Building upwards is the way to go to meet housing crisis - but it can still look good

With a housing shortfall architects and housing campaigners have called for more high-rise developments to help provide affordable homes.

The calls come as a controversial proposed tower block on the Aquarena site on Worthing seafront was rejected due to claims it was too high and was poorly designed.

Councillor Edward Crouch voted against the Aquarena development but said the decision was not “closing the door completely” on the possibility of tower blocks.

He said: “If a tall building can be justified and it is appropriate then it can be considered.”

He added the region needs to have a “think about their priorities” as they choose whether or not to move forward with tall developments or build on green spaces.

Housing experts have claimed “the only option left” is to go up as development projects in the Greater Brighton area find themselves landlocked.

Andy Winter, chairman of the Brighton Housing Trust, said: “Brighton is landlocked between the sea and South Downs. We cannot go North, South, East or West, so the only option left is to go up.

“I would hate to see a repeat of the blight of the 1960s but modern design and the better use of space can make tall buildings an attractive option.

He added: “What we need is good quality well-designed homes up to 20 storeys providing housing solutions to meet local need.”

Critics say high rises are not the answer as they can be “expensive” and “ugly”.

But an architecture expert has suggested the development does not only have to stop at looking good, but enlisting a “star-chitect” can help create tower blocks to help put the area on the map.

Dr Samar Bagaeen said: “You can understand people’s reservations over tower blocks. You say ‘high rise’ and people immediately think of the 1960s tower blocks.”

University of Sussex lecturer Dr Geoffrey Mead said we need to “radically rethink” the way we use land – saying Britain has to “build smarter” as we are obsessed with “having a semi-detached house with a garden”.

He said: “The Dutch put something like five times as many people in their cities.

“We just do not have the land. We are constrained and we need to have a radical rethink.”

However, he added he did not think building high rises was appropriate in Brighton and Hove – saying we need “denser” housing rather than taller.

FAMOUS ARCHITECT'S CITY PLAN THAT NEVER CAME TO MATERIALISE

BRIGHTON and Hove came tantalisingly close to having a £300 million series of tower blocks designed by a world-class architect on the seafront some seven years ago.

The design was plotted by famed American architect Frank Gehry and while it was controversial it was certainly ambitious.

Financial constraints eventually put the brakes on the project and the scheme died a death after four years of debate and £13 million in costs.

The development deal fell through and the first project in England by the famed architect was left dead in the water.

With affordable housing built alongside luxury flats in an extremely striking design, supporters of the scheme argued it would help put the city on the map with a new landmark.

While the scheme never materialised and had critics aplenty, its ambition and scale was considered a testament to what can be done with proper consideration, planning and design. Whether you loved it or hated it, it can definitely be called an iconic design which will never see the light of day.

Gehry’s buildings often bring the tourists just for the design alone; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao brings in 800,000 a year and his 52m long golden fish sculpture El Peix in Barcelona has taken its place as an iconic piece of architecture.

Now Gehry’s latest building Torre La Sagrera is taking shape in Barcelona, leaving Brighton and Hove residents wondering whether or not Brighton and Hove missed out on his input.

Providing essentially needed housing and having a building designed by a world-class architect would surely by a feather in the city’s cap.

But the so-called “wonky towers” development is in the past and we are now looking to the future.

With the need for housing more pressing than ever, there is the call for well-wdesigned and affordable tower blocks.

The housing need is driven by necessity with the city and outlying towns flanked by sea on the south-side and the South Downs on the north. Experts say high rises do not have to look utilitarian like Sussex Heights.

Dr Samer Bagaeen, head of the University of Brighton’s planning school, said while the Gehry’s seafront plan was “divisive” he still thinks any future developments would benefit from being “different” and having a “star-chitect” attached.

He said: “When you put something in like that it makes a difference, and Brighton could certainly do with the visitors.

“Brighton should do something different, something that sets it apart from other cities so people then come to see it.

“The city should take the residential architecture by a star-chitect if it gets the chance.

“You can just look at the Pavilion, it was like nothing which had been seen before and now it is one of our main attractions.”

But while the prospect of having another world class building built in Brighton is a promising one, the need for affordable housing is still at the heart of this issue.

There are currently more than 20,000 households on the city council’s waiting list and an estimated housing need of 24,000.

Tower blocks are often associated with the 1960s high rises which dominate the landscape in so many towns – but it does not have to be this way.

Dr Bagaeen said “while not every building can be The Shard” there is a need for well designed and appealing structures which can take their place in the skyline.

He also added that there is an “absence of property design expertise” in council planned structures which may “put them on the back foot” as people become hostile to uninterestingly designed buildings.

The Aquarena development was boasted to be “world class” and was said to “put Worthing on the map”.

But its design proved to be one of the final nails in its coffin – with councillors saying its design did not fit in.

An innovative and unique design may be what is needed to help bring these much-needed developments forward.