Change in the city: building for the future

The urban landscape is in a constant state of flux; there is always someone building somewhere in the city. In fact the only stable attribute of the urban landscape is its changeability. Most of the development will centre around housing as it is the most important form of use in our urbanised environment. Other use like commercial industrial, leisure, transport, water and nature are seldom fixed.

Building something new also means bringing down the old: demolition reveals itself in skips on the roadside filled with debris and waste (left). Building works also mean road closures (middle) and sites being cordoned of or secured by building fences. New buildings always start with laying new foundations (right) which have to be excavated first.

Between the boards the foundations are poured. The holes for future pipes are included and some of the pipes have been put in place (left). The houses can then be built. In this social housing project the houses will be constructed using pre-cast concrete panels which are hoisted into place by a building crane (middle). An alternative is to erect the walls using an inner wall of breeze blocks and an outer wall of bricks with insulation in between (right).

Construction a building from blocks means the builder can be more flexible. Windows are placed in the holes left in the wall before the insulation and outer skin are put on (left). Here re-used bricks are used to construct the outer skin of the building (middle) to make sure it is in keeping with surrounding buildings. The face of the building changes completely once the brick walls are maid (right).

When I was in London I visited the redevelopment area behind St Pancras. Here building takes place on a large scale, redeveloping the railway lands into a modern new housing quarter. Some buildings have been finished, others are being erected. The area is a building site that has to be liveable so covered walkways (middle) have been put in place, a park has been planted (left) and building on the central square have been replaced by a lovely reflector artwork wall (right).