Nairn's London

Joining us for lunch last Friday, Gillian Darley mentioned her new book about Ian Nairn - 'author of Nairn's London, the OUTRAGE series in the AR and more - you have probably never heard of him'. If you hadn't clearly others have as you can pay £264.94 on Amazon for a copy. I picked up mine for a pound in Hitchin in 1985 and found it an eye-opening prompt to take me exploring bits of London I might have missed. The overriding message which holds as true today as in 1966 is it doesn't matter what a building is like as long as it's good. Hence his inclusion of Owen Luder's newly completed Brutalist eyesore Eros House in Catford - 'This most craggy and uncompromising of new London buildings turns out to be full of firm gentleness' - alongside The Paragon at Blackheath - 'perfect urbanity meeting perfect rurality head-on' - alongside S.S.Teulon's St Mark's Silvertown - 'an architectural imagination the size of Blake's - it must be kept'.  It was and is now the home of Brick Lane Music Hall.
Incidentally, the freehold for Eros House is up for sale for £10,000.

Maggie's Culture Crawl

At 7.30pm on Friday 21st September an enthusiastic team from Cullinan Studio (plus friends) set off from Victoria Embankment Gardens on the Maggie's Culture Crawl. 15 miles and 6 and a half hours later, they were resting their weary feet at the top of 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) - although some of us arrived there a bit later.

The team were exhausted, aching and not looking forward to the journey home at two in the morning, but were happy in the knowledge the walk was done and that they had helped make a difference for those suffering from, or affected by cancer. Thank you to all who sponsored the team who have raised £1,044 so far. You can still sponsor us at: http://www.justgiving.com/CullinanStudio

Some of the team take a break inside the Roca Gallery at Imperial Wharf 

A sign/sigh of relief knowing there is only one more mile to go

Highlights of the walk included a spin on the London Eye;

the Durbar Court in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where a refreshing cup of tea and biscuits was served up by Fortnum and Mason;

Maggie's West London, which is always a welcome stop on the Maggie's night hikes;

a wonderful array of biscuits at the Royal Geographical Society;

the 'apple trees' en route were a welcome treat;

and the spectacular view from the top of The Gherkin...

...some of us got there a little later than others.

Team members: Amy, Andrew, Ashley, Helen, John, Laith, Lucy, Roddy, Sarah and Sanaa.

Having taken part in the event previously, we were proud to be taking part for a fourth time, especially in celebration of Maggie's Newcastle which we completed in May this year.

Michael Morpurgo at Rosendale School

Parents, staff and children of Rosendale Primary School were entertained by children's laureate Michael Morpurgo last Tuesday. He kindly accepted an offer to cut the ribbon on the school's new library, a red London bus. The bus arrived at the school last autumn and a team of volunteer parents, have worked hard to convert the interior of the bus into the school's library. Morpurgo certainly demonstrated why children love his stories so much as he relayed his experiences of growing up, learning to love reading as a teen, and traveling. His wit and humour kept the kids laughing and asking questions for a good 30 minutes before the ribbon cutting.

Edward Cullinan Architects are pleased to be working on the remodelling of four classrooms at Rosendale School over the summer holidays.

Sectional perspective of a proposed remodelled classroom with improved storage, learning space, natural lighting and ventilation.

Stonebridge Regeneration Celebration

On Saturday 23rd July, Roddy (+ family) and Amy from Cullinans attended the Stonebridge Regeneration Celebration. For the last 15 years there has been an extensive regeneration of the Stonebridge estate in North West London, which includes the Hillside Hub, completed in 2009. Hosted by Hyde Hillside and the residents of the estate, the celebrations began at the Hub with a carnival parade that made its way through the estate and ended at the Pavilion where a formal reception, games, stalls and performances celebrating the diverse community took place. Here are some photos:

 Preparations inside the Hillside Hub for the carnival parade.

 The carnival parade sets off...

 ...and dances its way through the Stonebridge estate

The carnival parade ended up at the Pavilion where games, stalls, performances and information about the regeneration of the estate could be found.

Maggie's Night Hike

A team from Edward Cullinan Architects will be taking part in this years Maggie's Night Hike.

This 20 mile night walk around London takes place on 17 September and is in aid of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. Maggie's Centres aim to help people adjusting to living with a diagnosis of cancer so that they can get on with their lives. They provide relaxation and stress reduction techniques, guidance on finding the right information for anyone affected by cancer, and simply a welcoming environment to meet and share experiences over a cup of tea.

Having participated in 2008, we are looking forward to taking part again this year, particularly as we are designing the Maggie's Centre North East.

The team name, Cullinan's Solar Strollers, has been inspired by the sun image, shown in the section below, that Ted Cullinan drew to highlight the passive solar principles used in the design of the Maggie's Centre North East.

We are very grateful of any donations!

Section through the proposed Maggie's Centre North East: Pipes below the surrounding banks will provide ground source heating to the building and a south facing sloping roof over the library will have photovoltaic cells to make electricity.

Roof plan: A landscaped garden on the roof of the Centre will be furnished with a bowling green and fixed exercise equipment.

Ground floor plan: The Centre will have within it a dining/kitchen for meeting and preparing food in; a large shared room for activities such as yoga, classes and lectures; two smaller meeting rooms; two counselling rooms for three people; and a library with a fire in to sit by in peace.

Lambeth Community Care Centre 25th Anniversary

On February 17th, Ted Cullinan, Robin Nicholson and Kristina Roszynski took part in the 25th Anniversary event at the wonderful Lambeth Community Care Centre (LCCC), which was chaired by local MP Kate Hoey.

The Friends of LCCC are fiercely defensive of the services provided in what was a radical realignment of community care away from the large hospitals, to a place where patients are looked after by their own GP as though they were in their homes. The design of the building which was widely acclaimed has been seriously compromised by recent insensitive interventions - there were no false ceiling tiles, wobbly glass blocks or pink paint back then. Much of what made the building special as the result of intensive consultation with the highly motivated Project Team has been removed and made banal and normal. The garden remains a real asset.

Forest Gate Community School

The new entrance building/multi-use hall at Forest Gate Community School is now taking shape. The works, including the remodelling of this BSF school, are due for completion in August 2011.

Open House at Stonebridge

As part of the Open House London weekend, we held a breakfast event at the Stonebridge Hillside Hub; a mixed-use building that we saw through to completion earlier this year. Greeted with coffee and tea and a selection of pastries, attendees were then given a talk by architects, Roddy Langmuir and David Cawston, which explained the design and structure of the Hub and the local community's involvement in the design process. This was followed by a tour of the building.

Last Thursday, the Stonebridge Hillside Hub won the Mail on Sunday British Homes Award for Mixed-Use Regeneration Development of the Year and has also been shortlisted for a Regeneration and Renewal Award, for which the winners will be announced later this week.

The Stonebridge Hillside Hub is located in the Stonebridge Estate in north west London, near Harlesden.

The Community Hall set up for the presentation.

Roddy Langmuir, Project Director for the Hub, talks about the early stages of the project and the community's involvement in shaping the final design.

The communal garden at the rear of the scheme, overlooked by the Community Hall.

The main reception area leading to the PCT Health Centre.

The three storey atrium at the main entrance to the Health Centre, which is due to open in November.

A model of the local area shows the regeneration of the estate and the Hillside Hub in context.

Progress on site at Brampton Manor School

Reglit in three opacities, brick base and the theatre starting to take shape and random samurai.