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COMPETITIONS FILE
THE PICK OF THE BEST UK, EUROPEAN & INTERNATIONAL DESIGN CONTESTS
building standards Anger over ditched standards
Architects have hit out at the government’s ‘regressive’ decision to ditch national standards for UK publicly-funded housing. Housing minister Grant
Te Royal Parks, guardian of flower arrangements in St James’s and Kensington Garden’s gold-plated Albert Memorial, is seeking contenders for a £500,000 landscape architectural services framework. Te three-year contract will include advisory and professional services as well as project management on specific schemes. Practices with an interest are advised to submit applications quickly – the deadline is midday on 20 December. Torbay Council is on the hunt
for an architect for design services to RIBA Stage D on two projects. Lot one is the Hatchcombe Nurseries site in Torquay, which will be developed into between 65 and 75 affordable and open market ‘extra care’ housing units. Te second lot is Grange Road in Paignton, which is destined for a development of up to 75 mixed- tenure and affordable open market housing units. Requests for documents must be received by noon on 7 January 2011. An international competition has been launched by Taichung City Government, Republic of China, for a new urban park in a 254ha area that includes the former Taichung (Shuinan) Airport and its vicinities. Areas surrounding the park will be divided into four themed districts: Eco Residential, Gateway, Cultural Business and Innovation R&D. Tenders must be submitted by 25 February 2011. For more competitions visit
architectsjournal.co.uk/ competitions
06
Shapps last Tursday announced he was abandoning the Homes and Communities Agency’s core housing standards and a ‘cocktail of local building standards’, claiming the move would ‘reduce the unnecessary cost and hassle’ associated with house building. Te RIBA launched a stinging
attack after the announcement and president Ruth Reed branded the decision ‘deeply troubling’. She warned that ditching the standards would have ‘profound
competition Seven reach V&A’s shortlist
Te Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum has unveiled a seven- strong shortlist of teams competing to design a new extension to its West Kensington home in London. Picked from 110 practices that
expressed interest, the shortlisted designers include Tony Fretton, Jamie Fobert, Amanda Levete and Gareth Hoskins. Te brief is for a new gallery
below street level with a courtyard above, housing a café and outdoor events space. V&A director Mark Jones
said: ‘Some of the shortlisted architects previously carried out design studies, which helped the V&A better understand what was achievable on the site. We are pleased that these companies have continued to maintain their drive and enthusiasm for the
project and we look forward to seeing their new design proposals in due course.’ Of the eight practices which
prepared hypothetical schemes for the Exhibition Road- fronting site (AJ 17.06.10), only Francisco Mangado, Office for Metropolitan Architecture and Sutherland Hussey Architects failed to make the shortlist. Heneghan Peng’s study
(pictured) proposed a subsurface rotunda illuminated by circular apertures in the courtyard’s floor.
The shortlist
Amanda Levete Architects Heneghan Peng Architects Jamie Fobert Architects Jun Aoki & Associates Michael Maltzan Architecture Snøhetta & Gareth Hoskins Tony Fretton Architects
V&A’s new gallery aims to
create an ‘informal and inviting’ relationship with Dixon Jones’ ‘shared surface’ redevelopment of the area’s public realm. Daniel Libeskind’s controversial £70 million ‘spiral’ scheme for the plot was shelved six years ago after missing out on Heritage Lottery Funding. Te selected architectural teams will now develop detailed designs before the competition winner is announced in the spring. Merlin Fulcher
aj.02.12.10
implications for communities across the country’. Alex Ely, of Mæ Architects,
described Shapps’ decision as a ‘regressive step [which] undermines years of work trying to raise the quality of housing.’ Ely said the standards should
have been extended, rather than ditched, and rolled out to cover all new private housing. Te decision amounted to ‘affordable housing being dumbed down to the regulatory minimum’, he said. Anthea Jackson, of Cheltenham Architects’ Studio, asked: ‘Why advocate building slums? We should aspire to the best [standards] not the lowest.’
Ben Derbyshire, managing
director of HTA, suggested the end of core standards could save the government £8,000 per affordable residence built. He said: ‘Some of us have been arguing for simplification in the standards and regulation and for measures to improve the operation of the housing market. It remains to be seen whether the proposals the Coalition has in mind will genuinely achieve this.’ Andy von Bradsky, chairman
of PRP Architects, also welcomed the attempt to make compliance simpler but said: ‘[Tere] is much to be done to agree the detail.’ Amanda Taylor
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