The government has appointed Steve Quartermain to its new role of chief planner.

Currently executive director of Hambleton District Council, Quartermain will spearhead the government’s aim to reform the country’s ailing planning system.

One of his primary roles will be helping local councils to address the current skills and workforce shortage.

Quartermain said: ‘I am delighted to take up this role. It is a challenging and exciting time for planners in government, councils and throughout the profession.

‘My aim as chief planner is to make a positive contribution toward ensuring that planning promotes the development of prosperous and vibrant communities.’

Housing minister Caroline Flint added: ‘This is an important appointment. The new chief planner will play a vital role shaping the future of planning.

‘Steve will also help drive forward our ambitions to improve the skills and capacity of planners across the profession,’ she added. 

“The recently complete Walkergate Hospital in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne is providing a revolutionary combination of facilities for people with neurological disabilities, and a therapeutic physical environment that is being studied for its impact on patient outcomes.”

BD features Walkergate Park in March. Completed by Team Bentley, this unique facility is receiving lots of praise. Have a look at the article here

CABE and the Housing Corporation have announced a new toolkit developed to help housing clients and their design teams demonstrate to planners and funding agencies how their development proposals will meet Building for Life standards.

Building for Life standards have now been adopted by both the Corporation and English Partnerships and increasing numbers of local authorities are now demanding that house builders must fulfil a majority of the 20 Building for Life criteria.

CABE, which developed the toolkit for the Corporation, says the aim is to get all sides using the same design language to assess proposals. The guidance provides examples of design-related material - diagrams, plans, visuals and models - clients can include in grant application tenders or design and access statements.

The Corporation, for its part, says it also regards the toolkit as an assessment tool that will help funding bodies and planners judge whether proposals are up to scratch.

The new toolkit, entitled ‘Evaluating housing principles step by step,’ is available to download for free from http://www.buildingforlife.org/

Having told BSF schools designers to try harder, CABE is prescribing an increased dose of high quality design for the NHS LIFT programme for primary health care centres. The design champion has also called for schemes falling below its ‘excellent’ benchmark for design criteria not to be approved for construction. CABE surveyed a sample of 20 out of 82 LIFT projects completed between 2002 and 2006 and concluded that only 40% of its design criteria - looking at functionality, build quality and impact - scored ‘good’ and better. Only 7% of design criteria actually met its excellent rating. The agency has also called for project delivery teams to be strengthened through more design training and the support of committed client design advisors.

‘The LIFT programme is the NHS’s biggest ever investment in improving and developing premises for primary and community frontline services, so every one of those new buildings should contribute positively to the health and well-being of the local community,’ says Mairi Johnson, CABE’s interim director of enabling. ‘Great schemes such as the Heart of Hounslow and the Plowright Surgery in Norfolk show the kind of quality we want to see routinely.’

Good design features of the buildings surveyed included a single reception point on entering a building, which can offer an early welcome and easy orientation and generous amounts of light and ventilation. Areas of design weakness found in the sample survey include prioritising maintenance over the quality of the patient environment, resulting in the use of materials that create an overly institutional atmosphere.

The briefing paper ‘Assessing design quality in LIFT primary care buildings’ can be found here.

Tim Soar, photographer to the very best in architecture, was commissioned by the AJ to photograph 52 significant practices, with photos appearing each week in the AJ over a year and the shot you see above is P+HS in Stokesley. The series later included the 40 under 40 Corus/AJ winners. The photos initially appeared at an exhibition in London a little while ago.

He’s now widened that to around 100 to add major practices and these are featured in an enlarged exhibition currently on show at the RIBA, and each practice also has a display board illustrating the work of the practices. The Guardian recently published a review of the exhibition, which you can find here.

The exhibition is STILL on until FEBRUARY 29th at the RIBA - go an have a look if you can [CJP's going on Wed 27th].

 With thanks to Lorna Soar for help, corrections and kind words!

The MIMA in Middlesbrough’s Bauhaus exhibition closes on 17 Feb, for those who haven’t been there yet…check the site

Design for Homes runs an awards system each year. Backed by the Home Builders Federation, CABE, Design for Homes, English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and the Civic Trust, the awards celebrate well designed homes and neighbourhoods. Have a look here for details of the winners in 2007.

The criteria for good schemes can be found here - a good test against which to judge all our schemes? The link includes details of what they describe as “great schemes”. This guide should be referred to when completing a Building for Life standard application. It can also be used by developers as a basis for writing development briefs, and by local authorities to demand high standards of design and assess design quality.

Suggestions from us for 2008 entries to Claire Bedford please - entries due in before the end of February.

Circle are the U.K.’s largest Partnership of healthcare professionals who have come together to provide accessible, 21st century healthcare to all patients. Circle has appointed design teams of international reputation to design a new generation of “compact” hospitals and clinics.

They are: Foster + Partners, Hopkins Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. These firms have produced some of the most iconic buildings in Europe, including the Swiss Re Tower (the “Gherkin”), Lord’s Cricket Ground Mound Stand and Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport. Together with Circle, these three distinguished design firms will share knowledge and best practice around the better design of hospitals in the U.K.

The location, architecture and design of the Circle hospitals constitute a central part of our commitment to providing the highest quality patient experience. Circle will provide clinicians, associates and patients with an attractive working and visiting environment. The hospitals will be in accessible locations, provide sufficient car parking and will be set in landscaped surroundings.

Foster + Partners, Hopkins Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners will create designs that draw upon the healing properties of natural light, promote the soothing effects of colour, supply the stimulation of art and provide the reassurance offered by accessible, uncluttered internal spaces. According to Circle:

“We promote an environmentally sustainable approach to the design and construction of our buildings. Our commitment will be expressed through efficient uses of energy, the adoption of environmentally-friendly materials and the implementation of day-to-day policies of corporate social responsibility in Circle hospitals. All Circle facilities are subject to regulation by the Healthcare Commission.”

The government published its new Housing and Regeneration Bill today, which will facilitate the prime minister’s housing targets.

One of Gordon Brown’s key policies since coming into power has been his promise to deliver three million new homes by 2020. Today’s Bill will help make this possible, and aid the delivery of the required 240,000 new homes a year by 2016.

The Bill will also create the new Homes and Community Agency, which has seen the merger of English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation.

This new agency will deliver more affordable housing, both social and private, by bringing together the two separate land and housing agencies.

It will also facilitate the government’s plans to provide 10 new eco towns, the locations of which are expected to be unveiled in February.

Richard Vaughan Architects Journal 16 November 2007

The new Dalby Forest Visitor Centre. Mostly timber, with some glulam beams. Let down by inadequate detailing and workmanship, which means poor finish and lots of future maintenance.

Don’t bother with the food - it ranks as one of the worst meals ever.

Building Magazine’s Guide to the Top 50 Employers is published today. A survey of employee satisfaction across all 250 Top Consultants and 150 Top Contractors was revealed at a launch in London today, attended by Chris P and Geraldine. The survey looked at a range of criteria, including salary, pension, flexi-time and included non-objective criteria such as leadership, inspiration and feel-good factor. We’re delighted that we’ve made the Top 50 and look forward to working towards improving our staff conditions in the future. Any suggestions, just let us know…

Have a look at the Guide

David Hunter learning how to photograph tall buildings!

CABE is to be named as the official affordable housing quality audit body for England and will begin a programme of assessing the design quality of an ‘extensive sample’ of homes funded by the Housing Corporation.

Corporation chief executive Steve Douglas was due to announce the news at the National Housing Federation Conference this week. The Corporation has entered into a service agreement with CABE to audit the National Affordable Housing Programme where homes are being developed through its partnership funding route.

The move is meant to bolster the Corporation’s new Design and Quality Strategy standards. The Corporation adds that the focus will be on the external environment, rather than internal design or environmental performance, using the Building for Life assessment process.

mima presents the most significant Bauhaus exhibition in the UK for 30 years, focusing on the ethos of the Bauhaus School between 1919 and 1933. The show includes works by Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Josef Albers, film works by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, architectural models, design, applied art, furniture and a specially commissioned wall drawing.

Language of Visionshowcases works by contemporary artists whose practice has a relationship to the legacy of the Bauhaus. Artists include Markus Amm, Camilla Low, Toby Paterson, Ryan Gander, Lothar Gotz and Andrew Miller.

A series of photographs by Hans Engels, presents the original Bauhaus architecture, constructed by the masters and students of the Bauhaus between 1919 and 1933, in its present condition.

Bauhaus Reviewed 1919-1933, is presented in mima’s Sound Space on the Third Floor Roof Terrace. The selection of recordings from the early 20th century goes deep into the myths surrounding the Bauhaus school and the artists it gave birth to.

The exhibition is part of NorthEast England’s programme of world-class festival and events for 2007, managed by culture10 based at NewcastleGateshead Initiative.

For dates, check MIMA

Sponsored by Barker & Stonehouse.