A team led by Grafton Architects and O’Mahony Pike has emerged as the winner of an international competition to design a new headquarters for the ESB on Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Street, writes FRANK McDONALD.
The ESB confirmed yesterday that it would be commencing “exclusive negotiations” with the two Dublin-based practices with a view to concluding an architectural services contract for the scheme.
The announcement came two years after the ESB first said it was planning to redevelop the site.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label architects and planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architects and planning. Show all posts
Friday, 29 April 2011
Monday, 16 November 2009
New architects' register unveiled
A new architects' register will improve the quality of service for consumers, according to the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).
Over 2,700 architects who have met specified levels of qualification and competence are listed on the new register, which was published in Dublin this morning. Henceforth, only architects who are on the register are entitled to use the title "architect".
As part of a new system of self-regulation set out in the Building Control Act 2007, consumers may also avail of a dispute resolution mechanism in the event of poor service or suspected malpractice, and an advice service is also being provided.
Seán O'Laoire, president of the RIAI, said that Ireland up to now was almost unique in not having a legally recognised title of architect.
"Today is the culmination of a long and hard-fought battle to have professional standards set and so protect the public. The register for architects will lead to securing higher quality in our built environment for future generations."
Under the legislation, the RIAI is the official registration body for architects in Ireland and will be responsible for providing 40 hours a year of compulsory continuing professional development for architects on the register.
Research carried out for the institute found that the vast majority of people were unaware that the title "architect" was not legally protected. The RIAI says 80 per cent of the complaints it received last year related to unlicensed practitioners.
Minister for Environment John Gormley welcomed the launch of the register and thanked those involved in establishing the systems now in place to manage the registration of architects.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Over 2,700 architects who have met specified levels of qualification and competence are listed on the new register, which was published in Dublin this morning. Henceforth, only architects who are on the register are entitled to use the title "architect".
As part of a new system of self-regulation set out in the Building Control Act 2007, consumers may also avail of a dispute resolution mechanism in the event of poor service or suspected malpractice, and an advice service is also being provided.
Seán O'Laoire, president of the RIAI, said that Ireland up to now was almost unique in not having a legally recognised title of architect.
"Today is the culmination of a long and hard-fought battle to have professional standards set and so protect the public. The register for architects will lead to securing higher quality in our built environment for future generations."
Under the legislation, the RIAI is the official registration body for architects in Ireland and will be responsible for providing 40 hours a year of compulsory continuing professional development for architects on the register.
Research carried out for the institute found that the vast majority of people were unaware that the title "architect" was not legally protected. The RIAI says 80 per cent of the complaints it received last year related to unlicensed practitioners.
Minister for Environment John Gormley welcomed the launch of the register and thanked those involved in establishing the systems now in place to manage the registration of architects.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 8 October 2009
More global recognition for Irish architects
THIS WEEK’S gloomy Tuesday was brightened for Grafton Architects (pictured below) when an e-mail swooshed in telling them that they had been given International Fellowships of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects).
“We were honoured and thrilled,” says Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects who, along with her partner Shelley McNamara (both on front right of the picture), were given the life-long fellowships, which honour people “who have made a major contribution to the world of architecture, wherever in the world they practice”.
“We are in very interesting company,” says Farrell: other recipients included architects from Chile, the US, Burkina Faso, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Spain. “Their work represents not only the spirit of their countries but also transcends it to become truly international in its reference and influence,” says RIBA president Ruth Reed.
Grafton Architects’ Bocconi university building in Milan was awarded the first “World Building of the Year” prize and the same building became the first by Irish architects to reach the final shortlist of five for the Mies van der Rohe award. In Ireland the practice has been working on social housing projects in Dublin, the Department of Finance building in St Stephen’s Green and an arts centre in Navan.
The RIBA announced the winner of this year’s Gold Medal at the same time: it is 92-year-old IM Pei, who was born in China, practises in America and who designed the glass pyramid in the Louvre, Paris which features large in The Da Vinci Code book.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
“We were honoured and thrilled,” says Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects who, along with her partner Shelley McNamara (both on front right of the picture), were given the life-long fellowships, which honour people “who have made a major contribution to the world of architecture, wherever in the world they practice”.
“We are in very interesting company,” says Farrell: other recipients included architects from Chile, the US, Burkina Faso, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Spain. “Their work represents not only the spirit of their countries but also transcends it to become truly international in its reference and influence,” says RIBA president Ruth Reed.
Grafton Architects’ Bocconi university building in Milan was awarded the first “World Building of the Year” prize and the same building became the first by Irish architects to reach the final shortlist of five for the Mies van der Rohe award. In Ireland the practice has been working on social housing projects in Dublin, the Department of Finance building in St Stephen’s Green and an arts centre in Navan.
The RIBA announced the winner of this year’s Gold Medal at the same time: it is 92-year-old IM Pei, who was born in China, practises in America and who designed the glass pyramid in the Louvre, Paris which features large in The Da Vinci Code book.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Architects who are feeling the pinch need to plan for future
Most architectural practices have suffered a slump in revenue of 40 per cent or more over the past two years
ARCHITECTS WERE the first professionals to be hit by the recession, with new projects drying up due to the downturn in construction. According to estimates by their own institute, the RIAI, 42 per cent of those employed during the economic boom are now redundant.
Most architectural practices have been forced to shed staff, in many cases by well over 50 per cent, while those who remain have had to take huge pay cuts – with a 20 per cent reduction in salaries for employees not uncommon and double that for partners seeking to save their firms.
Derek Tynan, partner in DTA Architects, said that’s why they took “huge offence” over remarks made by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan in July that architects were among the professionals who had yet to feel the “chill winds of economic reality” – and cut their fees accordingly.
“She was talking about people who have lost half their work, let go more than half their staff and taken huge cuts in their salaries,” he said, adding that the old days of charging a 6 per cent standard fee had “gone since the mid-1990s”, at the very outset of the boom.
In any case, with building tenders down by as much as 30 per cent from their peak in 2006, architects’ fees have been reduced correspondingly. On top of that, by Government direction, they have had to take a further 8 per cent cut for all public sector projects. Most architectural practices have suffered a slump in revenue of 40 per cent or more over the past two years.
“We’re caught in a classic pincer movement, with public sector projects put on hold and few private sector projects proceeding because of the state of the market.”
Another leading architect, who did not wish to be identified due to fears about undermining confidence in his practice, said he had three major social housing projects and two schools on hold, while the private sector work being commissioned was all “small-scale stuff”.
A third architect, who has been in practice since the 1980s recession, said the precarious financial position of many firms was made worse by public-sector clients not paying fees for work done.
“We’re owed €100,000 by a local authority – and they don’t even reply to letters.”
The banks are also blamed for aggravating the problems faced by architects as small or medium-sized enterprises – by refusing, for example, to honour a cheque in favour of the Revenue to meet a tax bill until the sum involved was covered by an equivalent lodgement.
Having to let good staff go has been traumatic for architects, many of whom would have had built up a multicultural team in their offices during the boom. “It’s been personally upsetting for us to tell people we liked and worked with that they’d have to go,” Mr Tynan said.
Many of the foreign nationals who worked here as architects have either returned home or gone somewhere else to work, while hundreds of mainly younger Irish architects laid off by firms are on the dole or scratching around for work doing domestic extensions.
The main regret among seasoned architects now running slimmed-down practices is the loss of such a large chunk of the skills base built up during the boom – even as the value of those skills is still being recognised by numerous awards for projects already completed.
“Young architects who are married with a child or two and a mortgage to pay are going through a really tough time,” said Alan Mee, who runs a small practice and lectures in urban design at UCD. “After producing such a great culture, there’s a lot of bitterness out there, I suspect. Psychologically, it’s really unsettling because there is no version of a few years time that’s in any way clear at all.
“What’s the future client base for a small practice? It’s completely unknowable, so there is no clarity on which to base a business plan, least of all in terms of fees.”
He said the boom “made people think that a small architectural practice could feed itself forever, but this was an illusion”. Architects were now diversifying “very quickly”, doing building energy ratings, urban design, conservation, sustainability, writing more or teaching.
“There is a resilience among architects, a belief that they have a real contribution to make – not least in relation to the direction of any social dividend that might arise in the working through of Nama by providing masterplanning and urban design skills,” Mr Tynan said.
They are unanimous on one issue: now is the time to build, because construction costs are so low. “Instead of behaving like a rabbit in headlights, Government, State agencies and local authorities should be gathering their guts to build for the future,” as one architect put it.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
ARCHITECTS WERE the first professionals to be hit by the recession, with new projects drying up due to the downturn in construction. According to estimates by their own institute, the RIAI, 42 per cent of those employed during the economic boom are now redundant.
Most architectural practices have been forced to shed staff, in many cases by well over 50 per cent, while those who remain have had to take huge pay cuts – with a 20 per cent reduction in salaries for employees not uncommon and double that for partners seeking to save their firms.
Derek Tynan, partner in DTA Architects, said that’s why they took “huge offence” over remarks made by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan in July that architects were among the professionals who had yet to feel the “chill winds of economic reality” – and cut their fees accordingly.
“She was talking about people who have lost half their work, let go more than half their staff and taken huge cuts in their salaries,” he said, adding that the old days of charging a 6 per cent standard fee had “gone since the mid-1990s”, at the very outset of the boom.
In any case, with building tenders down by as much as 30 per cent from their peak in 2006, architects’ fees have been reduced correspondingly. On top of that, by Government direction, they have had to take a further 8 per cent cut for all public sector projects. Most architectural practices have suffered a slump in revenue of 40 per cent or more over the past two years.
“We’re caught in a classic pincer movement, with public sector projects put on hold and few private sector projects proceeding because of the state of the market.”
Another leading architect, who did not wish to be identified due to fears about undermining confidence in his practice, said he had three major social housing projects and two schools on hold, while the private sector work being commissioned was all “small-scale stuff”.
A third architect, who has been in practice since the 1980s recession, said the precarious financial position of many firms was made worse by public-sector clients not paying fees for work done.
“We’re owed €100,000 by a local authority – and they don’t even reply to letters.”
The banks are also blamed for aggravating the problems faced by architects as small or medium-sized enterprises – by refusing, for example, to honour a cheque in favour of the Revenue to meet a tax bill until the sum involved was covered by an equivalent lodgement.
Having to let good staff go has been traumatic for architects, many of whom would have had built up a multicultural team in their offices during the boom. “It’s been personally upsetting for us to tell people we liked and worked with that they’d have to go,” Mr Tynan said.
Many of the foreign nationals who worked here as architects have either returned home or gone somewhere else to work, while hundreds of mainly younger Irish architects laid off by firms are on the dole or scratching around for work doing domestic extensions.
The main regret among seasoned architects now running slimmed-down practices is the loss of such a large chunk of the skills base built up during the boom – even as the value of those skills is still being recognised by numerous awards for projects already completed.
“Young architects who are married with a child or two and a mortgage to pay are going through a really tough time,” said Alan Mee, who runs a small practice and lectures in urban design at UCD. “After producing such a great culture, there’s a lot of bitterness out there, I suspect. Psychologically, it’s really unsettling because there is no version of a few years time that’s in any way clear at all.
“What’s the future client base for a small practice? It’s completely unknowable, so there is no clarity on which to base a business plan, least of all in terms of fees.”
He said the boom “made people think that a small architectural practice could feed itself forever, but this was an illusion”. Architects were now diversifying “very quickly”, doing building energy ratings, urban design, conservation, sustainability, writing more or teaching.
“There is a resilience among architects, a belief that they have a real contribution to make – not least in relation to the direction of any social dividend that might arise in the working through of Nama by providing masterplanning and urban design skills,” Mr Tynan said.
They are unanimous on one issue: now is the time to build, because construction costs are so low. “Instead of behaving like a rabbit in headlights, Government, State agencies and local authorities should be gathering their guts to build for the future,” as one architect put it.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 23 July 2009
'Chill wind of economic reality' - reaction of architects
Madam, – The Tánaiste Mary Coughlan shows a worrying disconnect with reality when she referred to “architects” as being a sector which had yet to feel the “chill winds of economic reality” (Front page, July 21st). As has been widely reported, more than 40 per cent of architects have been made redundant. The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland has a significant number of members on Job Seeker’s Allowance or paying reduced charges because of financial hardship.
Many architects in employment have experienced pay cuts and three-day weeks.
How chilly does it have to get to reach the Tánaiste’s attention?
For public sector projects the Tánaiste should be aware that architectural services are procured on a competitive basis in accordance with EU and Department of Finance procedures. She must also be aware that architects don’t have recommended, mandatory or minimum fee scales. On the Competition Authority Report, I would expect the Tánaiste or her officials to have read the report or at least the executive summary before making a public statement,because the report was very clear: “the Competition Authority has only a small number of concerns about how the architectural profession operates in Ireland. Unlike some other professions reviewed by the Competition Authority, architects are not restricted by layers of unjustified or disproportionate restrictions or competition. Competition seems to be working well for consumers of architectural services and the economy as a whole”.
The Tánaiste might be better employed in examining the widespread evasion by some Government departments and State bodies generally of prompt payment legislation and why her recent announcement of a 15-days payment period by Government was greeted by incredulity among architects.
If the Tánaiste’s address is indicative of the level of research and evidence based policy in her department on matters of public record, as we face an unprecedented economic crisis, then it won’t just be architects who are made redundant but the entire country. – Yours, etc,
JOHN GRABY,
Director,
Royal Institute of the
Architects of Ireland,
Merrion Square,
Dublin 2.
Madam, – I write in relation to the extraordinary comments attributed to the Tánaiste regarding the “economic conceit” of certain professions during this time of unprecedented economic crisis. I am particularly concerned about Mary Coughlan’s ill-informed reference to architects and engineers in the context of failing to face up to economic and competitive reality. In her role as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I would have expected even the most basic level of awareness of how these and other construction industry professions have been decimated over the last 12 months and the arid landscape that still lies ahead in this sector.
As a director of an architectural and project management company which is enduring the “chill winds of economic reality” during this Government’s watch, our business has reduced from a peak of 81 employees in August 2008 to 27 staff in July 2009. Remaining staff have accepted pay cuts of 30 per cent and short-term working, as a further measure to address this downward spiral. Our situation is far from unique in the construction sector, with other solid companies forced out of business due to the “chill wind”.
It is disappointing that the best efforts of Ms Coughlan’s department and associate agencies such as Enterprise Ireland are undermined by such poorly judged comments and suggest that in the best interests of the economy it is time for the Minister to face up to her own chill wind of reality. – Yours, etc,
JIM GALLAGHER,
Shrewsbury Lawn,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Madam, – In response to the Tánaiste’s references to the architectural profession in Ireland, I write on behalf of one of the oldest architectural practices in Ireland, which was founded in 1947 by my late father-in-law, John Thompson, over 60 years ago.
We are currently a third-generation practice, which, over the years has employed hundreds of people in Limerick, Dublin and for a short time in Cork. We have seen several “downturns” in the market and have managed to survive by dint of hard work and commitment to both our staff and clients.
Our numbers have gone, in a 12-month period, from 29 people employed in 2008 to 12 today – the lowest number of employees in the company’s history. All the current staff are on a three-week on/one week off (since February of this year) in an attempt to save those remaining jobs.
The three directors have all taken a pay cut of up to 25 per cent even though all are continuing to work extremely long hours. We are doing our best to try to save the jobs and the firm in the face of unbelievable odds.
It is particularly galling that at such a time the Tánaiste sees fit to make comments such as those enunciated at the MacGill Summer School. I refer to an apparent lack of knowledge of the Competition Authority’s comments specifically relating to the architectural profession.
I beg to differ from the Tánaiste’s idea that we have “yet to feel the chill winds of economic reality”. She might prefer that we closed our doors (the far easier option) and put yet another 12 people our of work? – Yours, etc,
FINOLA THOMPSON,
Director,
Thompsons Architects +
Designers,
Ballinacurra,
Limerick.
Madam, – With regard to the Tánaiste’s comments referring to architects, among other professions, as being yet to feel “the chill winds of economic reality”, I would like to ask what planet is she living on? As a young architect in Dublin, I find that the majority of my fellow architects are out of work, have been for several months, and have little or no prospect of finding employment in this State or any other any time soon. I consider myself extremely lucky to still be employed, albeit on a part-time basis.
Is the Tánaiste so out of touch that she is not aware of this? Or does she not consider this to be a “chill wind“? – Yours, etc,
ISABEL COGAN, BArch,
Cambridge Terrace,
York Road,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Madam, – I was surprised to see that the Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, believes that architects and engineers have yet to feel the “chill winds of economic reality”. The Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland estimated the unemployment rate among architects at over 40 per cent last December. In the time since this estimate the situation has deteriorated severely. Several high profile architectural practices have gone into examinership and liquidation. The majority of those architects that have kept their jobs have taken pay cuts ranging from 10 per cent to 40 per cent, are working a three-day week or are taking regular unpaid leave. Fee bidding has been commonplace among architecture practices since the abandonment of recommended fee scales by the RIAI in the early 1990s, and is currently at a level that is approximately one tenth that believed to be the case by the Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe ( Irish Times September 25th, 2008).
If those charged with steering the economy through this current crisis are so spectacularly out of touch with the reality of the current economic situation, it is proof positive that the only area where the “chill winds” have yet to be felt is within the cocooned environment of Leinster House. – Yours, etc,
MÍCHEÁL de SIÚN, MRIAI,
The Coombe,
Dublin 8.
Madam, – The reference by the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan at the MacGill Summer School that architects and engineers have to feel the “chill wind of economic reality” is simply astonishing .
Given that architects and engineers submit the vast majority of planning applications to planning authorities and these planning authorities in turn are experiencing a drop of some 50 per cent in the receipt of applications, the evidence is manifestly clear that it is the Tánaiste who is not in touch with reality.
Notably, Minister for Environment John Gormley has recognised the fall off in planning applications and has requested Bord Pleanála to take on underused planning authority staff. Back to reality, Tánaiste! – Yours, etc,
JOHN C SCANNELL,
Architect and Planning
Consultant,
Richview Villas,
Clonskeagh,
Dublin 14.
Madam, – I cannot help but smile at the irony of our Tánaiste Mary Coughlan’s call on the professions to reduce our fees. This coming from a Government whose members are grossly overpaid and whose leader is paid more than the president of the US – not to mention unvouched expenses and Ministerial pensions paid to sitting TDs.
If this is not “economic conceit”, please tell me what is? – Yours, etc,
Dr ANGELA KEARNEY,
BDentSc,
Fair Street,
Drogheda,
Co Louth.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Many architects in employment have experienced pay cuts and three-day weeks.
How chilly does it have to get to reach the Tánaiste’s attention?
For public sector projects the Tánaiste should be aware that architectural services are procured on a competitive basis in accordance with EU and Department of Finance procedures. She must also be aware that architects don’t have recommended, mandatory or minimum fee scales. On the Competition Authority Report, I would expect the Tánaiste or her officials to have read the report or at least the executive summary before making a public statement,because the report was very clear: “the Competition Authority has only a small number of concerns about how the architectural profession operates in Ireland. Unlike some other professions reviewed by the Competition Authority, architects are not restricted by layers of unjustified or disproportionate restrictions or competition. Competition seems to be working well for consumers of architectural services and the economy as a whole”.
The Tánaiste might be better employed in examining the widespread evasion by some Government departments and State bodies generally of prompt payment legislation and why her recent announcement of a 15-days payment period by Government was greeted by incredulity among architects.
If the Tánaiste’s address is indicative of the level of research and evidence based policy in her department on matters of public record, as we face an unprecedented economic crisis, then it won’t just be architects who are made redundant but the entire country. – Yours, etc,
JOHN GRABY,
Director,
Royal Institute of the
Architects of Ireland,
Merrion Square,
Dublin 2.
Madam, – I write in relation to the extraordinary comments attributed to the Tánaiste regarding the “economic conceit” of certain professions during this time of unprecedented economic crisis. I am particularly concerned about Mary Coughlan’s ill-informed reference to architects and engineers in the context of failing to face up to economic and competitive reality. In her role as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I would have expected even the most basic level of awareness of how these and other construction industry professions have been decimated over the last 12 months and the arid landscape that still lies ahead in this sector.
As a director of an architectural and project management company which is enduring the “chill winds of economic reality” during this Government’s watch, our business has reduced from a peak of 81 employees in August 2008 to 27 staff in July 2009. Remaining staff have accepted pay cuts of 30 per cent and short-term working, as a further measure to address this downward spiral. Our situation is far from unique in the construction sector, with other solid companies forced out of business due to the “chill wind”.
It is disappointing that the best efforts of Ms Coughlan’s department and associate agencies such as Enterprise Ireland are undermined by such poorly judged comments and suggest that in the best interests of the economy it is time for the Minister to face up to her own chill wind of reality. – Yours, etc,
JIM GALLAGHER,
Shrewsbury Lawn,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Madam, – In response to the Tánaiste’s references to the architectural profession in Ireland, I write on behalf of one of the oldest architectural practices in Ireland, which was founded in 1947 by my late father-in-law, John Thompson, over 60 years ago.
We are currently a third-generation practice, which, over the years has employed hundreds of people in Limerick, Dublin and for a short time in Cork. We have seen several “downturns” in the market and have managed to survive by dint of hard work and commitment to both our staff and clients.
Our numbers have gone, in a 12-month period, from 29 people employed in 2008 to 12 today – the lowest number of employees in the company’s history. All the current staff are on a three-week on/one week off (since February of this year) in an attempt to save those remaining jobs.
The three directors have all taken a pay cut of up to 25 per cent even though all are continuing to work extremely long hours. We are doing our best to try to save the jobs and the firm in the face of unbelievable odds.
It is particularly galling that at such a time the Tánaiste sees fit to make comments such as those enunciated at the MacGill Summer School. I refer to an apparent lack of knowledge of the Competition Authority’s comments specifically relating to the architectural profession.
I beg to differ from the Tánaiste’s idea that we have “yet to feel the chill winds of economic reality”. She might prefer that we closed our doors (the far easier option) and put yet another 12 people our of work? – Yours, etc,
FINOLA THOMPSON,
Director,
Thompsons Architects +
Designers,
Ballinacurra,
Limerick.
Madam, – With regard to the Tánaiste’s comments referring to architects, among other professions, as being yet to feel “the chill winds of economic reality”, I would like to ask what planet is she living on? As a young architect in Dublin, I find that the majority of my fellow architects are out of work, have been for several months, and have little or no prospect of finding employment in this State or any other any time soon. I consider myself extremely lucky to still be employed, albeit on a part-time basis.
Is the Tánaiste so out of touch that she is not aware of this? Or does she not consider this to be a “chill wind“? – Yours, etc,
ISABEL COGAN, BArch,
Cambridge Terrace,
York Road,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Madam, – I was surprised to see that the Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, believes that architects and engineers have yet to feel the “chill winds of economic reality”. The Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland estimated the unemployment rate among architects at over 40 per cent last December. In the time since this estimate the situation has deteriorated severely. Several high profile architectural practices have gone into examinership and liquidation. The majority of those architects that have kept their jobs have taken pay cuts ranging from 10 per cent to 40 per cent, are working a three-day week or are taking regular unpaid leave. Fee bidding has been commonplace among architecture practices since the abandonment of recommended fee scales by the RIAI in the early 1990s, and is currently at a level that is approximately one tenth that believed to be the case by the Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe ( Irish Times September 25th, 2008).
If those charged with steering the economy through this current crisis are so spectacularly out of touch with the reality of the current economic situation, it is proof positive that the only area where the “chill winds” have yet to be felt is within the cocooned environment of Leinster House. – Yours, etc,
MÍCHEÁL de SIÚN, MRIAI,
The Coombe,
Dublin 8.
Madam, – The reference by the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan at the MacGill Summer School that architects and engineers have to feel the “chill wind of economic reality” is simply astonishing .
Given that architects and engineers submit the vast majority of planning applications to planning authorities and these planning authorities in turn are experiencing a drop of some 50 per cent in the receipt of applications, the evidence is manifestly clear that it is the Tánaiste who is not in touch with reality.
Notably, Minister for Environment John Gormley has recognised the fall off in planning applications and has requested Bord Pleanála to take on underused planning authority staff. Back to reality, Tánaiste! – Yours, etc,
JOHN C SCANNELL,
Architect and Planning
Consultant,
Richview Villas,
Clonskeagh,
Dublin 14.
Madam, – I cannot help but smile at the irony of our Tánaiste Mary Coughlan’s call on the professions to reduce our fees. This coming from a Government whose members are grossly overpaid and whose leader is paid more than the president of the US – not to mention unvouched expenses and Ministerial pensions paid to sitting TDs.
If this is not “economic conceit”, please tell me what is? – Yours, etc,
Dr ANGELA KEARNEY,
BDentSc,
Fair Street,
Drogheda,
Co Louth.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Too much politics in planning - architects
CLARE County Council was yesterday named as providing the worst planning service in the country.
The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) claimed that less than 40pc of its members were happy with the service provided in Clare, compared to Sligo County Council's 62.3pc satisfaction rate.
But the findings of a survey of 327 architects were rubbished by the Banner County's senior executive planner, John Bradley, who said it was based on just 5pc of all planning applications received in the two-year period under review. A satisfaction survey by the council returned a 70pc approval rating.
"Bald statement made like this can damage our reputation," he said.
"Insufficient documentation or poorly prepared planning submissions are a problem for us. To pick out Clare was disingenuous, to put it mildly."
The survey, published yesterday, shows that architects believe there is too much political interference in the planning process and that local councillors are forcing planners to approve particular developments.
Some 80pc also believe that planning decisions are not taken on the basis of good design, and that there are considerable variations across local authorities on how planning laws are applied.
"This lack of consistency is wasting the resources of architects," RIAI President Sean O'Laoire said.
Irish Independent
www.buckplannng.ie
The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) claimed that less than 40pc of its members were happy with the service provided in Clare, compared to Sligo County Council's 62.3pc satisfaction rate.
But the findings of a survey of 327 architects were rubbished by the Banner County's senior executive planner, John Bradley, who said it was based on just 5pc of all planning applications received in the two-year period under review. A satisfaction survey by the council returned a 70pc approval rating.
"Bald statement made like this can damage our reputation," he said.
"Insufficient documentation or poorly prepared planning submissions are a problem for us. To pick out Clare was disingenuous, to put it mildly."
The survey, published yesterday, shows that architects believe there is too much political interference in the planning process and that local councillors are forcing planners to approve particular developments.
Some 80pc also believe that planning decisions are not taken on the basis of good design, and that there are considerable variations across local authorities on how planning laws are applied.
"This lack of consistency is wasting the resources of architects," RIAI President Sean O'Laoire said.
Irish Independent
www.buckplannng.ie
Planners waste architects' time
Sligo is best, Clare worst local authority for dealing with planning applications says RIAI survey of 392 architects
EIGHTY PER CENT of architects believe that planning decisions made by local authorities do not support good quality design, according to a survey commissioned by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).
"The survey results show that we are not in a position to deliver quality in the built environment with current planning practices," RIAI president Seán Ó Laoire said, adding that it was up to the Department of the Environment to improve things.
He identified lack of consistency among local authorities as the main problem, saying this was "wasting the resources of architects who have lodged planning applications as well as that of the local authorities themselves". In the survey of 392 architects, carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes, Sligo County Council was rated as the best planning service provider and Clare County Council as the poorest in terms of dealing with planning applications.
The greatest criticism was that planners were underqualified or under-trained, while 86 per cent felt the system was not good at coping with changes relating to the energy performance, accessibility and sustainability of buildings. Fifty-eight per cent agreed that inconsistent advice at pre-planning meetings resulted in unnecessary redesign work, while just over half expressed concern that only 14 per cent of the local authorities provided an on-the-spot validation service.
Under the 2000 Planning Act, as Mr Ó Laoire noted, a system of checking planning applications for compliance with submission requirements - aimed at ensuring better quality applications - was introduced and this is referred to as validation.
"However, in reality, the validation process has proven to be more time consuming and expensive for many applicants and the local authorities than the actual planning permission process itself," the RIAI president complained.
The survey found that about one-third of all planning applications made by the architects who responded - some 15 per cent of the RIAI membership - were in Dublin, with 22 per cent in the rest of Leinster, 26 per cent in Munster and the rest in Connaught/Ulster.
The 10 best performing local authorities in order of rank were Sligo (6.23), Longford (6.2), Cork City (6.12), Limerick city (6.0), Limerick county (6.0), Monaghan (5.95), Fingal (5.94), Dublin city (5.9), Drogheda borough (5.81) and Louth (5.74).
The 10 worst performing local authorities, as scored by RIAI members, were Clare (3.82), Kildare (3.94), Wicklow (4.0), Kilkenny (4.03), Wexford borough (4.47), Leitrim (4.65), Cork (4.6), Westmeath (4.6), Kerry (4.88) and Offaly (4.9).
The performance of other local authorities in the Greater Dublin area were ranked as follows: South Dublin (5.73), Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown (5.33) and Meath (4.51) - all lagging some way behind Fingal and Dublin City.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
EIGHTY PER CENT of architects believe that planning decisions made by local authorities do not support good quality design, according to a survey commissioned by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).
"The survey results show that we are not in a position to deliver quality in the built environment with current planning practices," RIAI president Seán Ó Laoire said, adding that it was up to the Department of the Environment to improve things.
He identified lack of consistency among local authorities as the main problem, saying this was "wasting the resources of architects who have lodged planning applications as well as that of the local authorities themselves". In the survey of 392 architects, carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes, Sligo County Council was rated as the best planning service provider and Clare County Council as the poorest in terms of dealing with planning applications.
The greatest criticism was that planners were underqualified or under-trained, while 86 per cent felt the system was not good at coping with changes relating to the energy performance, accessibility and sustainability of buildings. Fifty-eight per cent agreed that inconsistent advice at pre-planning meetings resulted in unnecessary redesign work, while just over half expressed concern that only 14 per cent of the local authorities provided an on-the-spot validation service.
Under the 2000 Planning Act, as Mr Ó Laoire noted, a system of checking planning applications for compliance with submission requirements - aimed at ensuring better quality applications - was introduced and this is referred to as validation.
"However, in reality, the validation process has proven to be more time consuming and expensive for many applicants and the local authorities than the actual planning permission process itself," the RIAI president complained.
The survey found that about one-third of all planning applications made by the architects who responded - some 15 per cent of the RIAI membership - were in Dublin, with 22 per cent in the rest of Leinster, 26 per cent in Munster and the rest in Connaught/Ulster.
The 10 best performing local authorities in order of rank were Sligo (6.23), Longford (6.2), Cork City (6.12), Limerick city (6.0), Limerick county (6.0), Monaghan (5.95), Fingal (5.94), Dublin city (5.9), Drogheda borough (5.81) and Louth (5.74).
The 10 worst performing local authorities, as scored by RIAI members, were Clare (3.82), Kildare (3.94), Wicklow (4.0), Kilkenny (4.03), Wexford borough (4.47), Leitrim (4.65), Cork (4.6), Westmeath (4.6), Kerry (4.88) and Offaly (4.9).
The performance of other local authorities in the Greater Dublin area were ranked as follows: South Dublin (5.73), Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown (5.33) and Meath (4.51) - all lagging some way behind Fingal and Dublin City.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Architects rate Sligo as best council for planning
Eighty per cent of architects believe that planning decisions made by local authorities do not support good quality design, according to a survey commissioned by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).
In the survey, carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes, architects rated Sligo County Council as the best planning service provider and Clare County Council as the poorest in terms of dealing with planning applications.
RIAI president Seán Ó Laoire said the lack of consistency among local authorities “is wasting the resources of architects who have lodged planning applications as well as that of the local authorities themselves.
“The survey results show that we are not in a position to deliver quality in the built environment with current planning practices”, he said.
The greatest criticism was that planners were under-qualified or under-trained, whille 86 per cent felt the system was not good at coping with changes relating to the energy performance, accessibility and sustainability of buildings.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents agreed that inconsistent advice at pre-planning meetings results in unnecessary redesign work, and over 60 per cent overall said it was up to the Department of the Environment to improve the planning process.
Just over half of the architects expressed concern that only 14 per cent of the local authorities they dealt with in the last two years provided an on-the-spot validation service.
Under the 2000 Planning Act, as Mr Ó Laoire noted, a system of checking planning applications for compliance with submission requirements – to ensure better quality applications – was introduced and this is referred to as validation.
“However, in reality, the validation process has proven to be more time consuming and expensive for many applicants and the Local Authorities than the actual planning permission process itself”.
The survey, which covered 392 RIAI members, found that about one third of all planning applications made by them were in the Dublin region, with 22 per cent in the rest of Leinster, 26 per cent in Munster and the rest in Connaught/Ulster.
Irishtimes.com
www.buckplanning.ie
In the survey, carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes, architects rated Sligo County Council as the best planning service provider and Clare County Council as the poorest in terms of dealing with planning applications.
RIAI president Seán Ó Laoire said the lack of consistency among local authorities “is wasting the resources of architects who have lodged planning applications as well as that of the local authorities themselves.
“The survey results show that we are not in a position to deliver quality in the built environment with current planning practices”, he said.
The greatest criticism was that planners were under-qualified or under-trained, whille 86 per cent felt the system was not good at coping with changes relating to the energy performance, accessibility and sustainability of buildings.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents agreed that inconsistent advice at pre-planning meetings results in unnecessary redesign work, and over 60 per cent overall said it was up to the Department of the Environment to improve the planning process.
Just over half of the architects expressed concern that only 14 per cent of the local authorities they dealt with in the last two years provided an on-the-spot validation service.
Under the 2000 Planning Act, as Mr Ó Laoire noted, a system of checking planning applications for compliance with submission requirements – to ensure better quality applications – was introduced and this is referred to as validation.
“However, in reality, the validation process has proven to be more time consuming and expensive for many applicants and the Local Authorities than the actual planning permission process itself”.
The survey, which covered 392 RIAI members, found that about one third of all planning applications made by them were in the Dublin region, with 22 per cent in the rest of Leinster, 26 per cent in Munster and the rest in Connaught/Ulster.
Irishtimes.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 30 May 2008
Judging architecture
Emma Cullinan was one of the judges at this year's RIAI awards. She gives an insight into how the winning schemes were chosen.
THERE WERE 217 entries to the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) awards this year - the highest ever - and it is breathtaking to see presentations of these projects laid out on tables across two rooms in the RIAI offices. All that hard work - all that hope.
You could not judge architecture alone, it is a somewhat subjective pursuit, although time enough in the profession brings objectivity too. Here there was a lovely mix of assessors offering various tastes and insights.
In some cases it's easy to pick award winners - good architecture just is - and the whole jury immediately concurs.
There are clear losers too. How can an architectural-award jury give prizes to pseudo-Tudor or Mock Georgian housing schemes? They may be much loved among their target audience but they are not clever and cutting-edge. They enter the contest all the same.
Beyond the obvious choices it gets fuzzy: where one jury member likes a style and the others aren't so sure, or where a scheme has good aspects but they don't quite add up to a delightful whole. Or where there's a divine plan and devilish massing.
Chair Joan O'Connor displayed her project-management talents in ushering us through the process at a cracking pace. The awards are in categories and all six judges (including Rob Docter, Greg Tisdall, Paul Keogh and Nicki Matthews) looked at everything in each class before coming together to discuss.
While Joan would give her view first she was quite happy to be challenged and everything being advocated by anybody was left on the table, ready for someone to fight its corner. Gradually the schemes were whittled to around seven projects: one winning the award, two highly commended, two commended and then two or more exhibitions.
So if you felt passionate enough about a building you needed to champion it - sometimes alone; thinking, 'if only the architect could see me now'.
Sometimes you would hear another judge defending a project in terms you agreed with and would join with them. In one rare case the judges were split over the award in one category - lining up, three against three. Both contenders were buildings of beauty but different in style.
At times like this you realise how the same word means different things to different architectural assessors: some using "austere" to praise a building's wonderful sense of restraint while others employ the word to criticise a structure's severity.
As with semantics, so with style. When is a pitched-roof, white walled house a clever, contemporary twist on Irish vernacular and when is it a lazy, quick-draw, cheap-build house type? Not always clear if the photography is excellent. The entries were anonymous - although many were known to, and had been seen by, us judges - so you could not necessarily rely on knowledge of an architect's reputation for design and detailing in all cases.
The quality was mainly clear, though, in the massing, composition, detailing (a clever twist on tradition that says something new or bog standard?) and quota of plastic wrecking the elevations. You don't, after all, see white polymer piping running down the front of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water or swan neck guttering clutching the roof of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth glass house. Good architecture sees it through from foundation to gutter (although that might involve a battle with the client).
Similarly, while the submissions could be, and were often, pleasingly straightforward and basic, clarity of presentation was appreciated; if the submission comprised creased, murky colour photocopies on standard photocopying paper all bundled into one envelope together you did wonder as to the quality of detailing in the buildings.
Gradually criteria and buzzwords emerged to help in the selection and to keep up the momentum. "Derivative" derogatively referred to buildings that had been designed by casting around current world trends and sticking a selection of these together in a less than harmonious composition. Or it meant that a building was concentrating on one particular style: I was fond of a brick housing scheme but it was dismissed as being too Dutch school (which caused the Dutch assessor, Rob Docter, to raise his eyebrows quizzically), another building was "too Libeskind". That said, rather those buildings that have a go at something new than those which go for the lowest common denominator.
Judging these awards gives a snapshot of what is happening countrywide and the view is good. Many designers are striving for a new design language for Ireland. Some of it may not be world-class architecture but it is better than so much that has gone before.
Conversely there is still much inhumane corporate architecture. Big "luxurious" schemes that have had plenty of publicity just couldn't impress the design judges: injecting a building with bling doesn't necessarily make it sing.
Another phrase used against office design was "four-pipe fan coil air con": if an office was designed in such a way - for instance with a deep plan - that it looked as if it might require air conditioning then that counted against it. Hospital projects that showed swish photos of communal areas and none of the actual wards got short shrift as did schemes that had won an award for an earlier phase.
Buildings photographed and drawn on their own, without showing how they fit into the surrounding area, made the judges wary.
One judge pointed out that golf backwards is "flog" and such schemes had that notion suspiciously hanging over them.
Some projects were moved into new categories, especially one that was in a category all of its own. You can be clever in awards by choosing classes that have few entrants. Mixed-used schemes were in the happy position of being able to enter a variety of categories. Sometimes that could hinder - the good ones can't be given awards in all of the categories thus sweeping the board - and at other times it helped. The unskilful apartment design could be ignored while another aspect of the scheme could take a bow.
Also, architects could win in one category for one building and get nothing in another category for a different project.
The winning designs tended to have gone beyond the brief. The client comments were telling. An animal shelter group said: "Our architects spent so much effort in putting together an aesthetic and contemporary feel to the exterior but to us, who spend eight and 10 hours a day using it, the outside is actually immaterial." Luckily the architects went well beyond that requirement and nabbed a design award in the process. We found it both strange and delightful to be celebrating a dog's home. Similarly a hair salon in Cork. The retail category was fairly depressing. This is the face of architecture that most people see and yet - hey ho - the usual plain white walls and stark lighting. Yet an architect had taken the salon brief and created a double-height space along with small rooms that had views through to other parts of the building, helped by jauntily placed mirrors and glass.
Similarly, many architects deserve bravery awards. Design is taking a little pause - as is the property market - as architects have to work out where to go next and competent designers who explore new styles are heroic.
You be the judge: vote for your favourite from the shortlist on www. riai.ie from June 4th
The awards will be presented at CHQ in Dublin's Docklands, on June 23rd, hosted by Ryan Tubridy.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
THERE WERE 217 entries to the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) awards this year - the highest ever - and it is breathtaking to see presentations of these projects laid out on tables across two rooms in the RIAI offices. All that hard work - all that hope.
You could not judge architecture alone, it is a somewhat subjective pursuit, although time enough in the profession brings objectivity too. Here there was a lovely mix of assessors offering various tastes and insights.
In some cases it's easy to pick award winners - good architecture just is - and the whole jury immediately concurs.
There are clear losers too. How can an architectural-award jury give prizes to pseudo-Tudor or Mock Georgian housing schemes? They may be much loved among their target audience but they are not clever and cutting-edge. They enter the contest all the same.
Beyond the obvious choices it gets fuzzy: where one jury member likes a style and the others aren't so sure, or where a scheme has good aspects but they don't quite add up to a delightful whole. Or where there's a divine plan and devilish massing.
Chair Joan O'Connor displayed her project-management talents in ushering us through the process at a cracking pace. The awards are in categories and all six judges (including Rob Docter, Greg Tisdall, Paul Keogh and Nicki Matthews) looked at everything in each class before coming together to discuss.
While Joan would give her view first she was quite happy to be challenged and everything being advocated by anybody was left on the table, ready for someone to fight its corner. Gradually the schemes were whittled to around seven projects: one winning the award, two highly commended, two commended and then two or more exhibitions.
So if you felt passionate enough about a building you needed to champion it - sometimes alone; thinking, 'if only the architect could see me now'.
Sometimes you would hear another judge defending a project in terms you agreed with and would join with them. In one rare case the judges were split over the award in one category - lining up, three against three. Both contenders were buildings of beauty but different in style.
At times like this you realise how the same word means different things to different architectural assessors: some using "austere" to praise a building's wonderful sense of restraint while others employ the word to criticise a structure's severity.
As with semantics, so with style. When is a pitched-roof, white walled house a clever, contemporary twist on Irish vernacular and when is it a lazy, quick-draw, cheap-build house type? Not always clear if the photography is excellent. The entries were anonymous - although many were known to, and had been seen by, us judges - so you could not necessarily rely on knowledge of an architect's reputation for design and detailing in all cases.
The quality was mainly clear, though, in the massing, composition, detailing (a clever twist on tradition that says something new or bog standard?) and quota of plastic wrecking the elevations. You don't, after all, see white polymer piping running down the front of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water or swan neck guttering clutching the roof of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth glass house. Good architecture sees it through from foundation to gutter (although that might involve a battle with the client).
Similarly, while the submissions could be, and were often, pleasingly straightforward and basic, clarity of presentation was appreciated; if the submission comprised creased, murky colour photocopies on standard photocopying paper all bundled into one envelope together you did wonder as to the quality of detailing in the buildings.
Gradually criteria and buzzwords emerged to help in the selection and to keep up the momentum. "Derivative" derogatively referred to buildings that had been designed by casting around current world trends and sticking a selection of these together in a less than harmonious composition. Or it meant that a building was concentrating on one particular style: I was fond of a brick housing scheme but it was dismissed as being too Dutch school (which caused the Dutch assessor, Rob Docter, to raise his eyebrows quizzically), another building was "too Libeskind". That said, rather those buildings that have a go at something new than those which go for the lowest common denominator.
Judging these awards gives a snapshot of what is happening countrywide and the view is good. Many designers are striving for a new design language for Ireland. Some of it may not be world-class architecture but it is better than so much that has gone before.
Conversely there is still much inhumane corporate architecture. Big "luxurious" schemes that have had plenty of publicity just couldn't impress the design judges: injecting a building with bling doesn't necessarily make it sing.
Another phrase used against office design was "four-pipe fan coil air con": if an office was designed in such a way - for instance with a deep plan - that it looked as if it might require air conditioning then that counted against it. Hospital projects that showed swish photos of communal areas and none of the actual wards got short shrift as did schemes that had won an award for an earlier phase.
Buildings photographed and drawn on their own, without showing how they fit into the surrounding area, made the judges wary.
One judge pointed out that golf backwards is "flog" and such schemes had that notion suspiciously hanging over them.
Some projects were moved into new categories, especially one that was in a category all of its own. You can be clever in awards by choosing classes that have few entrants. Mixed-used schemes were in the happy position of being able to enter a variety of categories. Sometimes that could hinder - the good ones can't be given awards in all of the categories thus sweeping the board - and at other times it helped. The unskilful apartment design could be ignored while another aspect of the scheme could take a bow.
Also, architects could win in one category for one building and get nothing in another category for a different project.
The winning designs tended to have gone beyond the brief. The client comments were telling. An animal shelter group said: "Our architects spent so much effort in putting together an aesthetic and contemporary feel to the exterior but to us, who spend eight and 10 hours a day using it, the outside is actually immaterial." Luckily the architects went well beyond that requirement and nabbed a design award in the process. We found it both strange and delightful to be celebrating a dog's home. Similarly a hair salon in Cork. The retail category was fairly depressing. This is the face of architecture that most people see and yet - hey ho - the usual plain white walls and stark lighting. Yet an architect had taken the salon brief and created a double-height space along with small rooms that had views through to other parts of the building, helped by jauntily placed mirrors and glass.
Similarly, many architects deserve bravery awards. Design is taking a little pause - as is the property market - as architects have to work out where to go next and competent designers who explore new styles are heroic.
You be the judge: vote for your favourite from the shortlist on www. riai.ie from June 4th
The awards will be presented at CHQ in Dublin's Docklands, on June 23rd, hosted by Ryan Tubridy.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
An Irishman's Diary covers planning ...
IN THESE exciting days for Dublin architecture, when every new building seems to make a bold visual statement, spare a thought for the Irish Yeast Company on College Street.
The rest of the city is throwing off all height restrictions and reaching for the sky. But there's the poor old Yeast Company - doomed, apparently forever, to occupy a four-storey building, with no hope of vertical extension. Its visual statement - insofar as it makes one - is a failed metaphor. The shop is the unleavened bread of modern Dublin's architectural banquet: the cake that didn't rise.
And even so, I find its contradictions strangely reassuring. Yes, it was exciting when they erected the Spire on nearby O'Connell Street, with the message to Dubliners that, from now on, the only way was up. And yes, it's exciting now to see developers taking the hint, by way of plans to recreate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon over Moore Street, or to rebuild the Clarence Hotel with a spaceship on the roof, or to create any number of other upward-thrusting landmarks But as I pass it regularly on the way to and from the office, it is all the more of relief these days to find the Yeast Company still there, holding out stolidly against the inflationary pressures.
I never fail to be calmed by the sight of its pleasantly squat frontal elevation and by its modest ground floor window full of baking accessories. Often I pause to look in, regretting that I have no reason to buy something. Then I continue on my way, always feeling more serene. The shop is like a little anchor in the stormy seas of change.
Mind you, even the term "anchor" is not what it used to be. At any rate, I see that the developers of the Carlton site have used that very word, without apparent irony, to describe the effect on O'Connell Street of their proposed "sky park" - the same one that will climb by a 22-degree slope to an observation deck towering hundreds of feet above the city centre, and accessible by funicular.
Clearly, the new generation of architect-designed anchors are designed to drag things up rather than down. I don't know where balloons fit in any more.
PRESUMABLY the spaceship on the Clarence - if it ever gets off the ground - will offer similar anchorage to Temple Bar. But should Norman Foster's design survive the planning process, the building has already secured its nickname. The "Flying Saucer" it surely has to be, even if the project's supporters would argue that the little green men (ie small-minded conservationists) are, by definition, not on board.
With the Clarence already sorted, therefore, the immediate challenge for Dubliners is to find an alternative name for the sky park over Moore Street. It will be only an interim nickname, of course, subject to application for retention in the event of the plan going ahead. But here goes anyway.
I like to think we're mature enough now not to need one of those rhyming nicknames, of which there are far too many already. Which is why I think "Gorse Hill" would be a nice name for the new park. It doesn't rhyme. It is boldly contemporary. And it might even appeal to the developers - since, for anyone who followed the recent High Court case, it immediately suggests "Anchorage".
Failing that, and taking a completely different tack, I propose naming the development "MacArthur Park" after the famously obscure song with which Richard Harris once had a hit.
The song's lyrics have always baffled scientists. But bearing in mind the sky-park's "hyrdoponic" sloping garden, and continuing our baking metaphor from earlier, consider the chorus: "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark/ All the sweet, green icing flowing down". Bear in mind also that the architects envisage a roof over the new streets that their development would create, but that they have not seen fit to extend this to the sky-park. Then remember the hydroponic nature of Irish weather, and the consequent risk of flooding. And consider another line from the song: "Someone left the cake out in the rain."
On the other hand, after the interminable delays in redeveloping the Carlton site, the song's chorus also carries a heartfelt message from the developers to any planners who might be inclined to refuse the scheme permission: "I don't think that I can take it/ 'Cause it took so long to bake it/ And I'll never have that recipe again/ Oh, no!"
But the clincher, as I see it, is that the developers have credited the Guinness Storehouse, with its "sky-bar", as one of the inspirations behind their scheme. So perhaps if the sky park does rise over the old Carlton eventually, brewer's yeast will have played a part. Either way, the Son-of-Arthur's Park would seem to cover it.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The rest of the city is throwing off all height restrictions and reaching for the sky. But there's the poor old Yeast Company - doomed, apparently forever, to occupy a four-storey building, with no hope of vertical extension. Its visual statement - insofar as it makes one - is a failed metaphor. The shop is the unleavened bread of modern Dublin's architectural banquet: the cake that didn't rise.
And even so, I find its contradictions strangely reassuring. Yes, it was exciting when they erected the Spire on nearby O'Connell Street, with the message to Dubliners that, from now on, the only way was up. And yes, it's exciting now to see developers taking the hint, by way of plans to recreate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon over Moore Street, or to rebuild the Clarence Hotel with a spaceship on the roof, or to create any number of other upward-thrusting landmarks But as I pass it regularly on the way to and from the office, it is all the more of relief these days to find the Yeast Company still there, holding out stolidly against the inflationary pressures.
I never fail to be calmed by the sight of its pleasantly squat frontal elevation and by its modest ground floor window full of baking accessories. Often I pause to look in, regretting that I have no reason to buy something. Then I continue on my way, always feeling more serene. The shop is like a little anchor in the stormy seas of change.
Mind you, even the term "anchor" is not what it used to be. At any rate, I see that the developers of the Carlton site have used that very word, without apparent irony, to describe the effect on O'Connell Street of their proposed "sky park" - the same one that will climb by a 22-degree slope to an observation deck towering hundreds of feet above the city centre, and accessible by funicular.
Clearly, the new generation of architect-designed anchors are designed to drag things up rather than down. I don't know where balloons fit in any more.
PRESUMABLY the spaceship on the Clarence - if it ever gets off the ground - will offer similar anchorage to Temple Bar. But should Norman Foster's design survive the planning process, the building has already secured its nickname. The "Flying Saucer" it surely has to be, even if the project's supporters would argue that the little green men (ie small-minded conservationists) are, by definition, not on board.
With the Clarence already sorted, therefore, the immediate challenge for Dubliners is to find an alternative name for the sky park over Moore Street. It will be only an interim nickname, of course, subject to application for retention in the event of the plan going ahead. But here goes anyway.
I like to think we're mature enough now not to need one of those rhyming nicknames, of which there are far too many already. Which is why I think "Gorse Hill" would be a nice name for the new park. It doesn't rhyme. It is boldly contemporary. And it might even appeal to the developers - since, for anyone who followed the recent High Court case, it immediately suggests "Anchorage".
Failing that, and taking a completely different tack, I propose naming the development "MacArthur Park" after the famously obscure song with which Richard Harris once had a hit.
The song's lyrics have always baffled scientists. But bearing in mind the sky-park's "hyrdoponic" sloping garden, and continuing our baking metaphor from earlier, consider the chorus: "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark/ All the sweet, green icing flowing down". Bear in mind also that the architects envisage a roof over the new streets that their development would create, but that they have not seen fit to extend this to the sky-park. Then remember the hydroponic nature of Irish weather, and the consequent risk of flooding. And consider another line from the song: "Someone left the cake out in the rain."
On the other hand, after the interminable delays in redeveloping the Carlton site, the song's chorus also carries a heartfelt message from the developers to any planners who might be inclined to refuse the scheme permission: "I don't think that I can take it/ 'Cause it took so long to bake it/ And I'll never have that recipe again/ Oh, no!"
But the clincher, as I see it, is that the developers have credited the Guinness Storehouse, with its "sky-bar", as one of the inspirations behind their scheme. So perhaps if the sky park does rise over the old Carlton eventually, brewer's yeast will have played a part. Either way, the Son-of-Arthur's Park would seem to cover it.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 28 January 2008
Focus on green issues offers architects ‘exciting design challenges’
IRELAND’S commitment to developing a cleaner, greener, more sustainable environment offers architects a world of opportunities and exciting design challenges, according to a leading academic.
Despite ongoing uncertainty in the construction sector, the future for architectural graduates has never looked brighter, says Sharon O’Brien, the acting head of the department of architecture at Waterford Institute of Technology.
The majority of architectural graduates have traditionally entered architectural design offices upon graduation. This trend is changing and today an architectural education opens up many possibilities for employment, she said.
“Architects are now sought in the public sector as advisors and designers on the build environment in the areas of urban and rural planning and in the conservation of the historic fabric of our cities, towns and villages. With the pressing need to address sustainability more will become advisors and design specialists in greener design,” said Ms O’Brien.
The new department of architecture at Waterford Institute of Technology provides a “learning through doing” environment for the education of architects, architectural technicians and architectural technologists where the studio becomes the workshop, where ideas and practice are tested in model and drawing form, said the acting head of department.
“We offer four degree level programmes, the existing three-year BSc in architectural technology and an add-on one-year BSc (honours) in architectural technology. In 2005, the department of architecture began to run its architectural programme.
“In many respects this was an historic event in the history of architectural education in Ireland as Waterford Institute of Technology was the first third level institution in Ireland outside Dublin to receive academic validation for a new architecture degree programme.
“The programme currently on offer is a five-year degree leading to a Bachelor of Architecture (hons) with an intermediate BScArch. (hons) degree offered after three years,” she said.
The programme is modularised and semesterised and this approach facilitates part time and full time modes of study. Its system of electives encourages diverse avenues of interest through collaborations with existing schools at WIT, namely the schools of engineering, humanities and business.
About half of the first year places will be offered directly via the central CAO route, the other half reserved for graduates from related disciplines, transfer students and mature applicants who have successfully completed an assessment procedure. This non-traditional open access policy creates greater diversity within the student body leading to a stimulating dynamic within the studio. The cut-off for this year’s programme is 470 points.
The department of architecture has an international lecturing staff with practice experience in France, Germany, Britain, Finland, America and Canada. The department has established links with the leading French school of architecture at Marne La Vallee, in Paris and with the world renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
International architects participate on the programme as guest lecturers, and tutors. Erasmus exchange students from France and Germany have already participated in the programme. Cultural trips to European capital cities are also an important element of each year on the Bachelor of Architecture degree.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Despite ongoing uncertainty in the construction sector, the future for architectural graduates has never looked brighter, says Sharon O’Brien, the acting head of the department of architecture at Waterford Institute of Technology.
The majority of architectural graduates have traditionally entered architectural design offices upon graduation. This trend is changing and today an architectural education opens up many possibilities for employment, she said.
“Architects are now sought in the public sector as advisors and designers on the build environment in the areas of urban and rural planning and in the conservation of the historic fabric of our cities, towns and villages. With the pressing need to address sustainability more will become advisors and design specialists in greener design,” said Ms O’Brien.
The new department of architecture at Waterford Institute of Technology provides a “learning through doing” environment for the education of architects, architectural technicians and architectural technologists where the studio becomes the workshop, where ideas and practice are tested in model and drawing form, said the acting head of department.
“We offer four degree level programmes, the existing three-year BSc in architectural technology and an add-on one-year BSc (honours) in architectural technology. In 2005, the department of architecture began to run its architectural programme.
“In many respects this was an historic event in the history of architectural education in Ireland as Waterford Institute of Technology was the first third level institution in Ireland outside Dublin to receive academic validation for a new architecture degree programme.
“The programme currently on offer is a five-year degree leading to a Bachelor of Architecture (hons) with an intermediate BScArch. (hons) degree offered after three years,” she said.
The programme is modularised and semesterised and this approach facilitates part time and full time modes of study. Its system of electives encourages diverse avenues of interest through collaborations with existing schools at WIT, namely the schools of engineering, humanities and business.
About half of the first year places will be offered directly via the central CAO route, the other half reserved for graduates from related disciplines, transfer students and mature applicants who have successfully completed an assessment procedure. This non-traditional open access policy creates greater diversity within the student body leading to a stimulating dynamic within the studio. The cut-off for this year’s programme is 470 points.
The department of architecture has an international lecturing staff with practice experience in France, Germany, Britain, Finland, America and Canada. The department has established links with the leading French school of architecture at Marne La Vallee, in Paris and with the world renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
International architects participate on the programme as guest lecturers, and tutors. Erasmus exchange students from France and Germany have already participated in the programme. Cultural trips to European capital cities are also an important element of each year on the Bachelor of Architecture degree.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
It's rock and awe as Bono praises architect
BONO turned from superstar to fan yesterday as he lavished praise on a visiting Japanese architect.
The U2 frontman also revealed his optimism about the future of Irish architecture and praised developments taking place in Dublin, despite controversies about the character of some modern buildings, including the forthcoming "U2 Tower".
Tadao Ando, billed as "one of the world's greatest living architects" gave the largest ever public lecture in Ireland on building design yesterday.
Headliner
In rock and roll terms, he was the headliner who attracted a 3,000 strong crowd while Bono was the warm-up act.
The singer said that Ando (66) had found his own distinctive voice, "which is the hardest thing".
Bono added: "Tadao Ando didn't just find a voice, he found a language. Awe is a word to describe Ando's work -- he's simply awesome."
Bono has his own interests in this area, with the long anticipated "U2 Tower" on the southside promising an innovative corkscrew structure but also being described as a "monstrosity" by Ringsend Environmental Group.
Bono said, however, that economic growth was bringing "great buildings" to Ireland.
The singer added: "We're proud of our city. People in business and planning are taking steps -- baby steps -- taking the prosperity we're enjoying and leaving some great buildings for our kids."
Ando claims people can be highly influenced by architecture and that it can reflect local culture -- including its differences. Yesterday's event at the RDS was packed with people eager to hear from a man who has won virtually all of the major international architecture awards.
Ando titled his lecture "Creating Dreams" and drew on experiences of his previous jobs as a boxer and truck driver.
He says he learnt about architecture by going to see buildings across the world before designing landmarks like Osaka's famous Church of Light.
Irish Independent
The U2 frontman also revealed his optimism about the future of Irish architecture and praised developments taking place in Dublin, despite controversies about the character of some modern buildings, including the forthcoming "U2 Tower".
Tadao Ando, billed as "one of the world's greatest living architects" gave the largest ever public lecture in Ireland on building design yesterday.
Headliner
In rock and roll terms, he was the headliner who attracted a 3,000 strong crowd while Bono was the warm-up act.
The singer said that Ando (66) had found his own distinctive voice, "which is the hardest thing".
Bono added: "Tadao Ando didn't just find a voice, he found a language. Awe is a word to describe Ando's work -- he's simply awesome."
Bono has his own interests in this area, with the long anticipated "U2 Tower" on the southside promising an innovative corkscrew structure but also being described as a "monstrosity" by Ringsend Environmental Group.
Bono said, however, that economic growth was bringing "great buildings" to Ireland.
The singer added: "We're proud of our city. People in business and planning are taking steps -- baby steps -- taking the prosperity we're enjoying and leaving some great buildings for our kids."
Ando claims people can be highly influenced by architecture and that it can reflect local culture -- including its differences. Yesterday's event at the RDS was packed with people eager to hear from a man who has won virtually all of the major international architecture awards.
Ando titled his lecture "Creating Dreams" and drew on experiences of his previous jobs as a boxer and truck driver.
He says he learnt about architecture by going to see buildings across the world before designing landmarks like Osaka's famous Church of Light.
Irish Independent
Sunday, 15 July 2007
€750m Arnotts development gets green light
HKR Architects has announced that it has received planning permission for the €750 million Arnotts regeneration project - The Northern Quarter Project - around the centre of Dublin.
The project incorporates the area of Dublin city centre which is bounded by Henry Street, O'Connell Street, Abbey Street and Liffey Street and is a mixed-use urban development that will integrate retail, residential, leisure and hotel and spa facilities.
The plan - led by Arnotts Department Store - includes the transformation of the Northern Quarter of Dublin and the regeneration of Prince's Street to a fully-engaged urban street and pedestrian thoroughfare. This is intended to become Dublin's premier shopping street, incorporating a new public square at the centre, according to the architects.
A major element of the development is the inclusion of 189 apartments. "These will act as a catalyst for further residential development in the heart of the city" stated HKR.
The project incorporates the area of Dublin city centre which is bounded by Henry Street, O'Connell Street, Abbey Street and Liffey Street and is a mixed-use urban development that will integrate retail, residential, leisure and hotel and spa facilities.
The plan - led by Arnotts Department Store - includes the transformation of the Northern Quarter of Dublin and the regeneration of Prince's Street to a fully-engaged urban street and pedestrian thoroughfare. This is intended to become Dublin's premier shopping street, incorporating a new public square at the centre, according to the architects.
A major element of the development is the inclusion of 189 apartments. "These will act as a catalyst for further residential development in the heart of the city" stated HKR.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
Passive House Centre of Excellence
MosArt Architects, who specialise in the design of buildings to the Passive House standard, are moving to new offices in Wicklow town later this year, with a view to establishing a Passive House Centre of Excellence.
MosArt will be joined by Energy365 Consulting Engineers in this endeavour.
The primary objectives of the centre are to create a locus for practitioners, to develop a multi-disciplinary design centre, partner with institutes and academic centres, provide exhibition space for Passive House technologies and general promotion of the Passive House concept.
For further information on the centre, contact -
Tomás O'Leary
MosArt Architects
2 Morton's Lane
Wicklow Town
County Wicklow
Email: tomas@mosart.ie
MosArt will be joined by Energy365 Consulting Engineers in this endeavour.
The primary objectives of the centre are to create a locus for practitioners, to develop a multi-disciplinary design centre, partner with institutes and academic centres, provide exhibition space for Passive House technologies and general promotion of the Passive House concept.
For further information on the centre, contact -
Tomás O'Leary
MosArt Architects
2 Morton's Lane
Wicklow Town
County Wicklow
Email: tomas@mosart.ie
Monday, 30 April 2007
Put people first by design, says civic leader
ARCHITECTS must strive for higher standards and place people at the centre of their work, a leading civic figure said at the weekend.
John X Miller, the head of Cork’s Civic Trust, a non-profit voluntary organisation dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the city’s architectural heritage and environment, made the comments at the launch of his new book Emerging Cork on Friday night.
It captures in photographs the cutting-edge architecture which has changed the face of the city.
It highlights the impact of many of the newest buildings — some up to seven years old but others which have yet to be opened.
It features striking images from some of the city’s top professional photographers, including Janice O’Connell, Kevin Dwyer and Tony O’Connell, who also acted as photographic adviser.
It also includes artists’ impressions of projects under construction.
The images focus mainly on the outside of the buildings, highlighting their architectural impact. However, interior elements, which Mr Miller said were crucial in many ways to achieving work-life balance, have also been included.
He described the book as an extended snapshot and record of the swift pace of unprecedented development in the city in recent years
“It dawned on me that no one seemed to be keeping a visual record of how these changes were impacting on the city and its existing built heritage,” he said.
“Even as we speak, the city is still developing and changing, a fact which makes keeping a visual record of these changes all the more important.”
Mr Miller said the rising architectural standards must rise further.
“All involved in creating a vibrant living city need to aspire to the highest of standards, be it in planning, construction and aesthetics. Most of all, people and their needs must be placed at the very centre of this creative process,” he said.
The book, funded by the Civic Trust and Cork City Council, includes a foreword by Irish Examiner property editor, Tommy Barker. The book was launched by Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin.
It is on sale at Cork Vision Centre, North Main Street, and bookstores, at €25. A companion DVD is being made for pupil education.
Irish Examiner
John X Miller, the head of Cork’s Civic Trust, a non-profit voluntary organisation dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the city’s architectural heritage and environment, made the comments at the launch of his new book Emerging Cork on Friday night.
It captures in photographs the cutting-edge architecture which has changed the face of the city.
It highlights the impact of many of the newest buildings — some up to seven years old but others which have yet to be opened.
It features striking images from some of the city’s top professional photographers, including Janice O’Connell, Kevin Dwyer and Tony O’Connell, who also acted as photographic adviser.
It also includes artists’ impressions of projects under construction.
The images focus mainly on the outside of the buildings, highlighting their architectural impact. However, interior elements, which Mr Miller said were crucial in many ways to achieving work-life balance, have also been included.
He described the book as an extended snapshot and record of the swift pace of unprecedented development in the city in recent years
“It dawned on me that no one seemed to be keeping a visual record of how these changes were impacting on the city and its existing built heritage,” he said.
“Even as we speak, the city is still developing and changing, a fact which makes keeping a visual record of these changes all the more important.”
Mr Miller said the rising architectural standards must rise further.
“All involved in creating a vibrant living city need to aspire to the highest of standards, be it in planning, construction and aesthetics. Most of all, people and their needs must be placed at the very centre of this creative process,” he said.
The book, funded by the Civic Trust and Cork City Council, includes a foreword by Irish Examiner property editor, Tommy Barker. The book was launched by Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin.
It is on sale at Cork Vision Centre, North Main Street, and bookstores, at €25. A companion DVD is being made for pupil education.
Irish Examiner
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
Architects help homeless to 'open door' to future
THE Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland is again joining forces with the Simon Communities of Ireland for its 'Simon Open Door' campaign.
The initiative, which last year raised over €45,000, sees members of the public given a one-hour consultation with a top architect in return for a €60 donation to the Simon Communities.
The event takes place on Saturday, April 28, and slots with a chosen architect can be booked through www.simonopendoor.ie.
All participating architects are giving their time for free and every cent raised will go directly to the Simon Communities of Ireland.
"One hour with an RIAI architect will enable people to look at their home in a totally new way," John Graby, Director of the RIAI, said yesterday.
"Whether they need to adapt their space to accommodate new editions to the family, create space for teenagers or an elderly relative, or if they require a home office - an architect will try to practically design their dreams and aspirations.
"While one hour is short, members of the public could come away with planning advice, green tips for their home, or advice on how to rearrange rooms and a whole lot more."
"Funds raised from Simon Open Door will help to provide good quality homes for people who have experienced homelessness," Patrick Burke, director of the charity, said.
There are between 5,000 and 6,000 homeless in Ireland.
Jason O'Brien
Irish Independent
The initiative, which last year raised over €45,000, sees members of the public given a one-hour consultation with a top architect in return for a €60 donation to the Simon Communities.
The event takes place on Saturday, April 28, and slots with a chosen architect can be booked through www.simonopendoor.ie.
All participating architects are giving their time for free and every cent raised will go directly to the Simon Communities of Ireland.
"One hour with an RIAI architect will enable people to look at their home in a totally new way," John Graby, Director of the RIAI, said yesterday.
"Whether they need to adapt their space to accommodate new editions to the family, create space for teenagers or an elderly relative, or if they require a home office - an architect will try to practically design their dreams and aspirations.
"While one hour is short, members of the public could come away with planning advice, green tips for their home, or advice on how to rearrange rooms and a whole lot more."
"Funds raised from Simon Open Door will help to provide good quality homes for people who have experienced homelessness," Patrick Burke, director of the charity, said.
There are between 5,000 and 6,000 homeless in Ireland.
Jason O'Brien
Irish Independent
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
The RIAI President's holiday has placed planning into perspective
Reviewing a related profession’s Journal is a difficult task; a task not to be taken lightly. It was out of genuine frustration with the portrayal of planning in the January edition of ‘Architecture’ by James Pike, incumbent RIAI President, which forced my hand. The resulting review provided some comment on the need to view planning in the same manner as other professions. That is, to take the good with the bad. And where there is bad, to ask architects to try to understand the root causes of what they consider to be bad planning.
Time having passed since the review; it was with interest that I opened the February 2007 edition. I leafed past the five pages of advertisements to the contents page, and then passed more advertisements, until reaching the President’s Column. It was worth it. A holiday appears to have done for Mr Pike what marijuana does for a Jamaican. It has mellowed the man. Four weeks of de-stressing, reflection and sun have, it would appear, placed Irish planning into perspective. In his column, planning is, mostly, reviewed positively. For example:
• Instead of being bad boys, determined to destroy the urban and rural environment, we are told how Department of Environment planners are working on final drafts of the ‘Development management Guidelines’ and the ‘Housing Density Guidelines’ – critical planning guidance documents produced by planners for architects.
• Instead of referring to planning as a mess, the column presents a picture of things done, much to do. Variation in management and staffing of planning authorities, not planning per se, appear now to be recognised as the problems.
Mr Pike refers to the need for best practice in planning. Now, best practice is surely something planners understand only too well. The difficulty is implementing best practice with 15 files (each produced by a different architect or agent who needs it done now – and granted, of course) vibrating on a planner’s desk. The point is that planners should not be under the pressures they are; they should not have to stop answering the phone for weeks to be able to do their job.
Does Mr Pike’s conversion from blaming planners to his recognition of resourcing problems as being at the root of the problems endemic in planning administration mean architects now understand the pressures and constraints under which planners are working all over the country? It certainly appears so. We are told of how architects are joining in to help solve the problems. A committee has been formed to detail proposals on the management of the system. Few planners will wonder at what those recommendations might say.
It appears a recent colloquium on the 24th of January has helped to turn Mr Pike’s views around. He now understands how the performance of planning is directly correlated to the administration of any given planning authority – stopping ultimately with County Managers.
The RIAI are formulating proposals with a view to eliminating inconsistencies in planning. This is welcomed; however, the RIAI’s efforts should be hand in hand with those of planners – the common aim? More resources for planning (read: more planners). Without such planners, the plans, which are noted as being key, will not be produced and will not be available to: “relieve pressure on development control”.
Mr Pike has the why of bad planning it in his grasp. He nearly understands; nearly gets it. What’s missing is the final piece. The mantra in this article is close to: resources, resources, resources, with which planners would agree. But there remains one element Mr Pike needs to review – one more reason to have another short holiday break (a week should do it). A final comment near the end of the column states: “This leads to a further problem of an almost complete lack of long-term planning … ”
Planners find references to the lack of plans as being at the root of bad planning as being just plain bonkers. What part of the National Development Plan, National Spatial Strategy, Regional Planning Guidelines, Development Plans, etc., does not represent long-term planning? What is wrong is not a lack of long term planning, but a lack of implementation. Who implements? Not planners. Show me a Draft Development Plan which hasn’t been ‘edited’ by Councillors. Show me a National Plan which has been consistently followed (I have decentralised to Wicklow, so I am all for …).
Ireland’s planning history is littered with excellent plans produced by planners with excellent reputations; planners who have fought to have their various visions implemented. Implementing these plans requires vision and resourcing. Neither of which the current Government administration (whether national or local) appears to provide.
Almost every aspect of what Mr Pike calls bad planning arises from either: (1) Lack of resources; or (2) Lack of implementation of plans produced by planners. Planners have little control over either of these points.
The change of tone toward planning represented by this column is welcomed, but it still appears odd to a planner (I pointed this out in my office to a round of nods) for an architectural journal’s president’s column which comprises of 12 paragraphs, to contain 7 on planning – a related discipline. In this regard and in the tone presented in the present column, the interest of architects shows how exciting planning in Ireland is at present.
Brendan Buck
March 7 2006
Time having passed since the review; it was with interest that I opened the February 2007 edition. I leafed past the five pages of advertisements to the contents page, and then passed more advertisements, until reaching the President’s Column. It was worth it. A holiday appears to have done for Mr Pike what marijuana does for a Jamaican. It has mellowed the man. Four weeks of de-stressing, reflection and sun have, it would appear, placed Irish planning into perspective. In his column, planning is, mostly, reviewed positively. For example:
• Instead of being bad boys, determined to destroy the urban and rural environment, we are told how Department of Environment planners are working on final drafts of the ‘Development management Guidelines’ and the ‘Housing Density Guidelines’ – critical planning guidance documents produced by planners for architects.
• Instead of referring to planning as a mess, the column presents a picture of things done, much to do. Variation in management and staffing of planning authorities, not planning per se, appear now to be recognised as the problems.
Mr Pike refers to the need for best practice in planning. Now, best practice is surely something planners understand only too well. The difficulty is implementing best practice with 15 files (each produced by a different architect or agent who needs it done now – and granted, of course) vibrating on a planner’s desk. The point is that planners should not be under the pressures they are; they should not have to stop answering the phone for weeks to be able to do their job.
Does Mr Pike’s conversion from blaming planners to his recognition of resourcing problems as being at the root of the problems endemic in planning administration mean architects now understand the pressures and constraints under which planners are working all over the country? It certainly appears so. We are told of how architects are joining in to help solve the problems. A committee has been formed to detail proposals on the management of the system. Few planners will wonder at what those recommendations might say.
It appears a recent colloquium on the 24th of January has helped to turn Mr Pike’s views around. He now understands how the performance of planning is directly correlated to the administration of any given planning authority – stopping ultimately with County Managers.
The RIAI are formulating proposals with a view to eliminating inconsistencies in planning. This is welcomed; however, the RIAI’s efforts should be hand in hand with those of planners – the common aim? More resources for planning (read: more planners). Without such planners, the plans, which are noted as being key, will not be produced and will not be available to: “relieve pressure on development control”.
Mr Pike has the why of bad planning it in his grasp. He nearly understands; nearly gets it. What’s missing is the final piece. The mantra in this article is close to: resources, resources, resources, with which planners would agree. But there remains one element Mr Pike needs to review – one more reason to have another short holiday break (a week should do it). A final comment near the end of the column states: “This leads to a further problem of an almost complete lack of long-term planning … ”
Planners find references to the lack of plans as being at the root of bad planning as being just plain bonkers. What part of the National Development Plan, National Spatial Strategy, Regional Planning Guidelines, Development Plans, etc., does not represent long-term planning? What is wrong is not a lack of long term planning, but a lack of implementation. Who implements? Not planners. Show me a Draft Development Plan which hasn’t been ‘edited’ by Councillors. Show me a National Plan which has been consistently followed (I have decentralised to Wicklow, so I am all for …).
Ireland’s planning history is littered with excellent plans produced by planners with excellent reputations; planners who have fought to have their various visions implemented. Implementing these plans requires vision and resourcing. Neither of which the current Government administration (whether national or local) appears to provide.
Almost every aspect of what Mr Pike calls bad planning arises from either: (1) Lack of resources; or (2) Lack of implementation of plans produced by planners. Planners have little control over either of these points.
The change of tone toward planning represented by this column is welcomed, but it still appears odd to a planner (I pointed this out in my office to a round of nods) for an architectural journal’s president’s column which comprises of 12 paragraphs, to contain 7 on planning – a related discipline. In this regard and in the tone presented in the present column, the interest of architects shows how exciting planning in Ireland is at present.
Brendan Buck
March 7 2006
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