All articles by Martin Spring – Page 2

  • Seen from the road 20m up the cliff face, Riverhouse presents a shallow copper barrel-vault plus a jumble of other forms
    Features

    The Riverhouse project: Nautical but nice

    2008-07-18T00:00:00Z

    A tidal wave of protest greeted this modern development sitting alongside traditional houses on the Dartmouth estuary. But the Riverhouse delights in its views, sense of space and daylight. Quite enough to shut the neighbours up, says Martin Spring

  • Features

    Chaos theory: Gehry’s Serpentine pavilion

    2008-07-18T00:00:00Z

    Gehry’s Serpentine pavilion may look like timber and glass thrown together, but precise planning went into getting it just right, says Martin Spring

  • The Emirates stadium in north London was to have been the centrepiece of a larger regeneration project, before it fell foul of local politics …
    News

    CZWG to scale back Arsenal regeneration

    2008-07-18T00:00:00Z

    Arsenal Football Club is being forced to scale back the final part of its £390m regeneration of the area around its new Emirates stadium in north London, writes Martin Spring.

  • Chimney Pot Park, Salford
    News

    Housing Design Awards: Quality good, quantity bad

    2008-07-04T00:00:00Z

    Source: Tim Crocker / Design For Homes Source: Tim Crocker / Design For Homes Source: Tim Crocker / Design For Homes

  • Features

    The best china: 10 of the most spectacular new Chinese buildings

    2008-07-04T00:00:00Z

    Even without the Olympics China is producing some of the finest architecture on the planet – with a little help from the Brits. Martin Spring chooses 10 of the best

  • Bexley Academy
    Features

    Bexley Academy: Qualified success

    2008-06-13T00:00:00Z

    The open-plan design of Foster + Partners’ Bexley academy was derided when it opened six years ago, and it has since suffered a leaky roof and peeling paint. Still, staff and students all really love it

  • Features

    Paradise Street, Liverpool: Mayfair comes to Merseyside

    2008-05-30T00:00:00Z

    With a pricetag of £1bn , Liverpool One could have ended up as a never-ending shopping mall. But it’s a whole lot classier than that.

  • Henn Architekten’s Autotürme at the Wolfsburg home of Volkswagen
    Features

    RIBA Book Award: Park and read

    2008-05-30T00:00:00Z

    A surprisingly beautiful book on car parks nabbed the best space at this year’s international book award for construction. Judge Max Fordham tells Martin Spring why it deserved to win

  • A sophisticated new curtain wall comes with larger windows and better proportions.
    Features

    Rotunda redux

    2008-05-09T00:00:00Z

    Glenn Howells used advanced technology to convert a famous Birmingham landmark into flats – and secure a piece of modern heritage in the process

  • A double-height dining space makes up the reassuring heart of London's Maggie’s Centre. The glowering hospital is almost entirely screened from view.
    Features

    Richard Rogers' Maggie's Centre: Room for Reassurance

    2008-05-02T00:00:00Z

    The site for England’s first Maggie’s cancer care centre wasn’t quite the tranquil spot originally intended, but Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners worked with bright colours and canopies to create a peaceful retreat

  • Windows can open, but tenants don’t open them
    Features

    30 St Mary Axe: A gherkin to suit all tastes

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Having dominated London’s City skyline for four years, the Gherkin is now appealing to a wide range of occupiers. Shame about the windows, though.

  • The crystalline forms of Oslo’s new opera house are all faced in travertine marble and culminate in the fly-tower.
    News

    Oslo opera house: Opera on ice

    2008-04-18T00:00:00Z

    Oslo’s new opera house, opened by King Harald of Norway last Saturday, was designed by the country’s coolest avant garde architect, Snøhetta. But it’s still the hottest building in town …

  • Elm Park, Dublin
    News

    Elm Park, Dublin

    2008-03-20T10:28:00Z

    Bucholz McEvoy Architects’ Elm Park is a stunning £300m mixed-use, sustainable extension to Dublin, made all the more attractive by the charmless dross that surrounds it

  • Features

    Dare to be different: Elm Park, Dublin

    2008-03-20T00:00:00Z

    Bucholz McEvoy Architects’ Elm Park is a stunning £300m mixed-use, sustainable extension to Dublin, made all the more attractive by the charmless dross that surrounds it.

  • The budget-priced building’s two boxy entrances are faced in rough-sawn timber
    Features

    A scientific monster

    2008-03-07T00:00:00Z

    This computer centre in Santiago, Chile, may have two heads but then it’s got two skins, too – altogether a bit of a freak

  • The bulging external envelope remains untouched, except for a new entrance canopy
    Features

    The incredible hull

    2008-02-22T00:00:00Z

    Ralph Erskine’s Ark is one of London’s most striking landmarks, but it has lain dormant for most of its short existence. Now developer Landid and an architect called DN-A have enacted an extraordinary genetic mutation. Martin Spring saw the result

  • Features

    Quite a departure

    2008-02-01T00:00:00Z

    It’s finally here, and it’s quite unlike any other airport experience in the world. Over the next five pages, Martin Spring imagines what passengers will make of Richard Rogers’ monumental Heathrow Terminal 5. Then, on page 50, we ask whether this groundbreaking project really has changed the construction industry for ...

  • Features

    Going bananas on the DLR

    2008-01-25T00:00:00Z

    When Consarc Consulting Architects set out to design a ‘landmark’ station for the Docklands Light Railway in a dreary part of east London, it took the unusual approach of topping it with a 32m white banana. And the even stranger thing, writes Martin Spring, is that it works …

  • Features

    Moby Dock

    2008-01-11T00:00:00Z

    Liverpool’s year of glory as European Capital of Culture is launched this weekend at the city’s brand new arena and convention centre. The 41,000m2 leviathan combines an exhibition hall, auditorium and arena that are all immense in scale. And it takes pride of place on the riverfront next to the ...

  • Martin Spring
    News

    2008 Preview: Architecture

    2008-01-07T10:33:00Z

    T5 may be one of the biggest schemes of the year here, but this year’s architectural Olympics will be won by Beijing