design

A synopsis of UK Architectural Competitions Practices & Trends

Project Compass CIC have published a newly commissioned report covering UK architectural competitions that forms part of a comparative evaluation, stocktaking & exploration of European competition culture. It includes some case studies & has been undertaken to collate info. to further research the opportunities & potential expansion of alternative innovatory European practices. PCompass director Walter Menteth has written on some of the…

Passing the buck: The new construction crisis

HUGE PROBLEMS WITH QUALITY IN UK CONSTRUCTION IS APPARENT. ACTION MUST FOLLOW. (Walter Menteth article originally publish on LinkedIn pulse March 19, 2017) Over recent months significant construction issues have been reported that highlight major deficiencies in UK procurement culture. The Orchard Village Estate, Lakanal House in Southwark, The Edinburgh PFI schools programme, Catalyst Housings Portobello Square development, Solomon’s Passage in Southwark, and Bovis’s recent…

The highlights (and a few low points) of 2016’s design competitions

(This article originally appeared on Dec. 16, 2017 on the Architects’ Journal website, HERE.) Those with their noses pressed firmly to the grindstone of the public sector will know that 2016 presented an increasingly exasperating array of pungent procedures and cack-handed contracts. Despite evidence of good practice emerging in isolated pockets across the UK, many…