Kevin Dawson - BA3

This essay investigates the current Class O of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order, which allows the conversion of office buildings to dwellings, and examines the process which the Government has followed since the introduction of legislation to deregulate the planning process. The essay also considers the motivation and objectives behind the selection of this specific tool to address the housing shortage in England.

The dissertation argues that, whilst adapting and reusing buildings which no longer fulfil their original purpose can be an effective tool to address the ongoing housing shortage, there should be effective control in place to ensure that the deregulation results in the production of appropriate habitable spaces. These spaces should serve the needs of the future occupier and local people, and create spaces which have architectural quality, are functional, well-proportioned and consider the use of natural light, before considering financial benefits to developers and commercial property owners.

Grace Butcher - MArch2

What happens to the ideals of ‘Home’ when our preconceived notions of safety, love, comfort, warmth and shelter are stripped from us? How can the space we draw patterns within be re-thought to take into consideration isolation as a fragment of establishing how connections can generate mindful awareness and physical constructs? This essay examines the process of isolation as more than a temporary measure for dealing with a topical situation, but as a foundation for re-structuring how memory can help to create a primary care domain for both domestic and urban conditions. This essay goes on to use the ‘Co-Life’ brief as a grounded principle for establishing and critiquing Co-Livable communities, as well as relating this to rising rates of dementia. In doing so, the essay facilitates the development of a proposal that focusses on material patterning of both objects and spatial configurations as a route to Co-Living.

Craig Stott, Simon Warren

Through a series of original contributions and case studies, the Routledge published All-Inclusive Engagement in Architecture book proposes that all-inclusive engagement should be the priority for architecture in a world seeking social justice for all and a cohesive response to the climate emergency. This is supported through 58 contributors exploring projects located across the globe including Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Central America, considering issues such as poverty, neoliberalism, health and architecture’s exclusionary basis.

In one chapter Leeds Beckett University architecture lecturers Craig Stott and Simon Warren suggest one method of addressing societal inequality is to use the academic endeavour of students for the benefit of local communities. Through the use of Live Projects, where community clients require a design solution provided by students, architectural education institutions can provide support and a range of design outputs for non-profit organisations in desperate need.

The situated learning environment created through embedding architecture students in local communities can result in empowerment of the external collaborators and non-profit organisations they represent through new learning, skill derivation, confidence and experience gained from participation in the co-design process.

Chapter in Ferdous, F. and Bell B. (Eds) (2021) ‘All-Inclusive Engagement in Architecture’ London; Routledge

Project Office is a design and research collaboration of staff and students. It is an architecture consultancy making ethical, social and resilient architecture. We work with like-minded communities, organisations and individuals.

Project Office has undertaken over 30 projects, most within Leeds City region. It offers a full architectural service that includes feasibility studies, design guides, design advocacy, research, fabrication and construction. Students and staff work together to produce design and research for organisations such as charities and community groups who are unable to afford architectural consultancy. Student participants are always paid for their time, either through the university currency of ‘credits’ awarded towards their degree, or financially working directly with Project Office.

Project Office’s approach equips students with a valuable learning experience relating to real world complexities through the vehicle of Live Projects, whilst simultaneously supporting the needs of socially engaged organisations.

Project Office is co-directed by:

Craig Stott

Dr Simon Warren

https://leedsbeckett.wixsite.com/projectoffice

A 2012 YouGov survey suggested nearly three quarters of the UK general public do not truly understand the role of an architect. Add to this a perceived lack of integration between professions within the construction industry, poor public perception and low levels of client satisfaction, as highlighted by numerous publicly funded reports aimed at improving the built environment as a whole, and it becomes clear architects lack communication and advocacy skills. Flora Samuel suggests the ever decreasing value being afforded architects is due to architects’ inability to clearly articulate the role played and the importance thereof.

Many construction industry reports conclude with a range of explanations for the architectural profession being misunderstood and undervalued, along with suggestions to improve services. One aspect remains conspicuous by its absence throughout: what do clients and wider stakeholder teams learn?

This paper illustrates that gaining a deeper understanding of these learning processes throughout an architectural project would create a new form of reflective practice aiding aggregation of original knowledge.

A pilot scheme engaged one client group from an architectural student live project. The aim was to understand the learning outcomes of all participants. Live projects offer an opportune vehicle to determine the value of such research as through their very nature they create ‘Situated Learning Environments’ where all participants gain an understanding and appreciation for one another, thus providing a creative arena to investigate architectural ideas objectified by an inherent appreciation of the client.

The breadth of outcome witnessed in the pilot sample was surprising, highlighting the validity of undertaking such research. It included tangible benefits such as the upskilling of clients to confidently engage with architects, plus implicit transformations in perception including a heightened understanding of the role architecture plays, even in areas of multiple deprivation. The process had shortfalls, mainly the methodologies utilised being susceptible to confirmation bias and affect heuristic, however through further investigation the approaches employed can be refined to ensure reliable data is eventually secured.

Despite the construction industry implementing improvements suggested through numerous reports, the architectural profession still finds itself misunderstood and undervalued. Innovative new approaches therefore need to be considered, such as client learning. Due to their inherent nature as situated learning environments, live projects provide a good starting point for exploring this opportunity, with the pilot scheme undertaken for this piece of research suggesting such comprehension may offer architects fresh opportunities to reinvigorate their practice, plus the ability to redress misperceptions and receding status