Jersey Architecture Commission
Interview Panel:
Andy Scate – Chief Executive Officer
Peter Thorne – Director of Planning
David Cox – Architect and Advisor to the Minister
In total twelve candidates were interviewed to become Commissioners of the Jersey Architectural Commission. These consisted of practicing Architects, architectural critics and historians. Eight of the candidates were Jersey based and four from the UK.
The Panel interviewed locally-based candidates on 18 May 2009, and UK-based candidates on 3 June 2009
Recommendation
Following discussion with the candidates we believe that the Commission should be made up of a pool eight Commissioners. At any review three would be called, the Chair or Vice Chair plus two others and David Cox. The Planning and Environment Department may call for the Panel to meet to discuss up to three schemes in any Review or a Client may request a Review of a scheme in which case they would be asked to pay for the advice.
We would recommend for appointment as Commissioners:
Candidate Term
Marcus Binney (Chair) 3 years
Professor David Watkin 3 years
George Ferguson 2 years
Andy Theobold 2 years
Mike Waddington 3years
Stuart Fell 2 years
Antony Gibb 2 years
David Cox (Executive Commissioner)
Jersey Architecture Commission
Purpose and Scope
1. To provide an external independent forum for Jersey through which the promotion of good architecture and urban design can take place.
2. To provide a forum through which external views on the design of new development schemes can be obtained.
3. To work with architects and developers practising in Jersey to offer design guidance for new schemes.
4. Promote better education, skills and careers for the built environment.
5. To Inspire people to demand more buildings and spaces.
6. Through design review to show clients what mistakes to avoid and opportunities to sieze.
7. Advise on ways to bet better value through better design.
Status
It will be a non-statutory, informal consultee of the Planning and Environment Department and an external independent voice for architecture and design in Jersey. It will act in the public interest to increase the debate on good architecture on the island.
Panel make up
The panel Commission will be made up of up to eight formally-appointed Commissioners.
The Commissioners are representative of the following areas:
a) Academic debate on architecture and design
b) Current architectural practice
c) Urban and Landscape design
The panel’s main link to the States of Jersey will be via the Architect and Architectural Adviser to the Minister for Planning and Environment who will advise and guide the panel and its agenda.
Professional applicants currently in private practice in the Island will demonstrate how they will avoid conflicts of interest. All Commissioners will be asked to sign a conflict of interest declaration.
Appointments will run for two or three years from the date of appointment.
Regularity of meetings/Time commitment and expected outputs
It is envisaged that a formal meeting of the panel will take place every two months to consider major applications referred to the panel. Where appropriate, and for particularly significant schemes, commissioned work by architects, planners and developers can be assessed by the Panel, where an early view would be useful to developers in the pre-application stage of proposals. These meetings will be scheduled for one day in duration.
Additional meetings may be called if necessary and with the agreement of the panel members.
Members of the panel will also be expected to act pro-actively for the design agenda for Jersey over and above the formal scheduled meetings. In order to do this, prospective members will need to bring an element of service in the public interest to their role.
Resource Implications
Remuneration will be on a daily basis and will negotiated dependent on qualifications and experience
Each member of the panel will be remunerated for a sum to be agreed for their work as part of the panel.
Reasonable travel expenses to attend meetings will be reimbursed.
Opportunities to increase funding via sponsorship of the work of the Architectural Panel will be investigated.
JERSEY ARCHITECTURE COMMISSION
DESIGN
REVIEW
PANEL
GUIDANCE NOTE FOR
PRESENTATIONS TO THE PANEL
1. INTRODUCTION
This Note is for the guidance of those putting a scheme to the Panel. It is designed to help clients/developers, design teams and the planning department.
2. THE COMMISSION
The Jersey Architecture Commission is made up of eight appointed Commissioners, including a chair, vice chair and executive officer. Appointments are for between two and three years. Further information about the Jersey Architectural Commission may be found in A Brief Guide which covers the aim and role of the Commission; its status: Commissioners; what the Commission means by good design; how schemes are selected for design review; an outline about meetings and guidance; and the relationship of the Commission and others offering design review.
3. COMMISSION MEETINGS
There are Full Meetings of the Commission every second month. The Commission with up to four members present reviews four cases (two in the morning and two in the afternoon) normally allocating one-and-a-half hours for each.
In addition to Full Meetings, there are occasional Consultations carried out by the Chair or Vice Chair and one Commissioner. Consultations are of two kinds:
Consultations on New Cases: where a case that has not previously been to the Commission is thought suitable for a Consultation, usually where the scheme is at an early stage e.g. brief, initial design concepts. Such cases will sometimes come back to a Full Meeting when more fully developed.
Consultations on Returning Cases: where a case previously reviewed by a Full Meeting returns at a later stage for consideration of amended proposals or of certain aspects in more detail. This mode is more informal involving round-the-table discussion rather than a formal presentation.
As the above implies, the Panel will often be willing to review a scheme more than once at different stages.
Panel meetings are not public meetings and attendance is by invitation only.
They are held in St Helier and from time to time elsewhere.
4. BEFORE THE MEETING
To request a review, contact the Executive officer. Please supply an outline of the scheme in a few lines (including scheme title, location, stage reached) giving any particular reasons why a review is sought. It is helpful to clarify the stage reached with the local planning authority (including name and contact details of the appropriate officer).
The Executive officer will then decide (in consultation with the Chair) if it is a case the Commission will take and if so in what form of review and when.
Once a date has been confirmed for a future Commission meeting, the design team is asked to supply a synopsis. 1-2 pages A4, this will be sent in advance to Commission members attending the meeting. It should include:
· Name of project
· Design team
· Site address
· Type of planning application with date submitted/date anticipated for submission. Main statutory constraints (registered buildings, green zone etc).
The emphasis should be on the background, the context and the brief rather than a detailed description of the scheme. Location and site plans should be appended (they will be used for a site visit). The synopsis may be supported by a small selection of drawings and digital images; alternatively, a web address may be given on which one can view the images.
The typical timetable in the run up to the meeting is for the synopsis/location and site plans to be required two weeks before the meeting date.
The agenda sent to the Panel members attending the meeting will be copied to the design team and local planning authority.
The principal line of communication is between the Executive officer and the primary contact in the design team. It is down to the primary contact in the design team to liaise with colleagues in the design team and with the client. For example, it is down to the primary contact to ask the client to attend and contribute to the meeting.
The Executive officer will normally liaise directly with the planning authority (and, if appropriate, other bodies e.g. Jersey Heritage).
5. AT THE MEETING
For Full Meetings and Consultations on New Cases the Commission asks for a presentation of the scheme.
For consultations on Returning Cases a presentation is not normally required and it is possible to begin with a recap and an outline of developments since the scheme first came to the Panel. Then discussion follows, often over drawings etc on the table. For such Consultations, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 may be ignored.
The content of the presentation at Full Meetings and Consultations on New Cases will depend upon the size, scale and nature of the project and the stage it has reached in its development. The material in this section give guidelines but some flexibility is possible. In particular presentations for Consultations on New Cases will usually be less elaborate than for Full Meetings.
The Panel does not wish to have schemes held back until a fully-prepared and polished presentation can be produced. On the contrary, it prefers to see schemes at an early stage and will not mind in the least if presentations reflect this.
5.1 Presentation: Format
Those presenting to the Panel may use display panels, drawings, models and PowerPoint presentations. Other media by negotiation.
Panels and drawings for pinning up: A1 is preferred.
For meetings at the Panel’s usual venue (TBC) display screens are available and Velcro or pins will be provided. For other venues, details will be advised.
The maximum size for pinned-up displays is 12 A1 spaces.
Models are one of the best ways of communicating the concept and design of a project and their use is encouraged wherever possible. Even ‘rough sketch models’ can be useful.
Powerpoint presentations including fly-throughs are acceptable but work best when complemented by static displays. As they are sequential they make it difficult to refer quickly to an aspect or to look at one aspect in conjunction with another. Panel discussions tend to focus on displayed drawings, diagrams and models.
Hard copy material may be delivered to the Panel office/meeting venue ahead of the meeting but only by prior arrangement.
When documents are brought to be handed out, please have at least five copies to distribute: one for each of the four on the Panel, and one for the Panel office (three copies for Consultations).
5.2 Presentation: Content
The following will often be expected:
· A plan showing the site in relation to adjoining properties, access routes and the movement network. A location plan showing the site in relation to its wider context is also useful. Aerial photographs of the site and its surroundings can be very useful in this regard. It may be useful to illustrate the historical development of the urban form over time, and it will always be important to indicate designations such as registered buildings / green zones etc.
· Site plans clearly showing land ownership including public and privately owned areas and the extent of land owned by the client are essential. These should indicate the specific areas that are to be built on those that are not, buildings for demolition, retention and/or refurbishment. Sections across the site are often useful, especially where the topography is an important factor.
· Landscape analysis and details of the landscape approach.
· Plans, sections and elevations of proposed buildings.
· Photomontages and views demonstrating the development in its context.
· Detailed drawings communicating the architectural approach and materials.
5.3. Format of the meeting
The Chair / vice Chair of the Commission will invite the client, design team, planning case officer and/or other stakeholders to contribute in turn.
The presentation usually begins with a brief overview presented by the client describing the aspiration and concept for the project and the brief established and issued to the design team (5 minutes maximum).
Following this comes the main part of the presentation by the architect or lead designer to present the project (25 minutes).
The Commission will expect the project to be explained in particular order, first by outlining the brief and describing the nature of the intended site and its context and moving on to a broad description of the design proposal and the principles used before concentrating on the detail of the scheme.
The case officer will then be asked to comment on the policy background, key issues and (if they wish) to give their views of the proposals (5 minures).
If the scheme involves buildings or sites of historic significance representatives of Jersey Heritage Trust / National Trust will be invited to comment (5minutes).
It is open to any of the above – client, design team, local planning authority, Jersey Heritage / National Trust – during their contributions to invite the Panel to address particular issues on which guidance would be particularly welcome.
Following the presentation, questions are asked of any of those presenting by members of the Panel. There is then discussion, often around the model or other visual material (30-40 minutes).
Towards the end of the discussion the Chair will usually endeavour to draw together the consensus of the meeting and summarise the main points of guidance that have emerged.
The Panel will then discuss the scheme in closed session still using the displayed material (10-20 minutes). Those presenting are asked to withdraw – but to remain nearby to collect their material at the end of the session.
So, in summary, the sequence is:
Max duration (in minutes): | Item: |
| Welcome by Panel Chair |
5 | Client |
25 | Architect or Lead Designer |
5 | Planning Department |
5 | Jersey Heritage Trust or similar, if appropriate |
30-40 | Question and discussion |
10-20 | Presentation team withdraw Closed session |
Total 90 | |
5.4. Attending the meeting
The Panel welcomes having the client or a representative of the client organisation present (see 5.3 above).
The size and range of the design team who come will vary with the nature and complexity of the scheme. Frequently, there will be representatives of the architects, planners and landscape architects involved. Sometimes others will attend too e.g. transport, engineering, heritage, environmental sustainability, ecology.
For the department of planning and environment, the representative is often the Head of Development Control (or similar). Sometimes others will attend too e.g. transport, heritage. The Panel welcomes having representatives of planning policy as well as development control. Chief Planning Officers are also welcome to attend as well are elected States members.
6. AFTER THE MEETING
Within two weeks of the meeting, the Commission will issue a letter giving the guidance of the Commission. It will focus on how well the scheme relates to the principles of good design and give a series of constructive comments.
The response will be sent to the primary contact in the design team. The Commission sends a copy to the department of planning and environment and the Minister and when appropriate, to other interested bodies.
When a scheme is in the public domain – that is, if it is the subject of a planning application or is being publicised by its promoters – then the guidance letter is a public document.
When a scheme is not in the public domain, the Commission’s view is not made public and the letter caries a caveat*.
With regard to material submitted a similar split applies. When a scheme is in the pubic domain then the Commission assumes that material submitted is public and that the Commission may make use of it in its own publications, presentations, web material etc. When a scheme is not in the public domain, then material will not be published without the permission of the clients and/or designers.
*Since the scheme was not the subject of a planning application when it came to the Commission, this letter is offered in confidence to the addressee and those listed as being sent copies. There is no objection to the letter being shared within the respective practices/organisations. The Jersey Architecture Commission reserves the right to make the guidance known should the views contained in this letter be made public in whole or in part (either accurately or inaccurately). The letter would also be made available to any public inquiry concerning the scheme. The Jersey Architecture Commission also reserves the right to make the guidance available to a subsequent meeting for the same site (or, if relevant, an adjacent site) or to another design review should a scheme go before them. If you do not require this letter to be kept confidential, please let me know.
Jersey Architecture Commission – 2009-18-06 – D Cox
gov.je