Good design must be central to economic recovery

ARCHITECTURE:The new president of the RIAI says it's time to put architects to work designing better schools, healthcare and social facilities

FIRST OF all, I must declare an interest. Not only has Paul Keogh been a good friend since the mid-1980s, but he also remodelled my bathroom. And in doing that small makeover, he proved the value of having an architect – he saw that moving the door a mere eight inches could change everything.

He recalls that when he set up practice as Paul Keogh Architects (PKA) in 1984, when Ireland was in the grip of its last economic recession, the Architects' Journaldid a feature on emerging architects here – deBlacam and Meagher, O'Donnell and Tuomey, Shay Cleary and himself – under the heading "Irish Renaissance".

“Gerry Cahill wrote that it was refreshing that an era which had perpetrated the ‘tawdry excesses’ of modernism was over, and architects had time to reflect. So it’s ironic that 25 years on I’ve taken over as president of the RIAI and we’re once again in that landscape – the boom is over and architects have time to reflect.”

In truth, many of them have little else to do. “On the ground, the situation is desperate. More than 50 per cent are unemployed, and architects are in a very difficult place,” Keogh says. His own practice is in the same boat, having had to let go many talented people to keep afloat in a sea of uncertainty.

They moved office in 2007 from above Peter’s Pub, in Johnson’s Place – owned by his family and recently renovated by PKA – to a spacious penthouse floor on New Street. “We had so much work, and we made the move so that we could deliver on these projects – social housing, civic buildings, etc – many of which have now been deferred indefinitely.”

Among the casualties was PKA’s 32-storey residential tower beside Heuston Station; although granted permission largely because of its architectural quality, it may never be built. Schemes that were built include an award-winning, life-enhancing sheltered housing scheme in the centre of Gorey, Co Wexford, for the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

Paul Keogh grew up in Rathfarnham and was educated at Synge Street CBS, UCD School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art in London. He lives in Rathmines with his wife and partner Rachael Chidlow and two daughters. Although they have a 3-series BMW, he mostly cycles and uses the car only for essential and “long-haul” trips.

He is bemused by reactions to the new 30 km/h speed limit in Dublin’s inner core. “It’s being depicted as a punitive measure, but in reality it’s part of the city council’s overall strategy to deliver a more pedestrian-friendly urban environment,” he says. “It needs to work harder to get that message across because the pro-car lobby is very powerful.”

Architects are notoriously optimistic and Keogh talks not about if, but rather when, the current recession comes to an end – “as we know it will”. The issue that exercises him is to make as much use of the “downtime” now available to “look at the place of architecture in Irish society and face up to its challenges”.

That’s already under way. At the initiative of his predecessor, Seán Ó Laoire, and RIAI director John Graby, a series of brainstorming sessions over the past year led to the production of an 11-point action plan aimed at promoting the value of quality in architecture and “sustainable, design-led planning”.

Its themes, as Paul Keogh says, are “survival, renewal and recovery – not just for architects, but for Ireland as a whole”. His mantra is that “architecture matters”, so he’ll be talking to government and local authorities, other professions and the public about “why it matters and how important it is to get things right”.

He agrees that architects were under huge pressure during the boom and that much of what happened was “unsustainable”. But he blames a lot of this on a planning system that was largely “politically-driven and, at worst, corrupt”, with councillors over-zoning land and local authorities allowing over-development in order to get revenue from levies.

“Development at any cost was too often the norm,” Keogh says. “There was little strategic planning, developers speculated to maximise profits, and a light-touch regulation regime prevailed. The overall results of poor planning, bad design and minimal consumer protection are evident throughout the country, with many people in negative equity, some in floodplains.”

As for accountability, he points to the new Register of Architects as “a major step forward in recognising the importance of architecture as a discipline, but more importantly in providing consumer protection for the public”.

Now, every registered architect is required to take part in continuing professional development courses on an ongoing basis.

Keogh’s real concern is for architects in their thirties who contributed so much to Irish architecture – and to Ireland generally – over the last 10 years. Many now find themselves unemployed, disillusioned, in financial difficulty and facing all the psychological traumas which these crises bring about. “What will become of them?” Despite the difficulties facing architects, Keogh sees reasons to be positive: “There are signs that the world economy is coming out of recession and fairly reputable sources are saying Ireland will recover later this year, with projections of 5 per cent growth in future years – and there’s so much to be done.”

With a huge deficit in the provision of schools, healthcare and other social facilities, he says: “We have got to plan for the future, get away from the idea that planning is just about permission to build and start planning for the country we want to have in 20 years time, in 50 years time. Now more than ever, we need long-term strategic plans.”

Recalling Brian Cowen’s foreword to the National Development Plan 2007-2013, he says we now have a unique opportunity to get it right.

“If Ireland is to realise its ‘smart economy’ ambitions, keep talented people working here and attract others from abroad, we must deliver better quality of living environments and first-class infrastructure”. This would include “retrofitting the existing building stock to improve energy performance, designing new buildings to take account of the challenge of climate change, and making our cities and towns more attractive as places to live and work. And I have no doubt that architects have the talent and skills to do it right,” he says.

Keogh points to numerous awards won by his colleagues – notably the first World Building of the Year award to Grafton Architects for the Bocconi University in Milan, the shortlisting of O’Donnell Tuomey for the Stirling Prize and Croke Park – designed by Gilroy McMahon – which “ranks with the best stadiums in the world”.

The RIAI’s new president also maintains that the idea of “starchitects” travelling the globe to design “iconic” buildings “died with the credit crunch and the collapse of Lehman’s in September 2008”.

“The emphasis will now again be on real issues and the importance of things that we really need – not golf resorts and spas – but schools, healthcare, streets, parks and neighbourhoods.”