4 minute read
Onwards and Upwards
Seventy Years of Change in the Built Environment
The Platinum Jubilee
The recent funeral of Her Majesty the Queen, just after her Platinum Jubilee, brought many film clips, not seen for years, to our TV screens, a poignant reminder of seventy years of change in all aspects of our lives.
Thanks to her late husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, millions viewed the Coronation in 1953 on recently acquired black and white TV sets. Few could have appreciated the changes in the built environment which would take place in the next seven decades, much less the challenges of all kinds to those involved in the construction industry.
The London Skyline and Motorways
St Paul’s Cathedral, completed in 1710, had dominated the skyline for centuries as the tallest building in London.
It would not be surpassed until the 1960’s, when the Millbank Tower, the Post Office Tower and others heralded the arrival of the current giants, with nicknames such as the Shard, the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie.
The high-rise buildings presented massive new challenges, with steel structures replacing traditional building methods based on those used in the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, a ten-story building completed in 1885, widely recognised as the first to use steel skeleton frame construction with reinforced concrete.
Further changes were to take place in the UK, changing the skyline in every county; in 1958 the UK’s first motorway opened at Preston, Lancashire – an eight mile stretch of the Preston Bypass, now part of the M6 motorway.
Until then, signage had in the main consisted of black lettering on a white indicator, the lettering being some four inches high. A pointing finger often helped.
For the speeds now obtained, the signage was now useless; In 1965 the road signage system created by London designers Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert was launched and used on all British roads.
Not only did the signage need to be legible, health and safety demanded that the immense signs remain in situ, whatever the weather, and an army of workers was needed for the installation.
Hearth, Homes, Energy, Environment
Some of the least visible changes may be the most significant.
The addition of nuclear energy to the National Grid has been supplemented by offshore and onshore wind farms, with current questions as to how our energy requirements can be fulfilled sustainably.
While television had changed family life and patterns throughout the period, the leaps in information technology has, arguably, had the greatest effect.
A game of snakes and ladders in front of a coal fire has given way to a family apparently landing an aircraft using a mobile phone; access to the internet has given the opportunity to access new ideas to young and old.
While some two million new homes were built in the 1950’s, it is estimated that another 66,000 new homes need to be built per year for the next ten years to come close to satisfying demand.
All of these, including existing structures, will require water, sewage facilities, and power; all of that with due consideration for sustainability and the reduction of existing pollution.
Complex Issues Facing the Property Industry
We note that the former CIOB President, Sir James Wates, CBE, believes that radical change is necessary in the industry.
His forthcoming speech in December, indeed, is entitled “Total disruption; There has got to be a better way for construction”.
We understand he will be looking at why sectors such as IT, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals, have revolutionised their processes, leaving the construction industry behind.
Investment in innovation, as well as training the next generation will affect the supply chain; no doubt he will be looking at how private, permissioned, and consortium block chain models can be devised and implemented.
We look forward to the report on his speech, which is to be delivered at a private event at the Shard, and indeed the reaction of Government and industry alike. As well as the next seven decades of change in the built environment.
