A firm of quantity surveyors may find themselves on a design team with Hollywood actor Brad Pitt – but the star will have to wait until next year to find out which one.

Pitt, who is understood to have no formal architectural qualifications, is working with Frank Gehry on the architect’s controversial plans for two seafront towers in Hove, Sussex. The team will apply for planning permission in August.

A spokeswoman for client Karis Holdings said she expected Brighton & Hove council to make a decision at the beginning of 2006. Karis Holdings would then start looking for a QS. It is handling project management internally.

The £250m development of the King Alfred site aims to transform a 1930s sports centre into a mixed-use scheme including a £26m sports complex and 700 flats.

The original plans had to be watered down after protests. They had included four 120 m towers supposed to conjure up crumpled Victorian dresses, but critics said they looked more like crumpled cans. Two of the towers were removed from the plans, and the height of the remaining two has been reduced.

Karis Holdings is a joint venture between local developer Karis and the property arm of Dutch banking giant ING.

Gehry’s past projects include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Vitra Design Museum at Weil-am-Rhein, Germany; Pitt’s include the films Troy and Fight Club.

Source

QS News