Architecture Update: Bad-taste boudoirs

FOR the second year running, the judges in the Camra Pub Design Awards were unable to award a prize for the best-preserved pub. The reason, says Steven Parissien, of English Heritage, is that 'most pub owners appear to have little idea what 'conservation' actually means, preferring to waste thousands of pounds making interiors look like tarts' boudoirs rather than spending a few hundred helping to celebrate what makes that particular pub unique and popular.'

Other categories fared little better. 'Most entries showed no imagination or class,' says Dr Parissien, 'and welcoming modern design was noticeable by its absence.'