A young Bermudian architect has just been named as a winner in an international competition for an ambitious re-development in the centre of London.

Jonathan Weatherill, 26, was still a student at London's Architectural Association School of Architecture when he collaborated on the project with Pier Carlo Bontempi, of Parma, Italy. When the Italian firm was awarded second prize in the high-profile Marsham Street Urban Design Competition, Mr.

Weatherill was named as one of the four architects. Elements from the three winning firms (from a total of 300 entrants) will be included in the eventual master plan for the complex situated between the Houses of Parliament and Victoria Station. This will replace the present, enormous (and highly unpopular) 1960s-era building which houses the Ministry of the Environment.

"This was a very high-profile competition -- probably the biggest of its kind for quite some time in Britain -- so it was a big honour and has produced a lot of publicity for me,'' says Mr. Weatherill. "I had been doing some work with this Italian firm and as they had little experience of English architecture, they looked to me to inform them as to what was suitable and what was not!'' Their final proposal, entitled `London, Picturesque City' attempts to evoke a time back in the early 1800s when the area was one of several villages forming a `halo' round the city.

Mr. Weatherill explains that, in sharp contrast to the one, huge building it will replace, their scheme calls for a mixed use complex, including office buildings (embracing courtyards and gardens), a large square with a clock tower, obelisk and fountain, a covered and colonnaded market, traditional London terrace housing, apartments and shops: "The brief called for some open space and public access acros the site, and a place where people could walk around and congregate.'' Noting that a lot of his training has emphasised designing on an urban scale, Mr. Weatherill gained valuable experience, while at college, through work projects in Italy and a year-long stint in Portugal. Those projects included a new residential quarter in Parma, a new campus for the Universities of Lisbon and Coimbra, a medical centre and various housing developments and apartment complexes.

Having begun as an assistant to Bontempi before college, and on various projects while attaining his RIBA qualifications, Mr. Weatherill returned to the Parma firm, full-time, in July.

"Yes, I would like to return to Bermuda eventually,'' he says, adding that he believes architects here are now in a difficult position. "I think that whatever new building goes up should show sensitivity towards the history of Bermuda and, in Hamilton, towards the town itself and the people working there.'' He points out that it was the lack of this kind of sensitivity in much of London's 1960s architecture (including the huge building in Marsham Street, itself part of the philosophy which saw many "experimental'' buildings being erected): "Some of it was good, some very bad! Apparently, Ian Fleming (author of the James Bond books) chose the name Goldfinger for his villain because he lived opposite the new Elephant and Castle building which was was designed by Erno Goldfinger. This character certainly expressed his distate for humanity and he wanted people who lived in tower blocks to be thus reminded of their humble origins. I think architects, at that time, got away with quite a lot, because just after World War II when much of London had to be reconstructed, they were seen as the great new `thinkers' of a `brave new world'. One of their plans at the time was to knock down the whole area of Covent Garden and replace it with tower blocks and overpasses.'' Mr. Weatherill feels that this lack of historical awareness and concern for the city's workers and inhabitants may already also apply to Hamilton. "There has obviously been a lot of building since I was last here ten years ago, but I do believe it's possible to have buildings that are both modern and Bermudian. A lot of the buildings here, however, have no particular identity -- they could be in Kenya or New York, or anywhere.'' He also notices a huge increase in the amount of domestic building. "The Island is much whiter than green, now, with a great many new houses being built.'' Mr. Weatherill is especially concerned that "many of the houses are getting bigger and bigger on sites that are smaller and smaller. People should be shown what is possible and what is really, not possible. Sadly, although Andrew Trimingham is very knowledgeable and has written quite extensively on this subject and given some good examples of what is good and what is bad for Bermuda, no one seems to have taken much notice.'' `I think that whatever new building goes up should show sensitivity towards the history of Bermuda and, in Hamilton, towards the town itself and the people working there. ... A lot of the buildings here, however, have no particular identity -- they could be in Kenya or New York, or anywhere.'-- Jonathan Weatherill `NEW LOOK' -- Part of the Marsham Street design submitted by Johnathan Weatherill and his colleagues.