However, I take exception to the section on the new Robert Owen Early Years Centre in Greenwich, south London. I was involved in early briefing sessions, but it soon became clear that the procurement route for this building would make it very difficult to achieve any real architecural quality. What began as a scheme which promised much became bogged down in arguments about costs and delivery targets. Until government fully accepts the need for appropriate investment in public architecture, we will continue to build in ways that marginalise the needs of young children in relation to the environment.

Mark Dudek, Education Design GroupSchool of Architecture, University of Sheffield