Apparently this photograph was taken recently on a building site in China.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Malpas Rd – Mowbray House Surgery (view case study)

• Client input important. Traditional procurement enabled greater control.
• Building designed for context and cost effective solution.
• Spend money where is counts.
• Glass blocks and colour create joy.
• Client has taken ownership and cared for building well.
• NHS love the building.
• First floor set back to create domestic scale.
• Underfloor heating removes clutter.
• Concern over too much glazing and overheating – need more sophisticated heat recovery and heat extraction system.

‘Inspire’ Hornbeam Business Park Harrogate (view case study)

• Client wanted iconic building and led the design development.
• Detailing had to be precise.
• Glass to glass junctions  - no curtain walling.
• Simple detailing driven by the client.
• ‘Coolite’ glass reduces heat gain.
• Single stair building pushed to the limit.

‘One life’ – Middlesbrough (view case study)

• Building brief grew over time – client led the process.
• Major changes to suit budget.
• Traditional contract allowed more freedom of design.
• Fulfils what primary care building should be.
• Detailing affects programme – Detailing of ceramic black tiles and rainscreen cladding could have been simplified to reduce pressure on programme and costs.
• Natural lighting enhance spaces and waiting areas.
• Traditional materials are effective and look contemporary.
• Café spills out onto pavement to create interest to street.
• Underground parking added large costs to scheme but added value to building.

Vermuyden Centre (Thorn, Doncaster Lift)

• Very little control on job due to type of contract.
• Poor details in places as cost drove everything.
• Need to develop flexibility of approach to constraints forced upon us.

• Colours – Each colour has a psychological effect that should be considered as part of the overall colour scheme.
• Examples:        
• Orange – Social space
• Blue – Calming
• At Walkergate the wayfinding strategy is enhanced by the use of colour to differentiate departments and uses within the building.
• Colours are chosen for each department that complement the type of healing taking place or the patient needs in each area.
• Colour helped to differentiate the departments’ identities that had come together in the building
• The colour of a department is expressed on the signage via a coloured disk.
• Colour can be expressed in paint – or through a coloured material e.g. wallpaper
• All finishes within Walkergate are co-ordinated e.g. floors; walls; seating; duvet covers; curtains and IPS units. Do not let one colour dominate a colour scheme in a room.
• Bright colours, e.g. behind reception, attract eyes and demand attention.
• In bedrooms, strong colours are positioned behind the bed so they do not demand attention all the time.
• On long corridors, WC areas are expressed with colour to help with identification.
• When choosing colour tones, consideration should be given to orientation of rooms. In north facing rooms colours will appear darker.
• Client brief important e.g. Nuffield Hospital wanted boutique Hotel look.
• Look at precedents and fashions on the high street for inspiration – what do Mr and Mrs Jones want?
• Colour wheel – opposites on colour wheel are complimentary.
• Accent colour – choose one accent colour in each room.
• Dulux diamond matt – hard wearing and water based and is therefore a useful product.

Can I just remind everyone that there is a Links section to this site, which does exactly as it says on the tab. There are links to the websites of many companies that we work with and other interesting little websites. Please have a look, click on some and add any sites you feel we are missing. Are you working with a company that isn’t on here? Add it in! But what’s that I hear? How do I add a link Mr Blog Administrator? Well I’m glad you asked, because it’s easy.

• Log in the the blog, just as if you were going to write a post.
• Click on the Links section on the pale blue bar at the top. 
• Click on the Add Link option.
• Copy/type the full web address of the link in to the URL box.
• Enter the name of the company/website in the Link Name box.
• Pick a suitable category from the pull-down list.
• Click on Add Link.

And there you go, easy. Go crazy, give it a whirl.

In a short article on BD’s website, writer Phil Clarke pokes a few big names with the pointy stick of online culture. P+HS appear in amongst the likes of HOK and Foreign Office Architects, but not to be lambasted, rather held up as an example of innovative web-use.

This link will take you to the site, which contains a link back to our blog, I can’t confirm whether clicking that link will result in you being engulfed in a swirling vortex of internet feedback.

- Photo taken of a residentail building with mixed use at ground floor, next to Cornexchange Leeds city centre.

- A huge steel beam is neatly concealed behind the signage and cantilevered from two thick grey walls at ground floor.

- Clever design. The weight of the cantilvered structure above has been skillfully distributed between glazing and solid wall to reduce the loading on the suppoting beam below.

- The omission of a column allows the corner to float, provide shelter and an unobstructed route around the building.

RIBA Yorkshire are asking for projects for possible inclusion in the “popular and influential” RIBA Architecture Review Yorkshire 2007, due for publication in May. If anyone has worked on anything suitable (and some of you must have) then speak to Claire Bedford and get it submitted. Read on for more details…

“As in previous years, the book will include a comprehensive Directory of RIBA Registered Practices in the RIBA Yorkshire region; topical editorial supplied by RIBA Yorkshire covering various subjects of relevance to clients and end users; and a major full colour section reviewing and exhibiting examples of projects, large and small, carried out by members throughout the region.

“We attach a letter giving further information on the book and a copy of a Project Submission Form, to fill in and return to publishers Excel.  An electronic version of the form is also available to download here. We are not asking to be sent photographs of the projects at this stage, but a brief description ( 150/180 words or so) is of great interest and is a considerable help. As a practice, you are not restricted as to how many projects you may put forward so, if you have produced projects within the Residential, Industrial and/or Commercial, Education, Housing, Sport and/or Leisure, Retail, Health/Medical, Public/Community/Government or Religious Buildings sectors, then please fill in your forms and submit your projects now, in order to make the publication as comprehensive as possible and representative of the best work being carried out in the region.

“We are interested in receiving details of projects completed since September 2005 and due to complete by end March/early April 2007. The book is not sector specific and projects from all the sectors mentioned above, both large and small, are welcome.”

[Sally Smith, Excel Publishing, on behalf of the RIBA]