IWA Report calls for a Welsh Commission for Architecture and Design

Wales needs its own Commission for Architecture and Design if it is not to become the design orphan of the UK, according to a report published by the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

The report calls for the development of a comprehensive policy for architecture and design in Wales and for the subject to be made the specific responsibility of an Assembly Cabinet member.

The report Designing Success: The Case for a Welsh Commission for Architecture and Design has been drawn up by a working group of architects, planners and surveyors, including the architect of the proposed Wales Millennium Centre, Jonathan Adams of the Percy Thomas Partnership; Professor John Punter, Dept of City & Regional Planning, Cardiff University; Patrick Hannay, editor of Touchstone; Bob Croydon, King Sturge and the Academy for Design in Wales and Carole-Anne Davies, Cardiff Bay Arts Trust. The group was chaired by IWA Chairman, Geraint Talfan Davies.

It says that both the natural and built environment in Wales is fragile and is being constantly degraded by poor quality development driven by short term considerations. "Wales is becoming a less beautiful place to live and work", it adds.

The authors of the report say the main threats come from

• A lowest common denominator approach to development.

• A short term approach to building costs.

• Poor corporate franchise architecture such as fast food restaurants and 'big box' retail outlets.

• Public authorities that permit lower standards than similar authorities elsewhere in the UK.

"Low quality speculative retail and industrial development is permitted in Wales with a frequency not found in many environments of similar quality in England. English authorities seem readier to drive a harder bargain with investors.

"We may choose to ignore the results of lower design standards, but to do so is to risk an adverse verdict from the rest of the world. This is a risk that Wales cannot afford to take when international competition between countries, regions and cities is becoming increasingly fierce.

"Economically, we have no optin but to commit to international standards of excellence", says the report.

The working party is concerned that Wales is being left behind. Scotland has its own Royal Fine Arts Commission, while in England the Government recently set up the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

"The essential starting point in Wales must be recognition of the issue through the formal designation of responsibility within the National Assembly's Cabinet and Committee structures", says the report.

"The promotion of architecture and urban design should be a core responsibility of the National Assembly. It is also why the competition for the design of the National Assembly is so significant and why the implementation of the scheme is so crucially important for the future of the built environment throughout our country", it says.

It says that Wales needs its own Commission because "no one body exists - for the promotion of more thoughtful design - to which public authorities can turn for advice".

The proposed Commission's eight members would be drawn widely from the design professions, the development industry, and environmental and amenity interests. It would be funded by the public, private, and voluntary sectors.

It would take a proactive approach in identifying and encouraging best practice in sustainable land use, in design procurement (buildings and public space) and in educating the public on these issues. It would also play a key role in assisting the National Assembly to formulate a comprehensive architecture and design policy for Wales.

The working group highlighted five recent positive developments in the field which gave hope that Wales can begin to move forward:

• the separation of environment, planning and transport from the local government responsibility in Assembly Cabinet portfolios.

• the committment of the new Environment Secretary, Sue Essex, to raising design standards

• the WDA's decision to appoint consultants to advise on its own approach to architectural patronage

• an initiative by the Civic Trust in Wales to promote design and environmental education

• an initiative by the Countryside Council for Wales to promote better design in the countryside

"All of us in the working group believe passionately that raising the standard of design and architecture in Wales is an essential component of our future competitiveness and our social and economic success as a society. We look forward to the National Assembly taking an energetic lead", says the chair of the working group, Geraint Talfan Davies.

Publication of the report was sponsored by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Royal School of Architects in Wales, the steel company Corus, Cardiff Business School and Mandix. Mandix is working with Corus to develop a 'City of Tomorrow' project, as the world's first steel industry strategy for sustainable urban development. Mandix and Cardiff Business School are partners in the Eco-Clusters in Construction Project, aimed at improving the productivity and eco-efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises in the construction sector in South Wales.

Mandix partner, Don Snow, welcomed the opportunity to support the IWA in publishing the report. "The IWA report takes the process a step further by emphasising the importance that key organisations in Wales attach to architects and designers in driving the innovation that is essential to promoting sustainable development", he said