Do as we say, not as we do... - Jersey Evening Post

Unfortunately, there is evidence that government, the author of the ‘buy local’ formula, does not always practice what it preaches. Take, for instance, the new financial centre which will take shape on what is now the Esplanade car park. Almost a million has been spent on the project so far, and of that sum £700,000 has been paid to UK architects.

That expenditure clearly does not square with the principle of buying locally, but an excuse has been advanced by Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf. He denies that Island architects have been ignored, saying that those considered capable of handling the work are already engaged in competing projects.

However, even if that argument can be sustained – and it is supported by Lee Henry, the chief executive of the Jersey Development Company – there are still grave causes for concern over the financial centre. Even if work can be allocated to Island practices for the three buildings that have yet to be designed, questions must be asked about the plans that have so far been made public.

And the key question is this – are the plans anything like good enough? The buildings proposed for the site might include all the bells and whistles that are seen to be essential in modern offices, but it is their external appearance that will be of by far the greatest significance for the majority of the population.

Sadly, the impressions that have been published strongly suggest that yet more undistinguished rectilinear blocks are to be inflicted on us. Indeed, the overall impression is that £700,000 does not go very far if imaginative design is required.

Many will have imagined that lessons will have been learned through consideration of the generally massively disappointing structures that have emerged on the present St Helier Waterfront. There is, alas, little evidence to suggest that this is the case. Once more, those who are happy with design as long as it includes plenty of polished glass and other stereotypical features redolent of so many other bland business districts around the world appear to be in the process of winning the day.