Gardner gothic at St Mary's Church, Warwick

A visit to the folks in Warwick during the weekend, and a special trip to the Collegiate Church of St Mary's, which towers over the medieval-and-Georgian town centre.

I was on the lookout for a bit of Gardner family history - an inscription bearing the tribe's name. And after much searching, there it was, carved into the back of a seat. Dedicated to E.A. Gardner, the seat was endowed by my great-grandmother as a memorial to her husband Ernest, who died during the Great War.

My father is Welsh - from a small mining town in South Wales - but clearly the links with Warwick and Leamington Spa can be traced back a long way.

The church itself is fascinating, and definitely helped to spark my interest in architecture as a nipper. It is one of the largest (non-cathedral) churches in England - not to mention the only one with a chapter house - and its tower can be seen from miles around. Much of the church was razed to the ground during the Great Fire of Warwick in 1694, and was rebuilt in a curious hybrid of classical and gothic (clothic? gothical?), with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren, who was paid a princely £10 for his trouble – plus an extra £1 for his "man". 

The Gardner memorial chair is located in the diminutive Dean's Chapel, which is squeezed inside the buttresses between the church's 14th century chancel and celebrated Beauchamp Chapel, a grand 15th century mausoleum. It has extremely intricate plaster fan vaulting, and provides an intimate interlude while touring the monumental interior of the church.

The chancel is best-known for its vaulted ceiling, which features "flying ribs" of stone. A similar feature is found in Bristol Cathedral. Meanwhile, the Beauchamp Chapel houses tombs and other sculpture that are of unparalleled quality in Britain. The famous gilded effigy of Earl Richard was recently borrowed by the V&A for its Gothic exhibition, and was described by the museum as "the finest 15th-century funerary monument in England".

Meanwhile, the chapter house is home to the oversize tomb of Tudor poet, dramatist and statesman Fulke Greville, who was murdered by his servant in 1628. It is currently the focus of an investigation into whether Fulke Greville was actually author of several plays by his contemporary and friend William Shakespeare. Permission has recently been granted to insert an endoscope video camera into a crack in the tomb, to see if it houses a casket of documents including a first edition of Antony and Cleopatra.

Bank of New York Mellon offices: Images in onoffice, March 2010

Some of my images of Bank of New York Mellon's offices at Canary Wharf, designed by BDGworkfutures, are featured in the latest issue of onoffice magazine.

The project is a case study as part of a wider feature on how workplace design can support corporate mergers and acquisitions – particularly from the point of view of introducing new brand identities and business culture. BDGworkfutures also designed offices for BNYM in Dublin and Manchester, all as a result of the 2007 merger between Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation.

Photos of Project Orange's Whitecross Street project featured in archinnovations

I've just come across online architecture magazine archinnovations, which has recently published a feature on Project Orange's Whitecross Street project, which I photographed last year. You can read the full article here>

V&A Medieval and Renaissance galleries

To the Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday, to see the exhibition Gargoyles and Shadows: Gothic Architecture and 19th-Century Photography. I'd read about the exhibition in Building Design and thought it was worth a look. And indeed it was, although exhibitions in the V&A's architecture galleries always suffer from their diminutive size. The temporary exhibition space is tiny, which means that you never get more than a snapshot (excuse the pun in this context) of your chosen specialist subject.



However, my trip also provided an opportunity to view the new Medieval and Renaissance galleries, which opened in December. I'm usually a bit suspicious when the press is particularly effusive about a project (my PR hype radar starts bleeping like mad). In the Guardian, Stephen Bayley had declared: "If these galleries were a standalone in any other country, it would immediately become one of the world's great museums". The Telegraph gushed that "the whole project... is a triumph". How could it possibly live up to these expectations?


Above: Container from Cologne, dated 1180

Several hours later, and I was able to conclude that, if anything, the press had understated the scale of success. As a member of the channel-surfing generation, I have an attention span that can be best described as abbreviated. Yet I was gripped from start to finish. In fact, I didn't get to see everything and will need to return for another fix (I spent most of my time in the Level 0 galleries, covering the earlier medieval period).







It is to be expected that the V&A is home to a world-class collection, but what really impresses is the design and curation of the galleries, plus the excellent (and mercifully low-key) interpretation. Architect of the scheme is MUMA (McInnes Usher McKnight Architects), who previously designed the museum's cafe - you can see some of my photos of that scheme on my website.



Connecting the three main sequences of spaces is a new vertical "circulation hub" that occupies a former lightwell to create a new gallery space. The crowning glory is a monopitch glazed roof, bringing daylight deep into the exhibition spaces.

House, South Kensington, by Popularchitecture

A rather sexy and sinuous staircase is at the heart of this house in South Kensington, designed by Popularchitecture.



 The photo shoot was particularly memorable thanks to the owner's maine coon, who followed me dutifully from room to room, sat on my chest when I was lying on my back to get a shot, and also dug her enormous claws into me as a braking mechanism when sliding down the balustrade!

Murphy's law

Our friend's gorgeous 11 week old goldendoodle, Murphy, paid us a visit today. He was too cute!

West London fights back: Brentford walk along Thames Path

Following yesterday's happy saunter along the Thames Path between London Bridge and Deptford, I thought I'd tread the home turf today, following the Thames Path from Kew Bridge into Brentford. The path follows the Thames before ducking inland along the very beginning of the Grand Union Canal.


Kew Bridge Eco Village (that's the Kew Bridge Steam Museum standpipe tower in the background)

The excitement begins right at the start, with the "eco village" occupying a development site behind the hoardings right next to Kew Bridge. The "bender tents" are home to some 30-odd residents. It's much more interesting and vibrant  than the tedious mixed-use scheme planned by developer St George, and which has received almost universal condemnation by community groups. As far as I'm aware, the carbuncle hasn't yet received planning consent.


Graffiti under Kew Bridge



One of many derelict boats

While not high on picturesque value on this walk, there is much of interest. The levels of dereliction are genuinely surprising, although it was also great to see so many houseboats and operating boatyards.



Brentford town centre itself is rather uninspiring - mainly because all the old buildings were swept away as part of "improvements" in the 1960s. For centuries, Brentford High Street had been notorious for its traffic problems, due to its narrowness and high traffic levels as the main route west out of London.


Poster showing Brentford Hight Street of old

Serious attempts to widen the street began in the early 20th century, and gradually gained momentum. The local council purchased many of the properties, which then lay empty and derelict for several decades - known as "planning blight" - and shown in this poster which I found in a Brentford side street.

Widening and rebuilding took place in a piecemeal fashion, but the inevitable result was the loss of many handsome Georgian and Victorian Buildings. In particular, check out architectural photographer Herbert Felton's images, which now form part of the collection of the National Monuments Record. However, just off the High Street remains an area known as The Butts, which is still lined with elegant houses that look like they have been airlifted from Hampstead.


St Lawrence Church tower, the oldest structure in Brentford

There is lots of information on the old buildings at the website of the Brentford High Street Project. Even the old buildings that remain are still under threat - for example the 15th century tower of St Lawrence Church, which remains resolutely boarded up.