Alan J Smith OBE, DL
Encyclopedia
Alan J Smith OBE is an 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 and in 2008 was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant
of the County of Durham.
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”.
In 2000 Smith assumed the position of Chairman of redboxdesign group, a position he retains to this day.
The change of name saw the business develop further. Work with Northern Rock continued whilst new relationships in sport, leisure and hospitality with Sunderland Football Club, Durham County Cricket Club, HILTON International and Radisson helped to widen the practice portfolio. Expansion also included work in Moscow for Yukos Oil designing for them a new research and development facility into nano technology.
Work in recent years has included major projects in all sectors from the first ‘Excellent’ rated BREEAM 50m swimming pool in the world; the one million sqft commercial office development at Quorum Business Park and a £35m higher education facility for Gateshead College. Work in the hospitality sector also continued with the £28m four star hotel for Radisson SAS, located next to the World Heritage Site of Durham Cathedral, and the notable 260 bed hotel for HILTON in Gateshead adjacent to the Tyne Bridge.
Throughout his professional career, Smith has been responsible for the design and construction of over 15000000 square feet (1,393,545.6 m²) of space including 4,000 homes; 6000000 square feet (557,418.2 m²) of commercial offices; 2500000 square feet (232,257.6 m²) of industrial and 3000000 square feet (278,709.1 m²) of sport, leisure and hospitality.
Today he is engaged with the English Football Association to build England’s first National Football Centre called St George’ Park, at Burton upon Trent. The £100m development will be a home to all 24 of the England National Teams and a destination for the training of players, coaches, referees, and football administrators in a campus style development in the heart of the National Forest. Ultimately it will become a ‘University of Football’.
The scheme, which is now on site and due for completion in 2012, is set to become a sanctuary for football and learning with 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 sports science and sports medicine.
In addition to the National Football Centre, Smith has recently been involved in a range of other diverse projects:
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). From the outset the team was immensely successful, winning at Brands Hatch the first race they contested. Over a five year period Smith’s team enjoyed immense success with drivers from Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Denmark, consistently winning races, ‘fastest lap’ and pole position records.
An enormous interest in and an involvement with the Arts has always been a key component of Smith’s career. He 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.
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 of 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. Smith stood down in 2003 having consolidated the organisation, and BALTIC continues to be regarded as one of the finest contemporary arts spaces outside of London, still attracting over 400,000 visitors a year.
In 2002 Smith founded Fusebox Design to specialise in digital media design, and is company Chairman. Run by young energetic designers the company has secured an enviable portfolio of clients including Durham City Council, Hadrian’s Wall, Durham and Essex Constabularies, and Tyne Tees Border Television.
Other notable charity roles see Smith on the Boards of Great North Art Affair, Great North Culture Programme, Academy 360 and the Maggie’s Centre for cancer care and support.
Smith is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Reform Club in London.
2006 Awarded an O.B.E., for services to architecture.
2008 Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration by Sunderland University.
2008 Appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of Durham.
2011 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, F.R.S.A.
Smith is a qualified pilot, loves playing the drums, is a keen sailor and gardener and enjoys looking after his collection of cars. He spends an extensive amount of time mentoring young emerging artists and designers.
Red Box Design Group
Redboxdesign group is a design company which specialises in architecture and Interior design, as well as new media based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, working both nationally and internationally.-History:...
, responsible for many notable buildings in England, it is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. The practice has completed projects throughout Europe.
Smith is the Founding Chairman of BALTIC
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is an international centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne alongside the Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, North East England, United Kingdom...
, the Centre for Contemporary Art on Gateshead Quays.
In 2006 he was awarded an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for services to architecture and in 2008 was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of the County of Durham.
Biography
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.Alan J Smith Partnership
Smith moved in to 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 quickly developed relationships with key 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. The big breakthrough into the commercial office and design and research sectors came with major appointments from Abbey National, Northern Rock, Obayashi, Ikeda, Nissan European Technology, Goldstar, British Gas Energy Centres, and Benetton Formula 1. On the back of strong relationships with Japanese clients the practice set up an office Amsterdam in 1992.Red Box Design Group
Smith has always held quite outspoken views on the nature of our cities and has argued widely on the need to reintroduce layered uses rather than vertical and often isolated uses into our cities. In 1996, before ‘mixed use’ really became a popular mantra Smith bought and developed the listed neo classical Post Office Headquarters in the centre of Newcastle as a vehicle to satisfy the need for an expanding workload and to demonstrate his beliefs. The mutli faceted and multi layered development provided the vehicle for the foundation of redboxdesign group in 2000. The building was seen as the first real mixed-use scheme in the North of England and remains the headquarters for the practice to this day. The sensitive renovation and re-use of the building played to the strengths of Smith’s cross sectoral experience over the previous ten years and remains a fresh reminder of what can be achieved by carefully providing old buildings with new uses and giving them a system upgrade.The development has been praised by the Duke of Gloucester
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a member of the British Royal Family. Prince Richard is the youngest grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. He has been Duke of Gloucester since his father's death in 1974. He is currently 20th in the line of succession...
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”.
In 2000 Smith assumed the position of Chairman of redboxdesign group, a position he retains to this day.
The change of name saw the business develop further. Work with Northern Rock continued whilst new relationships in sport, leisure and hospitality with Sunderland Football Club, Durham County Cricket Club, HILTON International and Radisson helped to widen the practice portfolio. Expansion also included work in Moscow for Yukos Oil designing for them a new research and development facility into nano technology.
Present Day
The essential mantra of work produced by Smith is that “good design will always be good design”, steering away from fashion and trends in order to produce buildings of timeless quality. The work at Northern Rock is testament to such an approach where the collection of buildings, in a one million square foot campus for more than 3,000 people has retained a strong identity and a cohesive design despite the twelve year development period.Work in recent years has included major projects in all sectors from the first ‘Excellent’ rated BREEAM 50m swimming pool in the world; the one million sqft commercial office development at Quorum Business Park and a £35m higher education facility for Gateshead College. Work in the hospitality sector also continued with the £28m four star hotel for Radisson SAS, located next to the World Heritage Site of Durham Cathedral, and the notable 260 bed hotel for HILTON in Gateshead adjacent to the Tyne Bridge.
Throughout his professional career, Smith has been responsible for the design and construction of over 15000000 square feet (1,393,545.6 m²) of space including 4,000 homes; 6000000 square feet (557,418.2 m²) of commercial offices; 2500000 square feet (232,257.6 m²) of industrial and 3000000 square feet (278,709.1 m²) of sport, leisure and hospitality.
Today he is engaged with the English Football Association to build England’s first National Football Centre called St George’ Park, at Burton upon Trent. The £100m development will be a home to all 24 of the England National Teams and a destination for the training of players, coaches, referees, and football administrators in a campus style development in the heart of the National Forest. Ultimately it will become a ‘University of Football’.
The scheme, which is now on site and due for completion in 2012, is set to become a sanctuary for football and learning with 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 sports science and sports medicine.
In addition to the National Football Centre, Smith has recently been involved in a range of other diverse projects:
- New and Renewable Energy Centre, (NaREC) along the riverside in Byth which will become the centre of the new off-shore wind turbine industry of the North East Coast of England.
- Schools at Brandon and Esh Winning in County Durham, will be the country’s first schools classified as ‘Outstanding’ under BREEAM guidelines – achieving a 90 per cent reduction in carbon footprint compared to 2002 Building Regulations.
- Quorum Business Park, RICS Enterprise Award Winning scheme for over 1000000 sq ft (92,903 m²) of high quality office space in landscaped masterplan.
- Sunderland Association Football Club training academy for the English Premiership club.
Outside of Architecture
In 2010 he won a silver medal for his first ever garden design commissioned by Gateshead Borough Council and Great North Run at the internationally acclaimed 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). From the outset the team was immensely successful, winning at Brands Hatch the first race they contested. Over a five year period Smith’s team enjoyed immense success with drivers from Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Denmark, consistently winning races, ‘fastest lap’ and pole position records.
An enormous interest in and an involvement with the Arts has always been a key component of Smith’s career. He 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.
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 of 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. Smith stood down in 2003 having consolidated the organisation, and BALTIC continues to be regarded as one of the finest contemporary arts spaces outside of London, still attracting over 400,000 visitors a year.
In 2002 Smith founded Fusebox Design to specialise in digital media design, and is company Chairman. Run by young energetic designers the company has secured an enviable portfolio of clients including Durham City Council, Hadrian’s Wall, Durham and Essex Constabularies, and Tyne Tees Border Television.
Other notable charity roles see Smith on the Boards of Great North Art Affair, Great North Culture Programme, Academy 360 and the Maggie’s Centre for cancer care and support.
Smith is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Reform Club in London.
Recognition and Honours
1992 Elected Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers.2006 Awarded an O.B.E., for services to architecture.
2008 Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration by Sunderland University.
2008 Appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of Durham.
2011 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, F.R.S.A.
Personal Life
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, loves playing the drums, is a keen sailor and gardener and enjoys looking after his collection of cars. He spends an extensive amount of time mentoring young emerging artists and designers.
External Links
- Profile: Alan Smith - the Gordon Ramsay of the arts world, The Telegraph, 29 March 2007http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2806499/Profile-Alan-Smith-the-Gordon-Ramsay-of-the-arts-world.html
- St George’s Park Ground Breakinghttp://www.redboxdesign.com/updates/
- Burton Rises From The Ashes - FC Business, 50th edition Jan2010
- Field of Dream Has Roots In Grasp – Daily Telegraph, 19Jan10
- Press Launch St George’s Park – FA TV, 19Jan10http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsAndFeatures/2010/SheepshanksStGeorgesPark
- Chelsea Flower Show, youtube, May2010
- Field of Dreams, Daily Telegraph, 20Jan10
- Housing Crisis Could Be Good For Us- BQ (Business Quarterly), Issue 3 October 2008http://www.bq-magazine.co.uk/northeast/magazines/
- Renowned Design Co Has Roots In Region -Northern Echo,30May 2007
- Taking Art Centre Stage, Building for Leisure May 2007