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| Design champions are central to better public buildings A new report, Better public building, has been launched on 12 December by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell at the first national conference for local authority design champions. The report Better public building, published for HM Government by CABE and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, provides the arguments and evidence that good design makes places work better. It offers practical advice for creating new building that is value for money, sustainable and a source of civic pride. It sets out the steps that public bodies need to follow to ensure that everyone who uses public services benefits from good design. The Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award is made annually to new projects commissioned by central or local government and paid mainly with public funds. The 2006 winner was the City of London Academy, designed by Studio E Architects. Six years into the government's Better Public Building programme, this new report hails some outstanding recipients of the Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award, such as the Jubilee Library in Brighton and, this year, the City of London Academy. But it recognises that some new public building still fails to guarantee efficient delivery of public services or inspire local civic pride. Despite a regulatory framework which now embeds good design in the planning process, too much poor design still gets approval, as shown by CABE's recent school and housing audits. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |