WRITS ARE flying over the Chelsea Barracks fiasco in London. Lord Richard Rogers’ firm, originally commissioned to redevelop the 13-acre site, is suing owner Quatari Diar for £2m in fees, after having its design dropped like a hot potato when it was criticised by Prince Charles.
Rogers’ Stirk Harbour was sacked after the prince described its scheme of luxury flats as “unsuitable” and “unsympathetic” in a letter to the Emir of Quatar. Other big-name architects are queuing up to replace them and a new shortlist is due to be announced next month. British culture secretary Ben Bradshaw told the Sunday Telegraph that he would be “worried if great schemes were being jeopardised or scuppered because of the opposition of any one individual”, saying it would be “a pity” if the Rogers’ scheme had been dropped due to the prince.
The Candy brothers, Nick and Christian, who paid £900m for the barracks in April 2007 – just before the crash – are also suing Quatar’s sovereign wealth fund for £1m in unpaid fees, having offloaded the site to the Quataris.
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