Good building design helps keep our cities and towns attractive

One of the prides of Northern Ireland is the central area of the capital city, Belfast.
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It is beautifully laid out, around the City Hall, in a grid structure like many European and American cities.

Central to the appeal of the city centre is the architecture.

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There are scores of fine buildings in central Belfast, some of them largely unnoticed because they house shops on the lower level so that few people look up the detailing up above.

Very few good buildings have been built since the Second World War.

It is much more expensive to build great buildings than it once was.

The danger is that much of our built environment could become cheap looking and depressing — the opposite of Belfast city centre.

Tourists rarely want to visit unattractive places.

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There are therefore two things that can be done to help keep our towns and cities attractive.

The first is to have robust conservation laws to protect the best of the old buildings, because they are so expensive to replace to the same quality that they are almost priceless.

Anyone who illegally knocks down such a building in the hope of getting planning permission must find that the fine they are liable to fines that are at least as great as any profits they might make from their tactic.

The second, more upbeat, way of keeping our surroundings attractive is to encourage and reward good design.

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It is always a pleasure to see images of the short-listed buildings in the Royal Ulster Architectural Society’s buildings of the year awards.

At times the awards will showcase buildings that are not to the tastes of traditionalists, who prefer classically designed buildings, but the best of modern architecture complements the best of the older buildings.

The RUAS awards help to encourage new, quality buildings.