Archinect - News

Heatherwick Studio tops out UK pharma hub with curving timber structure

2024-04-25T11:56:00-04:00

Heatherwick Studio has offered a construction update on its design for the UCB Windlesham Surrey Science Research Hub in the United Kingdom. When completed, the building will serve as a hub for the Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB.

In new photos released by the firm, the project's cross-laminated timber structure can be seen following its recent topping out. The CLT structure, described by Heatherwick Studio as “possibly one of the most complicated CLT structures in Europe,” took two years of design and eight months of construction to deliver. The novelty of the structure comes from its curved form, which serves not only as the main structure but the feature finish for the building.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heatherwick Studio (@officialheatherwickstudio)

Designed in collaboration with executive architect Veretec, the three-story timber extension will be partially submerged into the site’s existing campus, connecting various wings of UCB’s R...

Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama debuts 'Purple Hibiscus' at the Barbican, a reference to the site's material history

2024-04-12T16:33:00-04:00

The Barbican has debuted a new large-scale public art installation from Ghanaian-born artist Ibrahim Mahama.

His site-specific piece Purple Hibiscus, named in reference to the 2003 novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is installed on the facade of the Barbican’s central Lakeside Terrace. It uses approximately 21,500 square feet of fuschia-hued cloth that contrasts dramatically with the rough concrete exterior and overcast London sky.

Installation view, 'Ibrahim Mahama: Purple Hibiscus.' Image: © Dion Barrett / Barbican Centre

Mahama created the piece in collaboration with artisans from his Red Clay Studio and Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in the city of Tamale, Ghana. It references the site's past history as the epicenter of the "rag trade" in Central London before World War II. Together, both the piece and architecture serve as a metaphor for the "power of labor."

Installation view, 'Ibrahim Mahama: Purple Hibiscus.' Image: © Dion Barrett / Barbican Centre

The artist describes...

Mecanoo revives Scotland’s past into a new source of community pride

2024-04-08T17:26:00-04:00

Mecanoo has shared the news of its completed transformation of the Perth Museum in central Scotland.

The three-year construction yields 37,700 square feet worth of new public space inside of the Edwardian-style former City Hall that serviced the community from 1914 on. A specially carved Vennels-inspired intervention connects the two separate halls, framed by two new portals made from Black Isle timber and finished with a bronze casing.

Image credit: Greg Holmes Photography

Visitors will be welcomed into the brightly-lit new Main Hall archives space by a dramatic oak box container for the mythical returned Scottish Stone of Destiny. The adjacent Lesser Hall is thereafter recreated as a new communal space with larger windows and replete with a café and events venue.

Image credit: Greg Holmes Photography

This creates new panoramic views of the St. Johns Kirk church outside. Artifacts taken from the Jacobite period are on display within, including the silver broadsword used by Bonnie Pr...

UK developments must now compensate for loss of nature

2024-04-02T12:09:00-04:00

Legal requirements for housing and infrastructure schemes in England to deliver at least a 10 per cent improvement for nature have been extended to cover small developments from today, applying to developments where the number of dwellings is between one and nine or where the site area is less than 0.5 hectares.

The scheme, called Biodiversity Net Gain, is designed to ensure that "habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably better state than they were before the development," according to UK Government guidance.

Natural habitats in the UK will be given 'biodiversity units' depending on their size, quality, location, and type, which can be lost through development or generated through work to create and enhance habitats.

New developments will be required to measure the biodiversity units of a habitat before development and improve the habitat's score by 10%.

RIBA announces 'once-in-a-generation' House of Architecture investment plan with new $107 million price tag

2024-03-25T19:45:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has provided an outline to overhaul its 66 Portland Place London headquarters into a “once-in-a-generation” home of the new House of Architecture initiative.

For a reported cost of £85 million ($107.4 million USD), the project from Benedetti Architects will restore the building while creating a new centralized space for its world-leading Collections archive. The initiative was originally announced with a budget of £20 million (around $25 million USD). RIBA says the new figure "includes all project costs such as contingencies, inflation, and fees" for the renovations, whose plan of work required an additional £58.8 million ($74.3 million USD) in outturn costs.

"House of Architecture is about unlocking and opening RIBA to make it — and everything it offers — far more accessible. The proposed investment in our collections, upgrades to our digital platform, and improvements to our landmark building at 66 Portland Place are vital," said ...

Zaha Hadid Architects director designs ‘glowing, swirling’ whisky bottle for V&A Dundee

2024-03-25T13:24:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects director Melodie Leung has collaborated with Scottish whisky distillery Dalmore to create a “dramatic glass sculpture” housing two rare Highland Single Malt whiskies. The sculpture is the second chapter of ‘The Dalmore Luminary Series,’ a collaboration between the distillery and V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum.

Image credit: The Dalmore

Leung’s piece is titled ‘The Dalmore Luminary - The Rare - 2024 Edition’ and will be offered at auction with all proceeds donated to the museum. For the piece, Leung worked with Dalmore and master glass artist Fiaz Elson from The Glass Foundry to create a “dynamic glass amber sculpture” to house the 49-year-old Old Single Malt.

Image credit: The Dalmore

The sculpture was produced at The Glass Foundry’s kiln for 12 weeks. An initial molding was made at 890 degrees Celsius and held at that temperature for 15 hours to remove moisture and air bubbles. The temperature was then grad...

RIBA's new Artificial Intelligence Report features revelatory findings about AI within architectural practice

2024-02-29T18:56:00-05:00

The newly published RIBA Artificial Intelligence Report has revealed statistics detailing the architecture industry’s turn towards AI within professional practice using findings from a recent survey of 500+ members. The study also gives clues about the technology’s future and feedback on how new software tools have impacted the design process.

According to the report, 41% of architects in the UK have begun using AI software at least occasionally, with another 43% stating their opinions that it has made the design process "more efficient."

"Our findings show architects are curious and open-minded about AI, and some of us are true pioneers," RIBA President Muyiwa Oki summarized. "By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and a culture of responsible innovation, we can harness the power of AI to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable built environment. There’s no turning back."

Rowan Moore declares an aversion to Heatherwick’s London BT Tower hospitality makeover

2024-02-27T20:05:00-05:00

Its sale, for £275m, by BT to a hotel group, if it gives the tower a secure future, is welcome. I’m more troubled by the reports that the designer Thomas Heatherwick is to “repurpose” the building. His past work shows that he’s not one to leave well alone, but rather festoon structures with over-sized flower-pots and look-at-me swirling shapes. One can only hope that he discovers some restraint. The BT Tower is already an icon. It’s perfect. Let it be.

Readers will remember the critic's jabs at Heatherwick last fall after the publication of his new treatise on architecture and mental health, wherein Moore declared “an outbreak of shallow wannabe Gaudís” will follow in tow should the call-to-action be adopted.

That provocation isn't the first or even second time Moore has harshed the Vessel designer's creative schemes for the capital. In its defense, Heatherwick Studio has yet to detail any of the architectural extravagances Moore is lamenting after the project's February 22nd announcement.

Previously on Archinect: London’s BT Tower to be converted into a hotel by Heatherwick following MCR purchase

The conservation group C20 Society has offered its support for the £275 million project. If history is any guide, MCR's previous re-use of the TWA Hotel at JFK should steer the project away from any gauche gesturing and towards the Swinging London era anachronisms Moore champions nostalgically as "hopeful futurism."

...

London’s BT Tower to be converted into a hotel by Heatherwick following MCR purchase

2024-02-22T11:39:00-05:00

London’s iconic BT Tower is to be purchased by U.S. hotel owner-operator MCR. Partnering with Heatherwick Studio, the company is to explore the tower’s adaptive reuse as a hotel.

Standing at 620 feet in height, the BT Tower is one of London’s tallest buildings. Opened in 1965, the tower is covered by a Grade II historical importance listing, though such a listing does not prohibit a change of use within the building.

MCR has noted that the tower will not undergo any immediate changes, with current owners BT Group expected to take several years to vacate the premises due to the complexity involved in moving technical equipment. The design process is also expected to include time for community engagement in advance of the proposal’s reveal.

Related on Archinect:The TWA Hotel at JFK is officially open. Photo courtesy of TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

MCR was previously known for its overhaul of the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport which has since become the TWA Hotel. T...

The Motorist Won: Envisioning a vehicle-centric UK with Archinect Generative Futures finalist Kyle Branchesi

2024-02-13T19:32:00-05:00

Designer Kyle Branchesi has shared images from his latest creative experimentation with generative AI tools, a visual commentary touching on the debate over pedestrianism and motor vehicles happening currently within the UK.

For 'The Motorist Won,' Branchesi imagined a far-off dystopia plagued by vehicle traffic where historic streets and all visible landmarks are besieged by the hum of engines and blur of lights, making cities like London or Edinburgh the all-too-unfortunate casualties of what PM Rishi Sunak says is a "war" against cars.

The Motorist Won by Kyle Branchesi

Branchesi describes: "Amidst a political landscape where the 'war on motorists' is wielded as a populist tool, this series captures a future where this rhetoric has prevailed. The transformation of UK landmarks like Stonehenge into vast vehicular realms underscores the absurdity and danger of prioritizing short-term political gains over sustainable urban planning. These images mirror the contentious debates in the ...

Banksy murals to be digitally preserved as part of new UK art database

2024-02-09T14:28:00-05:00

Art by the famous artist Banksy is to be included in a new initiative to document the UK’s murals. As reported by The Art Newspaper, the project will see more than 5,000 murals from across the UK digitally recorded for access in a free public database.

The project is being overseen by the educational charity Art UK with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The three-year initiative will see public works recorded by a network of volunteer researchers and photographers, alongside documenting the stories behind the pieces.

“The location of murals, the circumstances behind their creation, and the materials used to create them can result in this type of artwork being ephemeral in nature,” Art UK says about the project. “Buildings and housing estates are demolished to make way for new developments meaning that many murals have been lost. We will record the murals as they look now, to provide a record if they are removed, defaced, or suffer environmental damage.”

Related on Arc...

British AEC groups urge government action on embodied carbon regulations

2024-01-31T19:21:00-05:00

A group of 11 AEC industry groups in the United Kingdom, including the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Chartered Institute of Building, and UK Green Building Council, have joined together in urging the government toward taking action on restricting embodied carbon emissions in the built environment ahead of an important national election that’s expected for November.

Their call endorses an amalgam of existing policy pushes while espousing lawmakers to include at least a portion of its findings into their respective manifestos with benchmarks for specific mandates and enforcements set for the end of this year, 2026, and 2028, respectively.

RIBA President Muyiwa Oki said: “Our message is clear — embodied carbon regulation is critical to reaching net zero. As built environment professionals, we understand our duty to reduce emissions and have been leading the charge. We now need urgent action from the next government to deliver a greener future that we deserve.”

Related ...

Get Lectured: University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury, Winter/Spring '24

2024-01-25T08:00:00-05:00

Get Lectured is continuing today with a look at the interesting slate of speakers and events taking place at the Canterbury School of Architecture at the University for the Creative Arts for the 2024 Winter/Spring academic term.

The theme for the term is 'MONEY.' The school describes: "Speakers will cover subjects including: the financing of architecture and design projects; the role of developers, clients, and unions; gentrification; the visual and material culture of money; economic histories of architecture and design, critical creative explorations of the economy."

Tuur Van Balen will kick things off on February 1, followed by Tom Wilkinson on February 29. The next two speakers to visit campus are Ben Campkin on March 7 and Russell Curtis and Oliver Bulleid on March 18. Elise Hodson closes the term with her final lecture on April 18.

More information about the Canterbury School of Architecture’s events programming can be found here.

Want to share your school's lecture series? S...

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios wins re-tendered bid for International Slavery Museum revamp in Liverpool

2024-01-23T19:04:00-05:00

National Museums Liverpool (NML) has named Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios as the replacement for Adjaye Associates on the design team for the new International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum.

The opportunity to replace Adjaye on the project came after the museum cut ties with his firm last summer following the revelation of sexual misconduct allegations in the Financial Times that preceded a string of high-profile project cancellations in the United States, the UK, and Saudi Arabia.

The NML redevelopment, which was first announced in 2021, has since increased in cost to £58 million (or about $73.5 million USD). Work will now begin once more from the RIBA Plan of Work scale's stage 3 (Spatial Coordination) through to the completion stage 7. The NML says this will entail adding an entirely new entrance inside the Martin Luther King Jr. building and additional major renovations to the site’s Hartley Pavilion.

Previously on Archinect: National Museums Liverpool re-tenders Slavery Mu...

South Korean architect Minsuk Cho and Mass Studies will design the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion

2024-01-22T13:13:00-05:00

South Korean architect Minsuk Cho has been announced as the designer of the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion commission in London. The Mass Studies founder debuted preliminary renders of their winning design this morning ahead of the exhibition’s June opening. His team's entry will appear as a star-like hub of activity to visitors, harkening them into experiencing a variety of communal spaces they say have resulted from a careful study of its past predecessors.

For the 23rd overall edition of the Serpentine Pavilion, a constellation of smaller structures will form around a central void space inspired by the vernacular Madang courtyard features found in small residential structures across Korea. Each of these five separate spaces will have a name and programmatic function while doubling as “content machines” and devised to montage with the corresponding flexible open areas and park surrounding the pavilion.

Serpentine Pavilion 2024 designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies. Design render, exteri...

Plans for London’s Sphere are no more as developers abandon project

2024-01-09T11:29:00-05:00

The developers behind the proposed MSG Sphere in London have withdrawn plans for the project. In a letter to the UK government’s Planning Inspectorate, developers Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) said that the scheme had become “merely a political football between rival parties.”

Plans for the Sphere first emerged in 2018, with planning permission filed in March 2019. London’s mayor Sadiq Khan was originally supportive of the scheme upon its announcement, but a combination of negative feedback in planning officer reports and backlash from locals saw Khan refuse the project permission in November 2023.

The saga continued in December when the UK’s Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, asked for the plans to be personally reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate, which falls under his department. With both a UK-wide general election and London mayoral election set to take place in the country later this year, the project was set to become a major campaign issue between Gove’s ruling C...

AIA and RIBA renew professional agreement pact

2023-12-12T15:08:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have announced a continuation of the professional partnership that, put together, impacts more than 140,000 architects in the U.S. and UK combined.

In order to foster collaboration and strive towards better professional work environments and the improvement of the built environment overall, the two groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding that they say will ensure better sharing of knowledge and resources while taking measures to simplify practice areas in both countries.

“AIA is looking forward to our continued cooperation with the RIBA. To create a stronger, more resilient, and equitable world, architects will need to work together, and our relationship will serve to both foster and reflect this collaboration amongst our esteemed members,” AIA EVP/Chief Executive Officer, Lakisha Ann Woods, said at the declaration.

RIBA Chief Executive Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick (left) and AIA EVP/Chief...

Gingerbread City is back with sweet architectural designs in London and New York

2023-12-11T13:42:00-05:00

London's Museum of Architecture has revealed the 2023 slate of participating design firms in its annual Gingerbread City exhibition, along with an expanded American component taking place in New York City through the end of the holiday season.

For the dual city festival, participants were charged with interpreting the role water plays in urban development. Their designs comprised four zones (Urban Floodplain, Canal City, Frozen Landscape, and Underwater + Floating City) in both locations, with a fifth Desert Landscape area presenting a “sweet feast for the eyes” in New York.

BubbleBurst Bonbon Museum: Spherical Symphony of Sweet Delights by Atelier Ten © Luke O’Donovan

Bakewell Bridge by Allies and Morrison © Luke O’Donovan

Highlights from the more than 100 firms that contributed to the London exhibition include a BubbleBurst Bonbon Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects, Jammy Jubilee by Foster + Partners, Atelier Ten’s The Gingerbread Factory, the Bakewell Bridge by Allies and Morrison, a...

Another Banksy mural destroyed after the building it was painted on was demolished

2023-12-01T17:41:00-05:00

A mural painted by Banksy which first appeared not long after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) has been destroyed after the building it was painted on was knocked down. The artwork, said to have been valued at around £1m, first appeared in the coastal town of Dover in 2017, the year after Britain voted to leave the union in a controversial referendum.

The mural, located on the side of the Castle Amusements building, depicted a worker chipping away at one the 12 stars on the EU flag. In 2019, the mural vanished after it was whitewashed. And, now, despite efforts to potentially restore the work, the building it was painted on has been demolished as part of a regeneration project. Prior to the building’s demolition the Dover City Council (DCC) determined that the Banksy could not have been conserved without major costs to local taxpayers.

Previously on Archinect: Banksy's latest mural on abandoned UK farmhouse has been demolished

That being said, the Council has said that its contractor, DDS Demolition, is exploring ways to preserve the artwork in any way. As reported by CNN, the demolition firm has said that pieces of the Banksy have been retrieved and are currently “being assessed.”

So much for the controversial London Sphere after Mayor Sadiq Khan refuses planning permission

2023-11-20T18:54:00-05:00

The proposed MSG Sphere in East London has been scrapped with the late decision by Mayor Sadiq Khan to refuse planning permissions over grounds that its design causes a public nuisance to residents of the surrounding Stratford district.

The long-controversial Sphere had been derided by critics and locals alike since first being revealed in January of 2018. Myriad attempts at halting the application process had been lodged in the years leading up to Monday's decision. Populous, which has also developed its well-reviewed twin in Las Vegas, was responsible for the 21,500-capacity design proposal.

The issue of light pollution had always been a critical factor in its pending success as a proposed entertainment venue sited in place of the 4.7-acre former coach park of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Khan’s decision cited the issue along with two other factors for the refusal, including its huge operational costs and an overall lack of green credentials for the project. Its impact on se...

UK academics decry ARB's new annual fee for architecture schools

2023-11-13T19:22:00-05:00

The British Architects Registration Board (ARB) has announced a new £9,200 ($11,300 USD) yearly fee, which will begin being asked from all 60 accredited schools of architecture in the UK next year. The move has sparked criticism that they are “crippling” education efforts in the country’s smaller and underfunded degree programs.

The announcement was made at the beginning of November, just months removed from the organization’s proposal of “fundamental” overhauls to higher education that eventually drew criticism from RIBA and academic organizations.

The scheme is reportedly expected to haul in an extra £550,000 (around $675,500 USD) in funds annually. Fees of £3,000 will also be assessed for any new applications for qualification from schools, along with an annual £2,000 renewal fee requiring a “periodic review” of their credential.

The ARB has been hiking fees lately in addition to pursuing those educational reforms, though the latest news still comes as a “shock” to many, accordi...

UK museums report new Raac concrete investigations as safety concerns spread

2023-11-09T14:01:00-05:00

The issue of unsafe concrete panels in the aging structures in the UK is affecting museums and cultural institutions who now report conducting their own building safety investigations after a spate of school closures linked to the issue first stirred controversy in August.

A report compiled by The Art Newspaper details efforts on the part of the Southbank Centre, Royal Academy of Arts, and others to document and deinstall reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (or Raac) panels that have been proven to be susceptible to water damage and structural failures.

No use of the materials had been discovered in the Barbican Centre, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum, or newly renovated National Galleries Scotland, all four institutions independently confirmed.

Twentieth Century Society Director Catherine Croft told the publication: “There is an urgent need to understand where Raac was used, to examine whether or not it is now failing in each case, and then work out how best to repa...

Cambridge researchers develop AI model to help retrofit and decarbonize housing

2023-11-02T11:45:00-04:00

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have unveiled a “first-of-its-kind AI model” that can help policymakers identify and prioritize houses for retrofitting and other decarbonizing measures. The deep learning model, trained by researchers from the university’s Department of Architecture, promises “to make it far easier, faster, and cheaper to identify these high-priority problem properties and develop strategies to improve their green credentials,” the team says.

The model and wider research centers on ‘hard-to-decarbonize’ (HtD) houses that, while responsible for a quarter of all direct housing emissions, are rarely identified or targeted for improvement. According to the team, the age, structure, location, availability of data, and socioeconomic context can all lead to a house being classified as HtD.

In response, a team including urban researcher and data scientist Maoran Sun and the university’s Sustainable Design group lead, Dr. Ronita Bardhan, has developed their AI mo...

The City of London skyline is expected to add these eleven towers by 2030

2023-11-01T18:58:00-04:00

The City of London Corporation has revealed new images depicting the 2030 skyline of the Square Mile ahead of the completion of a planned cluster of tall buildings that are expected by the end of the decade.

The plans depicted include the 11-building ‘City Cluster’, which strategically closes an existing gap between Rafael Viñoly’s 20 Fenchurch Street (aka the “Walkie-Talkie" tower) and adjacent plots in the body's local plan. Other key areas of change included in the City Plan 2040 call for the construction of new pedestrian routes and public green space, added ground-level accommodations for retail, and a mix of education and cultural spaces.

“These new CGI images clearly illustrate the ever-changing nature of London's incredible skyline. It demonstrates that the City office is here to stay, and that the Square Mile's real estate sector is robust and thriving, despite wider economic concerns,” Chair of the Planning and Transportation Committee at the City of London Corporation, S...

Tate Modern resolves viewing platform privacy dispute with Neo Bankside residents

2023-10-23T13:48:00-04:00

The Tate Modern in London has announced its compliance with the UK High Court’s February ruling regarding a privacy case that involved its 10th-floor viewing gallery and five residents of the adjacent Neo Bankside apartments.

The museum will now restrict visitors' access to the platform, which was constructed in 2016 as part of a Herzog & de Meuron-led $318 million Blavatnik Building expansion. The remedy will help the Tate avoid paying any monetary damages, as was the will of the plaintiffs. Their decision puts an end to a saga that has touched on Inner London’s class conflicts over housing and could potentially carry future ramifications in regards to design and the public realm, according to Guardian critic Oliver Wainwright and other observers.

Natasha Rees, a senior partner at the law firm Forsters, which represented the five Neo Bankside residents, said: “An award of damages was never our clients’ aim and they are grateful for the Tate’s recent willingness, instead, to agree t...

Mæ's John Morden Centre wins the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize

2023-10-19T19:57:00-04:00

The design for the John Morden Centre in Blackheath, London, by Mæ has just been announced as the winner of the 2023 Stirling Prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The country’s new ‘Best New Building’ honor was bestowed to the 22-year-old firm’s redesign of the elder care facility located on the site of Grade I-listed Morden College, the original design for which dates to the 1690s and has been attributed to the period’s most significant architect, Sir Christopher Wren.

Photo: Jim Stephenson

The scope of the project involved creating a more sociable, physically active, and less isolating atmosphere in which residents can age in place gracefully. With dramatic effect, the overhaul consolidates formerly diffuse functions at the non-profit care facility into a series of brick pavilions that are connected by the construction of a central timber colonnade.

Photo: Jim Stephenson

A steeply pitched roofline gives the structure an austere but still inviting character. I...

Pulitzer Prize-winning architect Alison Killing to join Financial Times visual investigations unit

2023-10-16T18:41:00-04:00

Alison Killing, the British-born and Netherlands-based designer who in 2021 was named the first-ever architect to win the Pulitzer Prize, has been tapped to lead a new visual investigations unit supported by the Financial Times. The paper announced the appointment on Thursday.

Killing will work under the title Senior Investigations Reporter and expand on a body of work that includes the Putlizer-winning investigation for The New York Times into Muslim detention camps operating in China’s Xinjiang province. The published reporting led the country to withdraw from this year’s Venice Biennale while shedding light on the difficulties journalists and human rights advocates face in performing open-source research in authoritarian regimes across the world.

Killing was educated in the UK and later immigrated to the Netherlands to found her practice Killing Architects in 2010. The financial downturn of the time caused her to venture into curation and researching vacant buildings. She would ...

Foster + Partners releases Ellison Institute of Technology campus designs in Oxford

2023-10-16T17:09:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has unveiled renderings for a new scientific research and development facility design located in Oxford, UK.

The project to establish a new home for the eight-year-old Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) comprises a 30,000-square-meter (323,000-square-foot) central research laboratory, oncological wellness institute, and restoration of existing buildings. Its creation positions the institute, which also operates out of Los Angeles, for better collaborations with Oxford University and the city’s biotech and technology industries. The EIT says it will also aid with the launch of its new Ellison Scholars program, which was initiated earlier this year.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

The scope of its design entails connecting the restored single-volume Littlemore House to new pavilions located at the easternmost edge of the site in order to create a larger C-shape footprint surrounding a landscaped courtyard that’s built over a sunken 200-seat auditorium and culminat...

British building firms urge a halt to 'regressive' Tory environmental policy delays

2023-10-10T17:24:00-04:00

Several leading design and construction firms in the UK have signed onto a new appeal urging Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to halt his program of delayed implementations of key environmental building regulations in the interest of protecting a net-zero carbon emissions future in the country.

The Guardian first shared news of the letter, which called these delays “simply reckless,” just days after issuing a damming analysis of the benefits reaped by some builders as the ambitions of the climate movement have been vastly forestalled.

“We are disappointed at your narrative that delaying climate action would reduce costs to households. The longer we delay and the more we see stop-start piecemeal policy making, the harder and more expensive the task becomes,” a portion of the text reads.

SOM, Perkins&Will, and WilkinsonEyre were amongst the 114 signatories, joining AECOM, Buro Happold, and Arup on a docket that was formally organized by the UK Green Building Council. Along with...

New RIBA manifesto urges lawmakers' action for better practices in the built environment

2023-10-04T16:54:00-04:00

A new "Manifesto for a Better Built Environment" has been published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), calling on the country’s policymakers to make more urgent priority of the need for better safety, quality, and sustainability in the design and construction of buildings throughout the UK.

The publication was made in advance of the country’s political party conference season, saying that improved regulations, job training, and environmental standards are needed to help boost the national housing stock and achieve other benchmarks governing the whole-life carbon footprint of construction projects and retention of highly-qualified staff in local planning offices.

New RIBA President Muyiwa Oki said: "Well-designed buildings and places enrich our lives, positively impact the environment, and strengthen our communities. Our manifesto highlights the need for conscious and concerted policy action to deliver a built environment that meets peoples’ needs, both now and in t...