Solent Architecture Centre - TrustNews Dec 2003
What are architecture centres?
Architecture centres are hard to describe in a few words, but they are basically independent organisations (networked by CABE), the object of which are to promote good design of buildings and developments. Their means of doing this (in the words of a recent report) include:
- Guidance - to provide guidance to developers, local authorities, government bodies and communities on best practice in urban planning, design and procurement.
- Support - to act as a local educational resource to assist the planning and wider community.
- Focus - to act as a focal point for local communities in engaging in dialogue on the built environment.
- Outreach - to undertake outreach and publicity around urban development issues in the region.
Background to the Solent Centre and Trust involvement
Early this year the Trust was asked to send a member to attend "a seminar of key stakeholders to help set up a new architecture centre for the Solent area". Having attended this we missed a further meeting in the summer but attended the latest one in November. There has been an intermittent move to create an architecture centre in Hampshire for a long time, and the Trust has always been interested in the idea, but it was clearly too expensive a project to get under way without major external funding and somebody with the time and experience to get it going.
CABE has now offered £100,000 to the Kent Architecture Centre to set up a new centre for the central southern area and, primed with this backing, there is good reason to believe that a number of other organisations are likely to join in. Once established, Kent would step back and the new centre would become autonomous. The name Solent has been chosen so that the centre is not restricted in its activities to one county, while locating the base of its operations in the Portsmouth, Southampton area.
The Kent Architecture Centre is a very successful example of the sixteen centres already operating in the UK, and there are many more in Europe. Starting with 2 or 3 people, Kent now has a staff of 13, and a number of significant achievements to its credit.
Comment
Various activities of the Trust would be able to draw strength from an architecture centre: our efforts to persuade the authorities to pay more attention to good design, similar efforts to persuade developers to employ suitable architects, our promotion of good design in schools via the Chippindale Venture, etc. We cannot support the centre financially, but having been invited to join the initial working party or steering group, I feel we should continue to give the project our moral support, and if possible have a hand in guiding its direction. The other members of this very large group include representatives from the two Universities, CABE, English Heritage, the design and associated professions, Southern Arts, most of the local authorities, SEEDA, SEERA, GOSE, Countryside Agency, and the Portsmouth and Southampton Societies.
I was puzzled why local and regional government organisations should be so supportive and think there are two reasons: I believe that local planners are genuinely keen to see good design in their areas, but that in the present climate they are aware that they are increasingly ill-equipped/unable to promote it effectively, and would value what an architecture centre could do to help. This may also be true of the regional organisations, but I also believe that recent Government exhortations about good design mean they are obliged to join in..... Prescott is in favour of architecture centres.
Whatever the case, I feel that we and the other two amenity societies should endeavour (probably working together) to ensure that the Centre does not become too government orientated.