The London Architect

Artwork for the London Architect podcast.

The Observer’s food critic Jay Rayner recently wrote about being asked what his favourite restaurant is, and it’s probably fair to say that the architecturally-minded have a similar aversion to the favourite building question. What would your answer be? Can you answer quickly or do you mentally scroll through all the buildings you ever studied, ever worked on, ever imagined?

Being interviewed by Lily Patience, host of the London Architect podcast, was an enjoyable way to look back on almost twenty years of being an inclusive design consultant and remember my reasons for specialising in it. If you’re curious about this and my much-mulled answer to the building question the London Architect is available on Spotify and YouTube.

Mine is the sixth episode and the rest can be found on LinkedIn, where you can also get in touch with Lily.

Jay Rayner’s article for foodie inspiration is here.

Architecture Today

Cover of Architecture Today magazine, no. 306, March 2020.

What is a gallery but an empty receptacle; a blank canvas against which to view unblanked canvases? It can be a place that remains static in physical form, but also lend itself to additions and insertions depending on the works it hosts at a particular time. A gallery is also a complex thing whose environment is often adjusted to meet the climatic and visual needs of delicate and old inanimate objects as well as its human visitors.

How then does a central London gallery in the Grade-II-listed Barbican Centre, with ambitious plans for future growth, adapt to the changing expectations of the public with minimal disruption and a very tight window between shows?

The March issue of Architecture Today features Rachael’s article about Ruff Architects’ access improvements to the Barbican Gallery.

Click here to read the whole article ‘Access to art’ on the Architecture Today website.

Building Regulations Part M

Image: Logo of the Construction Industry Council

Three years after the revision of Part M of the Building Regulations and the accompanying changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, I still have conversations with architects and developers about the differences between M4(2) and M4(3). Once they’ve grasped that, more conversation is needed about M4(3) 2(a) and M4(3) 2(b). More worrying is that I am still reading planning conditions that refer to Lifetime Homes standards and wheelchair users’ housing for new developments in London boroughs.

The paragraph above is from a recently published post I wrote for the Construction Industry Council’s blog about residential access standards, following Jane Simpson’s article on a similar subject.

Is the guidance about the Optional Categories in Approved Document M Volume 1 improving accessible housing provision in England? Should Optional Category 2 be the minimum standard required for new homes? Read more here, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.