Archinect - News

dRMM’s Stirling Prize-winning, revamped Hastings Pier is already for sale

2018-02-21T17:47:00-05:00

Property firm GVA said it was open to offers after being asked to find a buyer for the transformed Sussex coastal landmark. The charity behind dRMM’s much-loved refurbishment of the pier went into administration last year. Now the administrators have appointed GVA to sell the asset.

The charity responsible for restoring and running Hastings Pier—the once derelict landmark whose £14.2 million rebuild won this year's RIBA Stirling Prize—has been forced to put the property up for sell after experiencing some financial difficulties. According to the Architects' Journal, last year, the charity failed to agree a new three-year business plan with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council in order to become self-funding.

Due to the charity's insolvency, administrators Smith & Williamson were appointed back in November in hopes of ensuring the pier's future. They have now put the property firm GVA in charge of selling the 145-year old pier, which will remain open throughout 2018 with funds from HLF already allocated to the project.

RIBA 2016 Stirling Prize Shortlist announced: includes Herzog & de Meuron, Wilkinson Eyre

2016-07-13T19:02:00-04:00

What does it take for a project to transcend from merely eye-catching architecture to a lasting, inspirational, nationally acclaimed building? The RIBA Stirling Prize, which awards the UK's best new building each year, has narrowed 2016's contenders down to a shortlist of six (two of which, the Weston Library by Wilkinson Eyre and Loyn & Co's Inside Outside House, were predicted for this list by Archinect's Ellen Hancock), which it announced today.

The list follows the National Awards and London Awards earlier this year, and comprises of some “usual suspects” shortlisted in previous years, as well as some newcomers; including previous winners Wilkinson Eyre and Herzog & de Meuron, and returning nominees Reiach and Hall, Caruso St John, and dRMM.

Nominees Michael Laird Architects and Loyn & Co Architects are relative newcomers, bringing (respectively) an education project and a private residence to the shortlist—the first private home to be nominated in 15 years. This year’s shortlist ...

London Design Festival has revealed a host of installations for 2016

2016-05-04T12:29:00-04:00

Installations announced for LDF 2016 include a giant curved walkway made of sustainable wood, a takeover of a disused stairwell and sit-in boxes that aim to address the housing crisis. The Smile, designed by Alison Brooks Architects, is an outdoor installation supported by the American Hardwood Export Council and ARUP, and is a 36m-long curved rectangular tube made from sustainable timber.

Here are some more of this years offerings:

Baboushka Boxes are design by dRMM and supported by financial company Legal & General as well as the homeless charity Shelter.

Created by consultancy Gilthero and supported by Italian watch maker Panerai, The Green Room will be based in a stairwell at the V&A and explores the concept of time.

The much discussed crazy gold course conceived by Sir Paul Smith which still needs to raise £120,000 through Kickstarter to happen.

Already announced the live robotically sculpted canopy at the V&A.

For related installations, check these out:

100 renderings of ideas to solve London's housing crisis released

2015-09-17T07:12:00-04:00

The international competition organized by think-tank New London Architecture and the Mayor of London has released 100 renderings of proposed solutions to London's housing crisis. Attracting over 200 entries from 16 countries around the world, the competition includes submissions from respected London-based architectural firms including dRMM, Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, and Grimshaw Architects.

The ideas cover a variety of conceptual ground, although the innovative use and repurposing/modification of existing spaces appears in numerous renderings, as shown in the entries of Akira Yamanaka and Hal Architects:

Several proposals make use of the Thames and other waterways to create floating housing, such as these renderings from Baca Architects and dRMM:

Starting on October 15th, the 100 shortlisted entries will be on public display for free at the NLA galleries in The Building Centre near Russell Square, and ten winners will be announced by the end of October. Those winners will be...