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BUILDING AWARD

New City Architecture Award for 2008

AWARD ANNOUNCED AND CERTIFICATES PRESENTED AT THE LIVERY BANQUET AT DRAPERS HALL on 1 April 2009

The Company of Chartered Architects make an annual award to the building which is judged by the Assessors to have made the most distinguished contribution to the streetscape of the City of London in the calendar year of the Award.

The requirements that must be met for the building to be considered are as follows:

i) The building should be a substantially new work of architecture - buildings which include a minor element of refurbishment along side the new work will be considered eligible.
ii) The building must be located in the City of London.
iii) To be considered eligible a building must have been deemed by the City Corporation Planning Department to be complete free of all Town Planning Conditions during the 12 months leading up to the call for entries on 1 September of the year of the Award. The Corporation make available to the Company a list of such completed projects against which applications will be judged for eligibility.
iv) Any building which has been completed prior to the start of the relevant 12 month period will be considered provided that it has not previously been the recipient of an Award or Commendation.

The assessment of the Award is carried out by a panel including the Master and Renter Warden and up to two other members of the Company and will be Chaired by an independent Assessor - in the current year, Paul Finch OBEt.

Programme:

i) Applications will be invited for submission by 31 October in the year of the Award.
ii) Short-listing will be carried out by a Sub-Committee of the Company during November with a view to final judging being carried out in Early December.
iii) Announcement of the selected building will be made in January
iv) The Award, in the form of Certificates will be presented to the Building Owner, the Architect and the Main Contractor at the Company's Livery Banquet which will be held May. The Award Plaque, tailored to suit the character of the building, may also be presented on this occasion but may be presented on another occasion at a reception at the building.

Requirements:

i) Entries will be submitted accompanied by the attached Request for Details of Entry Form and accompanied by the documents set out on the Form to the Clerk to the Company at the address given.
ii) All photographs submitted will be returned to entrants after the assessment has been carried out provided that a stamped addressed envelope accompanies the Entry Form. It may request electronic versions of the images for this purpose.
iii) The Company reserves the right to use images of the winning and any commended buildings for the purpose of any press release or articles in its own newsletter.

Any questions concerning the Award may be addressed to the Clerk from whom Entry Forms can be obtained.

ASSESSORS REPORT FOR 2008 AWARDS

This year's judging panel comprised: Paul Finch OBE - Emeritus Editor of Architectural Review -(Chairman), The Master, (Ian Head) The Renter Warden (Edward King), Dr Mervyn Miller, Mrs Anne Markey assisted by the Clerk, David Cole-Adams

Judging took place on Thursday 12 February; eight buildings and public space projects were visited.

The schemes referred to above are illustrated on the blogsite.

The jury wished to give high commendations to two projects:

1, Wood Street, an office and retail development. Architect: Fletcher Priest Architects; client Land Securities

Comment:
From its Cheapside elevation one could scarcely have guessed at the scale of the 16,000sq m building and the welcome variation introduced by its architects to break up the large volume. On Cheapside a simple stone façade reveals the office uses at upper levels, while the ground floor retail has generous volumes. The three units give animation and vibrancy to the street and contribute well to the City Corporation's desire to make street frontages here as active as possible.

The main office entrance is on Wood Street, and here the main elevation has a series of features which might appear fidgety in less skilfull hands. The stone clad structure moves to steel, and louvres change from metal to glass, while curvature is introduced to give emphasis to a landscaped open space; a public route runs through the building from Wood Street to Milk Street.

The judges felt the architects had worked very hard to make what might have seemed a monolithic building a welcome addition to its area. They admired the way in which the composition had improved the ambience of Wood Street in particular.

St Paul's Churchyard (south-west), landscaping and Grade 1 railing replacement. Architect: Martin Stancliffe, Purcell Miller Tritton; client, Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral.

Comment:
At first sight a modest piece of cleaning up around the cathedral (the site was formerly a masons' yard), this project is a real delight. It reveals an immense amount, in a subtle way, about the original building, through a combination of excellent design and first-class workmanship.

The new layout to the South Churchyard, necessitated by the cathedral's ongoing programme to improve access for disabled people and wheelchairs, inspired a display of the footprint of the Chapter House of the medieval cathedral much of which survived the Great Fire and is now beneath the site.

The footprint demonstrated by use of stone inserts in the paving layout and in the tops of stone walls which define grassed areas. An inlaid stone plan of the two cathedrals, by the artist Richard Kindersley, is a brilliant graphic device showing how Wren re-oriented and reduced the scale of the pre-Fire building.

The quality of work here is a real homage to the 14th century master mason of the original cathedral, William Ramsey.

The 2009 winner

New Street Square, an office and retail development comprising five buildings and a new public space. Architect: Bennetts Associates; client Land Securities

Comment:

This is a very significant development (more than 100,000sq m in five buildings) on a formerly obscure backlands site off New Fetter Lane. The mixture of office, retail and public space is contained in a 'family' of buildings, each of which has an architectural identify of its own, but which contribute to a successful ensemble, bearing no resemblance to the dull 1960s complex it replaces.

As one would hope for in a development of this complexity, the whole is more than the sum of its many parts, which include a low-rise management block, complete with vegetation walls, as well as large commercial blocks. The retail element feels a natural part of the development rather than an imposed addition. Similarly, sculpture, lighting and artwork has been incorporated into the development to provide a sense of place, which is as evident at night as during the day.

The decision to produce a cluster of buildings surrounding public space, with typical City short routes leading in and out, has also allowed the architect the possibility of responding to different site conditions in different ways, for example by animating the Fetter Lane faced with an impressive layering of louvres.

Overall, the development provides huge added value to its area, and is a welcome addition to the City of London, prompting comparison with Broadgate and Paternoster Square. A very worthy winner.

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