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Almost 60 years later, Balfron’s streets have been scrubbed up and the residents’ facilities turbo-charged, but the kind of community that Goldfinger imagined has long since been evicted [...]
Where once Balfron looked out over declining docks, it now winks across the Thames at the towers of Canary Wharf, whose bankers are a target audience for the new flats, which went on sale this weekend.
— The Guardian
A spokesperson for the developer told the Guardian critic that the prospective buyers have mostly been well-to-do architects and design-hip young professionals thus far. Up for grabs is the famed Bond villain namesake Goldfinger’s personal apartment on the top floor, along with the five other... View full entry
The shortlist has been announced for the 2022 RIBA Stirling Prize, awarded each year to the UK’s best new building. Six projects will be in contention for the award, which is now in its 26th edition. Among the projects vying for the award are a college in Scotland, a school in London, and a... View full entry
The new charitable arm of Grimshaw Architects has been announced by its founder at an event held last week at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The newly-formed Grimshaw Foundation is aimed at promoting inclusivity and will serve a broader purpose to “engage and encourage young people to... View full entry
Factory-produced homes can produce up to 45% less carbon than traditional methods of residential construction, according to new research by academics from the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University. A study found that two modular housing schemes designed by HTA Design, consisting of a total of nearly 900 homes, saved a combined 28,000 tonnes of carbon. — Building
The two schemes studied were the 44 and 38-story Ten Degrees towers in London’s Croydon borough, the world’s tallest completed modular building, and The Valentine, a 10-story student housing project in London’s Redbridge. Both were completed in 2020. The report found that... View full entry
Citing a shift in both institutions’ “strategic priorities”, RIBA has announced the conclusion of its popular 20-year exhibition partnership with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in a joint statement. The partnership will come to an end in 2027 after a... View full entry
Theaster Gates’ hotly-anticipated debut as the first non-architect to win the Serpentine Pavilion commission has been causing quite a buzz online since premiering for the press yesterday in London’s historic Kensington Gardens. The installation has thus far been received domestically as... View full entry
Theaster Gates' Serpentine Pavilion has been revealed in London's Kensington Gardens, showcasing his vision for a Black Chapel that advances the fair's evangelizing mission to be an incubator for community building, civic culture, and public engagement. In a circular form evoking... View full entry
Heatherwick himself has become the puckish poster boy for the current bout of arboreal mania. He has even incorporated his trademark plant-pots-on-sticks into a range of office furniture. If in doubt, the studio mantra seems to go – just smother the design with a garnish of greenery. — The Guardian
The Guardian critic echoed colleague Rowan Moore's derisive critique of Heatherwick’s continued “abuse of metaphors” published in late April and added his own criticism that the 350-tree structure, just like the MVRDV-designed Marble Arch Mound, offers “yet another example of the... View full entry
London-based architecture studio Bureau de Change and Lulu Harrison, a postgraduate student in Central Saint Martins' Material Futures program, have collaborated to create a series of cladding tiles made from glass using mussel shells. Their work explores alternatives to the processed and... View full entry
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has finally picked an architect for its 66 Portland Place refurbishment. The organization announced today that it has selected Benedetti Architects in the national competition to lead the overhaul of its aged neoclassical headquarters... View full entry
Big news today as Herzog & de Meuron’s anticipated expansion of the Royal College of Art has officially opened in the Battersea district of London. Characterized by a fusion of seven separate facilities into one combined structure, the new £135 million ($169 million) complex entails the... View full entry
London’s proposed Camden Highline has been submitted for planning. Led by the practice behind the New York High Line, James Corner Field Operations, and Camden-based firm vPPR Architects, the project will regenerate a disused railway viaduct to establish an elevated park that connects Camden... View full entry
Tower Hamlets Council has granted planning permission to PLP Architecture and Adjaye Associates’ amended plans to overhaul the Whitechapel Estate in east London.
PLP masterplanned the development and designed seven buildings, while Adjaye Associates designed five of the six buildings on the west of the site. The duo first submitted plans for the estate in 2015, which were rejected by Tower Hamlets Council but later approved on appeal.
— Architects' Journal UK
The revised plan was finally approved after an affordable housing plot was relocated “to a better setting” outside of the scheme, which also is now serviced by more energy-efficient heat pump technology. One-third of the scheme’s now 529 residences are still considered affordable under... View full entry
DSDHA and Perkins&Will have been chosen by a team of developers to design a new life sciences complex in central London. The investment entity behind the proposed Snowsfields Quarter project, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, selected global real estate investor and developer Oxford... View full entry
Part of the W Awards program, the annual MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice recognizes UK-based architects excelling in practice. Last year's prize was awarded to Alice Brownfield of Peter Barber Architects. Now in its third iteration, this year's award recipient is Fiona... View full entry