2009 New City Architecture Awards

The winners of the Company's new City Architecture Awards for 2009 were announced and Certificates presented to the representatives of the winning team at the Annual Livery Banquet on Tuesday 13 April. The Banquet was held at the Ironmongers' Hall in the presence of Alderman Sir John Stuttard (the Master's principal Guest) and Sheriff Peter Cook (representing the Civic Team) who made the presentations.

The Assessors report was as follows:

This year’s judging panel comprised: The Master, (Roger France), Assistant Jaki Howes, Graham Francis and Charlotte Harrison. They were assisted by the Clerk, David Cole-Adams. Paul Finch OBE and the Renter Warden Michael Wilkey were prevented by the vagaries of London Transport and temporary indisposition from joining the group though Paul Finch followed the assessment party and, happily, reached identical conclusions.

 Judging took place on Tuesday 2 March 2010; eleven buildings and public space projects were visited.

 Of the projects visited 5 were new build schemes with a further five being refurbishment / re-cladding projects. There was one public open space entry.

The 2009 Award Winner

 Watermark Place, One Angel Lane – an office redevelopment incorporating retail outlets and public open space linking Upper Thames Street to the Thames frontage.

Architects:                   Fletcher Priest Architects,

Building Owners:        Oxford Properties and UBS Global Asset

 

Comment:

The building replaces the redundant international telephone exchange, Mondial House. The height and massing of the building is informed by the strategic viewing corridor to St Paul’s Cathedral and meets the City’s criteria of encouraging access to the river and the development of the river walkway.

The panel found that the development made a positive contribution to the river frontage.

There was an intriguing contrast between the neat detailing of the main building and the gutsy treatment of the sun louvers and their timber props which made reference to the historic sailing craft that used the river. The coherent treatment of the landscaping was also commendable.

The jury commended a further two projects (both refurbishments involving either re-cladding or refurbishment behind a retained façade. :

125 Old Broad Street – the re-cladding, refurbishment and extension of the old Stock Exchange Building for office and retail uses.

Architects:         Grimshaw Architects with GMW

Building Owners: Hammerson UK Properties

Comment:

The panel commended the consistency of the curtain walling (cantilevered out to create additional floor area) and the well designed entrances which made use of the newly created pedestrian route across the site.

One Lothbury – the 1950’s building designed by Victor Heal was influenced by the adjacent Bank of England building. The façades to Lothbury, Princes Street and Old Jewry were retained and, in places, extended and the space behind rebuild to meet contemporary office standards.

Architects:           Fletcher Priest Architects

Building Owners:  Westfield Investments Ltd

Comment:

As a refurbishment scheme, the design shows respect for the main elevations in its treatment of the new attic, and the new elements at the side are integrated into the existing fabric with commendable subtlety. 

In commenting on the Awards, Sheriff Peter Cook noted

'It is tremendously important to the City to have the right people coming to work in London for it to remain internationally competitive. The environment in which they work has to be exciting, beautiful and liveable and the combination of great buildings and a carefully planned street scene make for a great City.

This Award not only assists the City by its architectural attributes it also gives a wonderful opportunity to promote the wider activity and influence of the Livery – another area that needs more exposure in order to help a better understanding of all that goes on within it.'

Further details of the Banquet itself will be posted shortly.

City Discourse

The Company is to host its annual Peter Milo Memorial Lecture in the City Marketing Suite at Guildhall on Monday 26 April 2010. Details of the event which will take the form of a discourse are as set out below.

Quality Streets, Quality Townscapes

 

PETER MILO MEMORIAL LECTURE 2010 - Monday 26 April 2010

As a Company we are keen encourage good architecture and planning in the Square Mile. One of the ways in which we can do this is to foster discussion and debate about architecture and urban planning. With this in mind the Master has arranged for the Milo Lecture to be a discourse this year dealing with the topic of creating identity in city townscapes.

There are to be two speakers – Professor Georgia Butina Watson – Professor of Urban Design and Head of Department of Planning at Oxford Brookes University and Joe Weiss – Strategic Transportation Director at the City of London Corporation. 

 

Professor Georgia Butina Watson BA MA PhD

Georgia’s professional expertise lies in the area of urban morphology, urban regeneration and in developing approaches to involve local com-munity groups in the improvement of local urban areas. She was involved in setting up a database system for recording and analysing vacant and underused land and was a project co-ordinator of the DoE sponsored study on ‘Quality in Town and Country’.

She is Director of CABE’s Built Environment Virtual Teaching Package Project and a major contributor to CABE’s digital library of urban design good practice

 

 

Joe Weiss MSc FICE FCIHT

Joe Weiss is a Chartered Engineers and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Highways & Transportation. Over the past 35 years his time has been split between jobs in central government, the priv-ate sector and local administrations.

London’s employment model has resulted in greater pressures on public space and rail transport due to increased commuting. This, while it contributes to climate change, may still be more desirable than dispersed jobs which are mainly car dependent. Joe believes he has been able, occasionally, to chart a politically acceptable course through this maze.

Professor Butina Watson will present some conceptual models that allow us to understand the nature of identity in the urban scene and Joe Weiss will demonstrate the ways in which the City Corporation works to encourage distinctive townscape quality in new building developments. There will be time for discussion after the presentations and it is hoped that the speakers’ contributions will stimulate a healthy debate on the issues raised.

The lecture will be held in the City Marketing Suite at Guildhall commencing at 5.00 for a 5.30pm start.  Wine and nibbles will be available to allow informal association from approximately 6.40pm. The event is will finish at 7.30pm. 

The City Marketing Suite can be found at the corner of Basinghall Street and Guildhall Buildings, behind the Guildhall Art Gallery. It is opposite no. 8 Basinghall Street and within easy walking distance of all public transport

The event will be open to members of the City Architecture Forum and other allied organizations and to London Region architects generally. Tickets charged at £15.00 per head (£4.00 for Company students) will be allocated on a first come first served basis – as space is limited, early application is encouraged by application to the Clerk - David Cole-Adams - on 020 8292 4893 or by email to wccaclerk@blueyonder.co.uk.

 

Newsletter Issue 19 - Jan 2010

February 10 Newsletter

New City Architecture Award for 2009 - Assessments

It being bound to be a fine day the Company's selected assessment panel consisting of the Master (Roger France), Paul Finch (Chairman, the Renter Warden (Michael Wilkey), Jaki Howes, Gaham Francis and Charlotte Harrison will be sent on their way tomorrow (2 March) by the Clerk to select the winner of the New City Architecture Award for 2010.

Those familiar with the City might like to hazard a guess as to which project the judges might favour.

The award is given for the 'building or other work of architecture, completed free of planning conditions, in the qualifying year which makes the most significant contribution to the streetscape and skyscape of the Coty of London.'

The list of entries selected for the judges to consider are (in no particular order):

1. 1 Lothbury   - façade retention, extension and new build - Fletcher Priest Architects

2.  Dashwood House, 69 Old Broad Street - Recladding and refurbishment of an office building with 2 storey and plant room extension, change of use of part ground and mezzanine levels  and the removal of the bridge to the Highwalk. - Fletcher Priest Architects

3.  8-13 Lime Street - Office building with retail – Architects: Rolfe Judd

4.  34 Lime Street - Recladding and refurbishment of office building with retail -    Houseman Henderson Architects

5. 62 Queen Street - Part refurbishment, part redevelopment of offices Architects: Rolfe Judd

6. Grants Quay - Street  scene enhancements on Riverside; improved seating and Landscaping

Street Scene Team, Corporation of London with Bere Architects

7. 125 Old Broad Street - Recladding and extension of former Stock Exchange building for office and retail uses -  Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners with GMW Architects

8.  60 Threadneedle Street - Office development with retail on western half of former Stock Exchange building site - Eric Parry Architects

9. 5 Aldermanbury Square -    Office development with retail uses and new public square - Eric Parry Architects

10.  8-10 Old Bailey - Office development - Sidell Gibson Architects

11. Watermark Place, 90-94 Upper Thames Street - Office  redevelopment including retail uses and public open space - Fletcher Priest Architects

Comments will be welcome but are unlikely to have a great deal of influence on the judges' decision. It is possible that a short list with relevant photographs will be posted withing a few days - watch this space.

Hyderabad revisited

Those members of the Company who joined the study trip to South India in 2008 wll remember being shown around what had been the British Residency. This splendid Palladian composition had been built for - and substantially to the designs of - the colourful James Achilles Kirkpatrick, who was the Resident for a few years either side of 1800.

Post 1947, the buildings had suffered a number of different occupancies, each seemingly determined to do less to safeguard the architectural quality. Many of the components of the complex had simply collapsed and the principal building itself was in an advanced state of decay. At the time of our visit the building was functioning as the Osmania Women’s College. The main reception room was littered with desks, all strategically placed so as to avoid the possibility of their occupants being eliminated by falling pressed metal ceiling tiles. Their support system, having lasted from the early days of the eighteen hundreds, was no longer up to the task. The adjoining room that had, if my memory serves me right, originally been a ballroom, was equally dispiriting in that a selection of trestle tables were groaning under the weight of a vast collection of nineteenth century books - many first editions - that had once been the Residency's library collection.

Things did not get better from there. Access for visitors to the upper floor was not a possibility; the stairs were unsafe; only students were permitted access. Never let it be said that women’s education is not valued!

The good news - and, indeed, the cue of this post - is that rescue is at hand. The Spring 2010 edition of Monumentum, the quarterly journal of the World Monuments Fund, reports that a Conservation Management Plan has been adopted and, when funding is available, the Residency building will be restored to its former glory. Many of the unsatisfactory constructions which have sprung up in the extensive gardens will be removed when the renewed space is finally available again.

New Year Court Dinner

Cutlers Hall in Warwick Lane EC4 was the venue for the New Year meeting of the Court and the informal dinner which followed.

The red brick and sandstone Grade 2 Listed Cutlers’ Hall was designed in the late 16th Century manner by T. Taylor-Smith (whose sole work of note the Hall appears to be) and erected in 1888. It is the Company’s fifth hall.

While there are few records of the 13th Century hall, the 15th century Hall (‘next to the tenement belonging to the famous Richard Whityngton - sometime Mayor’) was rebuilt in 1666 only to be destroyed by the Great Fire 3 months later.

The replacement Hall showed more fortitude lasting from 1670 until compulsorily purchased by the Metropolitan Railway Company in 1882. The present Hall suffered damage from a fire bomb in 1941 but was recommissioned by 1951.

The finely carved terracotta frieze to the Warwick Street elevation was the work of Benjamin Creswick - a pupil of Ruskin. It depicts cutlers working at their craft.

66 member and guests enjoyed an excellent dinner marked by a selection of wines which were chosen to reflect the fact that 26 January is celebrated on the other side of the world as Australia Day. Guests were welcomed by the Master with the toast being responded to most engagingly by The Master of the Arbitrators' Company - Christopher Dancaster. The Senior Past Master of the Company, John Owen-Ward MBE proposed the toast to the Master and the Company.

Belated report of Christmas Festivities

Given the vageries of the late December weather and the Clerk's almost immediate flight to even worse weather in the United States (where, at least, they have a very effective snow ploughing regime) this report has been a long time in coming. Sadly there are no photographs to illustrate the happy gathering of members of the Company and their opposite numbers from the Furniture Makers' Company at song and supper in the Church of St Mary-le-Bow and at table in the Furniture Makers' Hall in Austin Friars.

The service was unremarkable apart from the facts that the sermon was preached by the Reverend Oliver Learmont - an old friend of the Master and there were a few unusual readings. The first was an extract from a letter of Bishop Leo of Rome to Bishop Flavian dated AD449. In the times of Bishop Leo the Great there were disgreements about the correct way to state the truth that Jesus Christ is both God and man. It was this letter (known as the Tome of Leo) written to Bishop Flavian of Constantinople, in which he affirmed that Christ has two Natures in one Person. The other two were poems - one by Richard Crashaw (1613 -49), the other from Sir John Betjeman.While it is accepted that those who preside over City of London Churches are subjected to rather a lot of Carol services in the run up to Christmas and look for opportunities to introduce a bit of variety, there were some in the congregation who felt sad that the traditional readings had been dispensed with.

The supper which followed at Furniure Makers' Hall was, as usual, a convivial affair. The Architects were heavily outnumbered by Furniture Makers this time - perhaps beacuse of the wearther, perhaps the distance between church and hall or perhaps because of escalating prices. Perhaps a combinbation of all three. Watch this space.

...and with the Master away in York

Each year the Company's Charitable Trust supports the TeamBuild competition run by the Institution of Civil Engineers with the support of both the Chartered Architects' and Constructors' Companies. This weekend event which started in the early 1990's continues to evolve but sticks to the original intent of encouraging teamwork within multi-disciplinary groups of building professionals. The Company gives a prize for the team offering the Best Construction Procurement Strategy.

The Company was represented this year by Ronnie Murning an Assistant on the Court and an experienced project manager. Ronnie's take on the event was:

'It was a memorable weekend. Team Build is an incredibly well rounded concept that has matured into an event that is in my opinion is very very special. It really does deserve the Company's unswerving support for the future.

I also ..... discussed broadening the naming of the WCofCA prize to procurement and construction. The organizers were supportive of the suggestion and will hopefully raise the matter for discussion at the next committee meeting.

The logic is that it would be then consistent in that the WCofConstructors gave the design prize and we gave the procurement and construction prize covering the whole spectrum of a project from inception to completion.
 
With the inclusion of the construction element, which is a discrete activity within the weekend's overall programme, it is complementary and in balance with the design prize. It also reinforces the teamwork connection as the Constructors give the design prize and the Architects give the procurement and construction prize.'

A visit to York

It has become something of a custom for the Master to dust off his passport for the annual pilgrimage to attend the Annual Dinner of the York Guild of Building. This year he was accompanied by the Upper and Junior Wardens and a selection of Past Masters and other Chartered Architects. The dinner was held in the splendid Merchant Adventurers' Hall on Thursday 19 November.  




As may be seen from the photograph above, the Master and Upper Warden were in good and colourful company.

Many members of the travelling party made a weekend of it by staying of for a bit of sightseeing and the Guild's Annual Service at All Saints Church to which the Master and Upper  Warden processed from the Guiild's base in Bedern Hall


In keeping with local tradition, festivities were concluded with a sherry, fruitcake and cheese reception back at the Hall

Night falls on Temple Bar 17 September 2009

*** thanks to Michael Wilkey ***

The Master's reception at the church of St. Stephen Walbrook

The reception was held on Tuesday 10 November in the Lord Mayor’s parish church of St. Stephen Walbrook : the finest Wren neo-classical church in the City of London, it is considered by some to be his finest and a forerunner for the design of St. Paul's.

Those attending were welcomed by the Master and given a very interesting talk on the church and the theological reasons for its original and current existence by the venerable Peter Delaney MBE – the priest in charge.

The church was constructed from 1672 to 1680, built of stone and rubble, at a cost of £9,412 12 shillings and 8 pence. Wren received the sum of 20 guineas for his design (at something less than 0.25% he was probably lucky that the RIBA had not yet been formed and that he had other sources of income). The circular plaster dome sits on 12 columns (with Corinthian capitals) that are set in a square. The transition from square to dome has been cleverly done.

The Henry Moore Travertine Altar donated by Lord Palumbo, weighing 8 tons was delivered into the church in 1978 through a window during a refurbishment of the interior. Though it proved to be very controversial, its existence survived appeals to several ecclesiastical courts and continues to be both used and a subject of strong opinions to this day. The candlesticks are by Hans Coper and the altar kneelers by Patrick Heron. The Victorian pews were removed in 1888. The church has a seventeenth century triple-decker pulpit.

Chad Varah (1911-2007), then Rector of St. Stephen Walbrook formed the Samaritans from this church in 1953 and the telephone that was used for the “999 service for suicides” is displayed in the church today. Tel.No.MAN(sion House) 9000.

Among those who are buried in the church are Sir John Vanburgh, Robert De Courcey Laffan who with Baron Pierre de Courbetin formed the modern Olympic movement, and John Durham, a musician of the 15th century. The members of the Company and their guests enjoyed a glass of wine and canapés after the talk and Peter Delaney joined in the discussions about the style, furniture, art and architecture of the church.

St. Stephen Walbrook is the London Internet Church .
thanks to Michael Wilkey for this post

***

A visit to the Palace of Westminster - 'Mother of Parliaments'

Autumn leaves were already falling around Westminster Abbey when Company members gathered to meet their host, Lord Naseby, and their guide, Adam Watrobski, for a special visit to the Palace of Westminster, commonly called the Houses of Parliament.

When built it was the largest public building in the world, and was at the cutting edge of technological development. To demonstrate this, our guide took us into several places off the tourist track. Firstly we saw inside the roof space, where we could see the cast iron roof tiles and supports. The tiles are in dire need of attention - they all have to be taken away for sandblasting and treatment before replacement. Following the fire that destroyed the original palace, the Victorians were meticulous about avoiding the use of combustible materials in the structure.

Then we were taken some hundred steps up to the great lantern that originally served as the principal ventilating element in the complex. Stone on the outside and brick on the inside, it has within its base a restraining chain, rather like that in the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. Gaunt and grimy on the inside it belies its elegant exterior. It sits on top of the grand central lobby that can often be seen on television.

Issues surrounding the conservation of worn out floor tiles, inaccessible statuary and decaying stonework were the subject of thorough coverage by our guide; only occasionally did we cross the paths of groups during the generalist tour of the premises.

The two hour visit had generated a need for sustenance (photo above of Master and Upper warden and Lady in clear need of such), and this was amply satisfied by a buffet supper at the National Liberal Club built in 1885-87 to the designs of Alfred Waterhouse in conjunction with the architects responsible for the adjoining gothic confection, Whitehall Court. Moving towards the ‘Lady Violet’ (Bonham-Carter) Room we passed by the portraits of the fin de siècle grandees of Liberal England set in the context of Waterhouse’s magnificent building.

Lord and Lady Naseby had seemingly little difficulty in overcoming any problem of party affiliation in these surroundings joining with us all in a jovial end to the day. Many thanks to him and to Adam Watrobski for opening our eyes to the architectural problems associated with keeping the fabric and architectural character of this marvel of Victorian architecture in good repair.

New plaque in New Street Square

The Lord Mayor of London - The Rt Hon Alderman Ian Luder was on parade in New Street Square on Tuesday 27 October to unveil the plaque which records the success of the development in winning the Company's New City Architecture Award for 2008.

The Master - Roger France - welcomed the Lord Mayor and other guests at the ceremony and the Lord Mayor thanked all those who had been involved in the development for bringing such a vast improvement to this particular corner of the ward he represents as an Alderman. He particularly welcomed a development which had delivered not just a considerable architectural statement but also a very successful public open space served by retail outlets and catering establishments. He had been pleased to learn that those using the square during the summer months had been able to enjoy the pleasure of seeing England reagin the Ashes on the giant television screen kindly put in place by the landlords. In his comments on the desirability of good public open spaces he noted that, among the entries for the Awards had been a number of open space schemes. One of these - the south Garden at St Paul's Cathedral, had been a strong contender for the award and that this had also been pushed by a strong set of entries from the Corporation's Street Scene team.

He welcomed the involvement of developers Land securities in the scheme and drew attention to their New Change development which, he was confident, would be a contender for the award in the near future.


Seen left are the Master, Architect Rab Bennetts, the Lord Mayor, Land securites Director Jonathan Evans and the Clerk.

Pictured below are Past Masters Deputy Michael Welbank and Ian Head and Rosemary Curry in conversation with the Lord Mayor and Swordbearer and Senior Programme Officer at the Mansion House, Lt Col Richard Martin.

Happily, the weather remained fine for the occasion and all present were grateful to Land securities for their hospitality in the splendid Marketing Suite which overlooks the new square.

Applications are currently sought for entires for the 2009 New City Architecture Award. These will be welcomed from schemes completed free of town planning conditions in the year ending 30 September 2009. Judging will take place early in the new year.

The Fate of London Bridge

The Master, Roger France, was grateful to the Rector of the Church of St Mary-at-Hill in the City for hosting not just an exhibition of all the entries submitted for the New Inhabited Bridge for London Ideas Competition but also for allowing us to stage a lecture - attended by over 100 people from the City and elsewhere given by Mark Latham pictured here with the Master - a doctoral student at the Centre of Urban Studies at the University of Leicester.

His sudies uncovered a tale of corruption, mismanagement, financial crisis and a property crash that resulted in the downfall of the Old London Bridge- the capital’s last ‘living bridge’ and provides a stark warning from history as London Mayor Boris Johnson ponders plans for a new ‘inhabited’ London Bridge – between Waterloo and Blackfriars – with luxury flats, shops and restaurants.

Mark discovered the houses built on the Old London Bridge to attract the gentry didn’t have the pulling power as expected. This combined with an economic slump and other factors to ensure that the grand vision of an inhabited bridge across the Thames was not sustainable.

“Old London Bridge is familiar to many of us in the form of the nursery rhyme “London Bridge is fallen down”, said Mr Latham, “but what is not generally known is why commerce and housing on the bridge did collapse.

“It was previously assumed by historians that the removal of the structures from the Bridge was part of a more general movement within the Corporation of London to “improve” the City via a series of infrastructure projects. However it is clear from my research that a far more complex and intriguing set of factors were at play.”

The removal of the houses and shops from Old London Bridge occurred in 1756. Mr Latham’s study has examined why.

He said: “I am fascinated by the question of why the houses were removed from the Bridge as in medieval times they were viewed as one of London’s great attractions, and the rental income from the houses on the Bridge, alongside others within the City of London, financed the maintenance of the structure.

“What I discovered was that the organisation that managed the bridge at that time was plagued with incompetent management and corruption. Both workmen and their managers charged inflated prices for materials and labour, the management left rents uncollected, and on several occasions the workmen were found to have deliberately and almost fatally damaged the Bridge in order to charge for its repair.

“Furthermore, managers often paid for improvements to their own houses out of the coffers of the Trust running the Bridge.”

Problems were compounded by a “highly risky, costly and poorly timed project” undertaken in the teeth of a credit crisis to construct a series of gentrified houses on the Bridge in the belief that such houses would prove attractive to middle class Londoners and increase the organisation’s rental income. However, the authorities had grossly miscalculated the demand for such properties and the houses attracted only a handful of tenants.

A London wide property crash ensued and soon the Trust was haemorrhaging income, the maintenance budget for the Bridge itself was being squeezed and so the vacant houses on the Bridge began to rapidly fall into a state of dangerous disrepair. London Bridge was indeed close to being “fallen down”, said Mr Latham.

“At this point reality dawned on the members of the Trust, and they faced up to the fact that it was no longer financially viable to maintain structures on the Bridge, and by the early 1755 they had begun to petition Parliament in a desperate plea for the money to fund their demolition.”

One further interesting insight from the study is that the removal of the houses and businesses from the Bridge marks a break from London’s medieval past.

Said Mr Latham: “The renovation of the Bridge in the mid eighteenth century was such an important event in the history of London as in many ways the demolition of these characterful medieval houses and the subsequent transformation of the Bridge into the type of bland utilitarian functional structure - very similar to the London Bridge we see today - represents a rupture with London’s medieval past and can be taken as symbolic of London’s emergent modernity.”

Newsletter Issue 18 - Sept 2009

September 09 Newsletter

Master Ian Head hosts the company in Winchester

A Winchester Visit

the chain gang......

...le roi est mort; Vive le roi....*

At today's Installation Court, the WCCA retiring Master, Ian Head, welcomed his successor, Master Roger France, who was installed with all due pomp.

The new madame la présidente of the RIBA, Ruth Reed, gave the keynote address at the luncheon that followed at Watermen's Hall, just south of Eastcheap at 16 St. Mary-at-Hill within the City of London.

*The King is dead. Long live the King!

p.s in reality, the retiring Master remains in good health.

Master’s Weekend Visit to Winchester.

A report from Junior Warden, Michael Wilkey:

The JW joined the weekend on the Saturday with a visit to the Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty.

Founded in 1132 by Henry de Blois to care for “thirteen men, feeble and so reduced in strength that they can scarcely support themselves....”, remember this was in the time of the civil war, “... and one hundred other poor persons, as deserving as can be found shall be received at the hour of dinner”. The “Brothers” wear black (de Blois foundation) and red (Beaufort Foundation) gowns.

This has become the oldest charitable institution in Britain. The part Norman Church is all that remains of the original Hospital, built of stone from France and Dorset and flint from the local pits.

On arrival we were given the traditional Wayfarer’s Dole, bread and ale.

A very interesting tour was given by architect Michael Cardon who used to be the Trust’s appointed architect for the premises. Many interesting features were noted during the tour and he outlined many of his investigations over the years on the condition of the buildings and the defects which had to be overcome, such as beetle, underground rivers and sewage channels, damp etc.

Herewith a selection of photos: