Alan J. Smith | |
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Born | Alan J Smith 1949 (age 73–74) |
Alan J Smith OBE (born 1949) is a retired English architect who established redboxdesign group, responsible for many notable buildings in England, it is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne. The practice has completed projects throughout Europe.
Smith is the founding chairman of BALTIC, the Centre for Contemporary Art on Gateshead Quays.
In 2006 he was awarded an OBE for services to architecture, in 2008 was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of Durham and in 2012 he was appointed a Freeman of Gateshead. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Smith was born in County Durham in 1949. He was educated at the Johnston Grammar School in Durham before going on to study architecture at Newcastle University. After spending his intermediary year working for the Local Authority and after completing his second architecture degree, he cut his teeth on major urban regeneration projects at Washington New Town and became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1976.[ citation needed ]
Smith moved into private practice in 1979 where worked on large residential urban regeneration projects in and around Newcastle upon Tyne before founding the Alan J Smith Partnership in 1985. He developed relationships with blue chip clients, and set up a London office in 1987 on the back of significant residential projects in Chelsea and the London Docklands working for both private and housing association clients. His first notable work in the commercial office and design and research sectors came with appointments from Abbey National, Northern Rock, Obayashi, Ikeda, Nissan European Technology, Goldstar, British Gas Energy Centres, and Benetton Formula 1. The practice set up an office Amsterdam in 1992. Smith visited Japan in October 1991 as the only British representative on the Dutch-Japanese Trade Mission led by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to meet with the Emperor of Japan Akihito, to celebrate 400 years of trade between the two countries.[ citation needed ]
In 1996, before 'mixed use' really came into wide use, Smith bought and developed the listed neo-classical Post Office Headquarters [5] in the centre of Newcastle to satisfy the need for an expanding workload. This development provided the foundation of redboxdesign group in 2000. The building was seen as the first real mixed-use scheme in the North of England[ citation needed ] and remains the headquarters for the practice to this day.
The development has been praised by the Duke of Gloucester in his role as an English Heritage Commissioner:
"It is so easy for developers to send in the bulldozers to start work with a clean sheet of paper, but it requires special courage to see a building for what it is, and to see that it is wasteful both in terms of materials to do this, and that it also breaks down the cohesion of a City to have its history removed simply for administrative convenience. The other thing of course, is that to make an old building work, you have to think harder and it is the architect’s prerogative to say that thinking always gives value for money and that there is always a better way of doing almost anything you think of if you consider it a bit harder". [ citation needed ]
In 2000 Smith assumed the position of chairman of redboxdesign group. The change of name saw the business develop further. Work with Northern Rock as well as with Sunderland Football Club, Durham County Cricket Club, Hilton International and Radisson Hotels. Expansion also included work in Moscow for Yukos Oil, designing for them a new research and development facility for nanotechnology.
Work in recent years has included major projects in all sectors from the first 'Excellent' rated BREEAM [6] 50m swimming pool in the world;[ citation needed ] the one million sqft commercial office development at Quorum Business Park [7] and a £35m higher education facility for Gateshead College. [8] Work in the hospitality sector also continued with a £28m four star hotel for Radisson SAS, [9] located next to Durham Cathedral, and the 260 bed hotel for Hilton in Gateshead adjacent to the Tyne Bridge. [10]
Throughout his professional career, Smith has been responsible for the design and construction of over 15,000,000 square feet (1,400,000 m2) of space including 4,000 homes; 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) of commercial offices; 2,500,000 square feet (230,000 m2) of industrial and 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of sport, leisure and hospitality.[ citation needed ]
In 2008 Smith handed over the £105m development of St George's Park National Football Centre to the English Football Association, creating England's first National Football Centre [11] at Burton upon Trent. The development, completed on time and within budget will be home to all 24 of the England National Teams and a destination for the training of players, coaches, referees, and football administrators [12] in a campus style development in the heart of the National Forest. Ultimately it will become a 'University of Football'.
In November 2012 redboxdesign group won the Best Professional Service Business Serving Football award at 2012 Football Business Awards. [13]
The scheme includes twelve pitches, a full-size indoor football pitch, an all-purpose indoor sports hall. Accommodation also includes a Hilton dual branded 230 bed hotel, with conferencing, banqueting, leisure club and spa; education facilities, lecture theatres and a sports science and sports medicine centre run by PERFORM a division of SPIRE. [14]
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(October 2013) |
In addition to the National Football Centre, Smith has recently been involved in other projects:
In 2012, working with government officials, local design institutes and developers, redbox were involved in multimillion-pound projects in Hunan Province, particularly in the cities of Changsha, Zhuzhuo and the new town of Yunlong. Schemes included technology parks, office, commercial and heritage projects varying in size up to 5,000,000 square feet. Smith has been invited to become a visiting professor at the leading university[ which? ] in South West China, a post he will take up in September 2012.
Smith is also working with artists in Szechuan, where he is developing an agency to export works by nascent Chinese artists into the western art market, at the same time he intends to open a contemporary art gallery in Chongqing.
In 2010 he won a silver medal [15] for his first ever garden design commissioned by Gateshead Borough Council and Great North Run at the Chelsea Flower Show.
In 1989, encouraged by Eddie Jordan who in the late 80's dominated British motor sport and won the European Formula 3000 Championship, Smith entered the world of motor racing ownership and management founding TEAM AJS F3000, running with Ricard Rydell, a young Swedish driver, working with race engineer Paul Crosby (who had worked previously with both Jean Alesi and David Couthard). The team won at Brands Hatch, the first race they contested. Over a five-year period Smith's team enjoyed success with drivers from Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Denmark, consistently winning races, 'fastest lap' and pole position records.
Smith spent five years on the Board of Northern Arts playing a key part in converting the landscape of North East England into an 'open air' gallery with works commissioned and installed throughout the region by major international artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Jaun Munoz, Antony Gormley and James Turrell.
Whilst at Northern Arts, he also helped to establish Commissions North, an agency for commissioning both private and public sector art works, securing works valued at over £1m in the first year. [16]
1998 saw him appointed chairman of the BALTIC Visual Arts Trust, tasked with delivering and establishing a £46m contemporary arts facility in Gateshead. Twice the size of the Hayward gallery, the project is the largest art space outside London and the largest arts lottery funded project in the UK. It was opened in 2002 by Her Majesty the Queen and attracted over one million visitors in the first year. [17] Smith stood down in 2003 having consolidated the organisation, and BALTIC continues to be regarded as one of the finest contemporary arts spaces outside London, still attracting over 400,000 visitors a year.
Other notable charity roles see Smith on the boards of Great North Art Affair, Great North Culture Programme, [18] Academy 360 and the Maggie's Centre for cancer care and support. Smith has also received much recognition for his active support of education through University and Grammar School Bursaries; primary and secondary school mentoring, [19] as well significant financial donations to assist individual students from financially challenged backgrounds, especially those wishing to take up a career in the visual or applied arts.
Smith is a member of the Institute of Directors, the Reform Club and The Royal Automobile Club in London.
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(October 2013) |
Smith married Ellen in 1972 and together they have one son, Elliot who was educated at Durham Chorister School, The Royal Grammar, Newcastle upon Tyne, and York University, where he read psychology. The family currently live on a small country estate on the outskirts of Durham City, and split their time between Durham and their other home in Chelsea.
Smith is a qualified pilot, plays the drums, sails, gardens and collects cars. He also mentors young emerging artists and designers. [20]
North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region: combined authority, unitary authority or metropolitan borough, and civil parishes. They are also multiple divisions without administrative functions; ceremonial county, emergency services, built-up areas and historic county. The largest settlements in the region are Newcastle upon Tyne, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Gateshead, Darlington, Hartlepool and Durham.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Tyne and Wear is a ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Sunderland is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the historic county of Durham. The city is 10 miles (16 km) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on the River Wear's mouth to the North Sea. The river also flows through Durham roughly 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Sunderland City Centre. It is the only other city in the county and the second largest settlement in the North East after Newcastle upon Tyne.
Gateshead is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The town shares the Millennium Bridge, Tyne Bridge and multiple other bridges with Newcastle upon Tyne.
South Shields is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Once known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. It is the fourth largest settlement in Tyne and Wear; after Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland and Gateshead.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead arts quarter on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne's Quayside area on the north bank. It was the first tilting bridge ever to be constructed. Opened for public use in 2001, the award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architectural practice WilkinsonEyre and structural engineering firm Gifford. The bridge is sometimes called the 'Blinking Eye Bridge' or the 'Winking Eye Bridge' due to its shape and its tilting method. The Millennium Bridge stands as the twentieth tallest structure in the city, and is shorter in stature than the neighbouring Tyne Bridge.
The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Felling, Birtley, Pelaw, Dunston and Low Fell. The borough forms part of the Tyneside conurbation, centred on Newcastle upon Tyne.
Northumbria University is a public university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East of England. It has been a university since 1992, but has its origins in the Rutherford College, founded in 1877.
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety of exhibitions, events, and educational programmes with no permanent exhibition. The idea to open a centre for contemporary arts in Gateshead was developed in the 1990s, which was a time of regeneration for the local area—the Sage and Gateshead Millennium Bridge was also being conceived of in this period.
Newcastle station is a railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is located on the East Coast Main Line, around 268 miles (432 km) north of London King's Cross. It is the primary national rail station serving Newcastle upon Tyne and is an interchange for local services provided by the Tyne and Wear Metro network whose Central Station is situated beneath the national rail station.
Felling is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, the town became part of the metropolitan borough of Gateshead in 1974. It lies on the B1426 Sunderland Road and the A184 Felling bypass, than 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Gateshead, 1 mile (1.6 km) south east of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 10 miles north west of the City of Sunderland. In 2011, Felling had a population of 8,908.
The Utilita Arena Newcastle is a large indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by The LA Fund and sponsored by Utilita Energy, it hosts music, entertainment, sports and business events.
The Leamside Line, originally part of the Durham Junction Railway, is a disused railway line, located in the North East of England. The alignment diverges from the East Coast Main Line at Tursdale Junction, travelling a distance of 21 miles north through the Durham Coalfield and Washington, prior to joining the Durham Coast Line at Pelaw Junction. The Leamside Line closed to passenger traffic in 1964, under the Beeching cuts.
Deckham is a residential suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by Gateshead town centre to the north, Sheriff Hill to the south, Felling and Carr Hill to the east and Shipcote to the west. It lies on the B1296, the route of the old Great North Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Gateshead town centre, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 13 miles (21 km) north of the city of Durham. In 2011, Deckham had a population of 9,938.
The Quayside is an area along the banks (quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom.
The Tyne–Wear derby, also known as the North East derby, is a local derby between the association football clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two cities of Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne just 12 miles (19 km) apart. Sunderland play their home matches at the Stadium of Light whilst Newcastle play their home matches at St. James’ Park. The first meeting of the two sides took place in 1883, with the first competitive fixture being an FA Cup tie in 1888 which Sunderland won 2–0 over Newcastle East End.
Gateshead College is a further education college in the town of Gateshead, England. Established on November 15, 1955 at Durham Road in Low Fell, Gateshead. It was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. The original campus was closed as part of a planned move in January 2008. The college moved into a £39 million new main site located at the Baltic Quayside in Gateshead. Also opened during the move was the Academy for Sport based at Gateshead International Stadium and in Team Valley the Skills Academy for Automotive, Engineering, Manufacturing and Logistics. Also in Team Valley, the Skills Academy for Construction opened in summer 2008.
Springwell Village is a village in the City of Sunderland, bordering Gateshead, approximately 7.6 miles (12.2 km) from Newcastle upon Tyne, 9 miles (14 km) from Sunderland, and 13 miles (21 km) from Durham. In 2011, Census data for the City of Sunderland ward of Washington West recorded a total population of 11,833.
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