George Hayter: Architects rule OK (From Hampshire Chronicle)

George Hayter: Architects rule OK

3:14pm Thursday 22nd November 2007

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THIS is a golden age for architecture in Winchester, and I'm not talking about the sheds that went up last week on the cathedral green.

What's caught my eye are the Discovery Centre in Jewry Street and the new building at the front gate of Winchester University.

My heart is also warmed by an office complex nearing completion next to the Discovery Centre. More than a stack of desk space, the new offices have arched windows, dormers and stone details, with a whimsical balcony curving round the front.

These schemes join older masterpieces that have already given the city a cool ambience - buildings such as the fortress-like Hampshire Record Office at the station entrance, and our airy cathedral café.

The £10m university building gives gravitas, and more students will apply, once they've seen its stylish contours and luxurious interior.

The Discovery Centre is a scheme which shows our architects left the 60s behind - well, decades ago.

Back then, the old library would have been flattened and replaced by a square box. But these days, the "International Style" of uniform boxes has lost its grip on architects, planners and everyone else.

So the delightful and classical library is unharmed, with extra space provided instead in a gracious extension modestly set back from the established façade.

My favourite bit is the exterior to the loos on the corner next to the Theatre Royal. Here the wall around the site has been recreated in the toilets' elevation, so it looks as tough the perimeter wall has been incorporated into the building.

The best architects thrive on visual jokes like that. It sure beats knocking down loved landmarks.

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