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A new, £55 million educational building designed by world-renowned architects is nearing completion in my neighbourhood. Great, right? But here’s what it looks like from the street. (1/10) 
It goes on, and on - a continuous frontage of 121 metres. It’s the new Sports & Science Centre of Brighton College, designed by OMA. (2/10)
It sits opposite these. (3/10)
The other side of the new building - which faces away from the street and fronts the school’s playing fields, looks very different. Whether you like it or not, you can see that’s where the effort has been made. (4/10)
To be fair it’s an improvement on the earlier plans. The originally-proposed elevations showed no glazing at all and almost no articulation. But you’d be pushed to call the improved version an active frontage. (5/10)
And it’s in a conservation area. When consulted, English Heritage described it as “a ground-breaking, innovative design”. They may really have thought this - but it definitely wasn’t from the perspective of the street. (6/10)
Officer’s report says, “The design approach is influenced by the form of terraced housing which predominates..” It notes “a grain and rhythm which reflects the storeys and bays of the terraces..” I’ve seen lots of terraced housing and this frontage is *nothing* like it. (7/10)
A few thoughts: all developments have a responsibility to the street. If we abandon and turn our backs on our streets, our cities fall apart. (8/10)
Educational buildings often feel a need to look inwards. And they have legitimate requirements around privacy. Good ones accommodate these needs while making a positive contribution to their surroundings. (9/10)
There’s an important social narrative to this too: it isn’t OK for a £55 million building to offer a first-rate experience to fee-paying students and a third-rate experience to everyone else. The planners should have demanded more. (10/10)
