London, because of the enormous gravitational pull of its economy and its level of continuous development, has always attracted the greatest concentration of architects, and their works, in the country. This picture is, however, changing as northern British cities successfully reinvent themselves, as Scotland and Wales enjoy greater political autonomy, and as Northern Ireland enjoys an economic boom.
Across the United Kingdom, cities have successfully redefined themselves and redesigned themselves, in the process reviving a healthy spirit of regionalism. One of the most dynamic and successful developers of new housing in Britain, for instance, is no long-established volume housebuilder, but a Manchester-based company - Urban Splash -which started off by investing in former industrial buildings in fringe north-western areas. By deploying good young architects and designers, running architecture competitions for its main sites, and being early to spot development potential in run-down areas, Urban Splash quickly became active right across England. A result of this is that the architects it nurtured in the early days, such as Liverpool’s ShedKM and Birmingham’s Glenn Howells, whose built work includes the Market Place Arts Centre in Armagh and the Timber Wharf apartments block in Manchester, are now also working on a national level, and for many other clients. Other Manchester architects such as Ian Simpson, who designed the Urbis Centre in Manchester, are also having a national impact.
While Edinburgh may enjoy the economic benefits of political autonomy, becoming a centre for good architecture by the likes of Richard Murphy, whose ongoing projects include the Sean Connery Filmhouse, Malcolm Fraser and Sutherland Hussey, Glasgow is no less active in its traditionally commercial spirit, nurturing a new breed of successful architects as the city is rebuilt.From Page and Park to Gordon Murray and Alan Dunlop, architects of the Radisson SAS hotel in Glasgow, and the architecture/design practice of Graven Images, Glasgow has its own breed of award-winning architects to compete with the names from London.
At the same time as this regional effect, there has also been the effect of government policy.And in this area, nothing is changing so rapidly as schools.
With a huge national rebuilding programme well under way, schools have become one of the most significant areas for new architectural thinking in the UK. Architects of all persuasions are involved, from young-blood practices such as drmm, famous for their radical reworking of the Kingsdale School in Dulwich, South London, to the biggest names in the land – such as Foster and Partners or BDP, both extensively involved in the design of the new breed of “City Academy” secondary schools. This is architectural research hitting practical reality at some speed. Not since the 1950s has the very idea of the school environment and its effects on learning and personality received such a level of attention from so many architects of all kinds.
The yearning for more ambitious architecture, as we have seen, is by no means confined to the public sector, and is no longer confined to towns and cities either. In rural Britain, there has been a strong revival in country-house building, small or large, modern and traditional.Now an intriguing experiment in a complete new rural community is being attempted at the 550 acre Lower Mill Estate in the Cotswold hills by a private developer, Jeremy Paxton.Many second homes are being built in an area of what was once gravel extraction pits, now lakes. 50 or so of these are to be “Landmark homes”, using the best British and overseas architects. Superintending architect Richard Reid has drawn up an impressively eclectic roster of names, including not only international stars such as Richard Meier, Will Alsop and Eva Jiricna, but a galaxy of the best emerging British names also, such as Alison Brooks, whose built work includes the Atoll Hotel in Helgoland, Germany, Sarah Featherstone, Sutherland Hussey, Adrian James, Sarah Wigglesworth and so on. It will be a demonstration of how good modern architecture can complement what is not only protected countryside, but a significant nature reserve as well.
In Britain overall, architecture demonstrates a healthy picture of diversity – in location, in style, and in the people carrying it out. It is, I suspect, at a key moment now, when the new names start to move forward to take over from their illustrious forbears. It is an encouraging time.
Hugh Pearman is architecture and design critic of The Sunday Times and author of books including Contemporary World Architecture (Phaidon).