Archinect - News

Asif Khan homages Victorian London timber laborers with Canada Water boardwalk

2024-10-30T18:07:00-04:00

Asif Khan’s contribution to London's Canada Water master plan, a 230-foot-long boardwalk designed to homage the historic Surrey Docks' laborers and their role in Britain’s bygone timber industry heyday, has debuted in collaboration with the award-winning firm Townshend Landscape Architect.

Image: © Brendan Bell

Located on the rehabilitated shoreline of the River Thames in southeast London, the firms worked together with the London Wildlife Trust to deliver the project that doubles as a social hub, stepping down to the water's edge to include seating areas and an educational pond.

Image: © Brendan Bell

Surrounding it are a series of manmade islands and channels that attract and support avian species, conceived of as a 'mosaic' of different biodiversity enhancing natural habitats.

Image: © Luke Hayes

Inspired to design a pensive respite from the pace of the city, Khan says: "Crossing water can give us powerful sensations. This boardwalk immerses us in a few moments of colour, of nature...

Former RIBA president and champion of Brutalism Owen Luder has passed away at 93

2021-10-11T14:44:00-04:00

Sad news today as multiple outlets are reporting the death of Brutalist icon and former RIBA president Owen Luder in England at the age of 93.

Luder held a number of different titles throughout his six-decade career and was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) at the time of his passing.

Born in South London in 1928, Luder studied at what was then called The Brixton School of Building (today a part of London South Bank University) before opening his own practice in 1957 and going on to create some of the most controversial buildings in the post-war UK.

Characterized by his signature multi-use developments, Luder famously paired with Rodney Gordon on a number of theaters and multi-use projects that ultimately failed to withstand tests of time and wuthering public criticism.

Developments like the so-called “Dunston Rocket” in Tyre and Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth remain as some of the most...

Tsuruta Architects hopes their new apartments will be catalyst for change in this London neighborhood

2021-09-24T18:45:00-04:00

A friendly fiberglass feline icon is being used as a catalyst for change in one London neighborhood, thanks to the incredible creativity and vision of one local firm.

Image courtesy Ståle Eriksen/Tsuruta Architects

Tsuruta Architects, recent winner of the RIBA London Small Project Award for the stunning Wooden Roof project, is behind the new cat-inspired design of five apartments in London’s Catford district, which has for many years suffered from a bad reputation as an area that’s prone to violence and frequent robberies.

Image courtesy Ståle Eriksen/Tsuruta Architects

Tsuruta is seeking to change the narrative with a fictional backstory that connects the apartments to the neighborhood’s local cinematic history as imagined by architect Taro Tsuruta and writer Chris Robert.

Image courtesy Ståle Eriksen/Tsuruta Architects

Taking as his charge as a highly visible sculpture of a cat that looms over the southeast London neighborhood, Tsuruta’s apartments feature over 27,000 laser-etched...

New Rooftop Observatory launched at Bold Tendencies

2017-07-25T05:36:00-04:00

Peckham’s famous multi-storey car park has a new addition; a new viewing gallery created by Cooke Fawcett. The young practice, based in London’s creative Clerkenwell, was formed just two years ago, by directors Oliver Cooke and Francis Fawcett, after working on the Tate’s Switch House at Stirling-prize winning practice Herzog & de Meuron.

This project, a spectacular kiosk and viewing gallery for arts space Bold Tendencies, will not only provide breathtaking views of London but also act as an interactive setting for installations and specially commissioned art pieces. This arts-focused structure joins (and benefits from) Peckham’s famous rooftop hangout, Frank’s Bar. Over the past decade, the Peckham multi-storey car park has been slowly transformed by Bold Tendancies, through a programme of culture. Immersive public space and unique views have drawn over a million visitors south of the river, to this unlikely home of the arts.

Francis Fawcett: “For an avant garde cultural institut...

London, South of the River. A Personal Journey Before ‘Brexit’

2016-07-08T06:59:00-04:00

[...] during a visit some months before the Brexit vote, I armed myself with a detailed map and trolled all over South and Southeast London — a conglomeration of formerly independent villages, boroughs, towns and green spaces that have long since been incorporated into London [...] the neighborhoods that make up the great London patchwork quilt are ephemeral, especially now, as the immigrant communities of London wonder what the post-Brexit future will bring.

Read more about the effects of Brexit for architects on archinect:

Architects react to shocking EU referendum result

Property funds suspend trading in biggest seize-up since financial crisis

Creative Currency, post-Brexit

Post-Brexit pessimism causes precautionary job losses

After Brexit, “the priority for the government at this time will not be big sexy projects”