London’s Dutch capitulation

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26 October 2007


By Will Hurst


Is the fashion for getting Dutch firms to work on Olympic and Gateway projects down to superior skills or is it just a political fad?

One of the country’s biggest practices recently celebrated winning a major commission in the Thames Gateway after pursuing an intriguing strategy. Eager to know how to win, the firm had contacted one of the many regeneration agencies operating in the area for some tips. “Partner a Dutch firm”, came the advice, so it did — and won.
The invasion of Dutch architects is subtle but significant. Last week, five of the six teams shortlisted for the 2012 Olympic legacy masterplan included Dutch or Anglo-Dutch talent. Along with the most high-profile firm of all, Rem Koolhaas’s OMA, the list also included KCAP (led by Kees Christiaanse and Ruurd Gietema), West 8, Maxwan and two other firms with a strong connection to Holland, S333 and Maccreanor Lavington.
While such firms and their contemporaries have long been held up as the potential saviours of British housing, it now seems that the Netherlands’ approach to masterplanning is being seen as the examplar to follow — particularly in London and the Thames Gateway.
Only this summer, KCAP and Maccreanor Lavington were selected for the first phase of the largest single housing scheme in the Gateway, the Barking Riverside project by English Partnerships and housebuilder Bellway, and a team led by Eric van Egeraat is masterplanning Newham’s Canning Town, also in east London.
But what is driving this desire for all things Dutch? Is it down to pushy politicians — former deputy prime minister John Prescott and mayor of London Ken Livingstone have long been seen as proponents — or simply that a consensus has emerged in favour of the advanced skills architects and urbanists from the Netherlands bring?
Impressive grasp

Director of Barking Riverside, Roger Bond, is blunt in arguing that it is the former. While agreeing that the firms he is working with — which include masterplanner Maxwan — are “innovative” and boast a particularly impressive grasp of the issues of open space and the public realm, he is clear that Livingstone’s Greater London Authority has “directed” their use.
“It all emanates from the GLA and the work it has done elsewhere,” he says. “We are directed that way to some extent.”
Pressed on why the mayor’s view holds such weight, Bond points to his planning powers — which now include the right to approve or reject strategic applications. The long-delayed Barking Riverside has won belated support from the mayor following previous criticism, and is clearly unwilling to jeopardise this.
Although Bond is open about why it makes sense to bring Dutch firms on board, others are more reticent. But many believe the mayor’s Design for London group is supportive of the Dutch approach, begging the question whether competitions such firms are involved in are fair and open, or whether they give firms from Holland a head start.
“It all emanates from the GLA. We are directed that way to some extent”


London design director Peter Bishop refused to discuss this with BD, but his spokesman denied a preference for Dutch firms, calling the suggestion “bizarre”, and adding: “The shortlisted practices for the Olympic legacy masterplan are all excellent candidates and have been selected for their quality of work, track record and understanding of the brief.”
Others are prepared to argue that the Dutch possess the skills and approach to explain their recent successes in Britain. Critic and director of the Architecture Foundation Rowan Moore points to large-scale residential schemes such as West 8’s Borneo Sporenburg in Amsterdam as proof of a level of quality that Britain has been unable to match.
“Holland is miles ahead of most other countries,” he says. “It has a climate which is conducive to this kind of work, so people have the opportunity to develop expertise.”
Maxwan principal Rients Dijkstra agrees, arguing that firms based in Holland tend to be internationally minded and focused on quality, and are increasingly active in targeting British work.
“The Netherlands is a magnet for talent,” Dijkstra says. “London has a lot of fantastic jobs to offer architects… and the physical connections with London mean a lot of Dutch firms have spent a lot of energy finding work in London.”
He adds that practices based in Holland often impress clients with their outspokenness and because they treat urban planning as a separate discipline, not just a part of the architectural process.
Among those riding the current wave of support for the country’s architecture is Biq Architects, a Europan-winning practice which is working on plans for a residential project outside London after previous projects in Merseyside.
Partner Hans van der Heijden argues that his firm is attractive to British clients because, like other Dutch firms, it combines a questioning attitude with the ability to give clients exactly what they want.
“Our schemes are appreciated because we investigate the brief, the finances and the project structure, then proceed to the design,” he says. “The design then more explicitly responds to what the client wants. In general, the Netherlands is focused on consensus, while the UK remains more confrontational.”
Consensus building is all very well, but architects need to be reassured that public work is not being handed out on the basis of something as crude as country of origin. As one senior architect from a leading continental practice which bid unsuccessfully for the first phase of Barking Riverside put it: “It’s good there is an international element… but it seems odd that there are so many Dutch firms — what about open competition?”

The Dutch invasion

OMA

• Based in Rotterdam, Beijing and New York<br>
• New HQ for Rothschild & Sons in the City of London
• Masterplan for White City redevelopment, west London

KCAP

• Based Rotterdam and Zurich
• Barking Riverside Phase 1
• Masterplan for London’s largest business park

Van Egeraat

• Based Rotterdam, London, Moscow, Budapest, Prague
• Masterplan for Canning Town, east London
• Designed Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art

Maxwan

• Based Rotterdam
• Feasibility study for Thames Gateway parks
• Masterplan for Barking Riverside

BiQ

• Based Rotterdam
• Bluecoat arts space redevelopment, Merseyside
• Housing scheme at Tranmere, Birkenhead

West 8

• Based Rotterdam
• Masterplan for Stratford City, east London

Fonte: bdonline