1.18 The Interim Report stressed the responsibility of all clients, but especially those in the public sector, to commission projects of which present and future generations can be proud. Performance, efficiency, fairness and team work are the principal concerns of this Review. But there is a significant role for clients in promoting good design. It does not necessarily involve high cost. Good design will provide value for money in terms of both total cost and cost-in-use. The energy and maintenance equations should be upper-most in the minds of the client and the designer, as well as the appearance of the facade and the effective use of space.
1.19 Government has an important role to play in this regard4. The Millennium Fund may provide some opportunities for landmark schemes. Patronage should emphasise not only the external appearance - important though that is - but also that the project should be effective for the purposes for which it is intended. A well designed building need not be to a high level of specification. Evidence to the Review has suggested that some UK buildings are over specified and thus unnecessarily costly5. A well designed project will impact upon the satisfaction, comfort and well being of its occupants, and, if it is a commercial building, upon their productivity and performance. Government as patron is not an obsolete role. Quality should be the overriding consideration. The appointment of a special adviser on urban design to the Secretary of State for the Environment is a welcome recognition of the DOE's leading role in encouraging excellence. The Department of National Heritage also takes a constructive interest in the quality of design and the Secretary of State for National Heritage has a special adviser on architecture.
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4 Several publications have criticised the Government's performance in this area. See the Royal Fine Art Commission's "Medicis and the Millennium? - Government Patronage and Architecture" by Judy Hillman, HMSO, 1992 and "Architecture and executive agencies", the Architecture Unit of the Arts Council, 1993.
5 This concern is expressed in the final reports of the CIPS, "Productivity and Costs", of the SECG, "A Framework for the Future" and of the CIEC, all April 1994. See also Chapter 7 of this Report and the recent (May 1994) document from the British Council for Offices entitled "Specification for Urban Offices". The BCO document sets out a proposed draft specification, which was out for consultation as this Report went to press.