Louise Schweitzer comments on the lack of imagination in new buildings in Brighton and Hove (Letters, April 1) but the architect has to do what the client wants, subject also to the local authority’s demands.

If the requirement is for as much housing, office space and communal facilities as possible to be packed in, the architect has a problem.

Even the Sydney Opera House might fail the test if 250 units of affordable housing had to be included.

The dramatic Gehry buildings for the King Alfred site, whose exterior was much admired by some, included housing units in dark canyons and wind tunnels because of having to fit so much in.

The same problem could arise with the Circus Street site, where the density now proposed is higher than it was in the “slums” cleared in the past.

It is all very well demanding imaginative buildings, but will they be good to live in?

Valerie Bolton, Surrenden Park, Brighton