UNITED KINGDOM
The UK Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Cabe, has rubbished plans for London 2012’s Olympic media centre, calling it a potential blight on the Olympic legacy. The RPS Group-designed International Broadcast Centre (IBC), which will play host to 20,000 journalists during the games, was described as “particularly weak” by the authority. “In our view it is simply not good enough,” Cabe said. “We would go so far as to say that its continued presence would blight rather than enhance the Olympic legacy.”
AUSTRALIA
The Urban Taskforce’s CEO, Aaron Gadiel, responded to claims in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald that development and heritage preservation could not go hand-in-hand by saying that heritage properties will decay if their owners aren’t allowed to renew them and adapt them for modern use. There are over 20,000 individual local heritage items listed in local environmental plans and many more properties in the 183 local conservation areas. “Money generated by the redevelopment of a site can pay for fire upgrades and restoration works,” he said.
UNITED STATES
A stone-covered archway (pictured below) beneath the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo is being reopened to the public. The public space, by renowned Beaux Arts firm Carrère and Hastings, will act as a stage for public performances, as well as a temporary summer site for the New Amsterdam Market. “The archway connects Dumbo east to west. It’s crucial to the development of the neighborhood,” Kate Kerrigan, executive director of the improvement district, said.
LIBYA
Libya is giving energy businesses a $5 billion boost with the construction of an economic city. The city will take between three and five years to construct, with the first infrastructure to be completed within 18 months. Located 70km west of Libya’s capital Tripoli, it is hoped that the economic zone will help reach the country’s target of doubling oil production by 2012.
UNITED KINGDOM
Tender prices for building work in the UK are falling as competition rises, new figures published this week by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) can reveal. The price of new work fell by 2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the previous quarter, and the BCIS predicts this to fall a further 8 per cent. Meanwhile, costs are increasing, with an annual rise of 7.7 per cent for materials and 4.8 per cent for wage rates.
