Chelsea Barracks: “The pendulum has swung back”

“You’ve got a very contemporary interior experience... but from the outside, they belong in the context” says Lee Hallman, former Head of Design for Qatari Diar Europe. "That’s the line that architects are walking now. They’re learning to use contemporary technologies, but are still respectful of some of the rules and proportions and materiality of the past.”

We’re talking about Chelsea Barracks, the 13-acre development that found itself at the heart of a new style war, when arguments about its previous design were criticised in the Prince of Wales’ Black Spider memos.

In this podcast, Hallman discusses the design evolution of the project in the context of changing tastes in architecture. With the first phase complete, Hallman describes how the new green squares are being used by dog walkers and local citizens who don’t live there, and discusses some of the spaces and buildings to come.