CA11

A REVIEW OF CURRENT ARCHITECTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND EYEETTS IN T£tE CA2\fBRIDGE AREA PRODUCED BY MEMBERS OF THE CAJIftBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS AS AN IN'PERNAL KEWSLET'PER. THE YIT'sWS IN THIS NEWSLETTER ARE THOSE OF TM INDIVIDUAL CO2JTRIBUTORS AND NOT OF THE ASSOCIATION PUBLISHED BE IAW STEEN ‘ARCHITECTS, 48 MILL AWAY; GRA2tCHESTER, CAMBRIDGE

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Number 11 January 1990

M

RI[ETSQUARE

DESIGN COMPETITION

Entries in October for this local competition were about a dozen mainly from profess ionals. The planning department have been trying to encourage local schools to p articipaté apparently without success. A rather half-hearted exhibition has been mounted on the

".nning notice board. Judging nas yet started. It is intended to saRe some form of internal assessment and then draw in selected council members to help judge the professional entries.

David Raven

Iüsted Panel.

EXRCUZTPE COMMITZEE MEETINGS

Scheduled meetings of the Executive C om mittee for the beginning of the new year includes guest participation on Monday 8 January (Nigel Frost/R IBA Education Department /the new Built E nvironm ent T rust); 5 February o int meeting with Huntingdonshire and Peterborougn Chapter); 7 March (Peter Carolin new Professor of the School of

may vote). Why not try it, you will be made most welcome.

The meetings are informal, with business conducted in the first Z/4hr followed by an open forum discussion led by the guest of the evening, who is usually a person with sp ecia1 expertise, or bacRground, related to the issue under discussion. Recent guests have included the City Planning

Executive Committee meetings are held I gene rally) on the first

Recent topics have Oeen Quality Assurance; and MarKeting at the

mencing at 6.00 pm, at the IbstocR Design Centre in I-tills Road. these

need to respond to issues at short notice precludes general advert-

Architecture).

Mo nday of e ac h

mo nth, c om-

are open meetings and all members are encouraged to attend to familiarise themselves with the activities of the Association, and to participate and contribute to discussion (only elected members

Officer and the City Architect.

Regional level. Topicality and the

isement, but you can contact the

Chairman (843931a or Secretary (24 8 9 4 4) for up to date in-

formation.

Following the resigriation of George Hamilton as the CAA/RIBA representative on the panel Ken Buffrey has recently agreed to take over the job. The fourteen or so panel members represent local and The newly appointed Deputy national amenity societies. They D irector of Planning to South meet six or seven times a year to lambs, Gareth Jones, was formerly consider all listed building applicwith Newbury Council, Berkshire, ations and have recently been given where the local architects panel a wider brief to comment on all formeda useful service in complemajor plannmg applications for the menting officer app rais al of 'y DavldRaven sensitive sites and projects up for planning application. In discussion hibíion ofArchüec&s' with CAA Executive Committee members last week Gareth Jones Drawings and Models expressed his intention to restore An exhibition will be held for two the South Cambs panel, with the weeRs in May or June 199O of hope that this would meet with members' drawings and models. enthusiastic suppo rt from The intention is to focus on the Cambridge /shire architects in communication of ideas, and on the manning the panel and contributing skill and art of presentation rather to the monitoring of quality of development and safeguarding the than photographs of finished heritage of the built environment in projects. A venue is being organised, the South Cambs district area. which will be either Kettles Gallery The Planning Department will or s imilar gallery enviror me nt. organisea rota and be responsible Good advertising will be used to for notifying members. The first encourage the public to visit. meeting of the newly constituted If you are interested in submitting panel will probably be in February work forthis exhibition, please 19 90. Meetings are from 4.Opm contact David Hayes ofDesign Group Cambridge, so that we can gauge the initial level of interest. This will help Arepsementor Metavan desteg us with both the venue and hasbeen appointed to take post from 1

ishoped to have4 -5 architects at each meeting and architects will be expected to attenda sequence of4 i months, in rotation, drawn from a pool of 20 architects. The PanéPs" views will be r epo rte d automatically to Council.

This isa worthy way of using pro fes si onal sRills to ser ve the community and of demonstrating high standards of design and appreciation. Please ask yourself whether this is something to which you could contribute and get in touch with David Raven (OF25 z i sR65) or George Wright (0225 5122583 to obtain further information. You may be pleasantly surprised with the interest generated by a dialogue with fellow professionals, outside the immediate concerns of one 's own practice, and dedicated to the issues of good design and planning.

Hurst, is leaving the Eastern Arts Association to take over from Meta.

Aftera two week induction at the RIBA it is anticipated that Liz will share office with the Regional CPD in the Martin

fresh urgency to the search for suitable premises and isa step forward for the Eastern Region in establishinga firmer presence and support for the membership from within the Region.

CharmanCAA

SOUZH CAMBRIÒOESHIRE PANEL Wednesdays, on a monthly basis. It

Chairman CAA

NX¥FR€GIODIALSECA€TARI

establishing the charge for entry of exhibits.

It will also ensure that your name is on the list for further information about tins exhibition.

David Hayes

January 1990. The new Secretary, Liz

l

Cente, empoaúy, unt pemie

or

a new regional office are found in Cambridge. The

appointment gives a

A bbrevlated transcript of a talk grzen by fi oger Perrin to tñe Sam bri dQB AH S O kid tiOct Où Architecte on 18 October2 089.

THZ1 MUDDI•E W£iAREI II - If we could once and for all restructure the builainr industry to be product orientated and not just concerned Frith professional etiquette and development profit then new styles and tecñnical innovation would evolve naturally, just as they do in other industries. The muddle we are tnis relatedto orgarüsation not style.

- In the car Industry a company like Jaguar devotes considerable resources not only to research and development but to a specific raclng programme. ALe Mans wînnîngcar helps marketing, creates motivation for staff, loöRs ahead to how cars may be in the future, and has immediate benefit to the design of varîous coœpooents used on the production lines of saloon cars.

Compare this to the relationship between the Moyd's building and the average development created by a speculative builder. There is little, and it is the very organisation of the industry that is preventing any connection between the worf of the ehtist arclütects in the world and the majority of the buildings and environment that we are all so qulck to criticise In a buoyant market the design value ofa building is considered fairly irrelevant compared to the value of the site. Development profit is very high and therefore the average developer has little incentive to devote attentson to the product.

The whole system of agents acting on behalf of clients in negotiations vriU tenants and funds does little to encourage positive discussions about innovation or specification and the safe option persists.

Architecture should not be fashion.

Arcnitects forever imagine they have to create something new and different to justify their existence. A new Ferrari 548 is in fact onlya subtle improvement to the old5D8, a model which bas been in existence since the mid 1970’s. Buïtdlng styles should be even slower to change.

A traditional professional team inflates costs. They are worRing against the contractor and subcontractors and it is impossible to optimise the best value under sucé circumstances. In most other produit related industries the whole team is on the same side.

Architects are taught that to be involved in property development, contracting, or simply meg money is to compromise our design position.

There seem to be three types of practices. Firstly, there is the top flignt designer practice that can turn down worf and choose to restrict their influence to projects where their ‘art’ grill not be compromised.

Secondly, the medium to large commercial practice that providesa good service using a variety of

architectural approaches dependent on client selection. Finally, there is tR e s malt practice where the principal has neither the design fuck or ability to be the first, nor the business acumen to organise the second. An exaggerated view, but imagine how many more buildings and environments those good designers in categories one and three could affect if they were working in a well financed and motivated design Department of a large organisation committed to the total process of creating the best buildings, with its own R &• D budget equivalent to Chose in most other industries.

Total control of design can only coœe from total control of expenditure and profit. The build cost represents onlya small part of the total development budget to create a new building, many decis ions are tab en that will ultimately affect the appearance and structure of a building that are not influenced at all by the traditional arcMtect.

The professional appointment is often a typical example. Many developers and their agents will have already decided what style’ of building to have and how big it should be before selecting their team.

They may then only choose an architect who wifi give them what they want, for the right fee, and WÈtO not quibble on the way through.

There are notable exceptions but I am discussing the majority of situations that produce the majority of the built enviroriment.

When developers bid for sites often a short and aggressive period when most project decisions are actually decided with little design consultation - it is invariably the build cost that gets eut, whilst interest periods and agents fees are often left. This need not be the case if a designer is involved right up front. On a typical building an extra 65 per sq ft of build cost is often regarded as critieal, but is invariably a small amount when compared to marketing costs, agents fees, bank arrangement fees, interest, and land costs. Many ofthèse other cost centres are offen treated by developers vrith tess rigoiir than the

build Lost.

Architecte need to be able to recognise and manipulate cost centres in order to improve design value and get what they want.

Imaginea new office building in the centre of Cambridge, and imagine you mignt get planning consent for it! Assuming it is a well finislied building of 20,OOO sq ft. the total development costs on the job are likely to be in excess of 65,000,000 and yet the building contraet may be only6 l, 800,OOO. Agents fees will total some £200,OOO and interest costs about £700,000. The likely net pre tax profit that may be made from three particular members of the overall team may make is as follows: Architect ISO,OOO, Builder

&250,OOO,Deveoperfl,OOO,OOO. Therearetwomampoinœtomake fromthesefigures. Füs0y, imagine howmuch more controlañ arclutet could have on the specific building if tte could argue the case for extra build costs against possible savings in other cost centres. Secondly, and more importantly, imagine an organisation where an architect is worRing ina design department wherethefinanciM resoxcesforR Æ D, user research, materials research, competitions and so on are based ona sliare of the total profit centre of Il ,280,OOO, not just the £50,000 net profit as an architect.

Obviously the above profits must be balanced against the risR taRen and guarantees given bya contracter and a developer. The traditional approach fails to allow an ongoing budget for R & D except on specific exceptional jobs. Other industries maximise profit by optimislng the produet, yet the building industry traditionally tries to maxiœise profit by reducing costs.

The best cars, be they supercars every day transport, are generally recognised and acclaimed as such.

Designers, financiers, marketing men, production managers and users alice tend to have common values.

This is not so in the building industry. Architects often not only look different from other people but also speaka different language. The typical car or yacht designer is a much more commercially rounded person and yet his products are generally better designed than most buüdîngs.

Many people davea problem with modem bulldings for reasons of scale and use rather than style.I go back to the fundamental projeet decisions that are maöe when a developer bide fora site. A few extra square feet makea lotof difference to a development appraisal. II at the time of bid the planners positively lower the potential square footage td developers would be forced to less. Ttils would equalise and reduù the importance of land values and location. Scale not style is what should be discussed.

ZIDUC OH - The education of all Chose that need to be involved in the building industry must be changed and unified in order to create the raw material of professionals who are not only able, but want towork in a revised format. The educational process creates people who will probably find it impossible to worf in tomorrow's truly multi-disciplinary organisations.

- A good arcnlteet generally restricts his palette, hnows what he wants, and knows how tomotivate others to agree to it and then produce it. Thèse are all attribuées of a good business man and I suggest that in both architecture and art the best ‘designers’ are also astute in business.

The idea ofa common foundation course shared between aM professionals in the industry is not new,

but its realisation is essential. I envisage a practicaI training combined Otó an academic learning lastmg seven years.

People who want to specialise should still be able to do so at an early date. Someone interested in just one aspect of design should not be limited in his thoughts or aspirations. The industry needs visionary and sometimes impractical design to be held up as the way ahead, but we don't necessarlly need tbem built beyond the prototype stage. Most people will however benefit from a much broader education that would als o include other design disciplines. Architecture is not just art, and the process of design is common to many other industres Desgners in other industries often have a much sounder engineermg base that seems to encourage, not hinder, creative thou@ht.

z‹ss:sancx

research in the building industry is generally givena low priority except Específic prestigious projects or for technological considerations. industries are able to spend considerable resources on R & D because of the combined profit centre that can be marüpulated. There is so much work to be done to determine user reQuirements and other aspirations regnding buildings. The development period fora new car is by necessity very long, but during this time m any car clinics and technical appraisals are held. A similar approach needs to happen in the buüding industry, rather than every new project beíng treated asa one off.

WorRshops such as those of Jean Prouve and currently Renzo Piano seem idyllic but again they need much greater financial backing and a commitment away from the elitist architectural projecte to more fully affect the general built environment.

I am aware of various Japanese otracting organisations that are e to finance such research and oóuld prove to be examples of the wayabead.

I loob ahead and see the following inevitable changes in our industry: The organisation of our industry will change to pro vide large resources for design, product development and user research previously unknown.

Profit centres on individual projects will be combined and controlled to optünNe value.

Land values will equalise so that the building as product becomes much more important in the development equation.

End users will understand, appreciate and value buildings just as fully as they can with other every day products.

There is an inevitability that buildings of the future will have forms tnat represent the materials and structure from which they are made, ithout süopüstic reference to images from history or other industries.

- Building technology will become much more sophisticated and methods of construction at last be

more refined. Prefabrication will be an acceptable alternative througn

which the general standard

of

finishes in buildings will greatly improve.

Most buildings will be of similar

construction and appearance and pattern booRs for the majority will slowly evolve.

Architects vrill either work forone ofthefew leading edge stylists in the world who worlt independently, one of the very s mall scale ‘cottage’

practices that will probably still exist, while the vast majority will finda new freedom in the design departments ofa new breed of large product orientated development, construction and design companies

In conclusion, my optimistic view is that whilst such companies do not have to be run by designers there is a great future for broadly educated anchitects who can combine art and business to become the masterbuilders of the next century.

Roger Perrtn is an arcMtect trained

at cambridge and Harvard and

worRed with Nick Grimshaw before

setting up Tartan. Tartan is based in Cambridge and specialises in offices, industrial andbus essparka Tartan carries out all the design, consfrucíon and development work acting as architeets, contractors and developers, with in house quantity surveyors and chartered surveyors, and soon, in House engineering and marketing agencies.

-Tartan set up a separate research department which is investigating areas of user requirements, aspirations, technical solutions and building solutions.

Justa few pence more on therent which is all it would take - to have a well finished building that costs an extra 65 psf.

CELCON

A THOUOHT POR Scanning BArch Course HandbooR the other day my attention was caught by a note e ntitled Unfazr Prs cfsce 2HaglaMcm, which prompted some reflections on the state of the art of architecture. Wby is it when we have a cleany appreciated typology of building design, curiously there is not

a fo r m ally acR no wle dged d iffe r-

entiation of the kinds and levels of des igning for buildings. There is a tacit recogn ition o f the different

values attaching to sp eculative development compared with a custom designed building, and with serial or

repeating forms of building as in communal housing and statutory institutions. And there is a great

proportion of development that is not

directly informed by architectural sRills, or where that input is limited.

It would seem thata more open and positive cognition of the classes of design intervention affecting the built environment, would work towards a more effective and better structured climate for the deployment of design sRills, and for stimulating qualitative

improvement.

An alo gies with other art forms produce interesting comparisons in

this respect. In music first there isa composer who produces a work of music. Then there isa conductor who

drect and interpretsthe work Units performance. Individual members of theorchestra and soloists collectively brmg their artistic skills to bear on

the performance. Of course the composer could create the work, conduït it and perform it in person, but it is recognised that, once created,

the work of music has a life of its own and as such is open to interpretaGon and reinterpretaion by others Istemporalnature breedsthe

e xp e etation

performance.

of r ep etitio n

of

Literature is clearly recognised Land

separate values attach) in its several

forms of poetry, fiction, nou-fiction,

dissertations, reports, articles and so

on. There are well defined attitudes

and accepted techniques for dealing with quot ati o n, refer e ncing of sources, and a conseguent under standing of the problems of

plagiarism and its relation to the

Celcon are changing the regional format for their 1990 competition and are introducing a more informal style for the preliminary rounds. They are inviting local architects, or architectural groups to host a Masterteam evening ina local pub or other suitable private room. Celcon will sponsor the food

and dri nR and will s upp ly all questions, adjudicator, question-

master and paraphernaGa. The seies is to begi February. The regional winner will receive a framed certflcate and be inviedto a semi-GnaL Anyone interesed in organisng an event please contact Jack Russell (Celcon3 tel0 1 576 455a by 15 December is possible.

Further information available from the Secretary CAA (OR253 248944.

general development of concepts and ide as, as well as techni cal

improvement.

No such clarity attaches to the field

of architectural en de av our. As a consequence, any anticipations of architecture as a public art, or of a

serious professional inquiry into the built form of our environment, are

subsumed and confused by a process

which e qu ates orig inality and i uno vatio n with m arlteting co nsiderations (advertising one's practice and attracting attention become an

art form in is own rightL The

abse nce of clear co nce ptual acRnowledgement of levels of design procurement is a handicap to a clearer v ision of the me ans fo r

mak ing the best of o ur built environment. Professional education is at the root of these attibudes and is where hopes for reform must rest.

Colen Lumley.

that our profession is inward looRing, primarily self protective

and not re ally concerned with design standards and the public interest (which of course we are or should be).

We design and need assistance Frith Houses,a Community Centre, Doctors' Surgeries, Offices, Furniture Design, Landscaptng WeMveaserouscommömentto training and letting suitable arclütects runjobs. We are

committed to environmentally responsible buüdbng.

Which buildings or places do people

hate most or try to avoid in Cambridge? This was the subject of

a recent street survey by local schoolchildren - Grafton Centre,

Arbury, Las du n’s King street,

Elizabeth Way, Merlin Place, Lion

Yard....... If people are unhappy about an enviroriment there has to be something in it. Architects must take note of what people feel just as politicians have to in the end if and ignore at our peril the intuitive

now organised into two area teams East and West/Central. By early in the

Cambridge CBZ eme

good sense of ordinary people.

Charles, having founda popular crusade, goes too far and makesa bitof a fool of himself. Lay people understand this too. Few peopleI suspect would actually for example, make a s imple equation

A Piston of Cambridge The publication of the Prince's book A Vision of Britain' together with

the Sunday Times coverage early in September seemed to instill a certain amount offear and panic in the RIB A and p arts of the profession. I found that the best approach when as h ed fora response from fay people or press was to say simply that one agreed with jim. In fact if you read what tteactually says in ‘A Vision of

modernism, equals ’inhuman' and class ical or traditional equals

human'. New would want to put new classical buildings all over the place. Good modem buildings are widely appreciated. Few lay people or pr ofess ionals would dispute

those

modem

buildings

tte

particularly app lauds. If we as architects carry on thing to raise

much of it the kind of thing we went througn as students. However there is undoubtedly a huge gulf

standards and are prepared to criticise and argue our case when things are not as they süould be that will maintain public respect.

Gone are the days when aM professionals were held almost in awe and given ‘carte blanche'. We

had such wide support for his

architecte must do so in particular,

most of the buildings and environments tte criticises? When arcliitects act coüectively to defend poor work or stmpy rema sient this reinforcesp eo Ie's leo ressiort

potentially de vas tating of end products. Perhaps Charles has done usa great service in forcing us to realise this.

David Raven.

Britain' it is all pretty iigntweignt, uncontroversial and sensible stuff,

between theory Πpractice for a wealth of reasons and it is not surprising tnat de has apparently views. Would we personally defend

Land Use, Traffic and Transport and

Environment Policy for the nex:t ten to

lao 8teen Az'cbîtecta 0223 845131

PLANNING WORU2if

A pullie meeting was held at the Guildhall on 8th November to discuss the future of Cambridge. Chaired by Councillor Todd the panel consisted of chief offioers Jo'hn Popper and John Hughes together with sub-committee clairs for De ve lo p ment C ont ro 1, Environment and Road Traffic.

Pollowing a video identifying some of the city's pl an ning problems John Popper gavea resumé of the work to date carried out by his refor med department. Summarised briefly - the first stage of the local plan is going out for consultation early in the new year and the draft plan will be ready towards the end of the year. This will deal with

they are to main public respect and

stay in power. We underestimate

Grantohester

CAiÆBRIDGE AOO0

have to prove our worth and producing the most tangible and

fifteen years. Development Control is

new year it is ñoped to hanöle 60% of

allplanning applications within8 weeks.

There has been a reduction in successful planning applications from 85% approved and l £i% refused to Y5%

and R5% respectively. There has also beena reduction in Appeal success by applicants from 6 0% to 4 0%. D dü'eotives now give greater emphasis Environmental and quality of life issues.

Planning briefs are being prepared by

area teams fo r selected areas to generate gPeater publü/ prvate

partnership. A

city response to the

county trahie proposale is deing prepared.(They were &pparenty not consulted). Greater emphasis will be placed on city-wide e nviron mental improvements and education. There isa general wish to bring more housing into the centre of Cambridge and to move employment out, particularly offices

from thecentral and middle zones.

Points from the floor tended to focus perhaps inevitably on the interests of minority groups. Problems of traffic, tourism, housing etc. have clearly

fiecome sigriificantly worse over recent

years. The council is now expected to use all its resources and after wide consultation to come up with an iœaginative and comprehensive plan for the city. The

last 500

years or so où

equivocation has led to the state of crisis which now existe in Cambridge.

David Rav

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