The comments come in the foreword to a government report, Better Public Buildings, in which Blair sets out his vision for improving towns and cities through good design.
He says: “I have asked ministers and departments across government to work towards achieving a step change in the quality of building design in the public sector.”
Blair says the increased capital spending announced in the summer’s Comprehensive Spending Review will be used to build schools, hospitals and housing of the same high quality as those built by the Victorians.
Blair was due to launch the report at a Downing Street reception on Wednesday, attended by leading figures in architecture and construction including Lords Foster and Rogers.
The report sets out the argumen ts for good design and says government departments and public bodies should become better clients.
Sir Stuart Lipton, chairman of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, called on the public sector to lead the way. He said: “Our public buildings say something about us and the government we elect to lead us.”
Sir Stuart, echoing the prime minister’s reference to civic pride, said: “The Victorians were justly proud of their public works, which were architecturally innovative and replicated all over the world. They dared to be different. We need to recapture that entrepreneurial approach.”
However, he added: “We need originals and not reproductions.”
Building editor Adrian Barrick was also due to attend the reception.
