CA01

’A REVIEW OF CURRENT ARCHITECTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND EVENTS IN THE CAMBRIDGE AEEA PRODUCED BY THE CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS

After three years of planning and consultation the Cambridge Heritage Workshop is producing a pilot heritage display which will be open to the public during the summer months. The venue will be St. Giles Church Castle Hill, opposite the Folk Museum.

The display which will consist of an audio-visual presentation as well'asa standing interpretative exhibition of themes central to the history and present urban form of Cambridge ind its architecture. The rhemes will complement the established organisation and intitutions that exist in this field as well as adding a new dimension to the way the history of Cambridge and the built environment is presented.

Aspects of every day life as well as the great visual events and personalities will be explored, town as well as gown, both historic and contemporary.

The emphasis, however, will be on the architecture of Cambridge and its connection with the intellectual and social history of the city. It is hoped the pilot display will encourage supoort for a permanent Heritage Centre fof the City which so badly needs an interpretative and educative resource of this kind. .Colen Lumley

c/o 48 MILL WAY, GRANTC1IESTER, CAMBRIDGE

This newsletter has been produced by a number of Architects who feel that there should be a vehicle through which a number of Architectural and Environmental issues can be discussed.

These are principally related to Planning but also Conservation and Education. It is felt by many Architects that individual Architects should be encouraged to take sides in local issues and it is hoped that this newsletter will either stimulate individual response through its columns or directly to the press or planning authorities.

We feel that as Architects we are ahle better than most to commenti in an informed and sensitive way on the critical environmental issues which seem to be so difficult to solve successfully; such as parking, shopping and housing.

It is the purpose of this newsletter to warn when issues appear where our particular critical skills will be of use.

Ian Steen

The first issue of this newsletter coincides with the beginning of a hew 'fiscal' year and the accession of 'King Bob' (Bob Thompson) to C.A.A. Chairman. This promises to bring about more than the normal mild wind of change. Bob's avowed goal is to streamline the unwieldy beaurocracy presently prevading the association by directing greater effort into fewer but more clearly defined areas. The areas in question are (a) Education (for ourselves as well as others) and (b) Promotion (of architects and architecture). This new initiative deserves a response from the memebership.

Greater grass roots articipation is necessary and it iS hoped that another new inititative may produce just that.

R.I.B.A. Indemnity Research Ltd is releasing money from its profits to fund C.P.D. This is being allocated regionally but the emphasis for the Eastern Region will be on Cambridge. Running parallel to this tñe R.I.B.A. and Cambridge University School of Architecture have applied to the M.S.C. for a grant to run a regular series of C.P.D. seminars. It is intended to hold a one day seminar in October to which everyone interested can attend and'discuss what form C.P.D. should take and how we progress. Watch this space for further news. The following is a list of other events planned prior to the new year.

John Blair

POOL 'This month the City Council will select from a shortlist of two the winner of a developers' competition for the upgrading of the Park Side Pool. At the request of the Council both developers proposed a fun pool and a 25 metre pool with a new combined entrance. Aside from planning issues of inadequate parking, both schemes present problems of suitability and quality.

In a developers competition such as this where financial and design ideas are put forward in response to a competition brief which is necessarilyvery sketchy the schemes are also only sketch designs. It is therefore essential that the development of a detailed brief and the

working up of the design is carried out adequately. The best way this can be achieved must be for the City Council to appoint independent design consultants experienced in the design of leisure pools to advise and monitor all stages of the development of this scheme.

This should be in consultation with all parties involved.

From the experience of Architectural competions, those that are most successful are those where the brief is best prepared. In this case a detailed brief is totally absent and it is hoped that by its development now the worst pitfalls of developers architecture can still be avoided.

Ian Steen

Date

Venue

Event

16 Sept

Ibstock

2 local practices discuss their work

3 Oct

Queens College

Annual Dinner

11 Nov

Gonville Hotel

Langley's Lecture "Ceramics in Buildings"

4 Dec

Ibstock

French Evening

The period for commenting to the Secretary of State on the proposed new Structure Plan for Cambridgeshire (1986-2001) expired on 27th June.

The report ('Explanatory Memorandum') is comprehensive and makes interesting reading.

If adopted it will become an essential tool for architects wishing to give informed professional advice to builders, developers and other entrepreneurs in the formative stages of projects.

The report is a discussion document as well as a policy document and it is necessary to read it in full and to cross relate sections to understand the policy statements. This is perhaps a weakness when it comes to effective implementation and interpretation for particular projects. There is a need for a summary document - not just a summary of bald statements of policy but a comprehensive summary of the intentions of the plan for each area and for each City, Town and Village. In general the report is thoughtful, enlightened and sensible and was clearly sought following the consultation period to take into account the views of the many and varied interested groups, firms, institutions etc in the area.

The Association commented to the Oounty Council on the Draft Structure Plan last October on growth forecasts, local employment and housing’ needs, selected village growth and new settlements, transportation, out-of-town shopping, conservation, environmental education etc.

Most of the points made and no doubt raised by many others have been incorporated in the final document.

Since the Draft Review the County have reduced their forecasts for new housing, abandoned the proposed new village at Swavesey and the proposed housing at Clay Farm, Trumpington, and have adopted a more flexible locational policy for out-of-town shopping - although with clear guidelines, and have

made their proposals less specific on the level of expansion of villages. The proposed new settlement limited to 3,000 dwellings is now described as South of Wilburton/Stretham instead of near Waterbeach and guidelines on its implementation are set out.

One major anxiety remains.

Are the County Councils' GrOwth assumptions realistic particularly their policies for very restrictive growth in the South, given the similarly restrictive policies of Hertfordshire and Essex.

The County remains committed to slowing down the rate of growth in the region when everyone knows that this is currently one of the most economically active and fastest growing regions in the County for a wide range of reasons. If the County are proved not to have made realistic growth forecasts then it will not be possible to keep ahead of development pressures and a whole series of related pOlicies on such things as housing, land prices, employment, conservation etc will immediately become ineffective. One feels inclined to agree with the DOE Consultation Paper The Future of Development Plans published in September last year that the most effective way of implementing realistic policies would be to have single tier planning authorities at City and District Council levels Councils who are in the front line of Development control processing hundreds of planning applications every week. The DOE proposal for local Authority Consortia to advise the Secretary of State on Regional Policy would also perhaps get Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire and Essex to work together to formulate much needed Regional Policies for the area between here and London which are coordinated and realistic.

The Cambridgeshire Structure Plan Explanatory Memorandum (with maps) is available from Shire Hall (E6 plus p&p).

David Raven

30/6/87

HOTEL An amended planning application was submitted in May. The Planning Department have been unhappy about aspects of the design of what is thought of as the main facade fronting Downing Street. This is apparently to do with the expression of elements, quality of details and use of materials. The RFAC have also expressed anxieties about the design quality of the scheme. Following suggestions from the Planners some amendments have been made to the Downing Street elevation but it is felt to be a question of trying to make the best of a bad job.

The amended drawings are about as uninformative and ill considered as they could be. Half completed working drawings in plan and section submitted in support convey the feeling that a major leap has been made by the Developers from the initial presentation to implementation, presumably tO cut costs and time.

Much optimism was expressed to me a year ago by Chief Planning Officer David Urwin who felt confident that the extensive discussion stages would lead to a distinguished building. Holiday Inns were also quoted in the 'News' as saying that they foresaw the construction of an outstanding building which would compare favourably with other famous buildings in the City.

A lesson perhaps to be drawn from this is that when Developer= packages are used independent consultants should be retained to advise on and monitor the design as it develops.

It is to be hoped that the JT Groups' scheme now favoured for the Old Addenbrooks site will not develop in the same way and that independent advice will be sought (although sadly it may not be from Colquhoun and Miller).

This and the Hotel scheme are to be considered at the July Committee of the City Council.

David Raven

26/6/87

ne need your views on this xewsleHor Do you approve of this newsletter? Do you agree that we should have a vehicle for publicising the concern of individual architects on planning and environmental issues and sometimes on other architect's work? We would welcome contributions from anyone for the next edition in the Autumn.

Also we would much appreciate comments on this first issue. Please send you replies to: The Cambridge Association of Architects, c/o Ian Steen Architects, 48 Mill Way, Grantchester.