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Some University and College buildings are suffering at the hands of the recession and its hand of doom in the construction market. Previous plans to develop college buildings and build new status Universities have been put on hold as a result of the government running out of funding for buildings in education. This is one of the negative hits on our economy as, with reduced facilities it allows for less education.
How do you create a building that is fit for purpose and what measures could be taken to allow buildings for education to continue to be built, even during the recession?
Is the importance of the built environment, slipping down the governments list of things ‘to do’? What can be done to create inspirational buildings for education and what are your memories of your faculty buildings? Building university and college campus is to be building for the future, so what should we be doing to ensure buildings set the standard for future generations?
JOHN MILLER
ARCHITECT AND DIRECTOR OF BENNETTS ASSOCIATES
John runs Bennetts Associates Edinburgh office. Last year the practice completed the multi-award winning Potterrow Development for the University of Edinburgh. In July this year they handed over the Suttie Centre for the University of Aberdeen. Currently they are designing major buildings for Oxford University and a drama college in London.
John is an enabler for Architecture and Design Scotland, a Civic Trust Assessor and carries out design review for Ignite the CABE supported panel in the north east of England.
RESPONSE TO QUESTION
The first part of this question immediately raises two questions ‘what is fit’ and ‘for what purpose’. Actually, as any architect working in education or healthcare will tell you, it is difficult to predict where these sectors will be in ten years time, perhaps even in five.
Therefore ‘fit for purpose’ actually probably means ‘capable of serving many purposes’. So the RIBA mantra from the 60’s, ‘long life, loose fit, low energy’ is still pertinent.
One of the few plus points about this recession is it does give time to think about the future. There are lots of things one can tell the government and clients but one fundamental lesson is another old chestnut, ‘if you want good buildings then hire good architects’. Procurement policy has to find better ways of getting good designers and thus measuring quality in a quality / price matrix. At the present time many of the bids I see are actually about process not quality.
Here are five ideas to address this –
1. Visit architects buildings
2. Take up references
3. Have architect advisors assist the client
4. Measure fees uniformly
5. Don’t go below a 70/30 split
The profession also needs to improve its game.
Firstly architects should design for users and not other architects. Historically not that many buildings were ‘wow’ buildings, the majority were content with being good neighbours. Understanding the right place to be in the hierarchy is fundamental to good urban design. There are only so many iconic blobs that we need (not many in my view), lets get back to making things elegantly and well.
Secondly, the importance of masterplanning, particularly for large educational estates needs more consideration. Institutions should use the time now to plan carefully, then even relatively small buildings signal the way for the future and contribute to longer term goals. 20 August 2009 2
Thirdly, refurbishment can be great and this is where organisations like the Carbon Trust are pointing. We recently completed a project in Winchester where perfectly good but tired buildings were originally lated for demolition. Substantial refurbishment including innovative natural ventilation has squared the circle and the result is not only more sustainable and cheaper but a terrific workplace and a valuable contribution to the city.
Bennetts Associates Architects
Oxbridge and St Andrews show us how to effortlessly assimilate educational buildings into the urban fabric to the enduring benefit of both town and gown. Campus’ like Sussex and Jubilee in Nottingham demonstrate the value of both masterplanning and first class architects at the top of their game. Jubilee takes very few building types but puts a huge amount of effort into their design, this not only results in great richness but is also very economical.
Finally, to come full circle, both the much loved Glasgow College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art have served complex needs for demanding users for a century, demonstrating that they are not only ‘fit for purpose’ but truly sustainable.
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