Call us old cynics (go on, we like it), but to us, the phrase ‘Urban Design’ is as overused an oxymoron as Friendly Fires or Civil Servants. The landscape of post-war Britain is more ‘Civic Sprawl’ than anything remotely following a design aesthetic. So it’s refreshing to see Will Alsop’s big, fat rebuke to all those me-too urban loft developments choking up our great cities. Piled up like a tower of chunky chips in a swanky gastropub, these colourful apartments are clad in newspaper print, echoing the area’s industrial heritage. But, crucially, Alsop’s pulled off the tricky task of creating high density housing with a lightness of touch: with all residents grabbing a view, and access to, the new canal link. Alsop’s an architect with joy in his soul: and that’s something even Prince Charles would approve of. Wouldn’t he?
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