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Huge congratulations to Robert Beeny from MArch DS16 on winning the RIBA President’s Silver Medal 2020!

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The School of Architecture + Cities is delighted to announce that Robert Beeny, MArch student from Design Studio 16 won this year’s RIBA President’s Silver Medal for his project Devil’s Valley Geothermal Co-operative.

This project is situated in an area of Tuscany, Italy known as the Devil’s Valley, which had become known for its production of renewable geothermal energy over the past century. To protect the livelihood of local communities relying on that energy source, Robert proposed a new rural self-build development, powered by a geothermal well, with a pipeline and manufacturing spaces cascading down the valley landscape.

Read more about the project here.

Huge congratulations to Robert and his tutors Anthony Boulanger, Stuart Piercy and Callum Perry from DS16 on this amazing achievement!

Featured Image: The Geothermal Co-operative by Robert Beeny via RIBA

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Mycelium and other Bio-based Construction Materials ” Ehab Sayed , Biohm, Thursday, December 3 at 18:00 [online via BB]

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 3rd of December at 6pm

Event Link (no need to register):  https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/3ea897faf8b14916a16d1b200581b1e9 

Ehab Sayed has over six years of experience as a sustainable designer, engineer, circular economy strategist and built environment innovator with a passion for creating a biomimetic (nature- inspired) circular future. Through extensive research on the global construction industry, he founded Biohm to champion a transformation towards the integration of biological processes in manufacturing.

Biohm have produced a mycelium thermal insulation panel that will be the world’s first accredited mycelium insulation product. We are also developing new products and alternative applications for mycelium, which is the vegetative part of a fungus. Biohm is a multi-award-winning research and development led, bio-manufacturing company. We allow nature to lead innovation, to revolutionise construction and create a healthier, more sustainable, built-environment. Biohm work in symbiosis with industry, local and national government, communities and academia to lead a step-change towards a circular future that is inspired by nature and driven by human, environmental and economic needs. 

For more details contact Will McLean – w.f.mclean@westminster.ac.uk

Technical Studies website – https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

London Festival of Architecture: City of London School Competition | Deadline [first stage]: Midday, Friday, December 18, 2020

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

At the LFA, our competitions are an important part of our mission to democratise the discussion around architecture. Now, we’re pleased that our Collaboration team will be also running competitions as New London Architecture to build upon this, expanding with a joint competitions programme and a wider range of opportunities for our friends and supporters to get involved in.

London Festival of Architecture

New London Architecture (NLA) and the City of London Corporation have launched a new open call competition to find a design team to take forward a major redevelopment programme at City of London School. The competition is a unique opportunity to transform one of London’s most prestigious schools, on one of the most prominent sites in the City of London. 

The open call competition is open to architecture practices all shapes and sizes, including teams of smaller and medium-sized practices who are being actively encouraged to join together to bid for the project, which has an estimated project cost of £19 million.
 
City of London School was founded in the fifteenth century and is one of London’s leading day schools. The school’s current building – on the City of London riverfront beside the Millennium Bridge – dates from 1986 and is one of the City’s most recognisable buildings. Facilities have changed little since then, however, and development is now essential to accommodate increased pupil numbers and to allow City of London School to grow and thrive. 
 
A masterplan completed in 2019 identified a range of new facilities to be delivered over a series of phases, and work is now under way on an initial phase to provide improved sports and dining facilities. The City Corporation and the School are now working with NLA to find the design team that deliver subsequent phases, and in doing to maximising the use of the School’s site and delivering multi-use spaces and classrooms which are flexible, inviting and inspiring. In particular the masterplan has identified the following elements for delivery:

  • A new courtyard building located on the existing playground, providing around 1,200 sq.m of classroom and office space;
  • Improving circulation and access around the playground and the wider school campus;
  • Refurbishing part of the main school building to provide improved Junior School accommodation;
  • Extending the main school building to enhance science teaching facilities;
  • Refurbishing and remodelling existing space to create a new sixth form centre and common room, administrative and pastoral facilities, alongside sports changing facilities;
  • Reconfiguring the design technology and computing building;
  • Opening up and enlarging circulation space within the main school building.

The winning team will be one that can help City of London School become a flagship in renewable energy use and greening, and to promote environmental consciousness across the school and the City of London. The design team will be required to consult with multiple stakeholders, and to execute a well-planned programme of works that meets the School’s timetabling requirements and allows the school to remain on site with minimal disruption. 
 
The deadline for the first stage of the competition – requiring teams to complete prepare and expression of interest and complete a selection questionnaire – is midday on Friday 18 December 2020. Up to six shortlisted teams will then be invited to develop a design concept for the project and awarded an honorarium of £1,000. It is expected that a winning design team will be identified in March 2021. 
 
All information for entrants is available on the capitalEsourcing portal here

Tamsie Thomson, managing director of New London Architecture, said:
 
“This competition is a fantastic opportunity to work with one of London’s leading schools, and to make a real difference on one of the most important sites in the City of London. The competition has been carefully designed to make it accessible for teams of all shapes and sizes to enter, and we want to see as many practices entering as possible. In keeping with New London Architecture’s work to broaden opportunities for architects in London we are actively encouraging collaborations, and want to see a really broad and diverse range of talent coming forward.”
 
Alan Bird, Head of City of London School, said:

“This redevelopment will provide additional teaching space, whilst facilitating the use of modern and emerging technologies to support teaching and learning.It will also provide the scope to work increasingly closely with other schools across the City of London Family of Schools, through increased partnership and enrichment activities.The project will also demonstrate our commitment to developing a school building that embraces its environmental responsibilities. We look forward to working with the chosen architect to develop a proposal that will meet the needs of all our pupils, and excite and inspire for many years.”

Featured Image: City of London School by Wayland Smith via Architects’ Journal

Mayor’s Entrepreneur Internship | Deadline: Midnight, December 6, 2020

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The applications for 35 student interns to support the Mayor’s Entrepreneur competition are now open!  You can see full details of the roles and how to apply here but key elements are:

Contract Type: 6 Months Fixed Term part time (3.5 hours per week, flexible around lectures) starting January 2021

Salary: £10.85 per hour

Closing Date: Midnight 6 December 2020

Interview Date: w/c 14th December 2020

Any questions about the roles and the application itself should be sent to entrepreneur@london.gov.uk

Christmas Competition and other updates from the Fabrication Laboratory

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

As we get close to the Christmas Break, we have some updates from the Fabrication Lab, as well as the launch of a short Christmas Competition for our staff and our students.

Twelve Days of Christmas Window and Competition

Fabrication Laboratory is doing what they can to spread some seasonal good will at the end of an extraordinarily difficult year, and are creating a festive window on Marylebone Road. They’re going to use the Lab’s robot arm to film a one-off interpretation of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and are inviting ideas for scenes representing one of the 12 gifts. They’re looking for proposals this week – sketches or sketch models – and we’ll shortlist the best 12 next Tuesday to turn into animated sets for the window and film.

They’re running the project in collaboration with the Baker Street Quarter Partnership, who have brought generous local sponsors and cash prizes for the best three entries – £250 first prize, £150 second, £50 third. The window will open and the film will premiere the day before the students return home, Tuesday 8th December at 18:00.

For full details and a guide to how to participate, see the Lab website:

fabricationlab.london/festivewindow2020

Opening Times

The Lab remains open as it has since the start of the semester, and is available for bookable activities including use of the lasers and CNC machines. The shop, now converted to Click and Collect, is working well and is well used. It will be open for students until the end of the week when onsite teaching ends, and will reopen from the beginning of January. This information is also available on the website.

Lab Closes:      17.00, Friday 11th December 

Lab Opens:      09.00, Monday, 4th January

Lab Improvements

While the Fabrication Laboratory has had fewer students this year, they’ve taken the opportunity to make a whole host of improvements. Unfortunately, most of these will not be available until they are able to open up more fully, post lockdown. But just to keep you in the loop and spread some positive news, here are a few images below.

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “U-Build” Nick Newman, Studio Bark, Thursday, November 26 at 18:00 [online via BB]

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 26th of November at 6pm

Event Link (no need to register): https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/df0e3de2a217453cb18c4d6f76fa0d9a 

Nick Newman is a Director of Studio Bark and the U-Build construction system. 

His experience spans environmental architecture, climate activism, circular economy construction and deep energy retrofits. Nick is a Passivhaus Designer and has contributed to a number of journals and publications, including the Environmental Design Pocketbook, the Passivhaus Designer’s Manual and an upcoming journal for the RIBA focusing on the Climate Emergency.  He speaks regularly at events on behalf of the studio and was named a ‘Rising Sustainability Star’ by Building magazine in 2014. Nick is an advocate for radical responses to the Climate Emergency, and, was arrested for his involvement with ‘protest architecture’ at the Extinction Rebellion protests in 2019 and 2020, which brought Central London to a standstill. 

For more details contact Will McLean – w.f.mclean@westminster.ac.uk 

Technical Studies website – https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/ 

Two new publications in Studio as Book Series edited by John Zhang and Elantha Evans.

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

The School of Architecture and Cities is pleased to announce the publication of two new books in the Studio as Book Series:  

No. 4 A Tale of Two Cities, JID Studio, 2015-2020, edited by John Zhang, 2020   

No. 5 Dialogues + Dreams, DS(2)01, 2015-2018,  edited by Elantha Evans, 2020  

The Studio as Book series was launched in 2016 to highlight the creative work undertake in what was then the Department of Architecture’s design studios.  It was intended to reflectively position the work of a design studio within wider intellectual, scientific or aesthetic debate and to provide a reference for future iterations of the studio. The series includes undergraduate and graduate work, and each book covers the work of a design studio over the course of at least two years. The books are produced thanks to the dedication of staff and students involved.  

Previous iterations of the series are: 

No.3 The Intrinsic and Extrinsic City, DS11, 2008-2017, edited by Andrew Peckham and Dusan Decermic, 2018  

No.2 Dialogical Designs, DS(3)03, 2012-2015, edited by Constance Lau, 2016   

No.1 Architecture, Energy Matter, DS18, 2013-2015, edited by Lindsay Bremner and Roberto Bottazzi, 2016    

For more about the series, go here: www.studioasbook.org  

Books are currently available to purchase on Amazon.co.uk or through the editor of each book, but will shortly be available as hard copies from Fabrication Laboratory shop.  

FAME: Exposing the Barriers in Architecture | Friday, December 4, 18:00-19:30 GMT [Online event hosted by Architecture Foundation via Zoom]

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Friday, 4th of December, 6pm-7.30pm

Eventbrite link

FAME will be hosting their first event to expose the barriers female architects of minority ethnic face in the architecture industry today

About this Event

FAME: Female Architects of Minority Ethnic: founded by Tumpa Husna Yasmin Fellows and Tahin Khan.

FAME Collective is a research-based network founded to support women of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities in architecture and the built environment. Their aim is to raise awareness of the barriers, inequality and lack of diversity in architecture and to demand change that responds to our collective challenges. This event is part of a series of events which will be documented and shared with those in power to change and address the inequality that exists in architecture.

Join us for the launch of FAME’s first symposium ‘EXPOSING THE BARRIERS IN ARCHITECTURE’ hosted by Architecture Foundation via Zoom, and presented by Tumpa Husna Yasmin Fellows. Our distinguished keynote speaker Sumita Singha (recent RIBA Presidential candidate). Our panel of speakers include Annette Fisher (from Let’s BUild), Hilary Satchwell (from Tibbalds and Part W), Femi Oresanya (from HOK and the Chair of the RIBA Architects for Change Expert Advisory Group) and Anna Liu (Director of Tonkin Liu, won the 2018 Stephen Lawrence Prize for Old Shed New House).

This is a participatory event to explore the impact of racism, injustice and inequality contributing to the barriers in architecture. We want to hear about the lived experiences of practitioners, academics and students from BAME backgrounds, to unpack the grievances.

FAME is responding to an urgent need for understanding how race and gender affects established practitioners, young scholars and students, from diverse backgrounds, knowledge and practices by engaging in conversations about the barriers in architecture and the built environment. Our aim is to collectively respond and to demand change and the much-needed support to overcome barriers of racial and gender inequality both in academia and in practices. Our Q + A and participatory sessions will provide an opportunity for participants to share experiences of racial and gender inequality in architecture and the built environment.

This event is being hosted by the Architecture Foundation via Zoom.

The details for all participants will be announced soon.

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Post Pandemic Housing,” Kristofer Adelaide, Kristofer Adelaide Architecture (KA–A), Thursday, November 19 at 18:00 [online via BB]

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 19th of November at 6pm

Event Link (no need to register): https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/ef03d69ea2934064a205c2159e77e760 

It is always a pleasure to welcome back former students and we are delighted to host a talk by Kristofer Adelaide (School of Architecture alumnus, 2009). Kristofer Adelaide Architecture (KA–A) was established in 2016 and is formed of a diverse range of architects, an artist, and accounts and management team. They are a young BAME led practice based in South London. KA–A employs a diverse team of ARB registered Architects, Designers, Architectural Assistants and a BIM Coordinator. They share resources with other architects when required as part of the London Architects Group and Paradigm networks, promoting BAME representation in the built environment. 

KA—A have developed an excellent reputation, obtaining difficult planning consents and successfully delivering projects across London and the South East. These consents have varied from small extensions and alterations in conservation areas, through to new build and multi-unit schemes. Our clients have been a mixture of private residential and medium scale developer led schemes. The practice has recently developed – the Architecture for (the) Reasonably Ordinary (A.F.R.O) House – A concept dwelling, that uses modular construction to satisfy high housing demand, with quality manufacturing, working toward a zero-carbon and passive design standard. Inspired by the Garden Cities movement, this initiative seeks to provide affordable housing in a flexible, scalable way to meet local demand. 

In October KA–A were awarded RIBA London practice of the month, and the practice were recently one of Seven practices shortlisted to pitch ideas for post-pandemic housing that addresses the needs of young people to a panel led by residential developer HUB. In August 2020 they were one of six practices selected for the Brick by Brick – housing infill project in Croydon, working in partnership with the Stephen Lawrence Trust.  

Technical Studies Lecture Series: “Creating Civilised Cities,” Chris Williamson, Weston Williamson and Partners, Thursday, November 12 at 18:00 [online via BB]

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Thursday, 12th of November at 6pm

Event Link (there is no need to register): https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/8cfdaba2b81a485d803c0a3181bc6da7 

Weston Williamson and Partners have gained a reputation for the elegant design and craft of complex design challenges. Their work includes significant infrastructure projects such as the new station at Barking Riverside, the centrepiece of a massive regeneration scheme. Other recent rail projects include two new stations on the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) at Woolwich and Paddington Station. The Paddington project has been described by the client as “…the jewel in the Crossrail crown.” 

When Chris was asked to work with Andrew Weston for group projects at Leicester School of Architecture (for no other reason than they were next to each other alphabetically) he discovered that their skills didn’t overlap but dovetailed perfectly. Their shared ambition made for a perfect business partnership. Forty years later Chris manages and directs the studio and has recently published WW+P’s vision for the next 20 years, which talks about a diverse, collaborative design studio with strong delivery skills. In addition to being a chartered architect, Chris has an MSc in Project Management and believes strongly that the art of architecture requires excellent business skills in order to be realised. Chris has recently been the International Vice President of the RIBA responsible for setting a strategy to grow into a global membership institution and to encourage more UK architects to seek work globally.  

Chris and Weston Williamson also generously provide academic partnership and support to March studio DS22 run by Nasser Golzari and Yara Sharif. 

For more details contact Will McLean – w.f.mclean@westminster.ac.uk 

Technical Studies website – https://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/