The Canadian Embassy in London Source:&nbsp Shutterstock The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has reached an agreement with its Canadian counterpart to make transatlantic working easier for architects The ARB and Canada’s Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada/Regroupement des Ordres d’Architectes du Canada (ROAC), signed the agreement off yesterday (22 April). It is the latest in a series of new international mutual recognition agreements made by the regulator post-Brexit. As part of the Canada-UK deal, eligible architects who are registered in the UK or Canada will be able to benefit from a ‘streamlined and quicker’ registration process to work in either country from 14 May, the two institutions say.Advertisement Eligble architects in the UK will need to have obtained an ARB-accredited qualification and registered with the ARB in order to work in Canada. Anyone who has registered with ARB, having passed the Prescribed Exam at Part 1 and Part 2 level and additionally completed a UK Part 3, also qualifies. On the other side, Canadian architects must have obtained a Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB)-accredited qualification or the same standard following ROAC certification. Additionally, architects moving to the UK from Canada will need to have completed the Canadian experience requirement and licensing examination. Alan Kershaw, chair of the Architects Registration Board, said: ‘The agreement opens significant new opportunities for architects in the UK and Canada to collaborate, building on the strong professional partnerships that already exist between the two countries. It will at the same time maintain the high standards the public have a right to expect.’ Ian R McDonald, chair of the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada/Regroupement des Ordres d’Architectes du Canada, said: ‘This agreement further strengthens the longstanding and historic relationship between the UK and Canada, as Commonwealth partners.’ He continued: ‘Architecture is a global profession and streamlining cross-border registration is key to expanding opportunities for qualified architects, while still upholding professional standards. We are delighted to have been part of the negotiations and final signing, and look forward to the new prospects this agreement creates for architects on both sides of the Atlantic.’Advertisement Douglas Alexander, minister for trade policy and economic cecurity, said: ‘Today’s landmark agreement will make doing business between our two countries much simpler for the architectural sector and help pave the way for a new generation of British architects. ‘It’s a welcome boost for the industry across the UK and Canada, providing exciting new opportunities for both nations to build on their historic relationship and delivering growth, this government’s number one priority.’ The ARB’s deal with Canada follows similar agreements with Australia, New Zealand and the United States to faciltiatet he fast-tracking of registration for UK architects abroad and vice versa in the wake of Britain’s departure from the EU in 2020, when the Architects Act 1997 was amended to end the UK’s automatic recognition of EU-qualified architects. While the Australian, New Zealand and US agreements speed up registration, a deal with Switzerland, signed off in June 2023, was the first government-to-government recognition of professional qualifications following Brexit for architects. 2025-04-23 Gino Spocchia comment and share TagsARB Canada RIBA

Lawyers for St Martins Property, the UK-based investment arm of Kuwait’s soverign wealth fund, is taking the owner of 50 Fenchurch Street to the High Court over the alleged obstruction of light to Foster + Partners’ Willis Towers Watson building at 51 Lime Street. The legal suit states that the loss of daylight to 51 Lime Street from the 36-storey Eric Parry scheme, currently under construction, amounts to ‘substantial interference with the ordinary enjoyment of the Willis Building and constitute a nuisance’. Although the legal case was filed last November, it had not been reported on until this week. Lawyers acting for St Martins have also filed a case this month against another neighbouring development at 130 Fenchurch Street, designed by WilkinsonEyre. Details of the case against 130 Fenchurch Street are currently unavailable.Advertisement St Martins is seeking an injunction to prevent 50 Fenchurch Street from being completed and to ‘reduce or alter the massing of its development so as to avoid causing such a nuisance or unlawful infringement’. An alternative would be unspecified damages from Hygie, developer AXA IM’s social purpose vehicle, which owns 50 Fenchurch Street. Foster + Partners completed the Willis Towers Watson building in 2007 on the site of a 1950s building, the Underwriting Room, which lawyers for St Martins said ‘enjoyed [light] through the apertures of the southern elevation’ over 50 Fenchurch Street ‘without interruption’. Work has begun on the piling and excavation for the 150m-tall Eric Parry-designed neighbour with construction of the main structure scheduled to start this summer. Eric Parry’s 36-storey 50 Fenchurch Street scheme was given permission in 2020 on behalf of the Clothworkers’ Company despite controversy over its blocking of light to occupiers of 120 Fenchurch Street, a scheme also designed by the practice. WilkinsonEyre’s 130 Fenchurch Street scheme is still at consultation after a full unveiling of the proposals in December and a planning application is expected this year. A spokesperson for 130 Fenchurch Street told the AJ they were unable to comment on the separate legal action.Advertisement If complete, the 50 and 130 Fenchurch Street schemes will be among the latest towers to join the City of London’s growing cluster of skyscrapers. Others in the pipeline include RSHP’s 99 Bishopsgate scheme, Eric Parry’s super-tall 1 Undershaft tower, a Can of Ham neighbour designed by Fletcher Priest, and a Woods Bagot-designed tower at 85 Gracechurch Street. A spokesperson for AXA IM Alts said: ‘We believe these claims are without merit but as a policy we do not comment on potential or ongoing legal proceedings so have nothing further to say.’ WilkinsonEyre and Eric Parry have been contacted for comment. Foster + Partners declined to comment. Site view

Source:&nbsp Shutterstock Housebuilding in the UK is continuing to slow amid inflation and new building safety regulations, data shows In 2024 the number of homes under construction fell by 14 per cent according to the British Property Federation, which said the final quarter of the year was also the fifth consecutive three-month period in which completions outstripped starts.  Government data shows that 153,910 homes were completed across the UK last year, a drop of 5.8 per cent from 2023 and 13.7 per cent from 2022. The drop was driven by the private housebuilding sector, which saw completions fall 7.4 per cent from 2023 to 2024.  There was an even larger contraction in the number of homes starting on site. In 2024 construction began on just 107,530 homes, a drop of 29.5 per cent from 2023 (150,370) and 40.1 per cent from 2022 (182,070). Advertisement In a statement the British Property Federation said: ‘The slowdown in construction reflects the broader challenges currently impacting housing delivery.  ‘Significant delays at the Building Safety Regulator are currently blocking schemes across the country, while concerns over development viability, driven by build cost inflation and the economic climate, are contributing to a cautious market. ‘Taken together, these factors are slowing down delivery, as projects aren’t proceeding from outline planning through to detailed planning and ultimately into construction and delivery.’ The British Property Federation said detailed planning applications for homes dropped by 16 per cent across 2024, suggesting that the slowdown in housebuilding is set to continue.  Planning Portal statistics show planning applications covering 233,811 homes were submitted in 2024.Advertisement The data also revealed an average of 300,232 new homes applied for each year over the last five years — theoretically enough to achieve the government’s target of building 1.5 million homes during the five-year parliament started in July 2024. However, in a report, Planning Portal-owner Terraquest pointed out that not all these applications would be approved, saying: ‘We need to see a much greater volume of applications over the coming quarters – tens of thousands, if not more [to reach 1.5 million new homes].’  Construction activity on projects across all sectors was subdued in the first three months of 2025, according to data intelligence company Glenigan.  It said that the project-start rate fell 4 per cent compared with the final three months of 2024 and was down 21 per cent year-on-year, ‘reflecting continued delays in major developments and subdued confidence in underlying schemes’. Glenigan housebuilding 2025-04-23 Will Ing comment and share TagsGlenigan housebuilding

The project’s defining concept was that a child should be able to find their way home from school on their own,’ writes Dinah Bornat in All to Play For: How to Design Child-Friendly Housing. Bornat is describing Highgate New Town, an estate of 275 homes built by Camden Council in the late 1970s, designed in-house by architects Peter Tábori and Ken Adie.  Source:Dinah BornatAll to Play For: How to Design Child-Friendly Housing In today’s complex world of viability assessments and value engineering, commissioning such a large project with a ‘defining concept’ that focuses on children seems almost whimsical. And yet it worked. Almost 50 years later, homes in this 1970s estate, built as council housing, are highly desirable. The wide internal pedestrian ‘streets’ that run through the estate directly to nearby schools, shops and parks create places to play, to hang out and to bump into neighbours. ‘You can sit just outside your home and still be part of the street,’ says one resident, adding that during the Covid lockdowns, ‘as neighbours walked past, they would nearly always say: “Aren’t we lucky?”’  Bornat and her practice, ZCD Architects, have analysed numerous housing developments in the UK and abroad to discover what it is that makes some places work for children. These evidence-based spatial reviews have been distilled into a set of principles, set out in All to Play For, along with illustrative case-studies. However, before going into the ‘how’ of child-friendly design, the book starts with the ‘why’.Advertisement Source:Dinah BornatAbove and top image: One House Four Homes competition submission by ZCD Architects for homes that can grow with the family Play is fundamental to children’s development – physical, mental and social. The right to play is one of the articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the UK is a signatory. However, whether or not policy-makers consider play a topic worthy of their attention depends on the wider political context. In the last 15 years, play has been entirely absent from policy-making in England (although Scotland and Wales have done better). The current version of England’s National Planning Policy Framework only mentions children once, in passing. There is no national play strategy. This political neglect wasn’t always the case. As Bornat explains, following the Second World War, considering where and how children could play was an intrinsic part of the narrative of rebuilding the country. ‘Attitudes towards play fitted within the political and social context at the time,’ she writes, ‘representing the freedom societies had fought for and optimism for the future.’ Source:Dinah BornatHeat map of the Christchurch Estate, Hackney, east London All to Play For starts with social history, then considers what makes a good place for children to grow up in and how to involve them in the design process, and, finally, provides practical guidance for creating housing that works for children. By putting the history first, Bornat makes it clear that whether or not society plans, designs and builds places where children can thrive is, overwhelmingly, a political choice.  As the case studies demonstrate, designing for children creates places that work for everyone – and creates value. Yet despite the fact that Highgate New Town demonstrably works, it would be difficult to build it today because the whole estate has been designed to meet children’s needs. Bornat calls for an urgent rethink of ‘the perceived wisdom that creating separate, equipped, designated play areas for specific ages of children is the way to encourage “playing out” and foster the wellbeing of young people … Currently it is only “designated play” that is quantified and valued in many local plans and housing guidance.’ Source:Paul RiddleGascoigne Estate Phase 2, Barking, east London The book finishes by considering how to make high-density housing and the limited space it provides still work for children. ‘There are difficulties with sharing space at a high density, such as noise and maintenance, and these cannot be ignored,’ writes Bornat. ‘Yet not providing shared space or restricting it for children’s use, for example with age-based equipment and “no ball games” signs, does more than prevent children using these spaces; it effectively traps them indoors.’Advertisement We live in an age when the mental and physical health of children and young people is alarmingly poor, with consequences for the NHS and the economy. Ensuring all new developments are deliberately designed to support children’s wellbeing ought to be a priority. However, with a government fixated on brute economic measures, such as growth in GDP, it is perhaps not surprising that children’s needs (and their right) to play freely near home continues to be neglected. Julia Thrift is director of healthier place-making at the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) All to Play For: How to Design Child-Friendly Housing, by Dinah Bornat. RIBA Publishing, PB 172pp, £38 2025-04-23 Simon Aldous comment and share

Last week an independent commission on professional practical experience (PPE) in architecture published the results of a year-long investigation, setting out a ‘roadmap for reform’ to transform how future architects get quality work experience. Chris Husbands, chair of the PPE commission (see full comment at bottom), said the current system placed ‘too much burden on individuals’ during their journey to becoming architects and that change was ‘both necessary and possible’. He told the AJ: ‘While there is evidence of very good practice, the fact is that current arrangements for practical experience are inefficient, inconsistent and, too often, ineffective.’Advertisement Among its headline recommendations, the report calls for the ARB to remove constraints to flexibility and innovation during the education of architects, for example by scrapping the need for all of the Academic Outcomes to be achieved before the Practice Outcomes in its new education system. The commission also demands thats schools of architecture – and any other educator under the broader ‘learning providers’ banner – should take a co-ordinating role in ‘facilitating trainees’ acquisition of all the Competency Outcomes’. It also wants ‘significant improvements in workplace culture’ in how competence is gained. The ARB set up the practical experience investigation following the findings of a consultation launched by the regulator into its once-in-a-generational reform of the existing architectural education regime and the scrapping of Parts 1 to 3. The  regulator had said it wanted to drop the minimum two years of professional practical experience needed to qualify as an architect, reducing the time taken to qualify as part of its drive to modernise and open up the current system. However, a majority of the 672 consultation respondents (60 per cent) had disagreed with the plans to remove the minimum duration of professional practical, mainly due to fears that the move could reduce standards.Advertisement As a result, the ARB committed to revisiting its proposals with the support of an independent commission. After carrying out ‘extensive engagement with a variety of stakeholders’, Husband’s team concluded: ‘The [current] two-year minimum [experience requirement] does not specify the range or nature of practice to be acquired, nor does it guarantee the quality of the experience gained. ‘It is also possible that the two-year requirement gives an overly optimistic expectation to trainees about their route to registration. The challenge facing trainees is often not in the regulatory two-year minimum requirement for practice, but in how practical experience is planned, managed and acquired.’ Husband added: ‘Our recommendations will involve change for almost everyone, but they will make a difference to the future of a vital profession. They will strengthen architecture, make training more effective and coherent, and make for a more diverse and inclusive profession.’ Too much responsibility and risk lies with trainees on their route to registration Responding to the report, ARB chair Alan Kershaw said: ‘The commission’s evidence is extensive in demonstrating that too much responsibility and risk lies with trainees on their route to registration, that this is not fair nor efficient, and that it must change. ‘Its report provides a compelling vision for how to improve the experience of those trainees and the opportunities to create that change. Such a transformation will be fundamental to how future architects achieve the competencies they need to deliver high-quality architecture.’ Other recommendations for the regulator to act on include: the ARB should describe anyone in the process of completing their initial education and training as ‘trainee architects’; the board should set minimum standards for a new streamlined and standardised Record of Competency (ROC), which must be used by schools of architecture; the ARB should require all architects to undertake CPD on mentoring; the ARB should work with others, including professional bodies, to ‘help consolidate and deepen links’ between schools of architecture and employers. Jack Pringle, chair of the RIBA board of trustees, said he was ‘encouraged by some of the findings’ from the commission’s report, but hoped it would prompt speedier action from the ARB on delivering educational reform. He said: ‘[To] ensure a brilliant and diverse pipeline of talent into the profession we need fresh thinking and new approaches, starting with modes of study, which should be more flexible and, in some cases, shorter. ‘We are particularly keen to see the development of a five-year admission to registration route emerging as a viable educational model, and will work with schools and the ARB to support this development. ‘However, education reform, particularly around practical experience, has been far, far too slow in coming and I hope that the ARB Board will now act quickly in response to the commission’s recommendations. In particular, recommendations that improve accessibility to the profession by removing unnecessary barriers to entry and requiring PPE to be outcome, rather than time-based, should be strongly encouraged.’ Pringle added: ‘Some of the recommendations have significant implications for learning providers, so we are ready to engage with ARB, students and practices to help ensure that all routes into learning and professional practice work for all.’ ‘Gaining practical experience is inefficient, inconsistent and too often ineffective – our recommendations will change that’ Chris Husbands, chair of the commission on Professional Practical Experience Chris Husbands Our recommendations will overhaul how new architects are educated and trained, giving them much stronger entitlements to training that develops their competence and professionalism. Our independent commission was established in February 2024 in response to concerns about the ability of trainees to access, thrive during, and succeed through their practical experience. Today our report, with our recommendations in full, has been published after it was presented to ARB. Over the past year we have listened to new architects, to learning providers and to architectural practices. We have reviewed responses to a public call for evidence and drawn on the findings from an ARB-commissioned study of workplace behaviours and culture. We have considered the coherence of academic and practical training, working conditions and support for learning in the workplace, trainees’ experience of learning, barriers to progression and potential regulatory changes. While there is evidence of very good practice, the fact is that current arrangements for practical experience are inefficient, inconsistent, and too often, ineffective. There is inconsistency in trainees’ experience. Excellent practice is not the norm. We suspect that these findings will not be a surprise, and we set out a case for change that is moral, economic, professional and social. The most important conclusion of the commission is that the problems future architects face in accessing high-quality professional practical experience are deep-seated and embedded in over 60 years of established habits. If change is to happen, then it will require cultural and behavioural change across the entire profession. The regulator, learning providers and architects’ practices all need to give much higher priority to the learning and development of new architects. As they do so, the rewards will be extensive. Our recommendations will build stronger relationships between learning providers and practices. And, perhaps most importantly, they will contribute to shaping a more confident and diverse profession, which is more representative of the society it serves. To this end, we recommend three interlocking changes requiring actions from ARB as the regulator, learning providers and practices. That word ‘interlocking’ is important: because current practices are so deeply embedded, a coherent approach is needed across the sector. The first major recommendation is that ARB must remove constraints to innovation; that means, for example, removing the requirement that all of its Academic Outcomes should be achieved before its Practice Outcomes, focusing attention on the competencies new architects need to demonstrate rather than specifying arbitrary time minima for practical experience and, as a result, allowing practical experience acquired as part of a qualification to provide evidence toward the acquisition of the Practice Outcomes. The second major recommendation is that learning providers should take a coordinating role in facilitating trainees’ acquisition of all the Competency Outcomes, either through fully integrated programmes or by much clearer signposting of routes towards successful acquisition of the Outcomes in future. This role should be underpinned by a new streamlined Record of Competency which must be used by all learning providers, helping trainees track and reflect on their progress. Our third major recommendation is that significant improvements in workplace culture need to be secured to strengthen how competence is developed. We know what good practical experience looks like. It involves paid employed work, with effective management and supervision, underpinned by the right support for individuals so that their work experience complements their academic journey to registration as an architect – and all in an environment where they’re treated fairly. We understand the profound financial challenges many practices face, but we want mentoring skills to become integral to the skill-set of all architects. Each of these overarching recommendations is worked through in detail in our report, and the recommendations reinforce each other to drive real change across the profession. As a Commission we found some exceptional practice, but we also met trainees deeply frustrated by their experiences of training. We saw enough outstanding practice to know what is achievable. Our recommendations will involve change for almost everyone, but they will make a difference to the future of a vital profession. They will strengthen architecture, make training more effective and coherent, and make for a more diverse and inclusive profession. Husbands is an expert in education policy and improvement, particularly in policy in relation to teachers and teaching in school. His achievements include chairing the independent Skills Taskforce on UK vocational education and training policy between 2012 and 2014 and being knighted for services to higher education in the 2018 Birthday Honours. He is also chair of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), served as board chair of the Higher Education Statistics Agency and the Doncaster Opportunity Area Partnership Board until October 2022. 

The practice’s Castleton Works proposal on the site of a disused former car park on the corner of Armley Road and Wellington Road was approved unanimously by Leeds City Council’s city plans panel this month (April 10). It will feature three buildings, the tallest reaching 18 storeys high, with other buildings set to be 14 and nine storeys tall. In addition to 384 apartments, the scheme will provide 191m2 of commercial floorspace. This marks an increase from a 306-home scheme approved for the site in 2021.Advertisement The latest proposal is designed to be mostly car-free, with just seven disabled car parking spaces to be provided, along with 236 spaces for bicycles. Approval was granted after councillors had deferred the proposals a month earlier over concerns about the level of affordable housing, provision of green space and the design of a façade. In response, developers UCR Leeds and Solaris Real Estate offered to increase the provision of affordable housing from 1.8 per cent to 5 per cent and publicly accessible green space was increased from around 800m2 to 2,096m2, including by removing a padel court from the plans. Designs were also revised to raise a parapet and strengthen a corner with a column after councillors felt the building on the corner of the site was not ‘of a landmark quality’, given it would act as a ‘gateway to the city centre’. Woods Bagot said in its design and access statement: ‘Care and attention were dedicated to creating three new open spaces with distinct characters. Programme and services have been organised to create active and inviting frontages, while keeping service spaces out of the public’s sight.’Advertisement Articulation of bars as they meet at ground level gives the development a greater sense of refinement and a human scale at its base, it said, adding that vertical emphasis to elements of the massing aid with reducing the scheme’s visual impact and give a strong overall proportionality. The design was informed by the nearby Grade II*-listed Roundhouse building and heritage asset 1 Canal Place. Council officers said the design of its ground-floor plinth strengthens visual connections with the buildings by alluding to the arched openings of the Roundhouse through their employment of arches within the new plinth at ground level, creating a legible visual lineage at human scale. Conditions attached to the permission include provision of two extra parking spaces for car club users. Architect’s view Castleton Works site in Leeds, though currently a disused parking lot in an industrial area, sits at a key junction in the expanding cycle and tram networks. Unfortunately, in 2021 the local authority had consented to a scheme that reacted defensively to its location – a podium of parking that offered no value to the public realm and lacked vision for its future community. The mission was clear: change the council's minds. Through three consultations with Leeds City Council's design officers, we offered an alternate vision of sustainable living and well-appointed green spaces. By reducing parking from 15 per cent to 5 per cent, ultimately achieving a car-free scheme, we freed up 2,700m² of valuable space. Where today stands a fenced-off, hostile environment, we envision an attractive and lively place. By organising our massing into three parallel bars, the architecture creates natural pathways, connecting the street edge to the heart of the site through three welcoming open spaces. Our proposal was place-first and ground-up, focusing on the choreography of the ground plan to create a vibrant public realm. Services and waste are corralled out of sight, allowing the towers to frame and activate the surrounding green spaces. Around the base of the buildings, we introduced a mixture of different uses and façade designs which add depth, activity and human scale to the architecture. In the deep green at the centre, townhouse units cluster around the play area to enhance safety through passive overlook, fostering a rhythm that moves between up and down, creating pocket gardens and terraces which soften the junction between building and landscape. At the site's most prominent corner, new commercial spaces energise a plaza, while residents' amenity areas further activate the street frontage along Armley Road. They are framed arched precast concrete portals, connecting the interior and exterior visually, while alluding the nearby historical Roundhouse building. This ethos extends upwards through the architecture, manifesting as a three-dimensional community infrastructure that supports leisure and wellness. The design incorporates setbacks and notches, which activate the building’s form and create communal terraces, creating places for connection among residents. As Castleton Works demonstrates, designers, planners, and city-shapers are not passive observers in the housing crisis. We are active agents with the power and the responsibility to shape places and craft homes that deliver enduring value to people and their communities. James Khamsi, associate principal, Woods Bagot

The competition – now in its seventh year – sought proposals for an installation on the roof of the north-west corner of the Hoxton Docks complex on the Regent’s Canal. The overall winner has been named as Moonument, by George Gil in collaboration with the Redundant Architects Recreation Association. The other finalists were: Red Tape by Luke Lupton; Resonant Nest by Robin Sparkes at Bodyclock; Sisyphus by Carlos Tolosa Tejedor and Kilian Schellenberger Of 8-Parenthesis; and The Last Straw by Chao Gao at Ciaociao Design.Advertisement Last year’s edition of the annual £25,000 project, backed by historic regeneration specialist Shiva, focused on transforming land formerly occupied by a Soviet T-34 tank in Southwark. It was won by Good Shape. This year’s Antepavilion returns to its original home following a legal battle between the client and Hackney Council. The council had previously won an injunction requiring the removal of 2020’s winning scheme, a series of floating sharks by architect Jaimie Shorten. This year’s shortlist was picked from 111 applications by a jury which included Hannah Sheerin and Lioba Pflaum of Good Shape, the artist Helen Marten, Shiva director Russell Gray and Ed Moseley – co-founder and director of London Structures Lab. Commenting on the winning scheme, the jury said: ‘Moonument’s entry presentation made it clear favourite among this year’s shortlisted entries for its aesthetic ambition.  The jury were also persuaded that the construction process and budgeting were capable of being effectively managed by George Gil and RARA.’ Antepavilion described the 2025 brief as ‘open to broad interpretation. Entrants need have regard only to the location where their proposal is to be realised and the platform, podium or plinth as its base’.Advertisement The two-storey 1960s Columbia Wharf and its neighbour Brunswick Wharf stand on a canalside site that was originally home to the Gas Light and Coke Company. It was transformed into the Hoxton Docks artist studios almost 30 years ago. The complex, at 53-55 Laburnum Street, overlooks Haggerston Baths and BDP’s 2008 Bridge Academy. Previous Antepavilion installations to occupy the site include Flood House by Matthew Butcher, Potemkin Theatre by Maich Swift Architects, and All Along the Watchtower by Project Bunny Rabbit. The latest brief challenged participants to respond to the unique site and its planning history. The reuse of existing construction materials stored on the site was encouraged. The overall winner will receive a prize fund of up to £25,000, of which at least 60 per cent is to be spent on materials and labour and the remainder taken as prize money.  The installation is to be completed by 1 August. The shortlist Shortlisted: Moonument by George Gil Moonument by George Gil [WINNER] Moonument is a celebration of Antepavilion’s recent triumphs. It fundamentally questions Hackney’s definition of development through three facets: permanence, size, and attachment. It is an animated symbol of contradiction: bold yet subtle, large yet light, shallow yet deep, familiar yet unrecognisable. Shortlisted: Red Tape by Luke Lupton Red Tape by Luke Lupton Red Tape proposes two big rolls of rep tape (1) that sit on the pavilion plinth … (2) insidiously weaving its way around the plinth and its building … (3) crossing roads and climbing walls … Red Tape puts the ridiculousness and reach of our planning system plain sight … Shortlisted: Resonant Nest by Robin Sparkes at Bodyclock Resonant Nest by Robin Sparkes at Bodyclock Reinterpreting the historic sound mirrors of Dungeness, UK, Resonant Nest: An Amphitheatre for Birds fosters stronger relationships between urban and avian ecosystems along the waterways of Hoxton. The design adapts boat-building methodologies to bend wood into a parabolic curve, focusing sound to extend the reach of high-frequency avian calls over greater distances from within the cone. Shortlisted: Sisyphus by Carlos Tolosa Tejedor And Kilian Schellenberger of 8-parenthesis Sisyphus by Carlos Tolosa Tejedor and Kilian Schellenberger of 8-parenthesis Sisyphus, from Greek mythology, is a figure defined not by heroism, but by selfishness, cunning, and an almost absurd disregard for the natural order. Our proposal for the Antepavilion takes inspiration from this myth, exploring the absurdity of striving against impossible odds, and the bottles errands ran by police and planning authorities when it serves no real purpose. As the brief suggests, this year’s Antepavilion will offer three distinct experiences in three dedicated spaces: Platform/Podium/Plinth, The Pyramid, and The Water Jet. Shortlisted: The Last Straw by Chao Gao at Ciaociao Design The Last Straw by Chao Gao at Ciaociao Design Beyond the final installation, The Last Straw is a movement – reviving craftsmanship, fostering play, and driving education. Built from raw, honest materials like mud and straw, The Last Straw embrace simplicity to ensure inclusivity and engagement. Rooted in the form of the traditional bee skep, crafted in a natural setting, they blur the boundaries between art, craft, and architecture – demanding the preservation of these threatened traditions in an increasingly controlled urban world.

This project is a redesign of Stratford Workshops, a former 1980s printworks building. The factory’s original features, mostly covered up and painted over through time, were the inspiration for the design, which aimed to reveal the native heritage and character of the building, creating a contemporary take on industrial aesthetics. Client General Projects’ brief was to provide improved workspace to existing and new tenants, upgrading the building’s offer through layout redistribution, a new entrance, prominent reception and pockets of communal space scattered through its dense plan of office units. The original building was constructed in 1893 and served as Great Eastern Railways’ press for printing tickets, timetables and posters. Printing took place across four stacked open floor plates, with large north light windows in a ribbon across the top floor. Monumental steel beams spanned the width of the building, creating a flexible plan which, over time, was fragmented into cellular offices with minimal shared amenities. Studio MUTT’s approach was to maximise interaction between disparate tenants by reclaiming some of the original building’s expansive dimensions for communal space, as well as using colour to create more legible circulation. The redesign was holistic, and included work on interiors, bespoke furniture, graphics and wayfinding. Advertisement Much of the design was about peeling back and revealing. New additions such as doors, a reception, tea points, washrooms and meeting rooms were designed to build on the character of the building’s heritage, but also to be in contrast with the material and detailing of the old brick-and-steel structure. These peculiar, yet familiar, insertions breathe new life into the building, allowing it to begin writing the story of its future. Alexander Turner, director, Studio MUTT   Project data Start on site April 2023 Completion Gross internal floor area 3,700m2 Construction cost Undisclosed Architect Studio MUTT Client General Projects M&E consultant David Webb Associates Quantity surveyor Quartz Project manager Quartz Principal designer Private consultant Approved building inspector Private consultant Wayfinding and artworks Studio MUTT, Corbin Wood Main contractor Brac CAD software used Vectorworks Predicted design life 15 years     Specification  The design of Stratford Workshops prioritised robust materials to suit the needs of creative work units and maker spaces. The visual aesthetic aimed to reflect the building’s energy and reference the history of the original printing press through colour choices. A cohesive colour strategy was implemented throughout the building, incorporating material selection and furniture design. Timber became a signature material for common areas and the colour palette drew inspiration from old printing machinery and ticket colours. Burnt orange shades were used in shared spaces such as stairwells and kitchens, distinguishing them from private work areas. Bathrooms were redesigned as unisex facilities with a central washbasin and mirrored panels to create a sense of spaciousness. The orange colour scheme continued in the bathrooms, with coloured MDF stalls creating a patchwork effect.Advertisement In the kitchens, stainless steel was used for worktops, splashbacks and shelves, referencing the building’s steel beams. Mirrored surfaces again enhanced the feeling of space and pine doors with a lacquered stripe pattern added a decorative touch. Alexander Turner, director, Studio MUTT     Selected products  Valchromat Investwood Orange, Treatex Hardwax oil finish Bathrooms investwood.ptEuropean decorative pine Specialised panel products Fire-rated, clear matt Osmo oil finish Kitchens spp.co.ukRubber flooring NORA Rubber Flooring Norament 5345 (dark green), 5342 (light green) Corridors nora.comVinyl flooring Forbo Surestep 172932 tangerine Bathrooms forbo.comStainless steel sink, backsplash, skirting Bespoke, Stainless Direct UK Marine-grade, brushed finish Kitchens, bathrooms stainlessdirectuk.comCone pendant light Frandsen Benjamine White Kitchens madeindesign.co.ukTube pendant light Encapsulite MT70 LED AC2, 878mm, MT360 LED, 1525mm Corridors and bathroom encapsulite.co.uk Franke sink Franke 580 x 450mm, stainless steel Kitchen franke.comWall-mounted washbasin Duravit Duravit Vero handbasin Bathrooms duravit.co.ukBathroom fittings Crosswater Crosswater Mike Pro single lever tap and mixer Bathrooms crosswater.co.ukBoiling water tap Rangemaster Kitchens plumbworld.co.ukToilet Duravit Duravit ME compact Bathrooms pro.duravit.co.ukFlush plate Geberit Geberet Omega 60, brushed stainless steel Bathrooms geberit.co.ukSoap dispenser Manomano Manomano 304, stainless steel Bathrooms manomano.co.ukToilet cistern Geberit Duofix frame, wall-hung Omego cistern Bathrooms geberit.co.ukStrip light Iguzzini Iguzzini LED Strip Tube, white, IP44 Bathrooms iguzzini.comRecessed spotlight Iguzzini Iguzzini Easy Space Recess, white, IP44 Bathrooms iguzzini.com      

Leeds University Source:&nbsp Shutterstock The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has approved three ‘new-style’ master’s qualifications at the University of Leeds, which are not based on Parts 1-3 The courses are the first to be green lit since the ARB proposed reforming architectural education by moving away from Parts 1 to 3 and scrapping the requirement for a minimum two years of professional practical experience.  The University of Leeds will offer a two-year MArch course, whereby students must meet the ARB’s competency outcomes, as well as two five-year integrated architecture and engineering courses. One of the courses includes a paid year-long industrial placement.  Students of the five-year integrated masters will receive an MArch and an MEng, meaning they will be able to become registered professional architects, civil and structural engineers or building services engineers.Advertisement However, while graduates of the course will have met the ARB's Academic Outcomes, they will still need to meet its Practice Outcomes before being able to register as an architect. All three University of Leeds courses have been approved by the regulator’s accreditation committee, but will only be formally confirmed following a statutory advisory consultation with relevant professional bodies. The courses will open for direct entry and internal transfer from September 2025.  ARB chair Alan Kershaw said: ‘We’re thrilled to see the first new-style degrees reach this stage of the accreditation process, including two integrated qualifications that will take students from their undergraduate degree through to a master’s that meets our academic outcomes.  ‘This represents real progress in our work to modernise architectural education and training, and shows how innovative learning providers can make the most of the flexibility opened up by ARB’s education reforms.’ Advertisement University of Leeds architecture lead Justin Lunn said: ‘[Our] new integrated programmes … are the realisation of a long-held vision to create a unified approach to education with a goal to produce graduates who have expertise across disciplines, allowing them to be more effective and collaborative professionals from the beginning of their career.  ‘We’d been at an advanced stage of planning for Part 2 as an addition to our Part 1 course when ARB’s education reforms were announced, and we realised that they were an opportunity to implement an improved offer.’ RIBA board chair Jack Pringle commented: ‘We are clear that creating new, more flexible and affordable routes to becoming an architect is a must, to ensure the profession is inclusive and representative of more sections of society. ‘Widening access to architecture also helps maintain the skills and talent pipeline to meet future housing and infrastructure needs, so we very much welcome new integrated courses. ‘We are particularly keen to see the development of a five-year admission to registration route emerging as a viable educational model, and will work with schools and the ARB to support this development. ‘We also look forward to working with schools of architecture to ensure that all new routes to the register work for students, universities and employers alike.’ 2025-04-17 Will Ing comment and share

Richmond Council approved the London-based practice’s scheme on April 9. It involves demolishing an existing timber café and toilets at Roehampton Gate, which were built in 2004 as temporary replacements after a fire destroyed the previous facilities. Plans also include cycle storage, extensive landscaping and a pedestrian access gate on the park boundary. In its submission to the council, the architect described the proposal as for two modest, timber-clad buildings, linked by a curving, timber-framed canopy supporting a green roof, ‘which defines the outdoor pedestrian area and provides shade and shelter’.Advertisement The sloping roof will contain solar panels and a screened rooftop plant area above the kitchen and stores. Although technically the building was considered inappropriate due to being built on Metropolitan Open Land and in a Grade I listed park, council officers said this was outweighed by the benefits for health and wellbeing, the economy, employment, transport, accessibility, design and sustainability. Councillors on the committee agreed, with Liberal Democrat Julia Neden-Watts describing it as a ‘pretty well-designed scheme’ and praising its biodiversity net gain (BNG). A report submitted with the application states that a 17.91 per cent gain can be achieved at the site through the introduction of 3,020m2 of lowland dry acidic grassland, 340m2 of acid grassland on its green roof, a bioswale along the southwest of the site and the planting of 25 new trees. Earlier plans also included a flexible meeting space but this was dropped at pre-application stage following concerns about the size of the facility compared to the existing buildings.Advertisement David Morley Architects’ planning application noted the scheme would establish a direct relationship between the building and park landscape and primarily use natural materials. Paving will be mainly porous coxwell gravel with tarmac only used in trafficked or intensely used areas; seats will be made from stone-filled gabions with timber planks where possible; cycle parking will feature bespoke lightweight racks and bars, potentially made from corten steel; and water attenuation will be provided by natural swales with corten-grid channels. The 970ha park is the largest of London’s Royal parks. King Charles I moved his court to Richmond Palace in 1625 to escape the plague, and had the park enclosed with an eight-mile brick wall in 1637 to keep his deer inside and the public out.

The £44 million Mourne Gateway project in Newcastle, County Down, involves building a visitor centre at the disused Thomas Quarry on Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland.  The proposal, for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, includes a 1km-long cable car running to Donard Park. London and Belfast-based AJ100 practice TODD Architects is also on the project team, led by Arup and also featuring Gleeds and design consultancy Tandem Design. But in a decision this month, the National Trust, which owns the quarry, said it was suspending its engagement with the proposals because it had not received enough information about its environmental impact, amid concerns over the impact of thousands of visitors to the site.Advertisement The trust said it had ‘consistently stated the need for robust and comprehensive environmental assessments' for the project and that, in the absence of such an assessment, it was 'pausing our engagement at this time’. A National Trust spokesperson argued that the habitat on Mourne Mountain was ‘exceptionally fragile’ and contained internationally scarce dry heath, blanket bog and specialised flora and fauna, which were devastated by wildfire in April 2021. She told the AJ: ‘Our strategy prioritises nature restoration and looking after wildlife, historic places, and landscapes, and, as a conservation charity, we need to prioritise where we use our resources towards our core conservation objectives.’ She added that the organisation remains open to engagement in future and had shared data about its efforts to restore habitats following the 2021 fire with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. The move follows warnings first aired in 2023 over the environmental impact of the proposed £44 million tourism project, as the AJ reported at the time.Advertisement The council has now said that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) will be ready before the end of the year. A council spokesperson told the AJ that it ‘has shared with the National Trust all the environmental information that we hold, and acknowledge that the environmental concerns they have raised are shared by the council and are being fully considered, and will be addressed as part of the development of the EIA’. The spokesperson continued: ‘This is a considerable piece of work that involves seasonal environmental/ecology surveys and regular engagement with key stakeholders, which is encouraged, including with the National Trust.’ d-on architects was previously engaged to RIBA Stage 2. The project went out for consultation in March 2023 with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council aiming for its completion in 2029. Initial designs for the scheme, also known as the Mournes Gondola, were criticised by some, including a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, who called it a ‘metal monstrosity’, and a resident who likened it to a ‘Bond villain base’. Nial O Neill of d-on architects called it a ‘modern intervention on the scarred landscape left by the process of industrial quarrying’.

I didn’t grow up in social housing. My childhood was spent in an architecturally unremarkable housing development in a picture-postcard Bedfordshire village. My understanding of council homes was, if I’m honest, limited and filtered through stereotypes. It wasn’t until I started working in the built environment that I began to grasp what social housing really meant: not just shelter but something that could fundamentally change lives. One early project with CityWest Homes underlined that. We converted a two-bed flat into a four-bedroom duplex in a prime London postcode. It was, at the time, the biggest and most complex job we’d taken on. When the work was done, I walked the site with the client, proud of the team’s achievement. A young girl living there thanked me. I nodded politely, but she stopped me. ‘No, you don’t understand,’ she said. ‘I finally have my own room. I used to share with my brothers. Now I can do my homework. I want to be a doctor, and now I have somewhere to study.’ That moment reframed everything. Small privileges we take for granted, like a space to think, are often the foundations for ambition. A good home can unlock someone’s potential. So, the recent news that families in parts of England face waits of over 100 years for suitably sized social homes shines a harsh light on what the housing crisis actually means.Advertisement Research from the National Housing Federation, Shelter, and Crisis found that in 32 council areas, the wait is longer than 18 years. In some London boroughs, it’s over a century. More than 1.3 million families are on waiting lists. A record 164,000 children live in temporary accommodation. These aren’t numbers; they’re lives paused. This isn’t just a crisis; it’s a moral collapse. And it’s not even surprising. In my ‘Ghost of Housing’ column, I warned that the unthinkable was becoming inevitable thanks to the consequences of decades of inertia. We need to abandon the fantasy that the market will fix this Even with the government’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament, the elephant in the room is social housing. It’s expensive, risky, and currently unviable. Developers are lining up to build luxury flats, but ask for decent homes for working families, and you’ll hear silence. Why? Because the numbers don’t stack up. We lack skilled labour. We lack incentives. And we’re operating under a planning system that actively works against what we need. The government may be saying the right things, but it needs to show the courage to act. That means radical legislative reform: easy-build zones, streamlined permissions, tax incentives, and rethinking ownership models. And we must upskill the entire industry to ensure we have the right people working in the right areas.Advertisement We also need to abandon the fantasy that the market will fix this. Help to Buy and shared ownership are sticking plasters. Social housing isn’t a safety net; it’s the foundation of a fair society. A century-long wait is a national disgrace. We can’t keep recycling the same discussions while the crisis deepens. Those of us in the industry must speak plainly and act collectively. I hear many views on what needs to change: housing density, green or grey belt use, rural or edge-of-city growth, land valuations, planning reform. And they’re all valid. We need all of these solutions. That’s what the 100-year waiting list reminded me about. We can’t wait for a single, unified masterplan to emerge, because time isn’t on our side. Instead, we need to back every serious idea that could meaningfully shift the dial. That means supporting colleagues who advocate for densification and infill as much as those calling for land release on the green or grey belt. It means listening to planners and architects, local authorities and housing associations. Each can add a piece of the puzzle. Above all, it means speaking clearly and with urgency. If you’re working in this space, your voice matters. If you have a solution, however local or specific, it’s worth hearing. The problem we face is too big for silence or for silos. So speak up, speak out, and support each other. We are running out of time. Kunle Barker is a property expert, journalist and broadcaster  2025-04-17 Kunle Barker comment and share

A former senior architect at Aberdeen City Council has been removed from the Architects Register after assaulting his wife and chasing a 14-year-old boy with a meat cleaver Colin Doig pleaded guilty to assault and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at Dundee Sheriff Court on 30 April 2024 after an incident involving his wife and a 14-year-old boy in November 2022.  At around 10pm, after he had been drinking, Doig entered a dispute with the boy and pursued him with a ‘meat cleaver, or similar implement,’ Dundee Sheriff Court found. He chased the boy upstairs, repeatedly punching his bedroom door, shouting and screaming.  When his wife attempted to intervene, he repeatedly pushed her to the floor, causing her an unstable spiral fracture to her left tibia, which required eight pins and a plate to be inserted into her leg during a subsequent operation. Doig was arrested after his wife called the police.Advertisement In June 2024, Doig was sentenced to 225 hours of unpaid work. He was also made subject to a notice under section 7 of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, which could bar him from working with children or adults.  The Architects Registration Board (ARB)’s professional conduct committee has now decided to erase Doig from the register, finding that his conviction ‘has material relevance to the registered person’s fitness to practise as an architect’.  In its written decision, the committee said it had considered Doig’s lack of previous disciplinary history, his engagement with the ARB throughout its inquiries; and his diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder type 1, which a social work reporter told the court would have affected the behaviour relating to his crimes.  However, the committee concluded: ‘The admitted allegation has the potential to diminish both the registered person’s reputation and that of the profession generally,’ adding that erasure ‘would be appropriate to protect the public’.  An Aberdeen City Council spokesperson confirmed that Doig was no longer employed by the authority.Advertisement 2025-04-16 Will Ing comment and share

The infamous prison is 10 miles west of Belfast and held paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles, including Bobby Sands and a further nine who died during hunger strikes in the 1980s. The prison closed in 2000 with demolition of swathes — but not all — of the site taking place from 2006.  In 2013, Libeskind and Belfast practice McAdam Design were given planning permission for a peace centre at the 150ha site. The proposal had included plans to convert the former H6 prison block, prison hospital, emergency control building and chapel.  The plans were originally backed by both parties in the Northern Irish government: the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin. The proposals had been developed by an arms-length body, the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation. Advertisement But the plans were stalled by the DUP’s Peter Robinson, who served as first minister between 2008 and 2016, amid concerns that the centre – and, in particular, the parts of the old prison – could become a ‘shrine to terrorism’. No agreement has since been reached on the scheme and the EU has since withdrawn its offer of £18 million in grant funding.  Speaking to BBC Northern Ireland’s The View programme, Libeskind said these concerns were ‘absurd’, adding that his proposal was ‘the opposite of [a shrine to terrorism]’.  He said: ‘That site, which is so charged with history, deserves to be addressed and let people come and have a common ground in which to discuss, learn from each other, discover what the past was and how to make a better future.  ‘We cannot continue living with the violence and the ghosts of the past. We have to move forward. I’m surprised, personally, that Belfast cannot come together; that the conflict is still there in the political levels, which should certainly see that the world is changing around us.’ When asked whether he understood the concerns some people had over the scheme, Libeskind said: ‘I do understand. I had those sensitivities at Ground Zero when I won the competition to be the master architect. Advertisement ‘Some people said let’s not build anything for 50 years here, because we are so sensitive we have all kinds of emotions, we don’t know how it will play out. But the very act of rebuilding Ground Zero brought people together.’  McAdam Design and the Northern Irish government were contacted for comment. 

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council approved the project earlier this month (3 April) to enable works on the medieval-inspired Art and Crafts home in Langton Green, drawn up by the local practice. AOMD said that its design, Kissing Gables, was designed to offer both privacy and connection between overlapping rooms. It said the interiors will consist of rooms overlapping at corners, while a double-height dining and family room will provide views of the large, steeply sloping roof with low-level glazing looking on to a garden terrace.Advertisement At the rear, the home will form an L-shape enclosure of large cat slide roofs, with recessed entrances and subtle arches referencing Arts and Crafts designs such as CFA Voysey's The Homestead. The practice said the scheme also draws inspiration from the nearby village with architectural features including touching tiled gables at right angles. AOMD founder Michael Dillon added: ‘The two building wings are oriented around existing trees and ornamental bushes, at their meeting point creating a natural entrance and verdant front garden featuring new Silver and Downy birches'. AOMD said in its design and access statement that Kissing Gables aimed to be far less intrusive than the previous proposal for the site, which included two homes and was refused in 2018. The council received some 21 objections to the plans, including concerns about overlooking, character, access, drainage and the loss of a young oak tree, which was planted as a condition of removing a mature tree on the site.Advertisement An objection from Owen Hoare of Bristol-based Nimble Planning and Development said: ‘The proposal would result in an alien and incongruous form of backland development which would harm the visual amenity of the surrounding area.’ The scheme’s developer, Caswell&Dainow, specialises in small sites. Its website describes it as able to ‘unlock the hidden potential of buildings, gardens, and in-between spaces’. Kissing Gables is its first project outside London. In 2018, plans to demolish 21 and 23 Newlands and replace them with 10 new homes were refused. Tunbridge Wells-based AOMD was founded by Dillon in 2022. He worked at Stirling Prize-winning Mæ architects for 10 years previously. His last completed building there was the Stirling shortlisted Sands End Arts and Community Centre. Client’s view Caswell & Dainow’s mission is to unlock the potential of underutilised land through exceptional design and intelligent architecture. This goal is consistent whether we’re working in the heart of central London or in the more rural areas of the home counties. Every village and town holds untapped space and opportunities, and our Langton Green project demonstrates that it’s possible to create high-quality, sustainable family homes without eroding settlement boundaries or resorting to monotonous, cookie-cutter housing across greenfield sites. Architect Michael Dillon of AOMD brought together the perfect blend of experience and local knowledge with the practice located just a few miles from the site. Their deep understanding of the local vernacular allowed us to develop a design that is both innovative and respectful of the existing architectural landscape and nearby conservation areas. The development is driven by design ambition—confident, progressive, and poised to contribute meaningfully to the area’s rich built environment. Charlie Caswell, co-founding director, Caswell&Dainow Project data Architect Michael Dillon (AOMD) Client Caswell&Dainow Design 2022-2023 Internal floor area 232m2 Gross (internal + external) floor area 470m2

Designed in a traditional style by Ben Pentreath Architects, Tornagrain is an emerging new town located to the east of Inverness. As well as delivering 5,000 new homes in response to increased housing demand in The Highlands, the development will provide extensive community infrastructure including schools, shops, health, leisure and employment facilities, with an expected completion date of 2070. Developer Moray Estates aims to create a model town for the 21st century that fosters a vibrant and successful community. So far, several hundred homes have been completed, with further phases under way. Source:Ben Pentreath Architect's voice Achieving a high-quality bar is complicated on any new housing development, but is especially so when the scheme is as ambitious as the new town of Tornagrain. The brief to succeed is fundamentally set by our client, Moray Estates, which takes a long and patient view on its development goals. We have been given time and space to consider local precedents of plans and building types and have an ongoing engagement. The project has had significant financial challenges. Housing values are relatively low, so the margin to create something special and still generate some land value is tight. It has led to some value-engineering. I feel this has improved the scheme, as it is simpler, and that is creating a restrained beauty of its own. Ben Pentreath, founder, Ben Pentreath Architects   Project data Location Tornagrain, Inverness Type New build Context Rural Planning permission date October 2013 Completion 2070 (anticipated) Construction cost £1 billion Construction cost per m² £2,260 (excluding infrastructure) Construction cost per home £255,544 Number of homes 4,960 Housing type Houses and flats Mix of homes Percentage of 1B2P: 6%, Percentage of 2B4P: 36%, Percentage of 3B5P: 40%, Percentage of 4B6P: 18%, Percentage of 5B8P: 0.01% Site area 250ha Density 26 homes per hectare Development area 507,000m² (residential only) Height 1-4 storeys Tenure mix 40% shared equity, 40% mid-market rent and 20% social rented Percentage of affordable housing 25% (whole site) Aspect <100% dual-aspect homes Client Tornagrain Client type Private Architectural appointment Invited competition Procurement Design and build Design or Quality Review Panel review Yes Design team novation No Design guardian role retained Yes Main contractor Places for People Main structural system Timber frameAdvertisement Environmental data Annual carbon emissions Unknown Operational energy use Unknown Onsite energy generation 45% (via local biogas and PVs) Average energy bill per home £727/yr (for 4B6P house) All-electric No Post-occupancy evaluation undertaken Yes U-values Walls: 0.17 W/m²K, Roofs: 0.10 W/m²K, Floors: 0.14 W/m²K Airtightness at 50Pa 3.4 m³/h.m² (Plot 64) Source:Matti Kremer Resident's voice When I first drove through Tornagrain, I was really surprised at how charming it was. It was the cutest place you could imagine. The houses are so beautiful. I bought my first home here in 2022 – a two-bedroom semi. It has been a wonderful home. I’ve recently purchased a four-bedroom detached house in the village and will be moving in very soon. The village is a real community. There are green open spaces, community gardens and orchards, and lovely paths that wind though the village. We also have our own community association, website and newsletter. Best of all, we have our own village shop, pharmacy and a fabulous café. Soon we will be getting a primary school, doctor’s surgery and more shops. I would not live anywhere else now. Suzi Source:Matti Kremer Client's voice Moray Estate’s vision is the creation of a traditional market town, very like the market towns so enduring and popular all over Scotland. We intend Tornagrain to be a thriving, complex, resilient community, where residents can live, work and find the services that they need in their daily lives. We have come to understand that these things don’t happen by chance, rather that they are the consequence of how a community is planned, what amenities are provided and how that is stitched together in the town plan. We appreciate the benefits of compact, walkable streets designed for people and not, primarily, the car. We would like to see a place develop where the social and health benefits of a community, in the widest sense, are allowed to flourish. John Douglas Stuart, Earl of Moray and landowner

Zodiac House, part of a 1960s mixed-use complex in West Croydon, which was once home to the characters Mark and Jez in Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, has been repurposed as affordable housing after lying empty for more than 30 years. Instead of demolition, shedkm retrofitted the four-storey former office block to create 73 apartments and a communal residents’ lounge. The once-derelict forecourt is now a community garden and café. The flats have now been acquired by Croydon Council to provide temporary accommodation for local families and individuals facing homelessness. Architect's voice Zodiac House transforms a disused office block into a dynamic space that fosters a sense of community. We focused on maximising natural light, creating well-proportioned apartments and crafting inviting shared spaces that encourage social engagement. A key challenge was working within the constraints of the existing structure. Through meticulous planning and creative insertions we were able to maximise the building’s potential, while ensuring a seamless blend of new and old. We transformed the unwelcoming undercroft space into a new residents’ communal lounge with views out to the landscaped courtyards. Retaining and repurposing the existing fabric significantly reduced embodied carbon. Thoughtful material choices and efficient layouts further contributed to the project’s environmental responsibility. Zodiac House nurtures connection, wellbeing and a new way of urban living. Ella Flint, architectural lead, shedkm   Project data Location Chatfield Road, Croydon Type Retrofit Context Urban Planning permission date November 2022 Completion November 2024 Construction cost Undisclosed Construction cost per m² Undisclosed Construction cost per home Undisclosed Number of homes 73 Housing type Flats Mix of homes Percentage of 1B2P: 64%, Percentage of 2B4P: 32%, Percentage of 3B6P: 4% Site area 0.439ha Density 166 homes per hectare Development area 5,740m² Height 4 storeys Tenure mix 100% emergency accommodation Percentage of affordable housing 100% Client Common Projects (funded by Mitheridge) Client type Developer Architectural appointment Direct Procurement Design and build Design or Quality Review Panel review No Design team novation No Design guardian role retained Yes Lead contractor ARJ Construction, Awesome Construction Main structural system Concrete frameAdvertisement Environmental data Annual carbon emissions Unknown Operational energy use Unknown Onsite energy generation Nil Average energy bill per home Unknown All-electric Yes Post-occupancy evaluation undertaken No (planned following occupancy) U-values Walls: 0.18 W/m²K, Floors: 0.18-0.30 W/m²K Airtightness at 50Pa <5 m³/h.m² Client's voice Many office buildings across the UK, underused yet strategically located, are ripe for repurposing into housing. Zodiac Court in Croydon exemplifies how we can deliver a new type of sustainable housing in areas facing acute housing pressure.When Common Projects acquired the multifunctional 1960s block, it had long been in a state of disrepair. We sought to transform it into a renewed asset for the local community, while sensitively retaining its heritage, art and carbon-intensive concrete bones. This involved using permitted development rights to convert the offices into space standard-compliant homes – 73 in total – surrounding a communal courtyard featuring original artwork. Sold this year to Croydon Council for temporary accommodation, these homes are modern, bright and clean – a stark contrast with the poor-quality housing typically provided via costly private sector rental. Steve Sanham, founding director, Common Projects

Built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), Hanham Hall was the first large-scale volume housebuilder scheme in England to meet the 2016 zero-carbon standard. The Barratt Homes development created 185 new homes on a 3.8ha site formerly occupied by a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Bristol. HTA Design’s project included the renovation of the Grade II*-listed Hanham Hall itself, which has been repurposed for community use. The extensive grounds have been regenerated to increase biodiversity as well as providing playspaces, greenhouses and allotments. Architect's voice Our first challenge was achieving the zero-carbon standard for all homes. Leading with fabric-first construction, structural insulated panels (SIPs) formed walls and roofs, providing excellent thermal performance, airtightness and speed of construction. Utilising SIPs led to considerable benefits compared with a standard onsite masonry approach. Combined with photovoltaic panels and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems, the homes minimise energy use and cost. Simple passive design solutions support comfort and usability year-round. All homes meet Lifetime Homes and Building for Life standards. The development had to carefully respond to, and even enhance, the surrounding green belt fields. New biodiverse meadows and orchards were designed around existing mature hedgerows, waterways and retained mature trees, embedded as part of a site-wide sustainable urban drainage system. Simon Toplis, partner and head of architecture, HTA Design   Project data Location Whittucks Road, Hanham, Bristol Type New build Context Suburban Planning permission date November 2009 Completion 2013 Construction cost £42 million Construction cost per m² £3,700 Construction cost per home £215,000 Number of homes 185 Housing type Houses and flats Mix of homes Percentage of 1B2P: 19%, Percentage of 2B3P: 26%, Percentage of 2B4P: 9%, Percentage of 3B5P: 10%, Percentage of 4B6P: 33%, Percentage of 5B8P: 3% Site area 3.8ha Density 51.3 homes per hectare Development area 18,994m² (total), 17,006m² (residential) Height 2-3 storeys Tenure mix 65% private sale, 35% affordable Percentage of affordable housing 35% Aspect 100% dual-aspect homes Client Barratt Homes Client type Housebuilder Architectural appointment Direct appointment Procurement Design and build Design or Quality Review Panel review No Design team novation Yes Lead contractor Barratt Homes Main structural system Composite timber frameAdvertisement Environmental data Annual carbon emissions 10.62 kgCO2/m² Operational energy use 58 kWh/m²/yr Onsite energy generation 21% Average energy bill per home Unknown All-electric No Post-occupancy evaluation undertaken Yes U-values 0.14 W/m²K (walls, roofs and floors, area-weighted) Airtightness at 50Pa 1.50 m³/h.m² Residents' voices I love that Hanham Hall is surrounded by the wildlife-rich Avon Woods, expansive fields, and has its own wildflower meadow, allotments, orchard and beehives. Anonymous resident After a neighbour lent us a garden bed in their allotment for us to trial, gardening has become an integral part of my creative and wellbeing practice. It has also been a big part of getting to know people – and a big part of the whole ethos here of getting in touch with nature. Anonymous resident Living here feeds my fascination with nature and seasonality, allowing me to imbue my creative practice, artworks and workshops with this same curiosity and reverence. Holly

Levitt Bernstein’s intergenerational development in Hackney, east London, brings together three different communities under one roof. Buccleuch House provides 41 independent homes for older people (for Hanover) along with 38 private sale apartments (for Hill) and 28 affordable rent and shared ownership apartments for the local Orthodox Jewish population (for AIHA – Agudas Israel Housing Association). The design of each tenure is tailored to its particular needs, delineated subtly on the outside by different balcony configurations, while contributing to a calm, cohesive whole. Architect's voice Our design provides three tenure types for the distinct users within one elegant building. To enhance older people’s housing quality, we developed flexible living spaces with open plan one-bed and two-bed typologies featuring quiet outdoor space. These units are positioned at the site’s southern end to maximise natural light. The Agudas Israel flats presented unique challenges, as they required larger family units. Orthodox Jewish homes feature staggered balconies providing clear sky views for the Sukkot festival. Private apartments are open plan, with one or two bedrooms to suit first-time buyers. Buccleuch House embodies simplicity without compromising design quality. The outcome is a cross-generational housing model for integrating the elderly within mainstream residential development. Irene Craik, director, Levitt Bernstein   Project data Location Clapton, London Type New build Context Urban Planning permission date December 2012 Completion June 2015 Construction cost £15 million Construction cost per m² £1,394 Construction cost per home £140,187 Number of homes 107 Housing type Flats Mix of homes Percentage of 1B2P: 46%, Percentage of 2B3P: 12%, Percentage of 2B4P: 22%, Percentage of 3B4P: 2%, Percentage of 3B5P: 8%, Percentage of 3B6P: 1%, Percentage of 4B6P: 9% Site area 0.59ha Density 181 homes per hectare Development area 7,832m² Height 5 storeys Tenure mix 38% social rent, 14% affordable rent, 12% shared ownership, 36% private sale Percentage of affordable housing 52% Aspect 100% dual-aspect homes Client Hill, Hanover Housing Association, Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA) Client type Developer and housing association Architectural appointment Competition Procurement Design and build Design or Quality Review Panel review Yes Design team novation Yes Lead contractor Hill Main structural system Concrete frameAdvertisement Environmental data Annual carbon emissions 12.34 kgCO2/m² Operational energy use Unknown Onsite energy generation 12% (via communal gas boilers and PVs) Average energy bill per home Unknown All-electric No Post-occupancy evaluation undertaken No U-values Walls: 0.18 W/m²K, Roofs: 0.11 W/m²K, Floors: 0.15 W/m²K, Windows: 1.3 W/m²K Airtightness at 50Pa 5 m³/h.m² Source:Levitt BernsteinRose, Hanover resident in older people’s housing, in her winter garden Residents' voices We really like the design of the building, from the brickwork to the beautiful balconies – you can see all over the Walthamstow marshes. One thing we really like about the building as a whole is that it has these three diverse neighbourhoods. It feels like a community that involves everyone. That was what we bought the place for. Annabelle I’ve got a nice view, I’ve got a balcony where I can go and sit out. I’m surrounded by some nice people. We’ve got some activities. It’s like an old town, really. My son is very happy because he knows that I’m in a safe place. He said: ‘I’ll have to put my name down for one of these!’ Rose, Hanover resident in older people’s housing Clients' voices The key to the success of obtaining planning – which was unanimous – was the close working relationship we enjoyed with the local community, the support and guidance from the planning and housing departments, as well as the partnership between Hill, Hanover and AIHA. Jamie Hunter, development director, Hill We were extremely excited about getting that site to meet the needs of the Orthodox Jewish community. We required the creation of sukkah, a balcony where orthodox Jews reside for a week in September to celebrate Sukkot. We all do appreciate the very sensitive design, which has incorporated our needs and created a really beautiful structure. Ita Symons, chief executive, Agudas Israel Housing AssociationAdvertisement It really has enhanced the environment. It’s provided 28 properties for the Jewish community and brought fresh, young people in and provided for lots of older people as well. Bruce Moore, chief executive, Hanover Housing Association

The winning team selected for the estimated £180,000 contract will draw up plans for a new cemetery and crematorium facility on green belt land north of Bakers Lane close to the A12 road on the southern fringes of the settlement. The £10 million project will create a cemetery with capacity for up to 6,000 burials and a crematorium with capacity for up to 2,000 cremations a year. According to the brief: Chelmsford City Council (CCC) is undertaking the development of a new cemetery and crematorium at land north of Bakers Lane, Chelmsford.Advertisement ‘The site has been assessed for feasibility, and terms have been agreed with the landowner. CCC is now seeking to appoint a Design Team to deliver design services up to the discharge of planning conditions (RIBA Stage 3+).’ Located 50km north-east of London, Chelmsford is a major Essex city with a population of around 110,000 people. The latest procurement comes two years after Chelmer Housing Partnership launched a search for a design team for a net zero carbon 300-home development at Andrews Place, Chelmsford. Bids for the latest commission will be evaluated 70 per cent on quality and 30 per cent on price. Applicants must hold employer’s liability insurance of £5 million, public liability insurance of £5 million and professional indemnity insurance of £5 million. Competition details Project title Cemetery and Crematorium Design – Land North of Bakers Lane Client Contract value £10 million First round deadline 1pm, 14 May 2025 Restrictions Applicants are asked provide details of up to three local authority contracts of a similar size and nature that have been performed during the past five years. If a supplier cannot provide at least one example, they can provide an explanation. For example, the organisation is a new start-up, or has provided services in the past but not under a contract More information https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014971-2025

The Assemblies scheme will add three extra floors to the nine-storey 150 Minories, alongside a rear extension, pocket park, health hub, co-working space, café and an ‘internal street’ linking Minories with Vine Street. The amenities will be open to residents and the public.  Developers HUB and Bridges Fund Management said the ‘next-generation’ homes had been designed to ‘appeal to the creative and business communities in the east and the City of London respectively’.  The private studio rooms will be fully furnished, with all-inclusive rents. The building will feature social areas throughout, designed to ‘foster a sense of community among residents’, according to the project’s backers. Advertisement 150 Minories was built in the 1950s as two separate buildings, but merged into a single structure in the late 1960s, with a new central core connecting the two wings. The 900m2 building has a steel and concrete frame with masonry infill, while its primary, eastern elevation features horizontal strip windows.  Under Morris+Company’s plans, the revamped building will still be organised around a central core, with east and west-facing flats accessed from a north-south corridor extending along the building.  The plans also include a new brick façade with single and double window bays forming a grid across most of the eastern elevation. Some setback elements of the building at upper levels will have a pleated perforated metal façade.  Morris+Company associate director and residential lead Hugh Queenan said: ‘By repurposing this 1950s concrete-framed building, we are not only reducing embodied carbon but also fostering a vibrant community – opening new urban connections and public realm between Minories and Vine Street.’ HUB managing director Damien Sharkey said: ‘To have our plans for Assemblies approved, closely following the approval of our Cornerstone development [designed by AHMM], is testament to the benefits that shared living homes can bring to the City of London. Advertisement ‘We believe that well-located, professionally managed next-generation co-living homes with exceptional public-facing amenity will appeal to those already working in the area while delivering added benefits to the local community.’ Bridges Fund Management director Celia Harrison said: ‘Assemblies, like Cornerstone, is a great example of how we can transform under-utilised, inefficient office buildings into attractive co-living developments that meet the huge demand for high-quality living space in urban areas.’ Construction is expected to begin on site next year. Current site view:

The cliffside house, which took over 10 years to build, features a cantilevered first floor with a large amount of glazing framing its dramatic landscape. It replaces an inward-looking existing house which required major work. After an initial site meeting in 2012, it was decided to sit the new home within the footprint of the existing property. It has a deep floorplan with a central axis orientated towards the Irish Sea. The first floor accommodates kitchen and living space, expressed through dark interiors and exposed timber beams to contrast with the blues and greens of the sea and surrounding landscape.Advertisement A bedroom features a large sliding window, which is mounted externally to create the illusion that the whole wall opens to the view. On the streetside, the façade is softer, using the main staircase to define the elevation with angled timber slats providing privacy. The slated segment of the façade also allows light to penetrate a double-height entrance at the heart of the scheme. On the ground floor are the utility spaces and a multi-use bedroom-cum-study, placed towards the street to provide a buffer to the more private spaces. All spaces are united by exposed concrete finishes. Concrete, cantilevered foundations anchor the home on to the site, securing its stability and safeguarding against future environmental risks. The fair-faced concrete has horizontal sawn timber shuttering as a nod to local stonework patterns. Above this is a highly insulated, lightweight glulam structure on the first floor. This is clad in low-maintenance fibre cement tiles as an affordable alternative to slate, which is resistant to strong sea winds.Advertisement Edge House was granted planning in 2012 and was constructed in phases by the client’s husband, enabling the family to move in sooner and progress the project as budget allowed. Architect’s view Our design for Edge House is shaped by the constraints and opportunities of its dramatic clifftop setting. Navigating the site’s exposure to harsh and changeable weather, we sought to create a home that remains deeply connected to its surroundings without compromise. A concrete substructure allows the house to rest on cantilevered foundations, enabling it to extend towards the cliff edge while anchoring securely into the most stable, inland portion of the site. With coastal erosion accelerating due to climate change, this approach ensures the home’s long-term integrity, maintaining its position even as the landscape shifts over time. The façade pairs fair-faced concrete with black-fibre cement tiles, balancing structural solidity with durability. These materials not only withstand the extreme conditions but also require minimal maintenance, ensuring the home weathers beautifully over the years. Inside, the layout reinforces this commitment to longevity. The three bedrooms break away from the orthogonal plan, appearing carved from the concrete form. Angled away from the cliff edge, they frame uninterrupted sea views while forming a defensible barrier against the elements. This considered geometry also reduces the home’s visual impact on its neighbours, embedding it sensitively within the landscape. Kristian Hyde, director, Hyde + Hyde Architects   Project data Location Aberporth, Ceredigion, Wales Start on site September 2012 Completion date November 2023 Gross internal floor area 227m2 (client’s ownership boundary: 500m2, external landscaping: 140m2) Gross (internal + external) floor area 366.5m2 Form of contract or procurement route JCT Minor Works with Contractors Design Portion Construction cost Undisclosed Architect Hyde + Hyde Architects Client Private Structural engineer Grays Consulting Engineers M&E consultant Richards Design Partnership Quantity surveyor Ivor Russell Partnership Sustainability consultant Melin Energy Planning consultant Geraint John Planning Main contractor Neil Manfield CAD software used Vectorworks Environmental performance data On-site energy generation Nil Airtightness at 50Pa 4.62 m3/h.m2 Operational energy 79 kWh/m2/yr Total energy load 57.43 kWh/m2/yr Predicted design life 60 years Energy Performance Certificate rating B

The competition – organised by the Brussels ‘Bouwmeester’ chief architect – seeks proposals to transform the offices of Crelan, which was founded in 1937 and operates around 600 branches, into a new residential complex. The phased €22.9 million ‘Westpark’ project will convert the large office block next to Westland shopping centre in Anderlecht into a ‘sustainable, innovative, and inclusive place to live.’ Intended as a single long-term investment and an alternative to the traditional housing market, the project – backed by developer GML ESTATE – will prioritise shared spaces, affordability and a sustainable management model.Advertisement According to the brief: ‘The project is guided by strong principles of sustainability and circularity. Preserving the existing structure will prevent unnecessary demolition and minimize its ecological footprint, as by using reclaimed materials and applying circular construction principles. ‘Architecture will play a key role in the success of this transformation. The goal is to create a recognizable and well-integrated residential complex while offering a variety of housing types suitable for a diverse population, including young families, seniors, and people with reduced mobility. ‘Improved insulation and the reduction of thermal bridges will enhance the building’s energy performance, while repurposing the underground levels will ensure optimal space management.’ Crelan’s occupation of the 10,000m² office building on the western fringes of Brussels is due to end in 2028. Planned to complete in early 2030, the building’s conversion will deliver an estimated 120 apartments plus new green spaces close to the Brussels Ring road. The latest procurement comes two years after an open international contest was held to create a new €60 million-to-€80 million stadium for Belgian football club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.Advertisement Caruso St John and Bovenbouw Architectuur transformed the insurance firm Royale Belge's former headquarters into a multi-use building, including a hotel, workspaces and gym in 2023. The Westpark competition languages are French and Dutch. The overall winner be announced in mid-July. The fees for the winning team will be based on 90€/m² for sellable residential areas, 30€/m² for common areas and 10€/m² for basement areas. Non-winning teams who participate in the design phase of the competition will each receive a €12,500 honorarium. Competition details Project title Crelan HQ Client Contract value €22.9 million First round deadline 3pm local time, 5 May 2025 Restrictions In analyzing references, the project owner will pay particular attention to the following specific capabilities: - Ability to qualitatively anchor a residential building in its context - Ability to effectively integrate high-quality residential typologies into an existing building, taking into account quality of life - Ability to develop an innovative sustainability concept, paying particular attention to circularity and flexibility The applicant must demonstrate each capability with a single reference. More information https://bma.brussels/en/crelan-hq/

The two-stage competition – organised by Stavanger Municipality – invites architects to step forward for an opportunity to create a new home for the city’s main theatre and museum which occupy neighbouring sites close to Stavanger Harbour. The project will retain parts of the historic theatre – which was founded in 1883 and enlarged several times throughout the 20th century – and the nearby museum while creating a new building between the two facilities in Kannikhøyden. According to the brief: ‘Stavanger City Council and Rogaland County Council have adopted a joint development of Rogaland Theatre and Stavanger Museum on the current plots.Advertisement ‘The oldest parts of the theatre building and the historic museum building will be preserved, and a new building will be established next to the historic facilities. ‘In this connection, the client needs to have an architectural solution proposal prepared. The solution proposal prepared in the planning and design competition will form the basis for the project in the further work.’ Stavanger is the third largest city in Norway. The latest competition comes four years after an international contest was held for a new ‘modern and future-orientated’ addition to Norway’s landmark Anno Museum in Hamar. Last year, the National Association of Norwegian Architects launched an international contest for a new visitor centre at the former home of the artist Nikolai Astrup. The latest project will create a new enlarged home for the theatre which has long outgrown its facilities and has been in the process of exploring regeneration options for the past 15 years.Advertisement Judges will include Stavanger Museum chief executive Siri Aavitsland; Glenn André Kaada, director of the Rogaland Theatre; Ole Ueland, county mayor of Rogaland County Municipality; three yet-to-be-named architects and a landscape architect. Six shortlisted teams will be invited to draw up concepts during the competition’s second round. An overall winner will be announced on 10 November. Competition details Project title New Rogaland Theatre and Stavanger Museum Client Stavanger Municipality Contract value Tbc First round deadline 19 May 2025 Restrictions The competition begins with a qualification phase. Only those suppliers who meet the qualification requirements and are invited to participate in the competition will be given the opportunity to submit their solution proposals in the planning and design competition More information https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/236637-2025

The winning team selected for the estimated £120,000 contract will carry out a condition survey, feasibility study and design reports exploring options to renew and enhance the West Hill Lift which connects George Street in Hastings Old Town to Hastings Castle. The project aims to improve accessibility and preserve heritage of the 1891 funicular railway and the approaches to its upper and lower stations. The search for a design team comes five months after Poroban won a competition for a new visitor centre at Hastings Castle. According to the brief: ‘The Grade II-listed West Hill lift is a tourist and heritage attraction, and transportation link. It is a Victorian funicular railway that is tunnelled into the cliff face. It provides transportation from Hastings Old Town to the top of West Hill, where Ladies' Parlour and Hastings Castle are located.Advertisement ‘A key objective of this project is to produce a comprehensive assessment of the current condition and long-term maintenance requirements of the lift, tunnel, stations, carriages and surrounding area including the steps and approaches to the steps. This project will provide crucial insight into the condition of the asset and produce feasibility reports and designs which can be utilised to progress to the next phase, and aid in applying for funding to undertake the capital works.’ Hastings is a south coast resort town located around 85km from London. Local landmarks include HAT Projects’ Jerwood Gallery, the waterfront Stade open space by Tim Ronalds Architects and dRMM’s redevelopment of Hastings Pier, which won the 2017 Stirling Prize but changed owner within 12 months. The latest procurement comes shortly after IF_DO created a new community hub for Hastings. Holy Trinity Hastings launched a search for a design team for a £2.14 million overhaul one year ago. Bids for the latest commission will be evaluated 80 per cent on quality and 20 per cent on price. Applicants must hold employer’s liability insurance of £10 million, public liability insurance of £10 million and professional indemnity insurance of £2 million. Competition details Project title ESPH AB HBC West Hill Lift Feasibility Study (ESPH687 JB) Client Contract value Tbc First round deadline 2pm, 7 May 2025 Restrictions Tbc More information https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014403-2025

The winning team selected for the estimated £45,000 contract will advance existing RIBA Stage 2+ plans to upgrade the busy Half Penny Steps bridge and pocket park. The project – planned to complete in 2027 – aims to transform the under-utilised public open space on the borough’s border with Kensington & Chelsea into a ‘vibrant and lush canalside terrace.’ Key aims include introducing new planting, feature lighting, amphitheatre-style seating and a community mooring point. The search for a design team comes six months after DK-CM completed a concept report looking at options for renewing several sites across the North Paddington Canalside area.Advertisement According to the brief: ‘WCC [is] looking to appoint a high quality, creative and capable team that can work to tight deadlines and collaboratively with ourselves and the wider team to deliver this unique opportunity. ‘The lead consultant is expected to be an expert in landscape design for this project. The team are expected to draw together the wealth of existing work into a holistic and coherent RIBA Stage 3 design. ‘The consultant will be expected to develop designs with a sound awareness of feasibility and budget. The successful consultant will need to demonstrate that they have access to a multi-disciplinary skill set either in house or by bringing together specialist subconsultants and/or delivery partners.’ The latest commission comes just three months after Allies and Morrison won a competition held by Westminster City Council and the Crown Estate to overhaul the public realm on London’s Regent Street and the surrounding areas. Earlier this year Hugh Broughton completed an upgrade of WCs at Victoria Embankment, part of a wider programme covering eight public conveniences across the City of Westminster.Advertisement Bids for the latest commission will be evaluated 70 per cent on quality and 30 per cent on price. Applicants must hold employer’s liability insurance of £5 million, public liability insurance of £5 million and professional indemnity insurance of £2 million. Competition details Project title BT199 - Half Penny Steps Landscape Commission Client Contract value £280,000 First round deadline 5pm, 25 April 2025 Restrictions Tbc More information https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014279-2025

The 24 million showcase structure opened to visitors yesterday (13 April) with the theme ‘Come Build the Future’. It features a fully dismountable and relocatable modular system designed for ease of transportation after the Expo ends in October. This includes the overall structure, floorplates and external cladding, which WOO and ES Global say have been designed to be relocatable with minimum transportation. WOO’s façade design features perforated aluminium strands ‘to invoke the punched cards used in early calculating machines’. These are intertwined via a weaving technique, inspired by the textile industries that fuelled the 19th-century industrial revolutions in both Manchester and Osaka.Advertisement The façade pattern, meanwhile, references pixels – with the structure’s architectural form inspiring the name and appearance of the pavilion’s mascot, PIX. The digital mascot takes visitors to the pavilion on a 20-minute journey showcasing British innovation as well as examples of how the UK works with other countries and cultures to ‘shape what’s next’. The gamified experience is part of a ‘story-first’ approach, which, say the organisers, makes the 2025 UK pavilion the ‘first fully narrative-driven World Expo showcase’ creating an ‘emotive, immersive experience designed to leave visitors inspired and uplifted’. The UK Department for Business and Trade awarded the pavilion’s original concept and creative direction to design studio Immersive International in March 2023. Following a competition later that year, it commissioned structure specialist and delivery partner ES Global working with WOO Architects to turn the concept into a physical design. An earlier iteration of WOO’s design, unveiled in March last year, featured LED screens on the pavilion’s exterior. That design was updated at the beginning of the year to include the weave pattern.Advertisement Emma Owens, director of WOO and lead designer of the UK Pavilion, commented:  'The pavilion's design celebrates Britain at a pivotal moment; our global reputation for innovation and creativity shines through, while the playful facade reflects our innate curiosity and ability to find opportunity in every challenge. This is a space where a rich historic narrative comes alive, and we hope it inspires conversations about British resilience and industriousness for years to come  She conintued: 'Borrowing from iconic designs from industrial design to textiles, our work on the UK pavilion is inspired by our nation’s rich heritage of innovation, technology and creativity. We hope that visitors will agree that the UK Pavilion stands as an eye-catching and elegant structure at Expo 2025 Osaka.’ Immersive International chief executive John Munro said: ‘This pavilion is really a snapshot of how we approach experiential masterplanning. We have built an experience that speaks to people on an emotional level – one that lingers long after they leave. ‘Our approach at Immersive has always been about storytelling first. Technology is the amplifier. It’s what turns ideas into encounters, and space into memory. ‘The pavilion is a place where visitors don’t just learn about British innovation; they feel it. They see themselves in it. We always try to make places that feel alive – places that people want to come back to because they feel part of something bigger, and a space they can connect in.’ The Department for Business and Trade’s Expo director for the UK, Ceri Owen-Bradley, added: ‘From day one, this pavilion has been a truly collaborative effort. We’ve worked hand-in-hand with Immersive International, ES Global and Woo Architects, bringing together creative and technical expertise from across the UK. This close teamwork and shared creativity have been essential to achieving the pavilion’s ambitious goals.’ WOO Architects is a King’s Cross-based practice, born in 2014 out of the design team for the London 2012 Olympics, while ES Global specialises in ‘semi-permanent, sustainable structures’, including six venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. ES Global previously said the same ‘kit of parts’ used at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games would be used in Osaka for the Australian Pavilion. The firm has also worked to deliver the USA pavilion, designed by  Trahan Architects. Other architects involved in this year’s World Expo include Foster + Partners, which has designed the Saudi Arabia pavilion; British Museum revamp winner Lina Ghotmeh, who has designed Bahrain’s pavilion; and 2025 RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner SANNA, which is behind the Better Co-Being pavilion. Previous UK pavilions for World Expos include Heatherwick Studio, Wolfgang Buttress and BDP’s pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo, which was awarded the event’s ‘best in show’ prize.

The project, for Anchor, England’s largest later living provider, will double the capacity of Cardamom Court, which is half a mile south-west of Ilford train station. PRP’s proposals involve retaining the existing accommodation while demolishing a day care centre and a three-storey building, which adjoin the main building. The two blocks will be replaced by a four-storey building containing 34 one-bedroom apartments. A further three rooms will be created within the existing care home building, delivering 36 one and two-bed apartments. In total, the scheme will deliver 70 apartments.Advertisement The scheme also features a 1.5-storey main entrance with access to a garden courtyard, reconfiguration of the circulation between new and old buildings, and the relocation of communal spaces to the new building. Above the communal spaces, a new roof terrace will provide space for residents to grow fruit and vegetables. In planning documents, PRP described the development as providing ‘sector-leading extra-care housing with accessible, energy efficient homes for retirement’. Newham Council will decide on the scheme at a later date. Site view:  Advertisement Project data Location Cardamom Court, 1 Grantham Road, London, E12 5LU Local authority London Borough of Newham Type of project Extra care housing Client Anchor Architect PRP Landscape architect PRP Planning consultant PWA Planning Group Structural engineer Dice Consulting Engineers M&E consultant Davies Partnership Quantity surveyor TSA Riley Principal designer (CDM) Currie & Brown Funding Partially GLA Funded Tender date Stage 01 – 08/05/25-25/06/25 / Stage 02 – 11/11/25-24/11/25 Approximate start on site date January 2026 Approximate completion date August 2027 Contract duration 19 months Gross internal floor area 5,413m2

What are the big moves that matter in domestic retrofit? Find out at our free webinar on 30 April Homes account for 14 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions, and the role that architects can play in demystifying whole house decarbonisation is a considerable opportunity for the profession. From advising on steps that can be made at scale, to ensuring improvements at an individual project level – whatever the residential retrofit you’re working on, there are consistent carbon saving measures that can add to up to make a real difference. Run in association with Fisher & Paykel, the webinar is taking place at 11am on Wednesday 30 April.Advertisement Through compelling case studies and expert input to help you advise your clients on their retrofit journey, topics will include: How to develop a whole house plan: from plan reconfiguration, to fabric improvements, to material and appliance specification How to use a detailed understanding of domestic energy demand to inform the design process – including getting homes off gas i.e. electrification and use of heat pumps Guidance and tools that can support decision making to reduce demand – including energy and water ratings and in-use carbon emission estimates Basic principles of material and product specification The future potential of the ‘connected’ home For the UK to meet its net zero targets, 29 million homes must be retrofitted by 2050. The UK Green Building council has called for retrofitting 19 million homes in the next decade. With practical insights that you can immediately share with your clients, and an opportunity to ask questions from our expert panel, we’ll explore and clarify the complex topic of domestic retrofit. Register for your free webinar place now. 2025-04-11 Richard Waite comment and share

Photo of the CLT roof at Vitsœ's Leamington Spa headquarters Source:&nbsp Dirk Lindner Waugh Thistleton has won a High Court case brought by a former client which sued the practice over a rotted timber roof Furniture manufacturer Vitsœ had sought £4 million in damages from Waugh Thistleton, the delivery architect for its 3,677m² factory-and-office complex in Leamington Spa, which completed in 2017. Vitsœ blamed the practice for rotted cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof panels which needed replacing.  But following a court case held over several days in January, deputy high court judge Martin Bowdery dismissed the claims, ruling that Waugh Thistleton was ‘not liable to the claimant as alleged, or at all’. The High Court heard that the rotten roof panels had become too wet during construction. Although a roof covering had been due to be installed just two weeks after completion of the timber structure, delays meant the panels were exposed for several months over the winter of 2016/17. When the roof covering was eventually installed, a vapour control layer locked in the moisture. Advertisement Vitsoe had alleged that Waugh Thistleton breached its contract by failing to provide a moisture content control plan (MCCP); failing to recommend a temporary protective roof; and failing to act when construction did not take place according to the planned timetable.  However, Bowdery found ‘there was no obligation upon [Waugh Thistleton] to undertake a MCCP or risk assessment’, adding that the architect provided ‘a suitable and robust specification’ which would have prevented problems with excess water if complied with.  He also found that ‘close sequencing [of construction works was] a suitable and appropriate method of moisture protection’ and that ‘there was nothing about this project that meant a temporary roof was required’.  He added: ‘The programming of the construction of the roof was not the defendant’s responsibility. The protection of the roof works was not the defendant’s responsibility. The supervision and management of the trade contractors was not the defendant’s responsibility.’  Bowdery also said Waugh Thistleton was not responsible for monitoring the moisture content of the CLT panels. He said it was reasonable for the architect to expect timber frame contractor Hess to do this, adding that it was ultimately the responsibility of construction manager JCA to check it was being done. Advertisement The judge also found that the architect had not failed to ‘take appropriate steps in response to the CLT being exposed to sustained rainfall around Christmas 2016’. Bowdery said: ‘The defendant’s advice before and after the Christmas 2016 break was sensible, prudent and appropriate.’  The furniture manufacturer had been seeking to recoup more than £4 million it had spent on mending its roof, including construction and consultants’ costs, as well as interest paid on two multi-million-pound loans taken out to fund the remedial work. Waugh Thistleton had always denied breaching its contract, saying that ‘the matters of which the claimant complains were the responsibility of others’. Vitsoe has been contacted for comment. Waugh Thistleton declined to comment.  2025-04-11 Will Ing comment and share