Dezeen Wire: architecture critics are having their say on plans unveiled yesterday by Foster + Partners and engineers Halcrow for a new transportation hub in the Thames estuary (see our story on Dezeen).

Writing in the Financial Times, architecture critic Edwin Heathcote claims the proposal is "a genuinely innovative and radical plan," and describes the architect as "a tenacious and consistent innovator," akin to the pioneering engineers and architects responsible for creating Britain's urban infrastructure in the Victorian era.

The Guardian's architecture critic Jonathan Glancey says the plans are "bold" but expresses concern over whether the country is ambitious enough to implement Foster's "big-spirited vision of Britain."

Tom Banks of Design Week says that the proposal may initiate a "call to arms" within the design industry to be more ambitious, adding that it "has put the value of huge, design-led national infrastructure projects firmly in front of Government."

The BBC reported that not everyone thinks the Thames Hub is a good idea, citing members of Medway council who say its proximity to the world's largest liquefied natural gas terminals makes it "the daftest in a long list of pie-in-the-sky schemes."

See our story on the Thames Hub here and all our previous stories about Foster + Partners here.

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