NEWS: 2007

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December 2007: Crisis Open Christmas 2007

December 2007: Our masterplan for Penarth Heights gets planning permission

December 2007: ECA's Annual Big Draw: A new icon for London

November 2007: ECA's Simon Feneley wins Architecture as Art photography competition

October 2007: Edward Cullinan Architects named top employer in Building Good Employer Guide

October 2007: Ted Cullinan 2008 RIBA Gold Medallist

ECA members raise money and awareness for Diabetes UK, Cancer Research UK and CRISIS

Robin Nicholson, long standing Director of ECA has been appointed to the Board of the NHBC

Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer unveils foundation stone for WMG's new multi-disciplinary digital laboratory

The Barge Arm in Gloucester Docks receives a commendation at The Mail on Sunday British Homes Awards

Bristol City Council approves the third phase of our Masterplan for Bristol Harbourside

Sir Simon Rattle officially opens the ECA designed New Music Centre for the Purcell School of Music

Featured on the New 50p Stamp

A group from Edward Cullinan Architects have been busy painting and refurbishing an empty office space to be used as one of the centres for the 2007 Crisis Open Christmas.

Each year Crisis opens centres where homeless people or people living in hostel accommodation can spend the Christmas week. The centres provide warmth, companionship and a wide variety of essential services that homeless people usually don't have access to.

To find out more about what Crisis do and how you can contribute visit their website.

Edward Cullinan Architects masterplan for Penarth Heights (south of Cardiff) received planning permission on 13th December.

The scheme is a flagship economic regeneration project for the local council to replace the derelict 1960's 'Billybanks' housing estate, creating a new and distinct residential quarter in Penarth that is integrated with a strong landscape 'shared space' concept. Our masterplan consists of 235 houses, interspersed with 142 flats in apartment buildings in key locations. 20% of the dwellings will be Affordable Housing.

On the 5th of December ECA held its annual Big Draw day. This year the brief was inspired by the Transport for London competition to design a new bus shelter for London.

The brief required that the bus shelter designs to be functional and iconic. After one days work the ECA design teams came up with several interesting proposals.

The winners of the Architecture as Art photography competition have been announced with ECA's Simon Feneley winning the 'Architecture and People' category with his picture "Basement view of shoppers" (below), which he took at the Apple flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York recently.

This is the first year that the competition has been run and it was open to all qualified and part II architects. The judging panel that was chaired by Jack Pringle received 250 entries across two category's. International Art Consultants who ran the competition hope to build on this years success next year.

Edward Cullinan Architects was recently named one of the best employers in the British construction industry.

The best firms were selected according to how their staff rated them in a confidential questionnaire and on data collected on demographics, values, and perks. The results of the Good Employer Survey were published in October 2007.

Edward Cullinan Architects scored consistently very well. Getting top marks for paternity leave and holidays (after a years service) as well as general satisfaction.

"When it came to variations between individual companies, the results were more pronounced; among the best firms such as Rider Levett Bucknall and Ramboll Whitbybird, but the highest level of general satisfaction was reached by the staff of Edward Cullinan Architects, who reported extraordinary levels of inspiration and the ability to contribute."

On Tuesday the 9th of October the President of the RIBA announced that they have honoured Ted Cullinan, his work, his contribution to architecture and his teaching by awarding him the 2008 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, and we are all delighted.

Ted says 'I've been practicing at Architecture for fifty five years; now you're going to give me the real (gold) thing. Thank you fellow architects for appreciating the value of a general practitioner'.

Given in recognition of a lifetime's work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen and is awarded annually to a person or group of people whose influence on architecture has had a truly international effect. The award is for a body of work, rather than for one building or for an architect who is currently fashionable. Previous winners include Le Corbusier (1953), Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1925), Frank Gehry (2000), Archigram (2002), Frei Otto (2005), Toyo Ito (2006)and Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (2007).

Ted will receive the 2008 Royal Gold Medal in February next year.

Throughout June members of our office have been doing their bit to raise money and awareness for their chosen cause.

Claire Herniman raised £553 through taking part in the Diabetes UK walk in the park.

Chris Johnson completed the Blenheim Triathlon, raising £407 for Cancer research UK. He finished the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5.4km run in 01:35:25.

And Javier Valladares, Jo Nuttall, Dan Rigamonti, Philip Garham and Ed McCann raised £280 for CRISIS by taking part in the Square Mile Run to raise money and awareness for London' s homeless. Javier was first across the finish line out of over 1800 people that participated.

Robin Nicholson CBE, CABE Commissioner and long-standing Director of Edward Cullinan Architects, has been appointed to NHBC's Board.

Commenting on his appointment Nicholson said, "I am delighted to be joining the NHBC Board. It as an extremely exciting and challenging time for the house-building industry with issues surrounding sustainability dominating the housing agenda. In my role as Board member I aim to fully support NHBC in its drive to assist the industry in meeting its sustainability targets and in particular in helping UK house builders achieve zero carbon new homes by 2016."

Announcing the change, NHBC Chairman Sir John Carter said: "We are very pleased to welcome Robin Nicholson to NHBC' s Board. His expertise in sustainable design will be extremely valuable in NHBC' s delivery of authoritative research and guidance to help the industry meet the challenges of the sustainability and zero carbon agendas."

On Sunday the 20th of May Gordon Brown Chancellor of the Exchequer laid the foundation stone for a new multi-disciplinary digital laboratory, designed by Edward Cullinan Architects for the WMG at the University Of Warwick.

The Warwick Digital Laboratory building is part of a £50 Million project which will provide a high quality research and knowledge transfer environment that will allow researchers to develop techniques that will place consumers right inside a "mass customization" production process for a vast range of future products. Speaking about the lab Gordon Brown said: " I am delighted that this pioneering facility is being built here at Warwick University where there is such a great history of innovation." The Digital laboratory will form a new academic courtyard with the ECA designed International Manufacturing Centre.

For further information on this project can be found on the Warwick Digital Lab's website.

The Barge Arm in the historic Gloucester Docks by Edward Cullinan Architects/ Crest Nicholson (South West) received a commendation (apartment of the year) at The mail on Sunday British homes Awards on Thursday 31 May 2007

For more information about the awards visit British Homes Awards

A further piece of the jigsaw is set to be put in place, following Bristol City Council Planning Committee's resolution on 4th April to approve the third phase of our Masterplan for Bristol Harbourside.

This includes an apartment building of affordable housing, accompanied by a proposal by artists San façon for an 'Urban Parterre' of ruderal plants to unify the space at the edge of the site.

Following a twenty year relationship between client and architects, a new music centre, designed by Edward Cullinan Architects, for the Purcell School of Music has been offically opened.

On 16th May 2007, to mark the opening of the building the Purcell Symphony Orchestra were conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and played a new work composed by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for the occasion.

The new £2.6m Music Centre provides state of the art facilities for one of the country's leading specialist schools for talented young musicians; comprising a recital room, instrumental and academic teaching rooms,a recording suite, and associated accommodation.

Coinciding with Architecture Week The Royal Mail has released a set of stamps showcasing the best of British architecture in this millennium. Edward Cullinan Architects Downland Gridshell, Weald and Downland Museum (Chichester) has been chosen for the 50p stamp.

Other buildings selected to represent the best of British architecture in this series include: Norman Foster and Partners 30 St Mary Axe (also known as The Gherkin, City of London), Future Systems design of Selfridges (Birmingham), Terry Farrell & Partners' The Deep (Hull), Sutherland Hussey Architects wonderful An Turas Tiree (Western Isles), and Maggie's Centre (Dundee) by Frank Gehry and James F Stephen.

Further information on the Downland Gridshell can be found in Projects.