National Conference Centre Competition 2005

Isn’t the full title “The Annual National Conference Centre Competition, 2005”?

🙂

A ‘favourite’ is due to be chosen ‘before the end of the summer’ apparently.

Indeed.

Sceptical would be a more appropriate adjective than negative. We’ve being hearing about proposals for a national conference centre for years now. In the meantime “Mansfield’s giant heap of crap” has gone up without planning permission.

I would be interested in learning more about the other (Alexander Dock??) proposal though.

…A ‘favourite’ is due to be chosen ‘before the end of the summer’ apparently.

Which summer?
😉

On a related (okay not at all) issue – does anyone know what site it is that the DDDA offered to the Abbey two weeks ago?

John O’Donoghue said it had a lead over other proposals being considered.

they have a scheme for a small, historic-pastiche, venue which will, amazingly, allow the abbey to tour the states, or at least coastal parts of the states, while still performing in their own theatre.

Yes that is about the long and the short of it, essentially conference centres lose a lot of money and no-one in their right mind would develop one as a stand alone project but would be prepared to develop one as a condition of a much larger planning permission. When Spencer Dock mark 1 was refused they obviuosly did their sums and concluded that they couldn’t develop a conference centre in the absence of any of the elements that would have financed it over a 10 to 20 year timeframe. Whilst Spencer Dock mark 2 is a much better development Treasury have yet to go on the record and state that they are prepared to construct Kevin Roches design on a definite timeframe.

The lesson that must be learned here as that while the conference centre is a very worthy objective and of obvious long-term value to the City, it is a ‘Trojan Horse’ for a quantum of development at least ten times its size.

Is that what is being built in Spencer Dock?

There seem to be a lot of buildings very close together, although the one in the front looks good.

Kevin Roches Design should be built without doubt, it is the most imaginative in the best location etc. Its a pity a version of his design for the entire Spencerdock is not being built instead of the boring 5 storey design currently under construction.