CA05

A

REVIEW OF CURRENT ARCHITECTURAL AND ENVIRONNENTAL ISSUES AND EVENTS IN THE CANBRIDCE AREA PRODUCED BY MENBERS

OF

THE

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS AS AN INTERNAL NEWSLETTER

THE VIEWS IN'THIS NEWSLETTER ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS AND NOT OF THE ASŠOCIATION PUBLISHED BY IAN STEEN.ARCHITECTS, 48 MILL WAY, GRANTCHESTER, CM(BRIDGE Number 5

October 1988

PRINTED BY

BUTLER THOMSON

ARCHITECTS

cambridgeshire

Structure Plan

The Secretary of State's (SOS) amendments to the Structure Plan will be finalised at the end of Lhis year.

The SOS accepts the need for an out-of-town shopping centre and favours the new settlement on the A45 west as its location.

In Cambridge, there has always bee- a difficult balance between cr vation and development and =one more so than now. The SOS modifications to the plan submitted to him relax some of the restrictions that were to have been made by local councils.

This moves towards but comes nowhere near satisfying the demand predicted by Government statisticians. So this presumably means continued pressure on housing into the foreseeable future. The SOS has Tele:ted new oettlamonts at £rickpits,Peterborough,of 5400 dwellings, on the A 45 west of Cambridge of initially 3OOO and on the AlO north of 1500.

In office development, the SOS wishes to encourage economic and employment growth, whilst restricting excessive growth close to Cambridge. He proposed North and Easterly locations with Hi-Tech south of the A45 northern by-pass west of the Histon Road.

Therefore most of the new housing will be located where it is best accessible for commuters. It is thought by some that this may take the pressure off the lower end cf the market indirectly.

However, it is likely that while touring authorities plan ar growth restrictions, the prdssure will remain.

A conference was held at Churchill Gn Friday 30 September (attended by remarkably”few Architects).

Narcial Echbnique gave an informative address and filled out details on what we had read in the press.

Open discussion was instructive, 'with a number of contentious viev:s expressed :

PUT YOUR'NONEY WHERE YOUR NOUTH IS Nominations will shortly be required for candidates for the RIBA Council Elections early next year. As a membei: of Council since 1983, I can say that it has been a worthwhile experience, even though it has been frustrating at times and I have not always agreed with the 'words of wisdom' which have followed the decisiontaking process2 Only by becoming aware of how decisions are taken on behalf of Members will you have the opportunity to influence debate and those who say that they cannot afford the time are only finding an easy excuse. In my experienc e the busy per son is always the one that finds time f:r addl:ional inv:1vement. :t is only a matter of olganisation to find the time to spend, say, one day each month on Council business.

-most of Cambridge green belt is of very ooor amenity, so it should be If we do not nominate for the developed' (surely it should be kept two vacancies they will be taken green and ways found to improve it). up by colleagues from areas adjacent to London and in my -wflilst we conserve ancient college view that would be very sad as buildings we drive the life out I have tried, with some modest of the ancient city. success, to make sure that the Institute knows that Cambridge -need to generate housing in exists.

Czmbridge and employment on the ring.

SP EAlt NO1f OR F O RE VE iš HOLD YOUR Ian Steen PEACE' Nominations are also required for Vice Chairman of Eastern Region RIBA with the successful candidate taking over the Chairmanship from Nervyn Niller next year.

PROGRAN>E OF EVENTS 1988 Nov 16 CONSERVATION Ian # Barbara Crawford (Venue - Ibstock)

Feb 15 STANSTED AIRPORT Spencer de Grey of Foster Associates (Venue - Ibstock)

Dec 14 LAND SCAPE IN A RCHIT ECTURE Tan Be thn ell (Venue - Ibstock)

mar 22 P ROFESSI ONAL L IABILI TY Raymond Cecil (¥enue - Ibstock)

l .°8 9 Jan

FORUN

TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF BLOCKWORK lV. Addey of Forticrete (Venue & time to be arranged).

FOR THE C ONSTRUCTI ON

I NDU ST RY

Occ 2O

You will (should) all be aware that RIBA Council has decided on a course of action which will give more responsibility (and finance) to Regions so it is essential that we have a voice at this level of the Institute's affairs. In the immediate [uture I am sure that the man or woman in this post will need'to take a high profile, so we must make every e£fort to find the right person.

BUI LDI NC DEFECTS , THE C OPME RCIAL REALI TY ( Venue - Robin son Co11eqe)

NAI';ES OF THO SE I NT KRE S T E D lN E I TH ER OF THE ABOVE OP PORT UNITI ES TO BOB TH.ONSON Mike Jeffels

Oambridgeshire Rural Strate$y A new report came out ln the summer entitled 'Cambridgešhire Rural Strategy'. This excellent 3O-page document has been produced by a small team in the Property Department at Shire Hall after wide consultation with statutory, voluntary and private bodies who contribute to the rural scene.

The report provides a broad policy

framework for a more integrated

approach to farming and countryside policy in response in part to the

recent EEC directive requiring member states to offer incentives to farmers to reduce their production of cereals and other surplus foods - either by reducing the output from a given area of la converting land for other p od r ( not in surplus, such as forestry or non-agricultural uses. Given rising population, decline in employment on the land and deterioration of the environment, there 1s a growing belief that modern organic farming methods and an holistic approach to rural management is the only way forward.

The County Council’ also has a particular concern for the future of some 8OO tenants who farm the County Estates.

The challeñge is'therefore to help the farmers adapt to the policies and at the same time generate wider benefits to the countryside (social, economic, environmental). Many suggestions and ideas are put forward ln the report such as training programmes to help farmers respond to new opportunities and encouragement of greater awareness and understanding amongst the general populace of rural life, development of wider economic potential of the countryside, by, for example, conversion of farm buildings for small businesses, tourist accommodation, interpretation centres of museums, improvement of rights of way and cycle routes,p1anting new forests

and hedging, improvement and expan-

slon for nature reserves, archaeological sites and recreational sports facilities of all kinds.

The implementation of the proposals depends as always on funding. As well as the County Council, sources envisaged include EEC, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Rural Development Commission, East Anglia Tourist Board, Countryside Commission, English Heritage and the Nature Conservancy Council.

The next step envisaged is for the Property Department to draw up an 'action plan' for each part of the County and to establish a steering group or forum of all the main agencies. Having gone so far down the road of so-Called agrlcultural efficiency, it is a tremendous challenge. If all the diverse interest groups could work together, a lot could be achieved for the countryside and our quality of life. oav 1d Raven 2 5/9/88

DINNER C.A.A . ANNUAL OINNER YAMN, YAUN!II

This year annual dinner was atŁended by p robab ly less than J0 By now, most RIBA members will be aware of the title CPD - Continuing Professional Development - 'the systematic maintenance, improvement

and broadening of knowledge and

skill and development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout the practitioner's working life'. The concept of continuing education 1s not new. Hid career studies, day release and evening courses have been around a long time, in many forms, from courses organised by employers for their staff to divlduals wishing to broaden ir own education, interests «d pastimes.

theare living in an age of tremendous technological, social and economic change. If the professions are to hold their place in society they must respond. )te have already seen the beginning of changes ln education with the introduction of GCSE and core curriculum within secondary schools.

The wave of change will spread through to the further education system with profound effect on the Universities and Colleges with partlcular regard to the students' financial support throughout their course and the duration and structure of the courses themselves.

The Government [s looking to the professions concerned to play an increasing role in the development' of their future colleagues.

The principle of older experienced people teaching the young inexperienced student is far from an \glna1 idea; the articled pupil the responsibility of his master has existed for many years. The Government and professions see a movement towards some of these’ ideas as helping not only political ends, but also serving to improve quality of service.

To accommodate the current expansion and complexity of business and technology, together with a growing awareness of one's own responsibilities and accountabilities, the architects of tke future may well have to specialise within the profession early in their training and career. CPD will be essential to malntain, update and enhance these specialists.

1992 isa date of many happenings, due to the relaxation of trade and labour barriers. Again, the Covernment has invLted the professions to meet the challenge

It was with these thoughts in mind that led the RIBA Council (July 1987) to make the full commitment to CPD, its main aims being to establish and have running a mandatory system by 1992, where all RIBA members are requested to consider their own educational needs through a Personal Development Plan and recéive something like 80 hours per year of CPD. The re wl11

be ma ny ways C PD will be

made available to members, such as seminars, workshops, lectures, video tapes, day or evening residential courses and home or open learning courses. The curriculum topics and events will be co-ordinated through the RIBA bra nches, reqlous and H0.

The existing Schools of Architecture and Colleges of Further Education will play a large part in the provision of CPD, as will the other professions, who have their own CPD programmes to establish. It is envisaged that the need for CPD by all the professions will bring about ideas and respurces leading to a closer understanding between different disciplines and consequently to improvement of service.

The Eastern Region of the’’RIBA in association with the University of Cambridge has established a CPD centre for the region'and Its initial aims are to work with HQ and other regions, to bring about the policies and principles of making CPD work, llaLse and co-ordinate with other professions, branches, educational institutes and arrange events for members.

CPD Ls not another of those crackpot ideas, coming out of the 'learned institute', it is the only means of ensuring that we keep abreast of change, avoid mistakes and retain the edge over our competLtors in other professions.

The CPD for Architects Office at Cambridge wLll keep members informed of developments and organLse events throughout the region.

In the meantLme, Tim Brading, the ER organisér, seeks your support and welcomes your comments a nd ldeas to : CPD for Architects The Martin Centre 6 C haucer Road Cambr 1dqe CB2 2 EB

and ensure that they are well equipped to meet competition and establish new markets.

Te1 ’:

Tim

Brading

(0 2 2 3 ) 4 6 14 5 8

bona I' ide branch members (a me re 10.°’< o I Łhe membe rship). The rest.

o I the 100 plus Lhronq was made up of spouses, gues ts and r ecipi ends oI R . I.B.A East.ern Region Awards.

The venue, the dining hall of Fitzwilliam Colle9e has probably the worst acoustics imaginable Cor aCtet-dinner speaking, tesulting in Bill Rogers proving his political pedigree bybeingthe onlyaudible speaker and The Lady Mayor of Cambridge making an impassioned plea on behalf oC the visual arts to anyone within a 10 foot radius.

The award ceremony consisted ot The Regional Chairman, Dr Hezvyn Miller, telling the audience who had won what for which building, but as there was only one local building, 'Schlumberger,' no local architects end no exhibition or visual evidence it meant precious little to the majority of listeners. Surely we could do better than this7 To top it all the winners were not even presented with anything, apparently the certificates were not ready in time. The saving grace For Cambrid9e was the involvement oF local contractors, Sindall and Johnson 8 Bailey in two oF the award-winning schemes.

The Łerm ’B lack T ie’ used .to denote Łhe Łorma1 dress requ1 rement Moc these events seems to be stretched to the limits. Black trousers and blaok jackets were much in evidence but it seems that architects desire to express their individuality through theit ties.

Blue, red and green (guilty, but with the excuse of a patriotic uiCe in charge of the tie buying) in various humorous varieties seem to be most popular at present.

How do we make the Annua1 Dlnne¢ more inŁeresting and attractive to the vast numbers currently boycotting the event7 Answe*s to Łhe editoc p1ease. Persona11y I think it migńt be worth experimenting with a 'Oinner Dance' at a hotel and a non-aFchitectuFal b ias to thea fter-dinner speeches, i I we have any at all. The current paLLern o f ’ Sherry reception,’ ’ Dinner and Speeches’ aL a Co1 1ege venue, may hold trad1 tiona1 virtues but is obv1ous1y not pecce lved aS sufii c1 ent1y enLer tabning to atŁract the mass oF our members Ło what should be our ma in ' soc1al' event o r Łhe year.

John Blair

If there was a theme emerging from the exhlbltion, It was the 'rebirth of the cool' (and) 'the unanimity of distrust for"appliqu6 motifs“ '. A greater appreciation of the value of architectural history and theory is leading to schemes which appear 'calmer, cooler and less frenetic' (and) increasingly the cfude repetition of the vernacular Vs fading out as a theme'.

This year's exhibitI on at 1 bstoe x, Cambr id9e , extended for 2§ weeks I rorn mid-Auqust until e arIy S ept ember . The ex h I b 1 t lon wa s s 1 lc Y. a nd impress ice. There were a lar qer n umber of entries than last t ime ( 198S) a nd s tanda rds were hiq her.

Out of the forty practices exhibiting, twenty-eight were London-based. The other twelve were from around Britain and in one case from Dublin. Cambridge was represented by a young team from RH Partnership (Chudleigh, Smith and Francis).

The Assessors' lndividual comments are i: cluded in the catalogue.

These make interesting reading and give some insight into the quality of the exhibition and perhaps into the current state of architecture in general.

David Dunster (RIBA Events Convenor),’ who chaired the Jury, appreciated the fact this time tñat photographs of finished buildings dominated the exhibition, making tle selection process easier 'because drawings can conceal what a photograph reveals'.

Peter Cook i2entified four strands to the exhibitlon : 1. The ' red-br tek NerrIe Enq1a nd' group.

'The better examples attempted to keep it crlsp and remembered one or two ground rules of international logic before being swamped by nostalgia' (and) others bathed themselves in terracotta-coloured and buff striped diarrhoea---so overpowering that members of the Jury noticeab'ly suffered nausea'.

2. Fos ters,ZRogers /Cr ims haw s chool few reached the level of clarlty or sophistication of their late Nasters'; 3. Hlstorical experiments with interior space by 'an interestmg young architect’ using colours other than terracot :a and buff and 'occasionally a too-clever-by-half bit of geometry : but rather this than nosta1q ia' 4. Irish/Berli n rationallst in 'blaCk-and-white, articulate or pretentious texts and elegant elevations?'

David Rock emphasis cd the in 11uence of clear a nd sophisticated presentation techniques in the selection but felt the range of york nas too narrow. He regretted the absence o:Łexperi enced a z-chi t e cts u nder 4 O I r om t h e med i um to 1arqe pra c t i c e s . michael Hopkins reg-etted that none of the assessors here themselvts under 4O but found that ałl agreed on ' what is promising and what is pretentious. There is a common thread to good zrchitecture (but a selection of folty seems top many for ali to be really Sood and too few to be genuinely fair.

Robert Stern felt some disappointment ' nOt that some of the work wasn't quite 9 ood, or e ven that there here not different points of view represented, but that I had seen nothizg that I had not i n some sen se seen beI ore . I do DOt mean to imply that I expected a new sI y1e or mov emen t. - - mut that I had hoped for deeper explorations of themes. I felt that much of the work represented surface gloss, rather than serious, intensely explored architecture.'

Maybe there are also lessons to be learnt from ali this by those Of us who are over 4O and pezh4ps more iix eó i n our ways?

David

viLr

Raven

3 O/ 9/5S

EL AN i N'łPOD UCT I GN iS IN

ORDER.

We are THE'YALKER uOXSULTAhCY and ’we would like to thank the Cambridge Architects'Assozlotion for this opportunity to iutroâuce ourselves to its members.

Nr Simon Ham, an architect member or Łhe Bui1 dinq Regulation Advisory Commi ttee and rżre corr espondant to Łhe Archi tecŁs 3ourna1 spoke to an audi ence od near1y 40 1oca1 archi tects about fżres, £ire regu1 aŁions and proposed changes to the regu1 aŁi ons on which, he amongst o thers, is work ing. ii Łh the hezp o I s1 1des Nr Ham expl a*ned Łhe rea1iti es of iire and i ts consequences, and went on to out1ź ne Łhe rather dubi ous origins o r most o £ Łhe exi sti ng iire regu1ati ons. F rom his own e xperź ence o F dea1 inq as a iire

consult ant ror archit ectura1 practi ces sŁr uggJ ing wiŁh anti quated reguJa Łions kihen desi gni ng 1 a rger , more c o»ip! ex muJ t z -use deveJ opments than ever envi saged by Łhe requ a tions, he outJi ned how the cur renŁ z nFJexibłe approach is Failing Ło succeed even on i ts own Łerms.

He went on to suggest what new proposals Cor the building regulations ml9ht accomplish including a more balanced approach between active and passive measures oF achieving fire protection and oF the implications tor mana9ement of buildings.

Mr Ham went on to explain the vital importance oC ironm°°9ery in the battle for fire protection, obliging the sponsors ot the event Laidlaw Thompson (East Anglia) Limited.

The subject aroused a great deal of interest and we were fortunate to have a speaker with a 9zeat depth of know)ed9e who provided a very informative and entertaining evening.

John Blair

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We thin}: you will find our rates attractive and the level of personal attention we pay to our clients has been a major factor

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Whether you're looking for staff,

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I,e a r e p l ea s cd to bav e be e n aL 1 e t o a s s i s Ł s ex'e ral we1 1 -k n own 1 oca 1 pra c t i c e s , a nd look I orward to 3'our c a 11.

And now that we've lntroduced otrselves to you, isn't it time you retvrn ed the Nayour ...2 For morv information, contact Mlchael walter on o9s4 (tadingleyl 2113 6, or write to him at : The Wał)er Consułtancy 33 Egre,ont Road, Hardwick, Cemb*idoe CB3 7XR