Staff 12/05
David Duca, who has been contributing to the public transport infrastructure at Whitecity for nearly three years is moving back to Switzerland; and after six years playing a key role on the Whitecity project, Myshkin Clarke Hall has decided to take a long break and is leaving the office.
British Council of Offices 12/05
Ian Ritchie will be talking on Regeneration at the BCO Conference being held in Dublin on May 11th and 12th 2006.
www.bco.org.uk/html/events/events_fs.html
Woodberry Down 11/05
Ian Ritchie Architects designed a tower containing 100 apartments as their contribution to the successful mixed development bid by Berkeley Homes to regenerate Woodberry Down, Hackney.
www.berkeleyhomes.co.uk
www.hackney.gov.uk
RIBA Part III 11/05
Robin Cross and Lisa Silver both passed brilliantly the Part III exams.
Whitecity 10/05
October 21st 2005, Westfield, Multiplex and Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd agreed the following Press statement:
“As a result of changes in the ownership of The White City project, Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd are no longer involved with the main scheme of retail and leisure. They are continuing as architects for most of the new public transport elements and some external works of the White City project.”
Potters Fields, London 10/05
The design of the mixed-use development for Berkeley Homes received total support in the announcement from the ODPM’s office, which included an outstanding endorsement from the Inquiry Inspector, Mr Reid, in his report.
AJ 12-10-2005RSC Courtyard Theatre 10/05
When the RSC Board decided to build a 1050 seat theatre last October, the challenge was to design it, obtain planning permission and build it within 16 months. It is on schedule to be completed in April 2006, and the new Courtyard Theatre enclosure is nearly complete, and interior works have commenced. The transformation of The Other Place theatre into the new foyer, booking office, bars, shop and theatre support spaces has also begun on site.
Westminster Academy 4 10/05
ARK have received confirmation from the DfES that the Westminster City Acdemy 4 can now proceed to full design and Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd will be working closely with ARK, Arup structures (David Glover) and Arup services (Andy Sedgwick) and DL cost consultants (Rob Knight). www.arkonline.org
Design and Sustainability 09/05
The Publishing Group, Faenza, Italy, has organised an International Architecture Award for design and sustainability, titled “Innovative Architectures: Design and Sustainability”. Ian Ritchie has accepted to chair the jury which will take place in Faenza 20-21st January 2006.
The deadline for submissions is noon 12-12-2005: email concorso@faenza.com
The application form is also available at: www.faenza.com
The aim of the competition is to identify and reward the best architectural solutions incorporating one or several technological façade systems which suggest a holistic synthesis of design and intelligent technology. Completed projects by the competition deadline are eligible. There is also a student competition. Prizes total €10,000.
Prix Compasso Volante, Paris 2005 09/05
Ian Ritchie will preside over the jury for the Prix Compasso Volante international student design competition between students at the schools of architecture in China - Tsinghua University, Beijing; South Korea - Hanyang University, Seoul; Italy - Milan Polytechnic and France - Lille, and Paris La Villette schools. The Award takes place in Paris, October 1st.
ARK 08/05
Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd have been selected as one of ARK's ( Absolute Return for Kids) framework architects for future City Academy projects that ARK plan to build as part of the DfES programme.
www.arkonline.org
The BA Festival of Science 08/05
The British Association of Science Week in 2005 takes place in Dublin (3-10 September).
The BA Festival of Science is one of the UK's biggest science festivals. It attracts 400 of the best scientists and science communicators from home and abroad who reveal the latest developments in research to a general audience.
Ian Ritchie will debate the relative values of design, marketing and engineering at Trinity college on 6th September.
www.the-ba.net/the-ba
Shakespeare ‘Out of the Woods’ 08/05
Saturday September 24th 11.30am - 12.30pm
Homeless and confused, the characters in Shakespeare’s comedies are cast into a magical exile. If Shakespeare were writing now where would he make his characters run to? Join Theatre designer, Tom Piper, Architect, Ian Ritchie, Actor, Lia Williams and Adam Sampson, Director of Shelter to ask where the new realms of exile and mystery are? Hosted by RSC associate Director Dominic Cooke.
www.rsc.org.uk
Visiting Professors in Building Physics The Arup Foundation 08/05
The Ove Arup Foundation has initiated a new programme within a number of the UK's top university engineering departments, by inviting their interest in appointing a Visiting Professor of Building Engineering Physics. The aim is to enable good engineering departments to increase the interdisciplinary nature of their courses through laying greater stress on building services engineering. Ultimately, we want to see a much bigger pool of very bright engineers embarking on a career in a field of engineering that is growing all the time in its significance both to our built environment and to building the base for a sustainable future.
Arup Foundation hope to be in a position soon, by joining forces with other parties with whom they are currently in negotiation, to fund two or more posts. Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd. has committed its support, along with the Royal Academy of Engineers (www.raeng.org.uk) Buro Happold
Dublin Courts 07/05
The Irish Courts Consortium, in which Ian Ritchie Architects are lead design consultant, have been selected as one of three PFI consortia to prepare proposals for Ireland's new Criminal Courts Complex in Dublin.
George Wimpey 07/05
George Wimpey (www.georgewimpey.co.uk) have engaged Ian Ritchie Architects Ltd to design a new residential scheme for an 800m long Thames riverside site.
RA Summer Exhibition 06/05
The theme of this year’s exhibition is “multiples”.
3 new etchings by Ian Ritchie - RSC Courtyard Theatre, Rocket Junction, Liverpool, and France-Japan Monument are exhibited. Also on show is a specially commissioned large, illuminated model of the Leipzig Glass Hall which was designed in 1992 and completed in 1995. It is the largest glass hall in the world - it is a vault of suspended colourless glass 275m long, 80m wide and nearly 30m high. It has a few elements that are repeated thousands of times.
The 96pp colour publication (1997) by Ellipsis: The Biggest Glass Hall in the World, written by Ian Ritchie with an introduction by Ingerid Helsing Almaas will be available at Royal Academy shop during the exhibition.
RSC Courtyard Theatre 05/05
Site construction begins on the temporary theatre for the RSC.
It will have 1040 seats, and be completed in Spring 2006 in time for the RSC’s ambitious festival of the complete works of Shakespeare.
Istanbul Lecture 04/05
At the invitation of the Building Information Centre, Istanbul, Ian Ritchie will give a lecture on 27th April in Istanbul entitled Design and Innovation.
This lecture will be found under ‘practice/lectures.’
Moscow Lecture 04/05
At the invitation of EDAS kirpichev, Moscow, Ian Ritchie will give a lecture on 11th April in Moscow entitled ethics, Design and Innovation.
West London Line Station 04/05
The new Network Rail station at Shepherds Bush begins construction.
Representatives of Westfield, Network Rail, Silverlink and the London Boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea along with the design team of Ian Ritchie Architects, Waterman Burrow Crocker and Rail Project managers Symonds attended a launch event at Whitecity on April 13th 2005.
The Courtyard Theatre - the RSC’s temporary Stratford home 03/05
The RSC today named the temporary theatre that will be home to the RSC’s main ensemble during the transformation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
The announcement follows a meeting on 10 March with the Stratford-on-Avon District Council Central Area Planning Committee who granted planning permission for the temporary theatre.
Work is due to start on the 1,000 seat courtyard theatre later this year. It will be completed in time for the RSC’s Complete Works of Shakespeare Festival in 2006 and take over as the Company’s main theatre in Stratford from 2007.
The Courtyard Theatre will be built as an extension to The Other Place - currently the RSC’s 150-seat studio theatre in Stratford. The new building will incorporate a new 1,000 seat auditorium, while the existing Other Place auditorium will house its foyer space, cloakroom, bar areas, dressing room and rehearsal space.
The new building has been designed by Ian Ritchie Architects, whose most recent projects include The Spire in Dublin and the new production centre at the Plymouth Theatre Royal. The Courtyard theatre’s walls will be built in ‘Corten A’ steel sheets creating a sound-proof auditorium to meet the RSC’s high acoustic requirements. This recyclable material was chosen so that its red colour blends with the surrounding buildings. The thrust-stage auditorium design is based on an original concept by the RSC.
Michael Boyd, Artistic Director said:
“The Courtyard Theatre will be an exciting theatrical space and a prototype for the stage in the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The name reflects our ambition to create an auditorium that mirrors the intimacy of the courtyard theatres Shakespeare wrote for.”
“We’ve always been committed to continuing to perform in Stratford while we transform the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. It’s important for the RSC and also for the economic health of the region. Although temporary, The Courtyard Theatre will have all the facilities audiences and artists expect from the RSC.”
“Once the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is complete in 2009 The Courtyard Theatre will close and The Other Place will return to its current role as the RSC’s studio theatre for new and experimental work.”
For further details contact:
Jane Ellis, Communications Manager
01789-412668 or 07966-295032
jane.ellis@rsc.org.uk
Roger Mortlock, Director of Communications
01789-412667 or 07980-758903
roger.mortlock@rsc.org.uk
Information on The Courtyard Theatre design:
- - The auditorium will have a thrust-stage with the audience wrapped around
- - The auditorium will seat 1,000 people
- - The auditorium will be built on the car park adjacent to the current TOP building with the audience entering the auditorium through the existing TOP building and a rear entrance at the back of the building
- - The current TOP theatre space will be transformed into a double level foyer and bar area, additional cloakrooms, toilets, and actors’ changing facilities
- - The theatre will be fully sound proofed and climate controlled
- - The auditorium external structure is built from more than 90% recycled steel
An artist’s impression of the auditorium of The Courtyard Theatre and a visualization of the exterior are available from the Electronic Press Office at www.epo-online.com
Ian Ritchie: Architects Council of Europe representative on ECTP 02/05
Ian Ritchie appointed as Architects Council of Europe representative on the European Construction Technology Platform, High Level Group.
The Architects Council of Europe (ACE) has secured a seat on the High Level Group (HLG) of the newly established European Construction Technology Platform for a representative of the profession. The ACE has nominated Ian Ritchie to fulfil this role in the ECTP High Level Group.
The objective of the Platform is to develop a Vision 2030 for the construction sector and to devise a Strategic Research Agenda for the achievement of that vision.
The HLG brings together the high level representatives of the construction industry from all over Europe, together with the Commissioner for Research of the EU, Ministers of the Member States, Members of the European Parliament and high level representatives of civil society.
The ACE is deeply involved in the work to set up the platform and is leading the work on Urban Issues within the ECTP. The ACE is the representative organisation for the architectural profession in Europe whose Members are the Professional Representative Organisations from all of the EU Member States and Norway and Switzerland. As such it represents about 450,000 architects from Europe.
The HLG will meet twice a year to ensure that the Platform is going in the right strategic direction.
Moscow lecture in April 02/05
Ian Ritchie will be giving a lecture at the EDAS Moscow Postgraduate School of Architecture on 8 April 2005.
www.ikp.ru/eng/247/
Istanbul Lecture in April at The Building Information Centre 02/05
The Building Information Centre has invited Ian Ritchie to lecture in Istanbul on 28 April 2005. The Building Information Centre is an information centre which has served the construction sector for 37 years by forming a common platform for the industry; and is a unique media group which organises construction fairs, meetings and symposiums, publishes technical journals and periodicals and produces professional information. These lectures generally attract a 750+ audience of architects and students.
www.yem.net/yem/english/
Ian Ritchie RA: Design Ethics and Innovation 01/05
Ian Ritchie RA, the Royal Academy’s Professor of Architecture, explores and challenges the meanings of some of the complex and contradictory issues that confront designers today such as progress, consumerism and sustainability. He will include examples of how his architecture and ideas attempt to focus these issues through the physical and ephemeral materials with which the architecture is made.
Geological Society, Piccadilly, W1
Monday 31 January
6.30 - 7.30pm
£10/£5 students (incl. a drink)
For information or to book please call 020 7300 5839