2023 AIA Student Charrette

Now in its 28 th edition, the AIAUK Student Charrette has become a firm fixture in the packed autumn calendar of the UK’s most competitive Part 1 students. This year, we were generously hosted by KPF at their Covent Garden gallery, giving students the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the rich history of this unique part of London. It also positioned them in the centre of the KPF masterplan that has seen the area transformed into a buzzing mixed-use neighbourhood.

Of course, before any AIAUK charrette begins, our student-athletes need their sustenance, so the event began with carbohydrates - the usual assortment of pastries and caffeine-infused beverages to get the creative juices flowing. More than 70 students then crowded into the gallery for the presentation of the competition brief and an opportunity to meet their mentors. The presentation guided students through the area’s history, from its origins as a 13 th century walled convent garden, to the Italianate urban planning of the 16 th century, and on to the recent masterplan. The brief’s title, ‘Covent Gardens’ gave the students a clue of the challenge to come, and the day began in earnest with the reveal of the competition challenge: to design a temporary installation responding to the theme of ‘Urban Garden.’ The site was Floral Court, a compact urban courtyard recently completed by KPF. The students were asked to visit the site and think critically about the notion of an urban garden in the contemporary city.

As always, the students responded with enthusiasm and were ably assisted by a crack team of mentors who worked tirelessly alongside their teams to keep things moving, refine ideas, and get them ready to present. The gallery was a hive of activity throughout the day, pausing only at the lunch hour, when the promise of food briefly bought things to a standstill. Soon after lunch, we were joined by the jurors who dove straight in, tasked with reviewing the submissions for the chapter’s £3000 Part 2 research Award – the Noel Hill Award - before making their way into the gallery to judge the Student Charrette. The jurors were well placed to judge this year’s competition, with plenty of high profile installations and community-oriented spaces in their portfolios. The jurors’ feedback proved invaluable as they showed the students that even the fastest sketch is enough to stimulate conversation and a productive exchange of ideas.

As usual, the range of proposals and the creativity with which they were represented was inspiring to see. The judges were unanimous in their praise for one project in particular though, which duly emerged as the overall winner. Titled ‘Green Network,’ the team from the University of Westminster presented an inventive proposal for a ‘plant rotary’ – a conveyor belt of house-plants threaded through the site. The judges commented that:

‘the proposition responded to a real concern faced by those living in an urban context. It encourages cohesion and connection between existing residences and those passing by. The idea of a network of pulley systems and cables creates a spectacle and performance while integrating a real use. The proposal was novel, playful and inventive and has the potential to enhance the enjoyment of an intimate urban space.’

The Westminster team presenting their winning proposal, ‘The Green Network’

Westminster can add another Charrette trophy to their overflowing trophy cabinet, having won the grand prize on a number of previous occasions. Runners-up were also commended, with the first runner-up prize awarded to the team from the University of Manchester. The judges enjoyed their colourful, joyful proposal titled ‘Wonderland’ and commented that, ‘the collages and sketches were imaginative and had a strong focus on landscape and ecology that embedded the theme of the ‘urban garden’ purposefully.

The University of Manchester team, impressing the judges with their ‘joyful’ proposal for a new Wonderland.

Finally, the prize-giving concluded with the second runner-up prize, awarded to the University of Bath for their proposal ‘The Orchard.’ Using little more than crisp-packets, cardboard and a series of inventive diagrams, the team impressed the judges, who commented; ‘the proposition of combining the urban and nature with canopies that played upon the reflections of the intimate urban site were playful and driven by context. The use of materials and positioning to elevate user experience and offer a place of rest in the city was sensitive and highly responsive to both user and environment’.

The University of Bath, describing their concept for ‘The Orchard’ featuring reflective light columns, modelled with crisp packets and cardboard.

AIAUK would like to thank all the students that took part, as well as their mentors Pierre Baillargeon AIA, Francis Hur AIA, Stephen Lawler AIA, Tyler Bollier RIBA, Orkun Beydagi, Brian Oknyansky AIA, and Laura Petruso RIBA and the judges Bongani Muchemwa RIBA, David Ogunmuyiwa RIBA and Sanaa Shaikh RIBA for their energy and enthusiasm.

The winning team, from Westminster University. Mentor: Laura Petruso RIBA

Daile Cerneckyte, Elena Delli Colli, Claudia Gomez, Umi Sakai-Stoute, Della Wendha, Edwin Zhou

First Runners-Up: Manchester School of Architecture. Mentor: Stephen Lawler AIA

Chelsea Chan, Yiran Chen, Tianyi Gao, Nicole Ho, Cristina Pulido, Anna Robertson

Second Runners-Up: University of Bath. Mentor: Stephen Lawler AIA

Cathy Ge, Katie Innes, George Knight, Sarah Mclaren, Annabel Wood

Written by Nicholas Kehagias AIA, RIBA

AIA UK SUSTAINABILITY SERIES: 'EMBEDDING LOW CARBON APPROACHES INTO OUR DESIGN PROCESS'

Harvard Science and Engineering Complex, image credit: Behnisch Architekten

On Wednesday 11th October 2023 we continued our sustainability event series with an online talk from Thornton Tomasetti's Principal and Sustainability Practice Leader Gunnar Hubbard (FAIA, LEED Fellow), examining how we can embed low carbon approaches into our design processes.  As an expert in creating high performance, low energy, healthy buildings, and with a current focus on advancing the firm’s building analytics services and expertise in certification systems such as Passive House, Living Building Challenge and WELL, Gunnar expertly interwove the theory and practice of bringing carbon reduction to the forefront of our design processes. He examined how these processes are changing, and the major role AIA ethical responsibilities must play in them.  Using a range of case studies he elucidated how we can - and indeed must -  have a meaningful impact on climate action through our architectural design work.

The talk is now available online, and 1 HSW LU credit can be earned by successfully completing the accompanying online quiz, which will be set up shortly.

To watch the video click HERE.

You will be able to find the quiz once it becomes available HERE.

CHINON 2023- Historic Preservation in the Heart of France

Restoration/preservation of the 13th-Century Château de La Mothe Chandeniers is being undertaken by Carsten Hanssen, the Continental Europe event organiser.   Photo credit: R D Reber

When the AIA Continental Europe Chapter selected 5-9 October for their Fall 2023 conference in Chinon, France, they surely didn’t realise that the only train line running to the town would be closed that week for repairs!  Fortunately, the hour-long journey by rail replacement bus was through some beautiful oak forests in the Loire Valley, and the approximately 45 attendees got to town in time for Thursday night’s opening reception, which was held in the historic Hôtel Bodard.

The theme of this year’s conference was Historic Preservation, and each day began at the Hôtel Bodard, which was built as a chapel in 1365, then converted to a girls’ school after the French Revolution.  The building was completely restored by AIA CE member Carsten Hanssen – the event organiser - who has recently established it as a regional conference and history centre.

First on the agenda was a presentation on the history and urban design of Chinon, which in the Middle Ages was the capital of several French and English kings, the latter including Henry II and Richard the Lionheart.  Half-timber houses from the 14th and 15th Centuries are found in every street, while the grander buildings are constructed predominantly from the local tufa limestone.

Rue Voltaire and Church St Maurice, Chinon. 

Expert guides then conducted a walking tour of the town, highlighting the Jeu de Paume tennis court (1587), one of the few remaining original tennis courts in Europe; the Collegiate Church of St-Mexme (1000); the Church of St-Maurice (12th Century); and the 11th-Century Château de Chinon, perched high on a rocky outcrop above the town.  In 1429, the château (castle) was the site of the famous meeting between Joan of Arc and the future King Charles VII of France.

There were presentations back at the Hôtel Bodard on Heritage BIM and on the ambitious restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.  A wine tasting followed at Les Caves Plouzeau, a wine cellar located deep inside the hill upon which the castle is built.

Saturday morning’s excursions were to two restoration/preservation projects outside Chinon being undertaken by Carsten Hanssen.  The 13th-Century Château de La Mothe Chandeniers became famous for parties in the 1630s, but was destroyed by a boiler explosion and fire in 1937. Since then, it has become overgrown by forest vegetation.  The plan is for the château to become a local history centre, while remaining mostly as a ruin.

The Fortress of Berrye was altered drastically after the French Revolution, but the chapel, gatehouse and hall are still very impressive, and a venture deep into the adjacent tufa quarry was very useful for gaining a technical understanding of the many stone structures in the Loire Valley.  After lunch, there was a guided tour of Fontevraud Abbey, an immense medieval religious complex where the aforementioned English kings are buried, along with Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Saturday night’s gala dinner at Les Caves Painctes, another wine cellar buried deep under Chinon, began with a tasting of Loire Valley wines.  An elegant dinner ensued, during which Chapter officers presented several awards.

The Château d’Azay-le-Rideau. 

The third full day of the conference kicked off with a presentation on the history of stained glass by Frédéric Pivet, one of the leading stained glass restorers in Europe.  It was followed by a guided tour of the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau (1518), surrounded by a picturesque moat and one of the foremost examples of early French Renaissance architecture.

In the afternoon, an excursion to the city of Tours began with a visit to Jean Nouvel’s Vinci International Convention Centre (1993).  The tour was led by Frédérique Monjanel, who 30 years ago was the building’s project architect.  The group was then shown around Tours Cathedral by French Historic Buildings architect Regis Berge.  Almost everyone managed to make the dizzying climb all the way to the attic, where they were impressed and fascinated by the Cathedral’s timber roof structure.

About 20 participants stayed on for Monday’s “Extension Day” trip to Asselin’s door-and-window workshop in Thouars, where the company has worked on some of the most high-profile restoration projects in the world, including the newly opened Hôtel de la Marine in Paris.  At their timber-framing workshop nearby, Asselin treated the group to a delicious lunch, while showing how they are recreating the spire of Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral.  The day’s activities concluded with an afternoon tour of the Château d’Oiron (1538), a prime example of French Renaissance architecture, which today incorporates contemporary art installations. 

AIA Continental Europe’s next big meeting will take place in Fall 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria.  A shorter mid-year conference is also being planned for Spring 2024 in Geneva and Annecy.

All photos by R. D. Reber, AIA

Written by R. D. Reber, AIA

Noel Hill Award – In The Making

In The Making is a collective group of designers who, faced with the lack of part 1 jobs during the pandemic, initiated their own projects. Our experience transformed a depressing job hunt to a year full of hands-on learning, friendship, community building and the most professional dive-in. We discovered a disconnect between our theoretical learning and practise regarding ethical community engagement. ‘‘What is co-design?’’ and ‘‘how can it be practised ethically?’’ quickly became our focus, with the desire to explore these questions through hands-on, messy and creative learning. We are excited to have the opportunity to share with you our journey since receiving the Noel Hill award.

The Big Noise project was the beginning of our inquiry into the potential for co-design and self-build to lead to more resilient communities with a stronger connection to place. We began in Spring 2021 with interviews and a publication of advice from experts practising co-design across architecture, service design and art. This culminated in a 3 week live build of an open reclaimed wooden structure that offered resting and playing opportunities. We designed and built alongside the 8-12 year old musicians at Big Noise's summer school. The build resulted in a renewed outdoor space which the younger people felt an ownership of. With plenty of sunshine and ice cream this was an experience both we and the Big Noise musicians both reflect fondly on.

Our aim for the funding we received from AIA was to return to site and invest more into the relationships we’d built. However, by the summer of 2022, Big Noise moved to a new building. In an evaluative feedback session we learned that the outdoor space had become an important therapeutic space given that the structure provided places to hide, space to move and be loud. Additionally, the space had become respected by the surrounding residents, who historically had thrown litter over the wall. The staff were confident in its robustness even in Glasgow's typically dramatic weather and the project set in motion a more interdisciplinary approach to summer schools. The building is held by Govanhill Housing Association and is waiting refurbishments for a new tenant, who we hope will make use of the build.

Following our studies at the Mackintosh Schools of Architecture (MSA) we reflected on what we had learnt from our self-initiated project. We wanted to share some critical reflections with our community of students. We feel that approaches to community engagement need to develop across practice, education and research simultaneously reinforcing each other to make real change in the industry. Noticing the gaps in our education, we set out to understand how ethical community engagement could be taught as part of the architectural curriculum.

This resulted in In The Making hosting the first ever MSA Friday lecture in a workshop format. We used this to explore the difficulties and benefits of trying to responsibly involve communities in student work; what architecture students can offer the city that they’re part of and how they can relinquish self determined ‘design control’ through valuing other ways of working and different forms of knowledge. The feedback from students and tutors was hugely positive and both hope to incorporate workshops into future lectures, inspiring a change in the ways practitioners typically share their work to students.

Following this, we led a two-day hybrid workshop with participants from GSA Forres Campus, the University of Lapland and MSA to co-design a Sheiling that would be built in Forres by students. With a focus on non-human agency and care, the project aims to build a collaborative international network of place-based practitioners with a particular interest in the cultural heritage of food.

The workshops encouraged 20+ students to embrace a design process based on relationship-building across disciplines and genuine collaboration. We challenged the students to embrace creative exploration over resolved design outcomes and they were energised by this flexible and empowering multi-disciplinary approach. However, there were difficulties encountered when offering non-traditional learning experiences in a traditional institution. Classic constraints of time, budget and scope, as well as restrictive thinking. Restrictive in terms of ego, fear of failure and unwillingness to relinquish control. The project will be continued in November 2023.

Currently, we are reflecting on what we wish to develop and pursue next. With each project we are getting closer to understanding our interests, motivations and practice. We plan to continue to ‘throw ourselves into the deep-end’, trusting it will shape us for the better. We believe we have something valuable to offer, questions to ask and ideas to test. We’re excited to tap further into the vibrant multidisciplinary communities that exist within Glasgow, connecting and learning from those who are practising radical ways of working and ethically engaging with underrepresented groups.

We would very much like to thank AIA for the Noel Hill Award. Winning has been hugely valuable and has given us confidence and energy to keep pursuing our research and evolving practice.

Written by: Previous Noel Hill Winners

Super Saturday / A Glorious Day in Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral and the AIA UK Explorers.  Photo credit: ‘Friendly Bystander’

AIA UK ‘Super Saturdays’ are back!  More than 20 AIA UK members and guests visited Canterbury on 23 Sep 2023 for a day of lectures, explorations and socialising.  Not having experienced a Super Saturday in recent years, many of you might well ask, ‘What is a Super Saturday, what is all the fuss about’?

Wikipedia claims the term Super Saturday – or Panic Saturday for some - originated in the US to mark the last Saturday before Christmas as a major revenue day for retailers.  But the term is now widely used for any Saturday with a number of related events or competitions.

For the AIA UK Chapter, the term was first used in 2005 when past AIA UK President, Kevin Flanagan, introduced the concept of a series of themed Saturday lectures.  In his case, the first Super Saturday investigated the problem of increasing CO2 emissions and temperature change. 

Although successful, other event formats - such as the Founding Lecture Series, City Excursions, Virtual Tours - took precedence and Super Saturdays were inadvertently dropped.  Then, in 2018, another past AIA UK President, Alex Miller, responded to members’ requests to maximise weekend learning opportunities in a series of technical lectures on green issues, including a copious lunch and the added attraction of an exceptional walking tour.  

The finishing touch to make AIA UK Super Saturdays extra special was added in 2019 when Mark Breeze combined his series of sustainability lectures, extensive catering and guided tours with an excursion to Cambridge.  

Former AIA UK President and resident of Canterbury, Brianne Hamilton, started planning for this year’s Super Saturday centred around Canterbury Cathedral in 2020, only to be thwarted by covid shutdowns.  As it happened, this year’s Super Saturday proved the three year wait was worth it.

The program started with an introduction by Jonathan Deeming, Partner at the architectural practice of Purcell and Surveyor to the Fabric of Canterbury Cathedral, who is responsible for the multiple structures in the UNESCO World Heritage cathedral precinct.  He is the latest in a lengthy list of distinguished architect/surveyors who have overseen the whole gamut of architectural concerns – new buildings, demolitions, maintenance and reconstructions – over the past 1,400 years.   Deeming concentrated on the need to follow the differing rationale and requirements of conservation, restoration and preservation interventions in this modern age.

He explained in depth his past 10 year’s accomplishments, ranging  from masonry and clerestory glazing repairs to redesign of the west tower.  In particular, he addressed the critical issue of drainage – a lingering problem from medieval times - and the latest re-roofing of the nave.

He left his audience with an awareness that an ancient building must be treated as an organic whole, with delicate interventions only made under the historic building mantra, ‘as much as necessary, as little as possible’.

Are those serious ceiling cracks or just signs of a building slowly easing its way into late middle age?  Not to worry, such cracks are being monitored...  Photo credit: B Oknyansky

The highlight of the day was exploring the far reaches of Cathedral itself.  A seemingly infinite climb up a narrow, circular Norman stairway led to the top of the nave and enabled a closeup view of the roof and building fabric.

Super Saturday Competition: Victorian roof interventions (iron straps)  v. Medieval originals (wooden pegs). Photo credit: L King 

After the climb to the top, the advice to the ‘explorers’ was, ‘don’t bend over the edge; don’t drop anything’!  Still, the temptation to take pictures on the day was overwhelming – looking down on the Cathedral in all its glory, looking up to the heights just visited. Photo credit: L King

After lunch, Lian Harter - also from the architectural practice of Purcell – took the group through the recent transformation of the Christ Church Gate from the near ruin documented in an early photograph to the majestic entrance to the cathedral precinct today.  There is absolutely no way this could be considered a mere plaster and paint job.  Through a series of slides, Harter showed the meticulous research required to direct the restoration of the Gate while at the same time abiding by the strictest requirements of modern conservation, restoration and preservation.

Lian Harter displayed multiple slides, each one summarising an aspect of her research.  Photo credits: (top, then clockwise) K Storr, L King, Purcell Archive Photo

One of the challenges of 21st century Canterbury is to maintain the city’s historic character at the same time as it takes on modern developments that often involve delicate architectural interventions to listed buildings and placing new buildings in sensitive contexts.  Saturday’s next speaker was Cindy Walters, a Founder and Director of Walters & Cohen Architects.  Walters’ involvement started in 2014 with a masterplan and space audit for Canterbury’s King’s School and continues to this day with a series of new buildings and renovations.  

It was a special treat to be taken by Walters beyond the tourist-bound precinct, behind the Cathedral, around the cloisters, across the King’s School and through the back gate to see Walter & Cohen projects on the day’s final walking tour. Photo credits: M Lischer / B Oknyansky

On the outskirts of Canterbury, the group reached Saturday’s final two projects -  Walther & Cohen’s new International College, located conveniently next door to the Malthouse Theatre, a 2019 RIBA award winning project by Tim Ronalds Architects    

The tour of the Theatre – an adapted reuse of an old maltings - was led by Project Architect, Lucy Thomas.  She gave a comprehensive review of the philosophy behind the project and explained how design decisions were often made on the spot - the choice of materials, the rough and ready detailing, the unobtrusive entry – all leading to the project’s overall freshness. 

The complex Malthouse project was an exciting climax to a long, rewarding day.  Well done Super Saturday!  It can only be hoped the event format will catch on and there will be more such events in coming years.

The industrial frontage to the Theatre belied the drama created within it. Photo credits: (top, then clockwise) K Storr, B Oknyansky, K Storr

Photos by L King, M Lischer, B Oknyansky, K Storr

Photo credit: B Oknyansky AIA

Written by L D King, AIA

AIA UK SUSTAINABILITY SERIES - ULTRA-SUSTAINABLE RETROFITTING: THE ENTOPIA BUILDING, CAMBRIDGE

On 21st September 2023 we continued our ongoing series of sustainability events with an online talk on the 'ultra-sustainable' retrofit of The Entopia Building, located in a local conservation area in the historic Cambridge city centre, UK.  The principal architect Wendy Bishop (Associate at Architype) and the sustainability lead Peter Kelly (Director for Sustainable Operations at ISG) told the story of how the project came into being, from the early concept stages right through to the on-going post occupancy evaluation, explaining how Entopia set new standards in retrofit as an internationally-leading, fabric-first, sustainable retrofit of a 1930s, five-storey concrete frame structure.   

The recording of the talk, along with the online quiz so you can receive 1 HSW LU credit for watching it, can be found HERE.