Building Design

Province responds to calls for better design with plans for a 'policing' department and design champion. The Northern Ireland Executive is launching a major initiative to improve the quality of architecture in the province amid continuing criticism of the quality of its building design. The executive has responded by unveiling plans to appoint a "high-profile" design champion to head a new department that will be modelled on Cabe. The move comes after criticism of architectural standards in the province, most recently by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Ekin, who claimed there was a culture of pushing through new development regardless of appearance or context.