The Anonymous Widower

Changing Face of Ipswich

I took these two pictures in Ipswich on Saturday.

Civic Drive, Ipswich - 1

Civic Drive, Ipswich - 2

These two views fit together.  In the first one, you see the old Crown Court and the space where the Civic Tower used to be and in the second, you see the AXA offices that have been reskinned and turned into something respectable and a good working environment.

All of these buildings were built at the same time, but why did they pull down the Civic Tower, rather than refurbish like the AXA offices?  Was it because it was built to a much lower standard?

At my party yesterday, a surveyor said that civic and NHS buildings are now designed without air-conditioning to save money.  Is this short-sighted?  I suspect so and in twenty years time, we’ll be upgrading them to make them a decent working environment.

As a postscript to this, I went into Debenhams to try to find something.  The air-conditioning had failed, but even with the lights turned down, it was oppressive.

August 17, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | World | Architecture, Ipswich