Let the People Decide - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

I am very concerned that the brief for entries to the competition doesn't seem to include accessibility for disabled people and best practice. If the three images on the web page are examples of best practice, I despair, as at least two of them have serious access barriers included! I would have hoped that a local disabled people's access group would have been consulted or even include consultations more widely with other access groups or access consultants who are disabled people would have helped identify barriers and criteria. It is dreadful to award prizes to designers and developers who exclude and create barriers for large numbers of our community and it puts the case for inclusive design back even further, instead of mainstreaming it and rewarding innovative and beautiful inclusive projects.

Internationally renowned designer, Wayne Hemingway, will be the star speaker at The Solent Design Awards Ceremony, initiated by the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) on 27th October in Winchester. The event, sponsored by construction company, Warings, will be held at Winchester Town Hall and hosted by Councillor Sean Woodward, the Chairman of PUSH. Two awards recognising ‘Quality Places’ will be presented, alongside a special award for the ‘Community Champion’ – a place or space being voted for now online by the public. The expert judges have already made their choice of the buildings or spaces in the area which add the most value to their communities but the online voting is open until 15th October. The public are being asked to vote for the one in their view which makes the biggest contribution to the community in which it sits. Could it be Wellstead Primary School at Hedge End, Flagstaff Green in Gosport, the University of Portsmouth Library, the Point at Eastleigh or the Chapel Housing Development? Vote today by visiting www.solentdesignawards.co.uk. “Inviting the public to vote is a first for this type of competition here,” says Paul Grover, Chief Executive of the Solent Centre for Architecture and Design, who have organised the competition. “It will be great to see if people agree about what adds most value for the community.” Wayne Hemingway welcomes the inclusion of the public as judges. “Urban design is nothing if it doesn’t work for the community; so I really welcome the Solent Awards as a truly positive step encouraging design to contribute to a sense of place.” “We’re delighted to be sponsoring the Design Awards Ceremony,” says Philippe Jouy, Managing Director of Warings Contractors Ltd. “The Awards highlight how great buildings can make great places and, more importantly, great communities.” ENDS

Solent Design Awards: And the winners are… The Portsmouth University Library extension and Wellstead Primary School in Hedge End, Eastleigh were celebrated as the best “Quality Places” at the first Solent Design Awards Ceremony held in Winchester last night. They were the selection of an expert panel while, in an online ballot by the local community, the “Community Champion” was also Portsmouth University Library. Congratulating the winners, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Chair of PUSH Quality Places Group, sponsors of the Award Scheme, said: “Good design can make great places and these buildings underline that - and the community shares that view, judging by our online poll. I hope that when thinking about future projects all investors and developers, whether public or private, will remember this message and create places which the community can value.” Paul Grover, Chief Executive of the Solent Centre for Architecture and Design (SCA+D), who organised the Awards on behalf of the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH), believes the winners will set design standards for others to follow; “The Solent awards show what can be achieved when all the partners in the design process come together with the intention of creating great places. We were really impressed by the designs on the shortlist and are sure they will act as beacons for others to follow in the future.” Crime novelist PD James, when she opened the new building at Portsmouth University said: “For me the library is at the heart of any institution of learning” –as good a citation for the Solent Design Awards as any. For these awards are the first in the UK to recognise design excellence and how that creates a sense of place which its community values. The Library had to be extended to meet the demands of growing student numbers and their expectations of a high quality learning environment. The new building has added an enhanced IT area, with 250 desktop computers, group study rooms, teaching rooms with the latest training and presentation facilities as well as a cafe. It bridges over the entrance to a public park to which it provides a gateway and is accessed from a new urban square which provides space for students to congregate as well as enjoy an alfresco extension to the cafe in summer. Designed by Penoyre & Prasad and built by VolkerFitzpatrick, it complements the existing building and even includes replicated fortifications from Napoleonic times. Sympathy with the environment as well as with an eye to sustainability, the building has been designed to minimise energy usage having a natural ventilation system, rainwater harvesting and a sedum roof. Sarah Gaventa, Director of Public Space at the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, who chaired the judging panel says: “The Library impressed through its successful marriage of the existing with the new. The best of the old was respected and referenced while creating a bright and light place to study, with the added plus of a high quality green public space which ensures the project is not only of great benefit to students and staff but the wider community of Portsmouth.” The second “Quality Place” was Wellstead Primary School, a new building set on a former farm in the Hedge End housing development in Southampton. Designed by Hampshire County Council’s architects’ department and built by BAM Construction, it is set round a courtyard, with the main teaching block on one side and the administrative and social block on the other. A library and glass passageway completes the four sides. The glass provides the necessary security but at the same time allows the school to be visually connected to the community outside. Sustainable technology giving high environmental performance includes ground source heat pumps, solar heat pumps and smart energy meters. Trees dating back to the days of the farm provide a beautiful backdrop; it’s a lively and well thought out learning environment which adds a central focus for the local community. “As soon as you walk into the school, there’s just a wonderful atmosphere, a building full of buzz and laughter,” says Sarah Gaventa. “The openness of the architecture, the brightness and airiness of the rooms, the quiet and well designed courtyard - all demonstrate the love and care which has gone into creating this elegant building. Any pupil or teacher would be proud to be at this school.”