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Southbank Centre revamp: at last a plan that deserves to succeed Southbank Centre revamp: at last a plan that deserves to succeed
(7 months later)
Allow me, if you will, to take the wheel of the good ship Polemic and guide her through a nimble turn which, if not quite 180 degrees, is certainly more than 90.Allow me, if you will, to take the wheel of the good ship Polemic and guide her through a nimble turn which, if not quite 180 degrees, is certainly more than 90.
Last August I wrote about the brief for making over and adding to the Southbank Centre in London, a document that seemed intent on engulfing the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room with new accommodation, including a slab of shops and eateries necessary to pay for the proposed development. It threatened to suffocate the special qualities of the buildings it was meant to serve, and convert a tract of open public space into yet another simulacrum of the retail zone at Heathrow Terminal 5. Combined with a sketchy process for choosing the architect, some truly terrifying indicative diagrams and a decision not to list the gallery and the hall, the omens were not good.Last August I wrote about the brief for making over and adding to the Southbank Centre in London, a document that seemed intent on engulfing the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room with new accommodation, including a slab of shops and eateries necessary to pay for the proposed development. It threatened to suffocate the special qualities of the buildings it was meant to serve, and convert a tract of open public space into yet another simulacrum of the retail zone at Heathrow Terminal 5. Combined with a sketchy process for choosing the architect, some truly terrifying indicative diagrams and a decision not to list the gallery and the hall, the omens were not good.
Now the chosen architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, have revealed their outline designs. They have taken that obese brief and arranged it in such a way that not only can the older buildings still breathe, but they can in some ways fulfil their original intentions better than ever. Their proposals also give precedence to new cultural facilities over the endless cheeping of the cash registers and credit card readers that pay for them.Now the chosen architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, have revealed their outline designs. They have taken that obese brief and arranged it in such a way that not only can the older buildings still breathe, but they can in some ways fulfil their original intentions better than ever. Their proposals also give precedence to new cultural facilities over the endless cheeping of the cash registers and credit card readers that pay for them.
Their boldest move is to put a big glass box in the air – almost as high as the roof of the neighbouring Royal Festival Hall – to house rehearsal space for a full orchestra, choir and, when desired, a small audience. It makes prominent the usually hidden business of preparing for orchestral performance. It could be something really remarkable, a back room in the sky. Beneath the glass box is a large glass foyer built on what is currently open space between the concert halls and the gallery. Off to one side is a "liner building", a long oblong alongside Waterloo Bridge that contains a poetry library, a new literature centre and two restaurants. In the undercroft, an extensive zone populated by distinctive mushroom-shaped concrete columns, "new venues" are promised for "artistic and cultural uses" – as well as plenty of the inevitable retail, food and beverage.Their boldest move is to put a big glass box in the air – almost as high as the roof of the neighbouring Royal Festival Hall – to house rehearsal space for a full orchestra, choir and, when desired, a small audience. It makes prominent the usually hidden business of preparing for orchestral performance. It could be something really remarkable, a back room in the sky. Beneath the glass box is a large glass foyer built on what is currently open space between the concert halls and the gallery. Off to one side is a "liner building", a long oblong alongside Waterloo Bridge that contains a poetry library, a new literature centre and two restaurants. In the undercroft, an extensive zone populated by distinctive mushroom-shaped concrete columns, "new venues" are promised for "artistic and cultural uses" – as well as plenty of the inevitable retail, food and beverage.
Reasonable moves are made, such as improving connections to Waterloo Bridge and moving the main service road to a less obtrusive location. The upper decks of the existing buildings are made more accessible, and some wholly new public areas would be created. Practical improvements to such things as back-of-house facilities and disabled access, which are actually the main driving force behind the plans, would be made.Reasonable moves are made, such as improving connections to Waterloo Bridge and moving the main service road to a less obtrusive location. The upper decks of the existing buildings are made more accessible, and some wholly new public areas would be created. Practical improvements to such things as back-of-house facilities and disabled access, which are actually the main driving force behind the plans, would be made.
The good thing about the FCBS proposals is that they do their best to honour the original concept of the Hayward and Queen Elizabeth Hall, created 50 years ago by young architects working for the London County Council. The concrete decks and terraces were always seen as places for the public to scramble over, which will now be more possible than ever. The complex was always seen not as a fixed architectural object but as something future users could add to and adapt, and the proposed glass boxes, though startlingly large, are in the same spirit of stacking up and addition. The new glass foyer could be a killer, a mall-like, blandifying, deadening zone, but the architects promise that its character will be formed by the rugged geology of the original balconies and terraces butting into it. Dennis Crompton, one of the original LCC architects, has declared himself pleased with the overall scheme.The good thing about the FCBS proposals is that they do their best to honour the original concept of the Hayward and Queen Elizabeth Hall, created 50 years ago by young architects working for the London County Council. The concrete decks and terraces were always seen as places for the public to scramble over, which will now be more possible than ever. The complex was always seen not as a fixed architectural object but as something future users could add to and adapt, and the proposed glass boxes, though startlingly large, are in the same spirit of stacking up and addition. The new glass foyer could be a killer, a mall-like, blandifying, deadening zone, but the architects promise that its character will be formed by the rugged geology of the original balconies and terraces butting into it. Dennis Crompton, one of the original LCC architects, has declared himself pleased with the overall scheme.
It remains the case that the proposed future Southbank is a place overloaded with buying and selling, with importuning and attention-grabbing, the result not only of the need to raise money from commercial uses, but also from a horror vacui, the tendency to see more and more people and activities as the main sign of cultural achievement. The place is heaving already – wouldn't it also be good to be able to stop and think? Meanwhile the skateboarders and graffiti artists who have long colonised the undercroft are to be moved out and offered a nearby site instead. A lot will also depend on the way the designs develop. What we have now is an intelligent arrangement of spaces which could succeed or fail in its detail. If the new structures feel like well-mannered faculty buildings in modern universities, of which Feilden Clegg Bradley have designed quite a few, they won't be sufficient, though neither should they be gratuitously awkward. It's a question of touch, of responding to the personality of the place, and also grace – how to allow a riot of activities without the place becoming a junkyard. The drawings currently show tents and banners on the terraces, worn cliches of public festivity. The thinking will have to get smarter than that.It remains the case that the proposed future Southbank is a place overloaded with buying and selling, with importuning and attention-grabbing, the result not only of the need to raise money from commercial uses, but also from a horror vacui, the tendency to see more and more people and activities as the main sign of cultural achievement. The place is heaving already – wouldn't it also be good to be able to stop and think? Meanwhile the skateboarders and graffiti artists who have long colonised the undercroft are to be moved out and offered a nearby site instead. A lot will also depend on the way the designs develop. What we have now is an intelligent arrangement of spaces which could succeed or fail in its detail. If the new structures feel like well-mannered faculty buildings in modern universities, of which Feilden Clegg Bradley have designed quite a few, they won't be sufficient, though neither should they be gratuitously awkward. It's a question of touch, of responding to the personality of the place, and also grace – how to allow a riot of activities without the place becoming a junkyard. The drawings currently show tents and banners on the terraces, worn cliches of public festivity. The thinking will have to get smarter than that.
Unfortunately, due to a severe timescale imposed by public funders, there's not much time to develop the architectural intelligence of the project – a detailed planning application has to be made in May. There also has to be some doubt whether the sums will add up – the Arts Council has offered £20m against an estimated cost of £118m, which leaves an awful lot more to find.Unfortunately, due to a severe timescale imposed by public funders, there's not much time to develop the architectural intelligence of the project – a detailed planning application has to be made in May. There also has to be some doubt whether the sums will add up – the Arts Council has offered £20m against an estimated cost of £118m, which leaves an awful lot more to find.
I have, however, been invited several times to present myself at the Southbank's artists' entrance so that I can be briefed on new visions for the site. This has been going on for a quarter century. The current one makes more sense than any before, and although it badly needs to be de-saturated, and receive considerably more (if unlikely) state generosity, it deserves to succeed.I have, however, been invited several times to present myself at the Southbank's artists' entrance so that I can be briefed on new visions for the site. This has been going on for a quarter century. The current one makes more sense than any before, and although it badly needs to be de-saturated, and receive considerably more (if unlikely) state generosity, it deserves to succeed.
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