Abstract
This paper discusses the Arc project in Hull. It takes the form of a case study of a building conceived from the outset as having no fixed final form or indeed permanent location. The first iteration of the building, designed by Niall Mclaughlin Architects, was completed in 2006 and houses the events space and offices for Arc, the Architecture Centre for Hull and the Humber Region. The project grew out of an initiative formed by collaboration between academics from the two local Universities, plus Community and Business representatives. The intention was that the organization would act as a catalyst for change, and raise architectural aspirations underpinned by an ethos that local people were experts in their own lives. Arc did this through a series of interlinked programmes including Design Review, and the Learning and Public Realm programmes. In addition the building hosted exhibitions, debates and workshops. This is a timely moment to revisit this project as the particular set of circumstances that enabled the building to be realized have already passed into history. Arc both as a building and as organization can now be seen as representative of a particular political and cultural moment in the UK, one that is now firmly over.
Highlights
This paper explores aspects of the design and subsequent realization of Arc, the building that housed Hull’s Architecture Centre
We had to start somewhere and, in partnership with Hull City Council, we examined underused or vacant land which the city owned and in due course Arc entered into a lease with them, granted on a peppercorn rent, for the use of a city centre site on the northern edge of the fruit market area adjacent to the A63 corridor which connects the city to its port but which severs its connection with its waterfront and the estuary itself
The aim of this paper has been to suggest that community involvement in the form of a qualitative participatory process can inform design and result in a building which, whilst clearly authored by its architect, and widely praised for its design quality [25] is, because of its surface and material qualities, open to a variety of interpretations and to resonate with the local environment and industrial context The resultant building, I would argue, and any qualities that it might have, come about precisely because both architect and community representatives were clear regarding their respective roles
Summary
This paper explores aspects of the design and subsequent realization of Arc, the building that housed Hull’s Architecture Centre. The opportunity to build was an exciting one as it enabled Arc to reflect on its approach to architecture and to people and place It was in effect an opportunity for Arc to directly address issues that its founding members believed to be important in any new building project. CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, invited bids from interested local groups to research the viability of establishing an Architecture Centre in their local area In response to this the founding members of Arc proposed an organization which would work closely with local communities of interest, be they schools, businesses, community groups, local councils, and the public in general in order to raise interest in the built environment generally and to foster, wherever possible, an appetite for quality in new design proposals of any kind. In parallel with the development of Arc as an organization came the chance to build and Arc duly became the first, and so far only UK Architecture Centre to commission a building for its own use
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