CONTEXT 175 : MARCH 2023 5 ‘THE SENIOR conservation officer (SCO) is employed by the council for her professional conservation expertise, and the purpose of the consultation was to draw upon her expertise, to assist the council in discharging its duties… Thus, that advice ought to have been available to members when they were deciding the application… ‘The planning officer was, of course, entitled to differ from the SCO’s views, and advise members accordingly, but he should not have withheld the SCO’s advice from them, as the members were the ultimate decision-makers, not the planning officer.’ From the judge’s verdict on a case in Lewisham in which failure to reflect opinions of a conservation officer in a planning report led to grant of planning permission being quashed at judicial review. ‘LESS THAN a third of architects in the UK are women. We’re proud to have a balanced gender ratio.’ Donald Insall Associates on Twitter @InsallArch ‘WITH OUR students, we always try and work on real sites with real buildings and real materials, which means it is much easier to deal with the specific and understand that materials are finite and real and can drive design decisions all the way through a project. ‘When materials and projects are abstract, it can be difficult to develop really integrated proposals that look carefully at resources. Slightly wider, it is dangerous to talk of building design as “solving” the environmental crisis as it appeals to the self-aggrandising nature of architecture and architects‘ desire to be the hero. ‘Integrated approaches where architecture engages with the world have never been more important, hence my nervousness with paper projects which don’t have the tussle of the decisions that are based in, and challenged, by the contingencies of the world in terms of clients, cost and resources.’ Architect Piers Taylor responding in the Architects’ Journal to a survey of more than 400 UK-based students that revealed significant gaps in teaching about the circular economy and how to reuse existing buildings. ‘WE VISITED on Saturday and took friends with us, who were visiting from Yorkshire. It cost £14 per person. My husband and I got a measly £1 discount as we live nearby. It was so very disappointing. I had to fight back the urge to say “Is this it?” as I didn’t want to make a fuss in front of our visitors. ‘To add insult to injury, we paid another £5 per person for a tour of Mortimer’s Hole that was over within 15 minutes. Guess there’s no point in complaining now.’ Local resident Maria Pia Beal responding to the decision to close council-owned Nottingham Castle, which had opened less than two years ago, after a £30 million restoration. ‘SHE’S making our building look like a circus clown. There are elements of tragedy – circus clowns are made up to look happy, but they’re not. This is a circus clown wearing a tutu.’ Denise Scott Brown, one of the architects of the National Gallery Sainsbury Wing, criticising Annabelle Selldorf’s proposed alterations to it, which have now received planning permission. ‘GRADE III status would apply automatically to every building and it would come with just one rule: the property may only be demolished if it is structurally unsafe, or is given special dispensation by the local planning authority… ‘To avoid overburdening SMEs, its initial introduction may only apply to major properties… and would still allow us to alter layouts, strengthen foundations, add new floors and upgrade facades. ‘Such alterations are of course vital if we want to keep doing the most social good for our country. But the restriction on demolition would at last enable us to make rapid inroads towards slashing construction’s huge carbon footprint.’ Will Arnold, head of climate action at the Institution of Structural Engineers, calling in the Architects’ Journal for a new Grade III listing.
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