Architects urged to boycott design for Chelsea barracks

Leading architects are being urged to boycott the Chelsea barracks scheme following the row over Prince Charles's intervention in the design.

Developer Qatari Diar will shortly ask architects if they wish to submit alternatives to Lord Rogers's abandoned steel-and-glass design.

But following the call by Lord Rogers for a national inquiry into the Prince's role in the saga, Labour MP Ken Purchase has tabled a Commons Early Day Motion calling on the Royal Institute of British Architects to implement a boycott.

Mr Purchase said he was dismayed by the "undemocratic" scrapping of the Rogers plan and said architects should not work for Qatari Diar unless it performed a U-turn, Building Design magazine reports this week.

Jack Pringle, the former Riba president, said Qatari Diar's approach to architects would represent a "real test" of their integrity.

"If I was still [Riba president] I would ask members not to supplant Rogers," he told Building Design.

"There is a serious issue here about the Prince's tendency to interfere in a powerful and undemocratic way - I think this is an abuse of his position."

Riba president Sunand Prasad said he could not "instruct" members about potential commissions but added: "I would not enter a competition to replace an architect in these circumstances."