Memorandum by Professor Robert Tavernor,
University of Bath (TAB 27)
INTRODUCTION
1.01 My name is Robert William Tavernor.
I am a registered architect and university professor of architecture
(previously at Edinburgh University and currently at Bath). My
expertise derives from my experiences as a university professor
of architecture, architectural historian, and as a designer, analyst
and critic of modern architecture and urbanism. I have published
widely on architectural and urban issues, and have a particular
interest in definitions of architectural beauty especially in
relation to classical buildings and cities.
1.02 This memorandum derives from my recent
experience as a principal Expert Witness at the Heron Public Inquiry
held in the City of London between October and December 2001,
concerning the application by the Heron Corporation to build a
37-storey speculative office building at 110 Bishopsgate. I supported
the Heron Corporation's proposal designed by the architects Kohn
Pederson Fox (KPF), which had been granted Planning Permission
by the City Corporation but was called in by the Secretary of
State following objections by English Heritage regarding—what
they considered to be—its potential harmful impact on views
of St Paul's Cathedral.
1.03 I evaluated KPF's design for 110 Bishopsgate
by referring to the English Heritage/Commission for Architecture
and the Built Environment (EH/CABE) consultation document, "Guidance
on Tall Buildings", dated June 2001. I did so because it
provides a useful compendium of the considerations contained in
the relevant Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and other policy documents.
I concentrated on the criteria the document recommends for evaluating
tall building proposals in paragraph 5.7 (i), and the relationship
of the proposal to its context. I also expressed my view concerning
the quality of the architecture of the proposed scheme outlined
in paragraph 5.7 (iv). My main conclusions were that:
— KPF's design for 110 Bishopsgate
will produce an urban building that provides new accommodation
in the City of exceptionally high quality.
— It will enrich the public realm and
add to the variety of the street and the available building forms
within the city.
— Its inclusion within the existing
Eastern Cluster will enhance the skyline and will properly serve
its context.
— It is a custom designed building
that is entirely suited to its particular position in the Eastern
Cluster.
— It will provide accommodation that
reflects the changing attitudes to city life in the 21st century.
— Through a measured appreciation of
the ancient and modern context in which it is to be placed, KPF
have designed a forward-looking and ecologically advanced building
that also acknowledges and respects its historic location.
DEFINING ARCHITECTURAL
QUALITY IN
OUR CITIES
2.01 Most cities comprise of an agglomeration
of different building types—predominantly residential and
commercial. Buildings of the highest quality correspond to those
parts of the city in which it is most desirable to live and work.
These areas usually relate to opportunities for interaction and
exchange, to quality of light, views and air, and are marked by
high land values, which in turn tend to determine a high density
of occupancy and/or exclusivity for that part of the city.
2.02 There are only very few isolated monuments
in any city, and they usually bear significant public, state or
religious significance. Such buildings are usually designed by
the nation's leading architects. They define a city's status,
quality and aspirations, projecting it nationally and even internationally.
Such buildings may be physically detached from surrounding buildings,
have an inviting public entrance—that is perhaps related
to public open space—and be set apart from adjacent buildings
by their appearance and the high quality of their materials and
design. Although architectural monuments usually assert their
presence on the urban scene, they are not necessarily tall.
2.03 A tall building is by definition prominent,
but it is not necessarily a building of significant public value:
height may have resulted from high land values, the demand for
proximity and density of occupation, or because height symbolises
power, authority and wealth. Consequently, some consider that
a tall commercial or residential building has no right to dominate
existing city views—especially in those cities where the
quality of their historical monuments, spaces and buildings are
revered. Where it is deemed beneficial to the future prosperity
and image of a city to build tall buildings, clear guidelines
concerning location, response to context and quality of design
are essential. I believe that sufficient guidelines exist for
this purpose already, notably the EH/CABE document on Tall Buildings,
as well as the planning legislation enshrined in PPG1 and PPG15.
(There are however problems associated with the implementation
of these guidelines and Acts, which I will outline by way of conclusion
to this memorandum.)
ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY
IN THE
EH/CABE GUIDELINES REGARDING
TALL BUILDINGS
3.01 Architectural quality is identified
as a criterion relevant to the evaluation of Tall Buildings in
the EH/CABE document. I agree. Because a tall building is visible
from many vantagepoints, near and far, its design must be of the
highest architectural quality. The same document also proposes
that new tall buildings should usually be located within existing
clusters of tall buildings. I also agree to this. Tall buildings
have a "monumental" stature due to their very prominence,
but, individually, they are unlikely to have true monumental—public
and civic—status. It is their collective worth, their close
proximity to one another in a "cluster", which brings
economic and visual benefits to a city and its people. With this
in mind, I would wish to emphasise the following criteria as essential
determinants of quality in tall buildings.
3.02 To add positively to an existing urban
environment a tall building must normally be designed as an essential
part of a "cluster of tall buildings": as part of an
existing cluster, or in a location where a cluster has been planned.
A cluster de-emphasises the individuality of a single tall building,
and will create a collective silhouette on a city's skyline. It
will perhaps form a backdrop to, or be seen in relation to valued
historic monuments, and the extent and shape of a city's cluster
or clusters should be determined in response to the views of principal
monuments and their settings.
3.03 The shape and silhouette of a balanced
and well designed cluster cannot be designed in the abstract,
or according to generalised criteria. Its ideal shape and profile
will be a measured response to its particular setting—topographical
and historical—and good judgement will be required as to
how an existing cluster can best be augmented by new buildings,
or a new cluster defined and developed over a period of time.
3.04 Clusters of office buildings or mixed-use
developments (retail, office and residential) are best located
close to and even above transport interchanges (especially railways
and bus stations), where there is likely to be an intensity of
activity: such interchanges are also known as "nodal points"
in the city. Advantage can be taken at nodal points of a high-density
working and living environment that is supported by public transportation,
and which minimises the need for private modes of transport and
secondary journeys.
3.05 I believe that tall buildings should
only be built in close proximity to urban nodal points, and that
the cluster should be limited and well-defined. The desirability
that tall buildings form dense urban clusters will usually preclude
their location in non-urban environments. An isolated tall building
should be an exception and should require special pleading—perhaps
because it is of exceptional design quality and has extraordinary
symbolical value for that city or site. Generally, isolated, one-off
tall buildings that are not part of an existing or proposed cluster
should be avoided.
3.06 The following considerations are relevant
when designing the appearance of a tall building in relation to
a cluster:
— its external form should be modelled
in response to its compositional place within an existing cluster
(so that it becomes an integral part of the existing urban scene),
respecting the status of any revered public monuments and landmarks
that may be affected by it;
— the materials of its exterior skin
should be recognised as belonging to and enhancing the characteristics
and qualities of the existing cluster, and set design standards
for a proposed cluster; and
— the projected profile of an existing
or proposed cluster should be outlined on maps and photographs
(or equivalent—there was beneficial extensive use of computerised
models and physical models and montages at the Heron Inquiry)
so that its effect on the setting can be scrutinised from key
viewing positions: in plan, in relation to bounding streets (as
in the proposed "Mayor's triangle" in the City of London),
and as a skyline silhouette
3.07 A tall building should be designed
in response to its immediate physical context (using detailed
Environmental Surveys). The existing street layout—open,
straight, grid-like (Canary Wharf) or tight winding streets (City
of London), their width and length—will dictate the footprint
of a tall building and its potential to enhance or harm the existing
streetscape. In this respect, an understanding and appreciation
of the historical development of the immediate context is essential,
and should be reflected in the design of the tall building. For
example, the building's role as an historic gateway into a commercial
area could be restated through the character of its elevational
design.
3.08 The experience of a tall building at
ground level is of paramount importance. It provides an opportunity
to enrich pedestrian movement along surrounding streets, offering
views into and through the entrance, framing and opening new views
of existing or proposed local landmarks. Designs for tall buildings
should explore the public potential of ground level and adjacent
streets, and emphasis should be placed on the enhancement of public
facilities, including retail and leisure. The quality of an integrated
landscaping scheme at ground and street level is crucial if a
tall building is to appear rooted to its site.
3.09 Ultimately, of course, the design must
be fit for its intended purpose, and provide desirable, attractive
and convenient accommodation for its occupants. In my opinion,
the effect on the quality of street life of tall buildings with
small footprints is preferable to that of groundscrapers, which
consume entire urban blocks and dominate the character of whole
street frontages.
AUTHORITIES AND
PROCEDURES
4.01 I have referred already to CABE, English
Heritage and, indirectly, City Councils as the formulators of
UDPs, and they have their equivalent counterparts in Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. These bodies have access to relevant
knowledge and expertise to make informed judgements about the
potential development of clusters in different parts of the UK.
However, relations between these authorities and interested parties
are too often adversarial, and when discussion breaks down, the
expensive, time-consuming Public Inquiries that result serve only
to polarise opinion which is often undermining for negotiation
in the future. At the Heron Inquiry the battle lines comprised
of the Heron Corporation, the City Corporation, the GLA, and CABE,
who were set in opposition to English Heritage, Westminster City
Council and other interested parties.
4.02 Measures should be implemented to minimise
the need for Public Inquiries. Alternative procedures may be found
by studying good practice elsewhere in the world, and effective
mediators and opportunities for mediation should be sought.
4.03 The process of mediation would be greatly
assisted if readily updateable 3-dimensional computer models of
cities existed, built to agreed national standards by impartial
organisations. They should become trusted tools, as reliable and
neutral as an Ordnance Survey map.
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