AT last a Jersey building has won a national award – but it is unlikely that anyone will bother to collect it.

The Radisson SAS Waterfront Hotel has beaten equally hideous contenders to win the accolade of the ugliest building in the British Isles. How smug its critics must feel knowing that the architectural profession agrees that Jersey can lay claim to the most southerly blot on the British landscape. The tiny huts perched precariously on the Minquiers at the very extreme of the isles may lack architectural merit but with a quirky charm that the Radisson so obviously lacks, they can never be described as ‘blots’.

The day before the alumni of British architecture gathered in Liverpool for the annual Sterling Prize dinner, the website of Building Design magazine announced – without fanfares, a five-course banquet or Grand Designs presenter Kevin McLeod to crack dubious jokes – that the hotel was the winner of the Carbuncle Cup 2008.
Whereas the Sterling Prize is for the best example of contemporary British architecture, the Carbuncle Cup is voted for by Building Design’s readership and is the profession’s choice of the least impressive building of the year. For this dubious honour the Radisson has won a wooden spoon, though I doubt that the manager will be in any hurry to display it in the reception.

The Radisson was the clear winner accruing 29 per cent of the votes with the nearest challenger, the B-Central Apartments in Bournemouth, runner-up with 19 per cent. This really will put the Radisson and Jersey on the architectural world map as Building Magazine and its website have an international audience.

Just the publicity we need to accompany our golden banana emblem. Should Tourism seize the marketing opportunities? How’s about special architectural breaks to show the designers of hotels how not to do it? Next summer our enterprising Blue Badge guides, tired of heathland hikes and walks on the wild side, could lead special tours of the Waterfront to marvel at the Radisson’s worst features, while also taking in the equally awful leisure centre and the multiplex.

Naturally, the architects, EPR Architects, were as sick as the proverbial parrots. Expressing their disappointment, the bad losers said that it wasn’t really their fault as they had inherited the design. Attempting to retain their injured pride, they argued that the hotel works well from the inside. Obviously, as you can’t see it when you are inside. Such a comment reminded me of a Polish joke, albeit not a very funny one, but on a par with the ones delivered by Mr McLeod at the Sterling Prize ceremony.

Before the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Warsaw was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Six years later, having been raised to the ground, it was a pile of rubble. Apart from small areas where old quarters have been rebuilt, Warsaw today is an example of Soviet post-1945 reconstruction architecture, a mish mash of non-descript tower blocks.

Stalin, in a moment of rare generosity towards the Polish people, gifted a building in the ‘wedding cake’ style as seen in iconic high-rises in Moscow such as the Hotel Ukraine. Identical to the last faux gargoyle, the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science, dominates the heart of the city and is as universally hated by the Poles as the Soviets were.

Hence the joke, with apologies for taking so long to deliver it. ‘From where do you see the best view of Warsaw? From the Palace of Culture and Science because you can’t see it!’ Well done Alan Holmes, whoever you are, for nominating what was promised to be ‘cutting edge world class architecture’ but ended up resembling a two-star Warsaw Pact clone hotel – and I should know what they look like because I’ve stayed in a few.

Not surprisingly Jersey’s Planning supremo, Senator Freddie Cohen, has joined the criticism of the Radisson, acknowledging that Islanders universally dislike it. But then he can, as it wasn’t approved on his watch. Since he moved into the best office at Planning – with a very nice suntrap balcony and panoramic views over the town, harbour and St Aubin’s Bay – he has brought international architectural flair to the Island.

We now have the likes of past Sterling Prizes contender Sir Michael Hopkins guiding the Waterfront development and a contender to design the National Gallery for Jersey. The only problem with fantastic modern art galleries – such as The Tate in St Ives – is that the works of art that hang in them diminishes the building. But then I’d rather stand outside admiring a building than staring at pictures on a wall any day.

Big names and reputations don’t necessarily mean better buildings or, more importantly, popular buildings. You only have to look at some of the developments that have won the Sterling Prize since its inception in 1995. The Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh being a prime example.

Jersey has its own version of the Sterling Prize in the form of the Design Awards. This year’s winners curiously included the redevelopment of a run-down and neglected housing estate, Le Squez Phase 1B. I describe it as a curious choice because for the first time in its short history, this year’s Sterling winner was a housing scheme – Accordia in Cambridge. Described as ‘high density housing at its very best’ this well-thought out development, the result of a close working relationship between planners and several architects, is an example for the local professions to follow.

Beautifully thought-through homes of different designs – some with copper roofs – are linked by a series of public, semi-public and private open spaces which preserve centuries-old trees. This not only makes Accordia a joy to live in and to walk through but moreover, a safe and friendly environment to raise a family in.

This innovative scheme does not segregate people into little boxes set in a delineated plot of land, with garage attached, patch of grass and paving; it’s very design encourages people to mingle and mix with their neighbours. It sets out to be a community. How different recent bland Category A homes developments built on greenfield sites rezoned in the 2001 Island Plan – such as Jambart Lane in St Clement – would have been if the developers had taken the Accordia approach.