This is not an architectural blog and I do not wish to impose views of taste, but in some cases the architecture of a development can be of such bad taste that it damages the quality of the surrounding environment to the extent of adversely affecting people's quality of life.
The new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford is one such building, the 'designer' (no architect could come up with this) has sought to blend the worst of both Birmingham New street station and the Manchester Arndale centre into one of the worst new buildings ever constructed (at least in the 1960s they hadnt made the mistakes before to know they were making mistakes).
The centre, will be the first welcome to 70% of visitors to the Olympic site, or all those who choose to arrive by public transport.
When the scheme was in planning a 'landmark tower' was promised instead we have a tower, housing a premier inn of the quality that you would expect of a student residence in Wolverhampton, (My apologies Victoria Hall).
On opening a metal roof tile fell and smashed on the floor, if anything was to give those present an indiction of the quality of this building, then perhaps that was it. This is a development where no expense has being spared, or indeed spent. From one of the worlds richest developers on such a landmark site, this is simply not good enough and I cant help but feel Newham Council have got this massively wrong by letting such an uninspiring and cheap design through a planning system in place to promote quality and prevent a developer free for all.
In some ways it makes me laugh, on one hand you have parish councils in the shires threatening to sabotage every development they are faced with, no matter how insignificant or small. On the other you have inner city councils, with arguably more resources and trained staff, letting major developments through in the quest of jobs and investment and in this case bragging rights of my shopping centre is bigger than yours. (*)
A mixed use development offering opportunities for local enterprise would have left a far greater legacy and brought much greater local economic re-investment.
Although jobs are always welcome, 8000 low paid retail positions wont have the long lasting economic benefits the council hopes nor will these people have much spending power themselves while the profits made in the shops and by Westfield will be banked and leave Newham indefinitely.
This review by Rowen Moore in the Observer, sums up many personal feelings and offers a fair assessment of the scheme.
With the recent opening of both Liverpool One and Cabot circus in Bristol, it was felt a new generation of mall had emerged and we had passed the stage of developing indoor and inward looking single use centres. Hopefully these examples will prove the rule rather than the exception.
To finish on a few positives, the development does make the most of public transport opportunities, with links to Stratford International and the DLR and Mainline stations, as well as also containing a large bus station. It is also apparently very nice inside.
Here are some pictures.
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
