News

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The Big Egg Hunt has placed over 200 giant Easter eggs around London, including one designed by Simon Tonks, architect at Rogers Stirk Habour + Partners.

Launched on Shrove Tuesday, the eggs have been created by leading artists, designers, jewellers and architects and will be on display around London for the 40 days of Lent.

The eggs are to be auctioned off online to raise money for charities: Elephant Family and Action for Children

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Adamson Associates’ competition winning scheme for St. Lawrence Market North in Toronto has been given the go-ahead.

St. Lawrence Market North will combine courtrooms, offices and a large market hall as part of the St. Lawrence Market complex. Home to a successful farmer's market and Sunday antiques market, the design aims to create a unified piece of the urban fabric. St. Lawrence Market North will be a bustling civic building within Toronto’s historic St. Lawrence neighbourhood.

"With this new design, the St. Lawrence North Market Building will become an even more exciting destination in the City of Toronto's most historic neighbourhood. It will further establish the St. Lawrence neighbourhood as one of the most vibrant places in the city and create a stronger, thriving hub to attract tourists, retail activity and other business," said Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Commenting on the design, Councillor Pam McConnell (Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale) said "The design successfully combines a market with a court house and is an excellent example of green architecture in a city that strives to be one of the greenest on the planet. This design created a market for all seasons and a facility that will strengthen the St. Lawrence Market's position as an anchor and central part of life in the community."

"I'm very pleased with the new St. Lawrence North Market Building that will be built. It will be a great addition to the neighbourhood, and to the city," said Councillor Peter Milczyn, Chair, Planning and Growth Management Committee. "I'm especially pleased that such an exciting design came about as part of an international competition; it reinforces the city's efforts to promote excellence in architecture and design."

Ivan Harbour said “The scheme brings back to the site a multiplicity of function and activity, to reinvigorate the space between the South Market and St. Lawrence hall, which is a great historic civic building. The combination of justice with retail has a history on this site, as well as referencing the medieval moot halls in English market towns. Toronto is a city which has developed a great street life, and in our design for the new market and law courts we want to continue this ethos: St. Lawrence Market needs to be both a landmark and a backdrop to local life. We are delighted that this project is going ahead.”

One the 1st March 2012, Annabel Rootes, Douglas Paul and Kevin Gray will be begin the 2012 Cycle to Cannes charity bike ride, covering 1500km from Greenwich Park to Cannes. This will be the 6th year running that Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners been represented on the ride, contributing a significant amount to the £1million given to Charity since the ride first took place 7 years ago. Richard Rogers is a patron of the charity.

This year the ride will benefit Coram, which was founded in 1739. From its original site in Bloomsbury the charity today supports vulnerable children across the UK. Cycle to Cannes 2012 will support two of Coram’s key services, Adoption and Coram Life Education. The charity’s adoption service is one of the most successful in the UK, helping children find safe, loving and permanent new homes. Coram Life Education is the UK’s largest children’s health education and drug prevention programme, helping children in primary schools nationwide.

With two-thirds of Aedas Cycle to Cannes funding going to Coram in 2012, the ride hopes to improve the chances of over 10,000 children nationwide and help some of the most vulnerable children in the UK to transform their lives. Article 25, Emthonjeni Trust, Multiple System Atrophy Trust and Tom’s Trust, are among the other organisations being supported.

This mixed use project redevelops the site currently occupied by the Sporting d’Hiver – located in the very heart of Monte Carlo. Bounded by the Hotel de Paris, the Hotel de L’Hermitage and a neighbouring park the present Art Deco block offers little public access through the site and dominates the streetscape. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) have designed a series of mixed-use pavilions that will provide cultural, retail, residential, office and conference facilities, as well as increased permeability. This key location within Monte Carlo will reassert its historical role in the economic, social and cultural development of the Principality. The curved shape of each pavilion enables the front facade to be maximised, providing the extraordinary views out as well as an abundance of natural light in. Lightwells between each pair act to mitigate the impact of the buildings from a massing point of view and allow light into the new pedestrianised spaces.

The design of the redevelopment is centred around the public access provided at ground level that will enhance central Montecarlo and create an enhanced sense of place. The re-landscaped design will create an extra 30% more public space, breathing new life into the district. The proposed streets provide new connectivity and will be framed by green spaces, with water features and sculptures, and green walls on the pavilion facades.

One of the key aspects of the current building is the sumptuous Art Deco Salle des Arts, used as a major exhibition space. To preserve the architectural heritage of this building, RSHP have proposed the recreation of this cultural centre within a contemporary setting, much like the Adams Room in Lloyd’s of London. The masterplan of the site has also been designed to accommodate the possibility of a new exhibition hall in a second phase of development.

“We have been working for a number of years on this mixed-use development after being invited by SBM to look at the feasibility of developing the Sporting d’Hiver, right in the heart of Monte Carlo. The current building had become very underused and we explored options that ranged from complete retention of the existing structure to demolition and new build. We settled on a scheme that incorporated a broad mix of activities to reinvigorate central Monte Carlo. The principle urban move was to create a major new pedestrianised street lined with shops, restaurants and a public art gallery. Above the shops, the adjacent Hotel de Paris is extended with serviced apartments and offices.”

Ivan Harbour
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

The Guardian Saturday interview 28 January 2012

Richard Rogers, Ivan Harbour and Graham Stirk discuss £140million penthouses, the future for our cities and - inevitably - Prince Charles's 'strange' ideas about architecture.

Richard Rogers, at 78, is not about to slow down. "I am enjoying myself, so why would I retire?" says the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's of London building. "I'd like to think I'll be learning a new language or something when I die."

But even a master builder can't go on for ever, which is why Richard Rogers Partnership discreetly changed its name, some five years ago, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners. "We wanted," explains Rogers, "to avoid the situation where the name of the practice is someone who died 100 years ago. Architecture is a living thing. If I want to leave something to the future, it has to be able to change – but retain something of the ethos that we built up over 50 years."

Read the rest of the interview.

On 31 January 2012, Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour will give their first joint lecture in the UK as part of the RIBA Cities of Tomorrow lecture series.

Cities drive cultures and economies. They are a framework for living and working together. Richard, Graham and Ivan will be discussing the role of the sustainable city in the 21st century and how design affects the way we live. They will then describe the process, narrative and language of their architecture in the Far East, Australia, Europe and London.

Rory Olcayto, Deputy Editor of the Architects’ Journal will chair the discussion, and the Architects’ Journal is inviting questions via Twitter (@architectsjrnl). The event is to be filmed and will be available to watch on our website.

We must get England’s planning framework right, writes Richard Rogers in the Financial Times

The UK government is poised to make its most important decision for more than a decade on the future of our cities and our countryside. The national planning policy framework will either lead to economic prosperity through a continuing urban renaissance or let loose the damaging forces of sprawl...

The National Assembly for Wales, which opened on St David’s Day 2006, welcomed its millionth visitor on 17 January 2012.

Samantha Hailes from Cardiff was greeted by Rosemary Butler AM, Presiding Officer for the National Assembly for Wales and presented with a certificate and given a tour of the building.

Ivan Harbour said “The Senedd remains very close to us; the most public of our commissions, it is the most environmentally-ambitious building we have built. It was conceived to engage and be respectful of its visitors, to promote a transparent democracy for a new century.

We are delighted to have seen so many spend time in its grand public living room, beneath the undulating timber canopy overlooking the Cardiff Bay. In the few years since it was built, the people of Wales have taken it to their hearts and made it their own.”

Ricardo and I met over 30 years ago in San Diego when we were lecturing and we have been close friends ever since.

Ruthie and I have spent many holidays with Ricardo and our families in Mexico and have visited and explored lots of beautiful cities along with many of Legorreta +Legorreta buildings. We ate, drank and talked our way around Mexico, discussing architecture and life.

Ricardo is one of a handful of great modern architects, an architect whose buildings are not only beautiful but have a real sense of place. The marriage of landscape and form enlivened by brilliant colours especially pink, which also happens to be my favourite colour, is unforgettable.

Over three years ago we entered and won a competition for an office tower on Paseo de La Reforma in the centre of Mexico City for BBVA Bancomer, now under construction. Since that time, our two offices have worked closely together and Ricardo’s son, Victor, is leading the project in Mexico. I remember well how excited Ricardo was when Victor joined his company and became his partner.

Every year Ruthie and I visit Mexico and immerse ourselves in its great culture. Mexican arts and artefacts are unique and have continuously developed over thousands of years and you can certainly trace pre-Colombian forms in Ricardo’s work.

Ricardo was a wonderful person, sophisticated and kind, who we shall never forget. Ruthie and I will miss him dearly.

Richard Rogers

English Heritage have announced that Lloyd's of London, completed in 1986, is to be given Grade I listing.

We are delighted that Lloyd’s of London is to be honoured with Grade I Listing status.  It is important to conserve buildings of architectural and historical significance and the work of English Heritage is central to that. It is also of vital importance for buildings to remain flexible spaces which meet the changing needs of those who live or work in them. English Heritage have recognised this, ensuring the spirit of the original design is retained while the building remains adaptable in the future.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

NEO Bankside has been awarded the International Winner in the Best Development (Multiple Units) category at the International Property Awards. This award follows a similar achievement in both the London and UK categories of the International Property Awards. NEO Bankside fought off competition from winning developments in the regional categories: Africa, Americas, Arabia, Asia Pacific and Europe.

 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) has opened an office in Shanghai in response to the growing demand for work and reflecting the expansion of RSHP’s presence in the China market, as well as in other markets in the Asia region such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore.

Lennart Grut, Senior Partner, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners said: “This office gives us a strong focus for managing our growing activity in China and the wider region.  It also demonstrates our long-term commitment to working in this dynamic and exciting part of the world.”

The address of the new RSHP office is: Unit 321, 2nd floor, Building 3, No. 570 YongJia Road, Shanghai 200031, China

RSHP’s design for the construction of a roof walkway across The O2 - the world’s most successful music and entertainment venue, owned and operated by AEG - has been granted planning consent by the London Borough of Greenwich.

The proposed structure, temporary in nature and suspended from The O2's distinctive yellow masts, will be capable of accommodating up to 90 people at any one time. Visitors will walk to the central viewing platform from a base-station situated at the entrance to The O2. The walkway will be 190 metres in length and will be 60 metres above the ground at its highest point. The brief was to create a walkway which preserved the integrity of The O2 structure whilst manifesting itself as a distinct feature which does not overwhelm or detract from The O2.

Mike Davies, project director of the proposed walkway - and also of the original Millennium Dome - said: “The rooftop walkway will be a new and distinctive addition to The O2, whilst preserving the integrity of the original structure as well as respecting its geometry and sculptural qualities. It will offer an exciting and challenging London attraction that is highly accessible to visitors.”

The eastern pair of mega column foundations have been installed at the Chifley Square site.

Due to popular demand the 'Richard Rogers + Architects: From the House to the City' exhibition dates will be extended to 20 August at the URA in Singapore.

“Richard Rogers + Architects: From the House to the City” presents Richard Rogers’ best works with his collaborators over 40 years and including some of those schemes which the practice is currently working on.  From early projects like the 1960s Zip-Up House, to the groundbreaking Centre Pompidou in the 1970s, the Lloyd’s of London Building in the 1980s, the Millennium Dome in the 1990s and more recent projects such as Terminal 4, Barajas Airport, Madrid, the exhibition offers an enlightening and insightful journey into how architecture has shaped cities and transformed lives.

Some 57 exciting projects around the world are shown in vibrant colours, with more than 500 models, films and photographs at the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore.  The exhibition is generously supported by UOL Group Limited, Singapore Land Limited and Como Holdings Inc. UOL Group, with Singapore Land and Kheng Leong Co, is in collaboration with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to develop a 40,000 sq m residential site in Changfeng, Shanghai.

Find out more about the URA here

Find out more about UOL here

Las Arenas, a refurbished former bullring in Barcelona formally reopened to the public on 25 March 2011 as a major new mixed-use leisure, entertainment and office complex. The historic bullring, built at the very end of the 19th century, has long been a visual landmark and gateway to the city but fell largely into disuse during the 1970s due to the declining popularity of bull fighting in Catalonia. The new development - using the most advanced architectural and engineering technologies - has preserved the striking neo-mudéjar façade of the original bullring, whilst providing a major new leisure and entertainment complex within the façade as well as an adjacent office building and telecommunications tower. New public spaces have been created around the base of the development, with connections to the existing metro station and neighbouring Parc Joan Miró.  The design has also added a 100-metre-diameter habitable ‘dish’ with a 76-metre-diameter domed roof. This ‘plaza in the sky’ incorporates large terraces around the perimeter with space for cafés and restaurants offering stunning views over the city.

Richard Rogers commented: “We set out to re-establish Las Arenas – a late 19th century bullring – as a 21st century landmark for the city.  This involved retaining the entire existing façade as well as re-integrating what had become an isolated traffic island into the city fabric.  Our design includes a new leisure and retail development within this façade, as well as a completely new, adjacent office building which responds to the city’s historic street pattern.  The project has also created significant areas of public realm both in the new dome structure – with its 360-degree roof terrace rising above the existing wall – and at the surrounding street level, which will help to revitalise this part of Barcelona.”

Architect
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Co-architect
Alonso Balaguer y Arquitectos Asociados

Dear Sir

I am confused by recent statements from Michael Gove.

Last week he told a Free Schools conference that “...we won’t be getting Richard Rogers to design your school; we won’t be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no-one in this room is here to make architects richer.”  Yet the previous day he had told BBC Radio 4's the World at One that “The truth about Free Schools is that they will introduce the sort of innovation and dynamism that we’ve already seen in schools like Mossbourne.”

He neglected to add that this former failing school in a deprived area of London – which is now achieving spectacular academic success – was designed by my practice, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP).

Given how many times Mr Gove, and the prime minister David Cameron, have held up Mossbourne as the model for what they wish to achieve in their education policy it seems odd that he now ignores the positive impact the building has had on the achievements of the school.

The design was recognised with an RIBA Award in 2005 and a Civic Trust Award in 2006. As its architects, we are extremely proud of the considerable positive impact which the Academy has had on the lives of the local community. Mossbourne (the only school RSHP has designed in the UK) was delivered outside the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Surely it would be more appropriate to interrogate the BSF programme to see if it has been able to deliver the quality and value which it was supposed to do?

Ultimately, school design is about creating a vibrant, stimulating and motivating environment – for staff as well as students – so that the highest standards of educational excellence can be achieved without compromising the needs of individuals. If we want schools which really reflect the commitment which this and future Governments should be making to young people and their teachers, those schools should be designed by architects who really understand and care about the communities who will use them.

Good design quality, improved educational performance and value for money go hand in hand; Mossbourne Community Academy clearly demonstrates how all of these can be achieved.

Yours sincerely

RICHARD ROGERS

The New South Wales Government has announced the approval of the proposed amendments to the Barangaroo Concept Plan. This represents a major milestone in the project. The announcement follows widespread public consultation over the past 12 months which has led to a number of refinements to the designs. More than 20,000 people have engaged in the Barangaroo consultation process through public displays, online information, community forums and meetings with local residents.

Ivan Harbour commented: “The approval confirms that a framework is now established that will allow Sydney to extend the Central Business District to the waterfront and provide a significant quantity of new public realm. We have started to develop some of the buildings that will frame this new city quarter.”

For more details see: Barangaroo South's website

On December 7 2010, a newly designed entrance at Knightsbridge Underground station, adjacent to the One Hyde Park development, was opened to the public. The concept for the entrance is by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and provides access to the Piccadilly line.

The canopy design is simple and elegant and responds to the new pedestrian connection ‘Serpentine Walk’, a newly created walkway through the development that links the city to Hyde Park (and is adjacent to the new tube entrance). Serpentine Walk’ has been created as part of the One Hyde Park project and will open to the public in the coming weeks. The new tube entrance is formed from a palette of materials similar to those used in One Hyde Park – glass, steel and concrete – creating a structure, with a glazed roof and walls that is both open and solid.

Graham Stirk, Project Director, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners said:
“The concept design for the new Underground station entrance creates a prominent structure signalling its presence, whilst reinforcing the permeability of the residential development to the park beyond.”

Jonathan Schofield – a Part 2 architect at RSHP – has won two key awards in this year’s RIBA President’s Medal Student Awards, due to be presented on 1 December.

Jonathan – who studied at the University of Westminster– was awarded the Silver Medal for the best project at Part 2 worth £2,000 in prize money.

‘Creative Evolution – Silvertown Ship Breaking Yard’ – develops a series of architectural devices which enable the gradual deconstruction of ships, the reassembly of their parts into new forms within a vast jig and the distribution of these reconstituted forms as new, large-scale elements along the quayside. William Firebrace and Gabby Shawcross, noted: ‘This project is clearly a form of engineering architecture, inspired by the marine engineering which one finds in traditional docks and the automated container docks of today. The representation skills Jonathan has shown in the project are remarkable. The drawings are obsessively worked, showing in plan section and perspectives every detail of the architecture…’

Some 270 architecture schools from 60 countries were invited to each submit two projects for Part 1 and Part 2.  Jonathan also netted £250 worth of publications from RIBA bookshops by winning the Serjeant award for Excellence in Drawing.

Date: Monday 29 November 2010, 18:30-20:00
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

Richard will look at ideas shaping the development of compact, multi-centred cities as the most environmentally sustainable form of urban development for future generations, including specific examples in London, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney. He will also consider the design language of a number of his practice’s key projects ranging from the Pompidou Centre, Paris and Lloyd’s of London to the National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff, Terminal 4 Barajas Airport, Madrid, the Leadenhall Building and One Hyde Park, London.  This lecture is part of the LSE’s ‘Urban Age’ series.

Tickets are available through the LSE.

A design for a dwelling in Costa Rica by RSHP’s Benjamin Garcia Saxe has won the ‘World’s Best Private House’ award at the prestigious World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2010. The bamboo house sits within the Costa Rican rainforest and its cone-like surface is designed to open up at night to give the occupier - who is the architect’s mother - a direct view of the moon, hence its title: ‘A Forest for a Moon Dazzler’.

The design was conceived while Ben was at university and constructed during two consecutive winter breaks.

Ben joined RSHP in 2007 and is currently working on a major luxury residential development in Hong Kong.

For more information:
World Architecture Festival

Bongani Muchemwa has been awarded the Bronze Medal by RIBA Yorkshire for his Part I architecture work undertaken at Leeds Metropolitan University.

His project 'Honey Emporium' is a response to Colony Collapse Disorder (C.C.D), a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive colony abruptly disappear.  'Honey Emporium' is a whimsical contraption that forms the gateway to a meadow, designed to celebrate sustainable living with an emphasis on the advantages of urban beekeeping. Several hundred hives are to be set-up in and around Leeds city centre, including 20 within the new proposed meadow park. Visitors to the Honey Emporium can get involved with various activities from beekeeping demonstrations to decorative candle making and mead (honey wine) tasting.

On winning the award Bongani – currently working in London on a year-out placement with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners – commented: "I am truly honoured. This award is a big boost to my CV and has opened up a wide range of new opportunities for me.”

The RIBA Yorkshire Student Awards celebrate and reward the talent and excellence of the region's architecture students.  The Awards are open to schools with RIBA validated courses in the Yorkshire and Humber region, each short-listing projects from the students' end of year shows.

The low carbon concrete mix used in the design of Chiswick Park Building 8 has been recognised with the 2010 ‘CONSTRUCT’ award for Innovation and Best Practice.

The development will achieve a significant reduction in embedded carbon levels in the post-tensioned concrete floor slabs, following a review of the concrete mixes in another recently-completed building on the site. This review – commissioned by Arup and undertaken in association with Kingston University – determined the strength development of six different concrete mix compositions under simulated summer and winter conditions. The results showed that embedded carbon levels could be reduced by using alternative materials in the concrete mix whilst still achieving the required strength and quality targets within given timescales and temperature conditions.

As a result, 27 per cent of the cementitious content of the concrete mix for the post-tensioned  floor slabs has been replaced with Pulverised Fly Ash (PFA). PFA is  waste product from power stations which behaves in a similar way to cement but is far less energy intensive to produce. This has resulted in an overall reduction of embodied carbon of approximately 30 per cent in Building 8.  It is hoped that a similar approach will be adopted for the two final buildings to be delivered as part of the overall Chiswick Park masterplan.

Campus Palmas Altas, the new headquarters for Abengoa in Seville, has been awarded first prize in the 2010 Prime Property Awards as the best sustainable real estate project in Europe.

Competing against 142 entries from 19 European countries, the judges commented that the scheme is “a prime example of sustainable architecture and technology.”

The business park was completed in late 2009 and has been certified LEED Platinum – the first project in Europe to receive the highest LEED rating. Jury member Garrie Renucci, partner at Gardiner & Theobald, said: “Deploying renewable energy sources and innovative technologies in Seville has led to an unusual yet exemplary building concept in terms of energy efficiency that sets benchmarks and has already inspired others.”

RSHP is part of the winning team to design a new Cancer Treatment centre for St Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London. The competition – launched in February – sought designs for a world-class facility that would provide an outstanding working environment and patient experience. The new building will be the first in a phased development for the hospital that will ultimately produce an Integrated Cancer Centre, combining clinical care with research. The winning design breaks the building down into five three-storey ‘villages’, each responding to a different type of patient journey.

Ivan Harbour of RSHP said: "Our approach is centred on the patient experience. We have brought together the spatial qualities of the caring environment which we explored at Maggie’s London with the most up-to-date approaches to clinical care, all wrapped up in a building that is presented at a welcoming human scale but that has an inherent adaptability to respond to changes in the delivery of cancer treatment in the future."

RSHP worked on the winning design in association with a team led by, Laing O’Rourke and including specialist healthcare architects Anshen + Allen Associates and healthcare planners, HCP. The competition allowed teams to engage with the client team, clinical staff and end-users of the building during the design phase. The judges commented that the design ‘…looks to a single ‘big idea’ that is big enough, clever enough and robust enough to survive the negotiation with client, stakeholders, planners and time.’ They went on to note that the ‘villages’ are ‘…welcoming, light and airy spaces (that can be adjusted over time), and concluded: ‘This was an intelligent and well-considered idea for a building that responds clearly to organisational structure and allows for short, mid and long-term change... (We) thought this scheme had an architectural honesty, an appropriateness, a well thought through strategy, a lightness of touch and feels to be the most unique response to the brief.’

Richard Rogers commented: "We are delighted to be part of a team to design a new cancer treatment centre for one of the UK’s leading hospitals. Our approach to the CTC for Guy’s and St Thomas’ goes beyond conventional thinking on hospital design and makes the experience of dealing with cancer as relaxed as possible for both patients and staff."

On Monday, September 20 2010, Richard Rogers of international architectural practice Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners will talk at Sydney University to an audience of AIA architects. The presentation, entitled ‘Architecture and the Compact City’ will look at ideas shaping the development of compact, multi-centred cities as the most environmentally sustainable form of urban development for future generations.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has considerable experience of undertaking major masterplanning projects in cities across the world including London, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai and New York.

The talk will consider approaches to masterplanning and the implementation of schemes which seek to use derelict land, discourage the use of cars in favour of walking and public transport, and create communities shaped by environmental responsibility, accessibility and the overlapping of activities in a flexible and socially inclusive framework.

Richard will also look at the design of buildings and focus on some of the projects which the practice has delivered over nearly 50 years, from the Pompidou Centre in Paris and Lloyd’s of London to the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff and Terminal 4 Barajas Airport in Madrid. In addition, he will discuss some of the practice’s current projects.

Tickets are available to AIA members via AIA Sydney
www.architecture.com.au

More Information
UNSW Built Environment Event: Lord Richard Rogers

Andrew Tyley, Associate at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, is to undertake a four venue lecture tour of South Africa. 

Each year, the South African Institution of Steel Construction and the Department of Architecture, University of the Free State bring a well-known architect to South Africa. This year, Andrew will visit universities across the country to talk about his experiences as an architect and the work of the practice, where he has worked for over 20 years, as well as participating in student crits and design workshops at the universities.

25 August 2010 – Pretoria:
Lecture hosted by the Pretoria Institute for Architecture.

27 August 2010 – Bloemfontein:
This lecture is part of the annual Sophia Gray lecture and mini-congress,
hosted by the Department of Architecture, University of the Free State.

30 August 2010 – Cape Town:
Lecture hosted by the Cape Institute for Architecture.

31 August 2010 – Durban:
Lecture hosted by the KZN Institute for Architects.

For information on how to book tickets, visit SAISC website
For the Sophia Gray lecture, email pretoriusY@ufs.ac.za

RSHP's Open House Event - Saturday 18 September 2010

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is offering the general public guided tours of its offices at Thames Wharf, Hammersmith to mark this year’s London Open House. Tours will take place on Saturday 20 September on the hour between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm, and each will last for approximately 40 minutes. Tours are free of charge and tickets are not required in advance. However, tours are offered on a first-come-first-served basis.

A number of buildings designed by the practice will also be open, including Channel4 Headquarters, Lloyd’s of London, the O2 and Maggie’s London.
 

For further information please visit Open House or email enquiries@rsh-p.com

Ivan Harbour, director in charge of the 2009 Stirling Prize winning Maggie's Centre, will be one of a five strong jury judging this year's Stirling Prize. Alongside RIBA President Ruth Reed; Edward Jones, architect, Dixon Jones; Professor Lisa Jardine and Mark Lawson, broadcaster, Ivan will visit each of the six shortlisted buildings during August and September and the winner will be announced on Saturday 2 October. The prize will be broadcast live from the Roundhouse, London, on BBC2's The Culture Show.

The shortlisted buildings are:
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford by Rick Mather Architects
Bateman's Row, London by Theis and Khan
Christ's College School, Guildford by dRMM
MAXXI, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome by Zaha Hadid Architects
Neues Museum, Berlin by David Chipperfield Architects with Julian Harrap Architects

For more information:
RIBA Stirling Prize

June 24 Graham Stirk lecture: NEO Bankside, from Concept to Construction

In an event staged as part of the London Festival of Architecture, Graham Stirk delivered a lecture to invited guests, describing the design process of NEO Bankside from concept to construction.

Graham described how the project has developed since its inception, from the evolution of the brief with Native Land through the planning and design development process to the building currently under construction.

The urban context played a key part in informing the design. Graham showed diagrams illustrating the historical evolution of the site to the present day, and describing the topography of the surrounding architecture. In response to the predominant urban grain a site strategy was developed which maintained North South permeability through the development whilst bringing daylight into the heart of the scheme. The massing of the development responds to the scale of the neighbouring buildings creating a transition from the monumental Tate Modern to the two-storey almshouses on Holland Street.

Each of the five buildings is made up of a number of key elements, whose legibility provides the basis of the architectural expression. The structure provides a strong architectural and visual framework for the scheme. The external bracing removes the need for internal sheer walls and therefore increases the flexibility of the internal planning and servicing arrangement. Working with the ‘served and servant’ concept, each building is composed of simple flexible floors- the served areas- that can accommodate a variety of residential layouts, and a servant core which provides the necessary vertical connections between floors for the efficient functioning of the apartments- the lifts, stairs and service risers. These service towers punctuate the form of the main floor plates, with the lifts pulled away, creating a dynamic foil to the simple mass of the building

Pavilions A and B are currently progressing on site, and Phase 1 of NEO Bankside will be completed in Autumn 2010.

Graham Stirk is a senior director at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, currently leading the design of a number of high profile projects in London including the British Museum World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre, the Leadenhall Building and NEO Bankside.

RSHP has won a competition to masterplan Bercy Charenton, one of the last major potential brownfield development sites in Paris, giving a rare opportunity to create a new urban quarter in the capital.
The complex 63 hectare site- which adjoins the River Seine - is currently characterised by major transport interchanges: Rail junctions for three major Paris train stations, the junction of the Peripherique with Autoroute 4, all of which will need to be integrated into a more permeable city quarter.
The RSHP masterplan for Bercy Charenton will provide 5,000 new homes alongside business and retail premises to create a mixed quarter for live, work and leisure. The challenge is to integrate the district into the wider city plan whilst retaining the area’s existing character, making the most of the waterfront and views of the city. An emphasis will be placed on permeability and pedestrian access, repairing the urban fabric that is currently bisected by transport infrastructure and linking together existing and new green spaces. The design will aim to be exemplary in environmental terms, building green energy and low-energy strategies into the infrastructure and creating a dense, well-serviced district which lends itself to good pedestrian, cycling and public transport links.

The scheme builds on the ideas presented by the RSHP Team for the Grand Paris consultation, and will be conducted in the same spirit of collaboration, consultation, research and analysis. The Bercy Charenton team is expected to start work in September on a first phase 2-year study.

The London Festival of Architecture is a city-wide celebration of architecture in the capital which runs from 19 June to 4 July 2010. Focusing on three hubs over three weekends, the final weekend celebrates the South of London, based around the Bankside Urban Forest. The RSHP-designed NEO Bankside residential development, currently under construction, is at the heart of the hub and a number of events will be taking place around this project as well as in other parts of the capital.

Monday 28 June

What Makes Cities Sing? Architectural debate with Will Alsop, Mike Davies, Dan Ringelstein and Stephen Bayley
Mike Davies, Director at RSHP will participate in a debate at Clifford Chance Auditorium, Canary Wharf.
Admission free, booking required in advance: Email

Saturday 3 July 9.30am - 12noon

Visit NEO Bankside. Hard hat tours of the residential development – currently under construction - led by members of the project team are taking place on Saturday morning with one tour every half hour. Places are limited and booking is essential. Please email Neobankside@camronpr.com to book.
Sugar Cube Construction. Artist Brendan Jamison has constructed a scale model of Tate Modern and NEO Bankside, on display this weekend at the NEO Bankside Pavilion. Family workshops showing children how to build models from sugar cubes will be led by sculptor Brendan Jamison on Saturday 3 July. These will run from 10am to 12noon and from 2pm – 4pm. To register a place on one of the family workshops please contact: Neobankside@camronpr.com
19 - 27 June

50 Years of London Architecture. The Mall Galleries, Pall Mall
Photographic exhibition illustrating a cross section of new architecture in London over the past five decades. RSHP is showing 12 projects documenting the practice’s work in London from the 1960s to the present.
 
For more information about these and other events: www.lfa2010.org