IN MAIDSTONE the other day, I came across a large development that was really marvellous, brilliantly picking up the message of the Kentish character, the white weatherboarding and agricultural scale. So why can’t new buildings always be as good as this? And how do you find such good architects?
The architects in this case were Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and they were commissioned here because of a reputation for excellence, one built on the architectural competitions they had won. Prizes included those for the the huge Churchill Gardens residential scheme in Pimlico, London (1946), the Skylon for the 1951 Festival of Britain, and Maidstone Hospital (1983), which received a Royal Institute of British Architects Award in 1987.
It is accepted that the competition system is a reliable method of choosing the best design solution, and for this purpose it is used widely in countries such as Finland, France and Germany. Competitions also have the advantage of leading to a wide range of types of buildings of great quality.
However, in 1984, something happened in the UK which has had dire consequences on standards of architectural design. Government pressure forced the RIBA to drop its mandatory fee scale of charges, competitive fee bids being required for all jobs costing more than £500,000. This meant replacing the principle of selection on the basis of architectural merit with tendering for a commission where the commercial client was tempted to accept the lowest professional fee — hardly a reliable way of assessing the ability of a designer, where the importance of quality matters above all else.
Standards were clearly endangered. As one distinguished member of the RIBA council, the late Ray Cecil, said at the time: “We are not in the business of cutting fees and giving a rotten service.” This single mistaken decision on the part of government is one explanation for the mediocrity of buildings since: a trip down the Thames in the centre of London gives the picture, and it is a shameful one for a great city. But all is not lost. The opposition to competitive fee bidding is as strong today as it was in Cecil’s time, and the RIBA is at present working on a plan that will go some way to doing just that.