Can new ideas find solutions to old problems?
Innovative architect Bob Ghosh talks to Richard McComb

The Urban landscape of Birmingham is facing one of its biggest opportunities in its history to move forward with bold new designs.

The concrete collar of the 1960s is being broken down as unprecedented levels of investment are pumped into the retail and service sectors to aid economic regeneration.

Corporate firms are putting their stamp on the remodelled city core but one architecture practice is determined that innovative avant garde designs should be able to flourish.

Challenging preconceptions and finding new solutions to old problems goes to the heart of the business culture of Kinetic AIU.

The Initials stand for Architecture, Innovation and Urbanism - and those concepts are used as the starting point for the Birmingham firm's work. Its workload is extremely varied, ranging from major apartment regeneration schemes and a mosque to individual bespoke home designs and loft living.

Kinetic was founded by directors Bob Ghosh, John Shakeshaft and Michael Young last year and is based in the city centre offices in Colmore Row.

Mr Ghosh and Mr Shakeshaft have strong links with the city. Both were educated at Birmingham School of Architecture; Mr Ghosh is a former director of Glenn Howells Architects while Mr Shakeshaft was a project leader at Associated Architects, both established city practices.

Fellow Director Mr Young, a former associate at London's Skidmore Owings and Merrill, shared their passion for urbanism and came on board to form Kinetic. The three architects believe in the importance of seeing design in terms of its impact on, and relationship with the city landscape.

Mr Ghosh, who is a director of Midlands Architecture and the Designed Environment, says: "There needs to be an awareness of the urban environment and recognition that the interventions we make on the city have an effect in a much wider context. If we are looking at a proposal on a site we will look at how it knits together into the fabric of the city. It is not a case of looking at a building on its own for a developer."

That does not mean there has to be a conformity of design, but rather that there should be a coherence of vision. Bob believes there are modern examples in Birmingham where this vision has been achieved and others where it has failed miserably.

"Historically, some of the best cities have a degree of diversity. The planning policy is important to make sure the buildings are of the relevant scale, but that is not saying everything has to be the same height or same material", says Mr Ghosh. "Brindleyplace is a good example although around the Arcadian area is a poor example because the diversity has gone too far.

"It is a case of appreciating the history of a site and the history of an area. You have to sit with your neighbours in a positive way. What you don't have to do is artificially create a type of architecture that does not apply to this day and age. Planners and architects are learning that just producing a pastiche is not a positive thing."

Kinetic was given a licence to innovate when it was appointed to work on a new store for maverick fashion house All-saints at the redeveloped Bullring in the city centre.

The entire contract, from the initial approach to Kinetic through to the design work and completion on site, took only 16 weeks, a rapid turn-around for any project. But it represents an even greater achievement bearing in mind the modernity and radicalism of the concept when set against the standard look and feel of "high street" retail architecture.

Mr Ghosh explains: "All-saints were lucky enough to move into The Bullring after the whole centre had opened. That gave them the opportunity to see what everybody else was doing and to do something completely different."

The clients wanted a resin-bound floor surface using black aggregate for a glitzy, polished look while the walls incorporate rough sawn timbers with exposed edges and whitewash.

The effect is to make the store stand out from the main corporate shopping brands. Even the staircase between the shopping floors, with its cage-like effect, was deliberately conceived as a design feature.

Allsaints was clearly impressed with the finished product because it has engaged Kinetic to work on the refurbishment of an outlet in Manchester .

Mr Ghosh believes the move towards such avant-garde architecture is a result of a cultural shift that has led people to become more design conscious, be they everyday consumers or property developers.