7tAnEEfsXpCIkXG1asXoMNjwZKEuWz9NPrn0i8g5CflATRuFUp5i-QbYrGuSYz8qXn8JGNS55nIvLwml77L-Lh9esSQzlIT7vR7U/s400/West+London+control+centre+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373569080961198194" border="0" /></a>A close up of that green wall (designed to 'minimise visual impact' and 'soften' this humungous building), two years on:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlw-hs2TEZ5YBshot9pEcP7LXmANj7jfJi1W7YBMEpKrtVLg0cs_4cSG97keOre0-aUIMxv74nU4ZbsCZfgyz-qKtkyPyU8N8hhczAgtRDTCEspfc89BsuXASlZJt2yDmHX2-MTmaI0g/s1600-h/DSDHA_Paradise_Park.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlw-hs2TEZ5YBshot9pEcP7LXmANj7jfJi1W7YBMEpKrtVLg0cs_4cSG97keOre0-aUIMxv74nU4ZbsCZfgyz-qKtkyPyU8N8hhczAgtRDTCEspfc89BsuXASlZJt2yDmHX2-MTmaI0g/s400/DSDHA_Paradise_Park.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373571924778320354" border="0" /></a>No, not really. That's DSDHA's <a href="http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/amazing-pictures-londons-first-living-wall-dies/5207086.article">little bit of Paradise</a>. But it's a fair approximation.<br />Inside, it's the normal Dr Strangelove/Gattaca kind of thing:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSZM5dX5xux0EJM_zc1-jce-Etm6Nu0LGiEoKQILcZuSr3JTOFkaQXSzEpo1PG0yQ7GmdeEk28EjMvSpfig2DZ4HJVBIe9JqKeXwx4Oy_I0Fq1IECnf5lzI-qWtY0LY9BZAx6JhrnKaY/s1600-h/Control+room.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSZM5dX5xux0EJM_zc1-jce-Etm6Nu0LGiEoKQILcZuSr3JTOFkaQXSzEpo1PG0yQ7GmdeEk28EjMvSpfig2DZ4HJVBIe9JqKeXwx4Oy_I0Fq1IECnf5lzI-qWtY0LY9BZAx6JhrnKaY/s400/Control+room.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373569013481815410" border="0" /></a>Many thanks to an esteemed correspondent for this one...Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-13500885294013002582009-08-17T16:43:00.003+01:002009-08-17T16:57:39.105+01:00DORCHESTER MEDICAL CENTRE, BREWERY SQUARE, DORSET BY CZWG<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46G-KwbC-Y0kmC_lLcMbwoWpejFk5YvQoC1YoU1_bch_1PCLFDCZHnFiXb1rmd3u76voQBUarPDTf36DvSFWlywR_fk-pFFah0prYlS6pYaS3XM5_nsddE6aa31eOp2JO7ZfMDSgiEIQ/s1600-h/Web186+Dorchester+Medical+Centre.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46G-KwbC-Y0kmC_lLcMbwoWpejFk5YvQoC1YoU1_bch_1PCLFDCZHnFiXb1rmd3u76voQBUarPDTf36DvSFWlywR_fk-pFFah0prYlS6pYaS3XM5_nsddE6aa31eOp2JO7ZfMDSgiEIQ/s400/Web186+Dorchester+Medical+Centre.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370959427330530098" border="0" /></a>CZWG are bad architects, peddling their weird brand of postmodernism up and down the country. But this one's gone too far. It's cartoon art deco, with a stupid, cartoon art deco typeface above the door. It does nothing to dignify its sullen but very English context, just shouts as loud as it can.<br />Possibly CZWG is trying to provide the next logical progression in the Prince Charles pastiche<br />around Dorchester. That isn't real Georgian, and this isn't real, well, anything. It's probably trying to be bingo hall, Wurlitzer, popular architecture, but in fact it's three sets of curvy goalposts. It has no richness, no detail.<br />There are 24 CZWG buildings in this masterplan. So the town's basically fucked.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-34147524118686366282009-07-22T18:14:00.000+01:002009-07-22T18:15:50.471+01:00BLAR MHOR HOUSING IN CAOL, FORT WILLIAM BY ARCHIAL FOR LORNE DEVELOPMENTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTsNxkJX32x18rcCG_b8Hcxh7PuHuv1PZG6mccFgbNYor37I8gksH7zcs5Un_iTf_gLR73iQE5R75ZMzIjv_2nxqYT-_QLwrRFhR6M755TIKVK3CLVUmVjnP0zSrarc6OVCTcPekDBn8/s1600-h/Slide1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTsNxkJX32x18rcCG_b8Hcxh7PuHuv1PZG6mccFgbNYor37I8gksH7zcs5Un_iTf_gLR73iQE5R75ZMzIjv_2nxqYT-_QLwrRFhR6M755TIKVK3CLVUmVjnP0zSrarc6OVCTcPekDBn8/s400/Slide1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360971998924751650" border="0" /></a>Regular readers will be aware of what I consider to be just about the most prolific bad architect in the UK. Step forward Archial, the conglomerate that will be shitting out something awful in your neighbourhood very soon. I've had <a href="http://badbritisharchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/04/spot-difference-by-archial-and.html">reason to think </a>that they read this blog before, but now I know they do. Imagine the scene.<br />"Lads, we have a 300-home masterplan to do in Scotland, but we're shite at masterplanning. What shall we do?"<br />"I can't remember where I saw it, but whoever it is who made <a href="http://badbritisharchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/04/leyland-bus-redevelopment-leyland-by.html">those great drawings of the Leyland Bus site </a>has got real talent - we should hire him/her."<br />And they obviously did. This masterplan is much, much worse, though, with an even bigger array of Brookside Close moments, and a truly flagrant disregard for any existing geographical or architectural features of the place. Councils! You can have better than this! Just commission a good architect (there are other websites with some of those on them) rather than an utterly shit one who will transplant an urban and architectural language from out of their arse into your town.<br />One helpful rule of thumb, from Nairn to you. When someone presents a masterplan with a perimeter of a line of trees, it means they're trying to hide something. Do not trust these people.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyIsxXjyqpORW8DpRgws6QWoztFQVlKeecqPNImxXgJBzr4fNK7iGawjjXmAdY8oTzBXXxvdyytnKhrGz9mUHzRka8FIO1Myji0wEdrVbAk83Vw5-Dm1e_1Y6WWadA0h8Ly-qoZf01tE/s1600-h/Slide2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyIsxXjyqpORW8DpRgws6QWoztFQVlKeecqPNImxXgJBzr4fNK7iGawjjXmAdY8oTzBXXxvdyytnKhrGz9mUHzRka8FIO1Myji0wEdrVbAk83Vw5-Dm1e_1Y6WWadA0h8Ly-qoZf01tE/s400/Slide2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360972069996495426" border="0" /></a><br />And the housing itself? Mush. Just mush.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-35575485551615756152009-07-21T18:42:00.008+01:002009-07-21T19:14:20.013+01:00SPIRE HOSPITAL, THE GLEN, BRISTOL BY STRADFORM<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmTpZjbUzDFjJaxGR5f4jmAmKOfP6o22Z-SQuOpEMzSvhq7uDN2tKeYFQw16bcYNiWbJo10yM8R9ob1pc3scT_iiQr7u98gL9RuT8LfAzDGvXVBpib7CEAouZMMn8AeRlFqrmKO0NruM/s1600-h/09_06_extension2_JPG.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmTpZjbUzDFjJaxGR5f4jmAmKOfP6o22Z-SQuOpEMzSvhq7uDN2tKeYFQw16bcYNiWbJo10yM8R9ob1pc3scT_iiQr7u98gL9RuT8LfAzDGvXVBpib7CEAouZMMn8AeRlFqrmKO0NruM/s400/09_06_extension2_JPG.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360968157477126050" border="0" /></a>Spire Hospital is a national centre of excellence for 'cardiac, brain and spinal surgery', apparently. It's a private hospital, so it has loads of cash. But not only can they not afford an architect for their extension, but they don't pay their contractor enough to use a proper CAD package. Sketchup hell ensues.<br />As for the building itself, is it just me, or can I detect influences of Elizabethan theatre architecture in the above picture? In any case, it will win the award for 'greatest number of differently pitched roofs in the smallest possible building'.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUQJsVuazawz5O1_xWTJbYuX4YOTiy-vtfC1TxohK23hU-LFMiLMdZDrPmJttVUvhwOlCrmMugNKWAocJvtRmbe98FhUZJ1CTK6XLvkBOZRbODQOP4LlIeuxaOISA41J0WTEMP2g34Ws/s1600-h/09_06_extension_JPG.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUQJsVuazawz5O1_xWTJbYuX4YOTiy-vtfC1TxohK23hU-LFMiLMdZDrPmJttVUvhwOlCrmMugNKWAocJvtRmbe98FhUZJ1CTK6XLvkBOZRbODQOP4LlIeuxaOISA41J0WTEMP2g34Ws/s400/09_06_extension_JPG.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360968113036434018" border="0" /></a>Whereas this part of the extension adopts a more modern idiom, the image excelling in expressing just how bad the chequerboard cladding will look on completion. The roof appears to be made of corrugated iron.<br />There was one architect involved in this, as planning consultant: Turley Associates, you are hereby named and shamed for your part in this atrocity.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-31642543891052896532009-07-20T18:26:00.008+01:002009-09-04T18:32:55.747+01:00WOODLAND COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL, ROCHDALE BY NPS ARCHITECTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgomJyglB9-4eXEWbswN0P3WlQTDROP-JBfEhv5v_gQUP_Bv_XyZlW4CmClxnWZZ4sFu8e0TRLPxO0E9kWtWhCfJU7wJ2hk70SYg_SubJT-DDCHjCzw1w0c7qY6_CU2fwTT7KwpYARQlo/s1600-h/Woodland+Community+Primary+School.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgomJyglB9-4eXEWbswN0P3WlQTDROP-JBfEhv5v_gQUP_Bv_XyZlW4CmClxnWZZ4sFu8e0TRLPxO0E9kWtWhCfJU7wJ2hk70SYg_SubJT-DDCHjCzw1w0c7qY6_CU2fwTT7KwpYARQlo/s400/Woodland+Community+Primary+School.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360595423800155730" border="0" /></a>FAT SHED WITH TINY WINDOWS. THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD EDUCATE THE VERY YOUNG IN THESE DAYS. IF IT FAILS AS A SCHOOL, YOU CAN ALWAYS TURN IT INTO A FUCKING DISTRIBUTION SHED. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN, LIKE NPS, YOU HAVE A BOARD OF DIRECTORS WHO LOOK LIKE <a href="http://www.nps.co.uk/whoweare/boardofdirectors/">NEWS OF THE WORLD PAEDOPHILES</a>.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633888820881903545.post-30400720390910803582009-07-08T17:56:00.006+01:002009-07-21T19:13:40.383+01:00CARPENTERS PLACE, KNOWLE, BRISTOL BY CIRCLE CONSTRUCTION FOR EMINENCE DEVELOPMENTS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ12S1mPibupNCceGQ1MDVXMEZ5zWiYJyEa_PqiFZt5ps0gDFAVFRrqt1T1WXXhd587pNm3U3lvBIwBLkB9VDJotO_Tp7dyrLb0mOd5jf-wRZ3VD2c1-0fj8LmUmncalLxKcpvRDXD4bU/s1600-h/Carpenters_place_lo_res_jpg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ12S1mPibupNCceGQ1MDVXMEZ5zWiYJyEa_PqiFZt5ps0gDFAVFRrqt1T1WXXhd587pNm3U3lvBIwBLkB9VDJotO_Tp7dyrLb0mOd5jf-wRZ3VD2c1-0fj8LmUmncalLxKcpvRDXD4bU/s400/Carpenters_place_lo_res_jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356134554023291298" border="0" /></a>This building is the reason we started this blog. Absolute drivel, posing as contextual housing. The inexplicable symmetry, accentuated by black plastic extracts and downpipes; timber cladding that is varnished so hideously that it no longer looks like wood; 'balconies' that are not balconies (the three bonsai shrubs behind the top balcony in the middle are a heartbreaking expression of what the residents really wanted); regulation beige brick; the mud borders showing how money ran out before the landscaping was finished.<br />The building replaces a pub called the Venture Inn, which faced this square in West Knowle. Housing developers and local authorities care not a toss for social spaces like pubs and corner shops. They'd rather have flats full of junior management consultants than communities.<br />The inn's replacement is the architectural equivalent of porridge. Bland, formless, cloying, does nothing more than fill a hole.Ghost of Nairnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17518123861852191532noreply@blogger.com7