sjhoward.co.uk » Architecture

Photo-a-day 22: Sage

85 words posted by Simon on 22 January 2012

This is a roof detail of Norman Foster’s £70m Sage Gateshead, home to the very fine Northern Sinfonia (lead by the charismatic Austrian Thomas Zehetmair) much more besides. It is undoubtedly one of the country’s finest music venues. Hall One’s acoustics are sublime, and whilst I’m personally less keen on Hall Two, the ten-sided performance space is still architecturally impressive.

Also, the Sir Michael Straker on the concourse is a great place to sit and work in relatively quiet café surroundings with free wifi.

This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2012, Architecture, Gateshead, Music, The Glasshouse ICM, Tourist Attractions.

Thomas Docherty MP on Big Ben collapsing

62 words posted by Simon on 22 January 2012

The House of Commons authorities would be surprised if the clock tower fell into the Thames any time soon. It may well be raised with the Speaker on Monday. Given that Big Ben is situated over the Speaker’s apartments, he may have a view on it.

Thomas Docherty, a Labour MP on the Commons administration committee, according to this Sunday Times article.

This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Politics, Quotes, Architecture, Big Ben, London, Parliament, Politics, Thomas Docherty.

Photo-a-day 21: Central Arcade

11 words posted by Simon on 21 January 2012

Newcastle’s 1906 Central Arcade seems as busy today as ever!

This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2012, Architecture, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tourist Attractions.

Photo-a-day 20: Bank of England

105 words posted by Simon on 20 January 2012

This sad-looking Brutalist monolith is the former Newcastle-upon-Tyne branch of the Bank of England. It opened in 1971, and closed in 1997 when the Bank restructured.

It is to be demolished shortly, but – interestingly – the former gold bullion vaults underneath it are too strong to viably demolish, and so are to be left in place.

I would have thought that vaults of such strength would be enormously valuable to someone for something – even repurposed as a strong-walled emergency command centre or similar – but there they are, lying empty. And, it seems, there they will stay for many years to come!

This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2012, Architecture, Brutalism, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Photo-a-day 4: i

33 words posted by Simon on 4 January 2012

This building, especially the i on top, always reminds me of those theme park strategy sims, like Rollercoaster Tycoon and Theme Park. In reality, it’s in the middle of Teesside Retail Park.

This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2012, Architecture, Gaming, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside Retail Park, Theme Park.

Quote of the day

58 words posted by Simon on 31 December 2011

Were the Occupy protests about economic protest and attempting to right wrongs? Or were they harmless, spontaneous gatherings because people are lonely and were in need of a bit of excitement in their cities?

Tyler Brûlé, in his latest Fast Lane column, attributes the Occupy movement to uninspiring architecture whilst imitating the Queen. I think he’s finally cracked.

This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Architecture, Occupy movement, Tyler Brûlė.