Secretary of State to decide fate of Derby Assembly Rooms

PDP_Derby Assembly Rooms

Councillors have backed controversial plans to demolish the 1970s Derby Assembly Rooms but have handed the final decision to the Secretary of State. Planning & Design Practice Ltd Managing Director Jonathan Jenkin writes about this latest development.

In a personal capacity I objected to the demolition of the Derby Assembly rooms because I felt that the building could be retained either as a venue or be available for re-purposing. I spoke at the meeting and I asked members consider using the building as part of the revival of the city centre rather than turning their backs on the building. The council has declared a climate emergency. Demolishing this building and building new will exacerbate climate change not reduce it and will see the waste of a building which could be re-purposed or continue to be used.

The reason the council want to demolish the building is that the proposed major refurbishment of the building has become too expensive. This refurbishment is not about re-opening the doors, it is to re-make the Assembly Rooms as a performance venue that is future proof rather than being willing to use what is there. The refurbishment would take at least a couple of years and the costs have ballooned because the works must last at least 15 years and that brings into question the original construction of the building.

It is complex situation but the council has not looked at repairing what is there and opening the doors. We need to revive the city centre now and the building can help and not hinder the revival as it will do if it is abandoned. In 2014 the building was operating and was safe. The ground floor of the building continued to be used until 2018 and parts of the building could be re-opened tomorrow and thus breathe new life into Market Square.

The council are committing to the proposed Becketwell venue on the edge of the city centre and there is no need for two city centre performance venues. This I believe has affected the decision making process and make the Assembly Rooms seem less important. It must be considered that the St James Securities venue may never be built and while waiting for the new venue the Assembly Rooms will deteriorate and the city centre will suffer.

The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State. This provides a second opportunity to object to the proposed demolition. I call on all those who want to save the building to push for a further report on the building with the aim of re-opening the doors and in the meantime for the council to re-open those parts of the building including providing short term leases for the former restaurant and the tourist information centre so these and any other parts of the building can re-open this summer.

Jonathan Jenkin, Managing Director, Planning & Design Practice Ltd

Derby Assembly Rooms

NDSA – Round table discussion on Government’s Planning White Paper

PDP_NDSA Planning White paper

Our Managing Director, Jonathan Jenkin recently joined an expert guest panel to look at the potential implications of the Government’s planning white paper on the built environment and it’s possible impact on the architecture profession.

The Nottingham and Derby Society of Architects – NDSA – recently hosted a live Round Table Discussion with an expert panel of consultants, architects, planners, planning committee officers and other built environment stakeholders and professionals. This was a first of it’s kind for the NDSA in terms of format but also in the comprehensiveness and complexity of the issues raised.

We are very fortunate to have had the time of those who participated. Both the effectiveness of the format and the power of debate is evidenced in the results of our opening and closing poll, which asked attendees of their views on the White Paper.

Included within the guest panel in running order were:

  • Philip Waddy, Chair of RIBA National Planning Group and Managing Director of WWA Studios
  • Laura Alvarez, East Midlands Convenor for the Urban Design Group and Senior Principal Urban Design and Conservation Officer at Nottingham City Council
  • Jonathan Jenkin, Managing Director of Planning Design Ltd
  • Linda Woodings, Basford Ward Councillor and Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage
  • Jamie King, Founder and Director of Nottinghamshire based practice KOR Architects
  • Pavlos Kotsonis, Planning Committee member and Nottingham City Councillor
  • David Birkbeck, Design for Homes director and co-author of Building for Life

It was our hope that the NDSA, as a group working together within the architecture profession and as representatives of the two counties RIBA membership, that we could provide a platform for healthy debate and discussion and ultimately for us all to come away with an improved understanding of the key areas contained within the White Paper. What the proposals mean for us as industry professionals but also the broader implications were something we had hoped to be highlighted throughout the event.

The evening began by handing each guest speaker the floor to lay out in succession their own understanding of the White paper and possible implications, drawing from their respective areas of experience and expertise. From this we were able to pull together a very rounded view, one which was otherwise inaccessible to us.

The panelists were previously asked to draw our audiences towards specific areas of attention, concern or intrigue. From this, we successfully learned much about the content and nature of the 80 page document issued by the government in Autumn of 2020.

Following the round of presentations we moved into open dialogue amongst the panelists themselves, who had the opportunity to expand upon key points and the overlapping topics to emerge from the run of presentations. The panelists also had the opportunity to present a counter argument to some of the positions adopted on the White Paper by their fellow speakers.

The event featured a live Q&A where those in attendance were able to pose questions directly to the panelists. Permitting our membership the opportunity to engage directly in the debate is a feature in all our live events, which on this occasion was moderated by NDSA Committee Officer Sara Saadouni.

We opened and concluded the event with a poll, asking if attendees were generally for, against or undecided on the overall content of the White Paper. The results read as follows:

Opening poll results:

  • For: 26%
  • Against: 21%
  • Undecided: 53%

Closing poll result:

  • For: 18%
  • Against: 68%
  • Undecided: 14%

At subsequent Committee meetings and upon much reflection, the NDSA felt the event showed that the complexity of the subjects covered raised questions over how RIBA members are generally informed but also represented at a National level. Some work is now under way by the NDSA to examine how this arrangement can be improved upon.

This event was recorded and is available for free to all on the NDSA website and on their YouTube channel.

Engaging with NDSA

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As current office holders of the NDSA, we are committed to providing a progressive, inclusive platform through which we can positively engage the architectural profession and broader community. We hope that by directly involving our membership with key stakeholders within our industry, we can stimulate critical and constructive debate to ultimately make meaningful contributions towards the betterment of the places we all live.

We have been working towards realising these goals by developing a number of mechanisms around active contributors of The Committee, drawing on intellectually engaging guest speakers with local connections. We have reviewed, replaced and reinvented some established NDSA traditions along the way.

This has manifested itself in a number of ways, some of which are outlined below.

NDSA – Digital presence

We have expanded our social media presence, with a distribution of responsibilities across various Committee members. We are currently expanding our outreach capabilities by working with proven online platforms in an effort to deliver quality content. Please like, share, connect, subscribe or follow our profiles and content wherever possible, it directly helps us to grow our audience and fulfill our mission to promote local talent. We also readily welcome contributions from our membership, so if you would like to write an article, present a project or something else, please get in touch. We are currently active on the following platforms:

YouTube
LinkedIn
Instagram
Twitter

Urban Room

This is a critically useful facility used by the NDSA for a range of functions throughout the year. Through a local partnership (involving Nottingham City Council, English Heritage, Historic England, University of Nottingham & Nottingham Trent University) we make use of Nottingham’s Urban Room, an initiative derived from The Farrell Review (http://www.farrellreview.co.uk), a blueprint for a successful civic space, the goals of which are to help further progressive surrounding urbanism through community engagement. As designers we utilise this space to challenge the consequences of our role in the development of, and participation in, our Urban Realm.

For the Website of the Urban Room please visit https://www.38carringtonstreet.org.uk

Exhibits

NDSA Chair Joshua von Fragstein hosted the inaugural Derby Architecture Celebration (link). The event was well attended with many guests bracing the terrible weather and traffic chaos from the sudden closure of Clifton Bridge in Nottingham. Hosted at the Derby Museums and with guest speakers travelling nationally to deliver presentations on their exceptional Derby & Derbyshire based projects, the evening set a new standard for the NDSA. We aim to build upon the success of this exhibition to host more like it in the future

A snapshot article of the event can be found here on our website:

Student Awards

The NDSA Committee agreed to discontinue the £300 one off cash prize traditionally handed out annually to a student at UoN & NTU each year, replacing it instead with an annual event centred around winning students, chosen from a Values & Principles based selection criteria.

The proposal was successful in being awarded RIBA Local Iniative Fund finances to host. It took the format of a set of presentations of winning projects by successful students, accompanied by local, regional or national intra-industry professionals whose expertise and areas of research interests have clear cross overs with the themes within the winning projects.

The presentations were followed by a period of networking, affording the students the opportunity to meet with and speak to the industry wide professionals invited to the event.

The event was successful in bringing together the students at the conclusion of their studies, with professionals from complementing disciplines who provided positive, progressive feedback on the projects. The students obtained an extended avenue of professional advice and support with digital records of their presentation being hosted online by the NDSA.

Education Officers Michael Hodgson & Ayesha Batool worked tirelessly with the supporting Work Group members Joshua, Rory and myself to shortlist the end of year projects from multiple courses across both Nottingham Based Universities and coordinate the subsequent event.

A brief clip capturing reflections from our Guest Panelists can be found here.

History

Work is under way to digitally archive the full history of the NDSA. Chinzia Russo, Mark Jermy & Josh von Fragstein have begun a long term effort to catalogue and make freely available the history of the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Society of Architects. This archiving exercise has doubled as a research project, with Michael Hodgson unearthing notable NDSA officers and the respective roles they had in society. This work will be hosted and maintained on the NDSA website.

Solvency

Committee member Rory Wood has worked hard to reconnect the NDSA with construction industry partners, enabling us to obtain the necessary finances to maintain operations. A Summer BBQ was held, acting as a kick starter for the new committee. Many society members and industry partners met to offer suggestions and pledge their support. Sponsorship’s for forthcoming events were a key indicator of the successes from this event. Having started out this tenure with no capital surpluses and only minimal reserves, the work of Rory has been instrumental in securing the functionality of the NDSA. We offer sponsorship opportunities for our events, publications and online platforms in order to secure the short, medium and long term future of the NDSA. While the NDSA is run on the goodwill of volunteers, who give up their time to be part of something bigger than themselves, there are resource costs that need to be met annually. Please get in touch with us if you would like to sponsor the NDSA.

Considerable contributions from Andrew King and Thomas Dichmont in particular were key to laying the groundwork for much of the above.
We encourage you to reach out, get involved and become empowered to positively influence the development of our environment. If you have ideas for events, seminars, lectures or articles then we are here to work together to help take them forward. To stay up to date with the NDSA please subscribe to our mailing list here https://www.ndsa.org.uk/join-us

Paul MacMahon
Honorary Secretary NDSA

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