20 June 2007
Contact: Tessa Kordeczka, 020 7070 6769
A flood defence scheme constructed using a million car tyres was named today as one of 18 outstanding projects shortlisted for this year’s Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award. The shortlist, announced by Tessa Jowell MP, shows how the best public building is at the cutting edge of sustainable design.
This matters because constructing and running public infrastructure and services - schools, hospitals, libraries, museums, government offices - account for almost one third of carbon emissions. In April, the National Audit Office warned that the majority of government departments and agencies were failing to meet environmental targets for new and refurbished buildings.
The shortlist shows how - through innovation in design and construction - the buildings and places that we use every day can be made sustainable. Paradise Park Children's Centre in London has a vertical garden irrigated by rainwater. A coastal protection scheme for Cleveleys in Lancashire has transformed a dilapidated 1920s seafront into a distinctive destination. The Dalby Forest Visitor Centre in North Yorkshire, clad in larch grown and milled in the forest, is designed to be completely recycled at the end of its life.
Every one of the 18 projects has attained high standards in design, construction, financial management and procurement method, from King’s Cross St Pancras underground station to the world’s first Cold War exhibition, in Shropshire, designed as a powerful physical metaphor for the opposing forces.
Other schemes drawn from 117 entries include the Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre, with its striking translucent play pod, described by the judges as a 'first class investment by the NHS'; the Rooftop Nursery in east London, which makes clever use of rooftop space to provide an affordable service for local working mothers; and Kaleidoscope, an environmentally sustainable new centre which brings together a range of health, social and educational services for children in a deprived area of south London. Oldham Library and Lifelong Learning Centre is making art, reading and performance available to new audiences, and the Bridge Arts Centre in Glasgow provides a stylish library, learning centre and arts facility, as well as a new base for the National Theatre of Scotland.
Commenting on the shortlist, the Prime Minister said:
'I congratulate all contenders for this year's award. They represent the very best in the design and commissioning of public buildings and also demonstrate how our design and construction industries are successfully rising to the threat of climate change.'
CABE chair John Sorrell added:
'This shortlist shows that the most sustainable procurement and the most beautiful design are now coming from public sector clients determined to combine eco-friendly design with strong social benefits.'
The Bridge Arts Centre in Easterhouse has brought an empty site to life. The new building has been effectively integrated with an existing swimming pool and further education college and creates a new library, learning centre and arts facility, providing a base for the National Theatre of Scotland.
This second phase of a coastal protection scheme is bringing social and economic benefits for the town as well as environmental ones, transforming a dilapidated 1920s seafront into a stunning 21st century seaside environment.
The centre has been built as part of a regeneration of facilities to develop the forest as a regional centre of excellence for sustainable economic activity. It will cater for the needs of the 250,000 people who visit Yorkshire’s largest forest every year.
Darlington Education Village is pioneering: it is the UK’s first wholly integrated and inclusive school, bringing together existing secondary, primary, nursery and special educational needs schools on one campus. Its generous facilities are open to other local schools and the wider community.
Whole-life costings helped to decide how to maintain the structural integrity of Dunheved Bridge, a busy tourist route which carries the A30 over the River Tamar. Replacing the decks on the bridge has resulted in significant benefits both to the Highways Agency and the travelling public.
Kaleidoscope brings together under one roof an extensive range of health, social and educational services for children, and has enabled different departments from Lewisham Primary Care Trust to work together. It has contributed to the regeneration of a deprived area of south London.
On the left bank of the tidal River Trent, the bank stabilisation scheme was a swift and highly successful response to an imminent risk of flooding. The embankment is critical to the protection of over 240 square kilometres of low-lying land, occupied by over 10,500 homes and commercial properties.
This station redevelopment project has been immensely complex. It will provide the new gateway to London needed for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link extension, and will be a vital hub for London’s 2012 games. Much of the work was undertaken around the Grade 1-listed façade of St Pancras Chambers and in areas close to the railway – but passenger services were never lost.
The scheme sets a standard for flood risk management that is technically, economically and environmentally viable. Thirty kilometres of river defences across the low-lying fens have been improved, minimising the risk of flooding to large areas of the fens and some 3,000 properties.
The section of Manchester’s orbital motorway (junctions 5 to 8) used to be plagued by congestion caused by closely spaced junctions and local traffic using the motorway as a bypass. Integrated teamworking delivered a three-year £120 million project to both time and budget – and provided the client and travelling public with a level of service that exceeded industry standards.
This landmark building – the world’s first display dedicated to documenting the social, political and military conflicts of the Cold War – is a physical metaphor for the opposing forces. This is reflected by two offset curvilinear triangular volumes which rise 30 metres from the ground and meet on a 130 metre-long central divide running the full length of the building.
Oldham Library and Lifelong Learning Centre bring together children’s, adult and reference libraries, as well as a performance space, IT-intensive teaching rooms, art rooms and a crèche. It is the second phase of the new cultural quarter in Oldham, breathing new life into a previously neglected part of the town.
Paradise Park Children’s Centre has transformed a corner of the inner city. Set within an existing park, it not only improves access to a precious green space but also provides high-quality community facilities, including a nursery, crèche and café.
A generous central stone promenade and new lighting – which illuminates the tree canopy and planting – have transformed an underused grassed area in a pedestrianised zone along busy Old Street into a public space where people will want to linger during the day and enjoy walking through in the evening.
Striking and imaginative design has succeeded in meeting a brief to provide the best children’s eye hospital in the world – without it looking like a hospital – as well as overcoming the challenges of a restricted site and connections to existing buildings. The environment is welcoming and reassuring for children and their parents.
The nursery, which replaces a derelict house, aims to provide affordable pre-school care for working mothers in a low-income neighbourhood of Clapton, east London. To make the most of a confined site, the architects have created the first granulated rubber play roof in the UK.
The old and the new have been skilfully and sensitively brought together at Tilford. The 13th-century Tilford West Bridge – an English Heritage scheduled monument – across the River Wey has been restored and Tilford New Bridge constructed to replace a semi-permanent crossing built by the army in 1941.
The Grade II-listed Victoria Footbridge has been meticulously restored to its former glory. It is a key pedestrian and cycle route into the city of Hereford across the River Wye and its repair has encouraged other city improvements.