2017-04-24
2017-04-23
Evening Standard: "The Age of Spectacle by Tom Dyckhoff- review"
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| Link to web site |
"When did it suddenly become a good idea to design towers shaped like cheesegraters or walkie-talkies? When did skyscrapers start getting called gherkins (even though they clearly look more like a bullet or a sex toy)? When did we suddenly need giant viewing wheels, High Lines and Olympic sculptures that double as helter-skelters?
"The answer, in short, was when Western cities became places of conspicuous consumption and extravagant spectacle rather than production and manufacturing.
"That, at least, is the thesis of TV presenter and architecture buff Tom Dyckhoff in his book The Age of Spectacle. And it's a sound one."
2017-04-19
2017-04-06
Wed 26 Apr: "OPDC draft Local Plan: What is Regulation 19?"
"The nature of the next stage of consultations is very different to last year's Regulation 18 draft Local Plan, so we're holding an event to go through the differences.
"This will enable you to have your say in the future of Old Oak and Park Royal once the consultation is launched."
Date and Time
Wed 26 April 2017
19:00 – 20:30 BST
Location
140 Wales Farm Road
London
W3 6UG
2017-04-05
The Speculation Game: "Brexit will prioritise robotics over human training"
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| Link to web site |
"... Laing O’Rourke recently built their own pre-fabrication facility with the help of handouts dating back to the coalition government's Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI). Such an operation is capable of churning out building components to create 10,000 homes per year. The take-up of this process will, as ever, depend on subsidies and incentivisation through capital tax allowances which encourage R&D.
"Building at speed for politically-charged housebuilding targets may well fuse with a boom in investments in robot manufacturing. The widely influential Farmer report, stingingly titled Modernise or Die, supports calls for technological advancements to the construction industry. By moving construction away from its highly fluctuating manual labour market, Farmer argues that assembly line production with quicker outputs will stabilise the boom and bust nature of the industry.
"Just as fruit-picking will not be sufficiently replaced by human labour, UK-born construction workers are scarce and 20% of the existing workforce are heading into retirement within 5-10 years. Automation will continue to forge its way into political discourse as a way of relinquishing menial jobs from society. For construction however, technological improvements will come as a necessity to meet the swollen level of demand."
2017-04-01
[Reposted from June 2015] London Overground to Opportunity Areas: to Hounslow (Golden Mile) and to Mill Hill (Wembley-ish, Brent Cross and Colindale/RAF Museum)
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| Boris's earlier plan |
Questions to the Mayor:
Old Oak Common (1)
"You have published aspirations to run London Overground services from Old Oak Common towards Hounslow (via the Golden Mile development area) and towards Mill Hill Broadway (via both Brent Cross and Colindale development areas).The Mayor (21-May-2015):
"I believe an Overground connection to the new High Speed Two interchange station at Old Oak Common is necessary for HS2 to work properly for London. Such a connection would improve connectivity to the HS2 network, reduce pressure at Euston and support the development of the Old Oak Common area. Having this connection in place will also introduce the possibility of other connections being added in the longer term.- See more at: http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/#sthash.dASecDNS.sIhr9EGT.dpuf
"TfL's consultation on an Old Oak Overground station that was undertaken in 2014 did not include a possible future extension of Overground services to Hounslow or Mill Hill. However, TfL is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and other organisations to ensure that passive provision is made for such an extension to operate in the future.
"I will continue to advocate for the best possible package of measures to enable the full economic potential of Old Oak Common to be realised."
Old Oak Common - Quality of Infrastructure (8)
Fiona Twycross (25-Mar-2015):
"Will you include provision for access to platforms on the Dudding Hill Line tracks, in the new London Overground station on the North London line?The Mayor (25-Mar-2015):
"The immediate priority for enhancing connectivity at Old Oak Common is to create new connections to the existing Overground network. Following a public consultation last year, and extensive technical analysis, TfL have decided to progress the option which would see two Overground stations delivered at Old Oak Common (Option C).
"In designing the proposals for new Overground stations at Old Oak Common, TfL is in discussion with HS2 Ltd about providing a new walkway between Victoria Road and the North London Line, shown on the 2014 consultation plans. Such a link would be safeguarded to allow access to any future station on the Dudding Hill Line."
Old Oak Common - Quality of Infrastructure (1)
Fiona Twycross (25-Mar-2015):
"Following your answer to Question 2014/4024, have you achieved any success in demanding proper segregated cycle lanes on all modified sections of Old Oak Common Lane and Victoria Road?"The Mayor (25-Mar-2015):
"As highlighted in my answer to 2014/4024, the Hybrid Bill proposals for cycle and pedestrian provision at this location fall some way short of TfL standards.- See more at: http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/#sthash.dASecDNS.sIhr9EGT.dpuf
"TfL is about to start working with the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation on an urban design study for the Old Oak area that will define the minimum standards required for new streets and public spaces, including the highest quality facilities for cyclists."
2017-03-31
Evening Standard: "Sadiq Khan backs tall buildings ... if they enhance London's skyline"
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| Link to web site |
"Sadiq Khan has warned that new tall buildings must enhance the capital's skyline rather than blight it.
"The Mayor of London also said key criteria for residential tower blocks should be that they help to tackle the city’s housing crisis rather than simply providing investment opportunities for the wealthy.
"But Mr Khan believes skyscrapers and other tall buildings have a 'role to play' in London, though they had to be of first-class design standard.
"City Hall laid out the Mayor's stance on building upwards after Westminster moved to open the door to more tower blocks going up in central London."
UCL: Engineering Exchange Draft 'Green Infrastructure for London'
"Between January and March 2017, the Engineering Exchange delivered activities looking at the state of Green Infrastructure (GI) in London. The activities were part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) bid on ‘Engaging the UK public with the big issues of environmental science’.
Review our draft report
"The major output from the project is a report entitled ‘Green Infrastructure for London: A review of the evidence’. The initial draft report is available here: Green Infrastructure for London: Report for Review
"Our goal is to achieve truly two-way, collaborative research in participation with London communities. To support this, we are trying something unusual. In addition to the normal client and peer-review process, we are asking community members to respond to our draft report. We are collecting feedback via an online survey, accessible here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KB5F5TR
"Anyone can participate, regardless of prior green infrastructure knowledge. The deadline for submissions is midnight, 23rd April 2017. After this, the survey will be closed and the consultation period will end.
"Although individuals will not be cited as contributors except in exceptional cases, your comments will be carefully considered and your input will be invaluable for reflecting the wide knowledge base of communities impacted by GI in London.
Launch event
"We held a panel and community consultation launch event at UCL, 30th March 2017. You can view the panel’s slides on working with communities to implement community planning and river improvements. You can also view photos from the event on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/uclengex/
Other activities included in the project:
– A CPD training course for GI practitioners called ‘Working with Communities: Practical skills for GI practitioners’. (Find out about future CPD opportunities: http://www.engineering.ucl.ac.uk/engineering-exchange/cpd/)
– A community research forum with discussion tables chaired by specialists on themes including light and air pollution; soil quality and food growing; heat islands and microclimates; water harvesting and flooding and greening the city. (Read the event report: Green Infrastructure Springboard event report and find out about other community research fora: http://www.engineering.ucl.ac.uk/engineering-exchange/community-forum/)
– A series of video interviews with specialists in airborne and light pollution. (Watch the videos: http://www.engineering.ucl.ac.uk/engineering-exchange/video-articles/)"
2017-03-30
The Planner: "Khan to appoint Liz Peace CBE as Old Oak and Park Royal chair"
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| Link to web site |
"Should the London Assembly approve the appointment, she will lead the corporation as it builds out its plans to deliver 24,000 new homes and 55,000 jobs in West London.
"In June last year, Khan launched a review of the development corporation, stating that it would scrutinise the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding agreed in March 2016.
"Following the review, Khan said plans to regenerate the site had been left in a mess by his predecessor Boris Johnson. He criticised Johnson for 'rushing headlong' into an agreement with the government to transfer land at Old Oak, saying it was made on less favourable terms than other regeneration projects around the country.
"Peace has more than 35 years of experience in government and the property sector. She was the chief executive of the British Property Federation and has been an honorary president of the Property Litigation Association, chair of the Centre for London think tank and chair of the Shadow Government Property Agency."
[Reposted from Dec 2011] 'Transport for London': Orbital rail and Crossrail studies, for Old Oak rail connections
If you click immediately to the enlarged images, there are four slides on each subject.
As a point of detail, note the comment below about the green South Croydon services not showing as diverted via the new station. (There is a later posting on this web site, where TfL does shows them diverted.)
Please also link to "Light Rail Across Outer North London?" on the 'Brent Cross Coalition' web site.
As a point of detail, note the comment below about the green South Croydon services not showing as diverted via the new station. (There is a later posting on this web site, where TfL does shows them diverted.)
Please also link to "Light Rail Across Outer North London?" on the 'Brent Cross Coalition' web site.
1) ORBITAL CONNECTIONS TO OLD OAK COMMON
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| (Click to enlarge) |
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| (Southern trains are presumably diverted as well, but TfL cannot say that, because it does not regulate them) |
2) CROSSRAIL TO WEST COAST MAIN LINE
(Wembley Central, Watford Junction, and wherever)
Link to Crossrail Promotional Videos.
Link to HOME (see all posts).
2017-03-25
The Guardian: "How one council is beating Britain's housing crisis"
"Fancy a three-bed semi with a garden for £152,000? Or rent at less than £500 per month? Sheffield is showing other local authorities how to build again"
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| Link to web site |
"In 2015, England's local authorities built fewer than 3,000 new homes, just a tiny fraction of the estimated 250,000 new homes needed every year to meet demand. But one council has begun building again in volume, in what some see as a model for tackling the housing crisis.
"On the outskirts of Sheffield, hundreds of new homes are springing up, built by the council to space standards that have all but disappeared in the private sector. New residents – the majority are 25-35 year olds – say they are impressed by the designs and spaciousness, and enjoy their close proximity to the city.
"But this is not a return to the era of 1950s and 1960s council building. What Sheffield Housing Company (SHC) is doing is partnering with contractors to build low-cost homes for first-time buyers and families alongside houses and flats to rent at affordable prices, and with tenants better protected."
2017-03-24
2017-03-17
Arts Council: "£1.5 million investment announced as Old Oak and Park Royal is chosen as one of 16 'Great Places'"
"Old Oak and Park Royal has been awarded a grant of £1,489,255 from Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund’s Great Place Scheme to ensure that art, culture and heritage are at the heart of the major developments planned for the area.
"The money will support Made in Park Royal, an ambitious and community-focused project from Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC).
Plans for the three-year project include working directly with a pool of 2,000 local volunteers, an engagement programme designed to reach all school children in the area, and community-led research into local heritage.
"Joyce Wilson, London Area Director, Arts Council England, said:
"This is an exciting and timely project that puts culture-led place-making at the heart of one London's largest regeneration schemes. The Great Place Scheme funding will ensure that culture plays a key role in the early stages of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation's programming."The 640 plus hectare development site, which spans the three boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham, will be the largest regeneration site in London, and the only place in the UK where High Speed 2 (HS2) connects with the Elizabeth Line (formally known as Crossrail). OPDC is using the investment in rail infrastructure projects to create new opportunities for people in the area and develop a whole new centre and community for west London.
Made in Park Royal, a world-class arts and heritage programme, will involve the active participation of the whole community. It will enable thousands of artists, local residents and cultural, civic and heritage partners to play a key role in the future regeneration and long term success of the area."
"Victoria Hills, Chief Executive Officer, Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, said:
"This funding is a welcome boost for Park Royal, to celebrate the successes of the UK’s largest industrial site and to ensure local residents and businesses play an authentic role in shaping the future regeneration of the area. As the UK's largest and most vibrant industrial park, we look forward to working with local communities in and around Park Royal to deliver early culture-led regeneration projects as we help businesses prepare for the arrival of the 'superhub' HS2 and Crossrail station.""Stuart Hobley, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said:
"Heritage and culture are fundamental to our sense of self, and our sense of place. This award will ensure that they are both at the very heart of the on-going development and regeneration of Park Royal and Old Oak, and help to build on the success of previous National Lottery investment.""Old Oak and Park Royal is one of sixteen places across England to receive a grant from the Great Place Scheme, a £20-million initiative inspired by the Government's Culture White Paper. Others include the London Borough of Waltham Forest, East Kent, and Reading."
2017-02-26
The Guardian: "The joy of living on top of one another"
"At a time when we need to make better use of space, a new book celebrates the world’s best apartment blocks"
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| Link to web site |
"What better use could there be for an architect’s skills than the design of a block of flats?
"To make a place where lives will be lived, loves lost and found, families raised, friendships made, plotlines developed for unwritten novels and screenplays, all within limitations of space that mean it actually requires some competence to stack up the units in better rather than worse ways – this surely is more worthwhile than to turn out another iconic museum or singular private house.
"It's a particularly pressing question in those parts of Britain where the urgent need for homes encounters the refusal to contemplate building, as previous generations would have done, on any piece of land designated 'green'.
"Instead, more people have to inhabit space formerly occupied by fewer people, which could and should be a good thing, with better use of resources, opportunities for sociability and so on, but it takes thought and care to do it well. It used to be said that Britain is not a nation of flat-dwellers: well, now we are, whether we like it or not, and we had better make the best of it."
2017-02-23
2017-02-15
First Crossrail train runs into Liverpool Street station
The public service starts in May, between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
2017-02-09
BBC: "QPR discuss building new home on site of Linford Christie Stadium"
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| Back of the net |
"Championship side QPR have confirmed they are looking into the possibility of building a new ground on the site of the Linford Christie Stadium.
"Following delays to the proposed regeneration of Old Oak, where the club had been seeking to build a stadium, they are now assessing alternatives.
"One option could be a partnership with athletics club Thames Valley Harriers."
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