Should we replace Downing Street?

THE PRIME Minister should replace Downing Street with a new eco-HQ, according to students working with architects at MMU.

No 10 is unsustainable, energy-inefficient and unfit as a base for a Government hoping to lead by example in tackling climate change.

The Manchester youngsters want the PM and senior politicians to listen to their ideas for better greener design, so they are placing a truck for of their ideas on Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall on November 20-21.

A wind turbine, an eco-farm and an underwater Cabinet Room are among the idea put forward by students from Cedar Mount High School, east Manchester, who were invited to take part in the project by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

The 'Green Wing'

Tips on eco-design have come from academics at Manchester School of Architecture, a partner in the project called aptly "The Green Wing".

Stefan White, senior lecturer in architecture at MMU, who helps man the Green Wing truck said: "The designs give politicians and the public a real insight into what young people believe represents a suitable contemporary residence for the Prime Minister, if it were moved onto Duck Island, St James’s Park.

"While we have helped a guided, all the ideas come from the pupils themselves and have opened their eyes to the world of architecture and design."

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell MP and Shadow Schools Minister Nick Gibb MP are among those expected to view the student work over two days in Whitehall. The RIBA exhibition truck is also open to the public.

Manchester debut

The Green Wing's appearance at Horse Guards follows its successful debut at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester in September where it was visited by hundreds of people including Cherie Blair, Environment Secretary David Miliband MP and Culture Minister David Lammy MP.

Manchester School of Architecture is a joint school of Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester. For more about the work of MSA, go to www.msa.ac.uk/about