Design collaboration, guest blog by Amanda Moore

The above image is an aerial shot of Bedford/Carlton Place, Southampton, taken in July 2021. The Bedford/Carlton Place Activation Project is a scheme I worked on recently in collaboration with Studio B.A.D, designing the artwork for the street mural. This was applied in semi-permanent coloured paint to encourage pedestrian interaction with this road surface, temporarily closed to vehicles in relation to COVID-19 social distancing measures. The street mural was further furnished with lighting, planters, tables, chairs and also other items placed by local traders which further developed the project over time.

I originally trained as a sculptor before deciding to study architecture as I hoped to work on creative projects within more of a team environment, rather than the typically more solitary artist studio environment. I also aimed to work on projects which would be of benefit to a wider community and become less of a commodity than fine art works can sometimes be. For me, moving into public art over the last few years has integrated various skills from both disciplines including; researching local context, imaginative design, selecting materials, project management, working with others and assessing community feedback.

Over the last few months I have also been collaborating on other projects with Studio B.A.D including the Summer Lounge activation scheme due to be installed in Guildhall Square, Southampton, later this month. Studio B.A.D work with a range of collaborators and this is my first instance of working with an architectural practice where the artwork has been thought of as an intrinsic part of the overall scheme. Too often different creative disciplines sit at arm’s length in built environment projects. In the Bedford Place scheme, the artwork was fundamental to the placement of the other designed elements. The success of the project has been the day-to-day use of the artwork to informally test permanent solutions for this area of public space. This type of wide-ranging collaboration is a growing trend and an opportunity to bring in creatives from outside of the traditional masterplanning backgrounds to create more unique experiences.

www.amandamoore.info

For more information on Studio B.A.D collaborators.

Interior Architecture Brighton Awards 2021

Studio B.A.D were proud to sponsor an award,  for the third consecutive year, and be an active part of the judging panel at the famed INTERIOR  ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL led by the hugely inspirational Gemma Barton. Gemma has been collaborating with Studio B.A.D on our Bedford Place Tactical Urbanism project.  We, as a collective, are always keen to support, and promote the next generation of designers, it is an important aspect of the practice’s ethos. The ‘Studio B.A.D + Chora Award’ recognises Interior Architecture graduating students for narrative and storytelling, through excellence in drawing and representation.

The entries for this year were of a very high level, with some very inspiring and through provoking designs ideas. We commend all the shortlisted nominations; it was a difficult decision to select just two winners in this category.

First prize was awarded to Matilda Swift-Bernard for her ‘Extinction Rebellion HQ’ project.

Darren Bray commented ‘A wonderful revolutionary project, very much rooted in the now, with a quite beautiful narrative of how two environmental activists come together for form an amazing partnership and alliance to do good in the world, responding to the pressures of climate change. A gorgeous heady mixture of powerful storey telling through rigorous tectonic architecture, some beautifully sensitive representation showing the quite wonderful bird bath structure. The reuse of plastic in a reimagined innovative new construction material in the atmospheric subterranean world is both ingenious and a real spectacle. There are so many layers to this thoroughly well considered project. Matilda is to be congratulated for such energy and inventiveness!’

Second prize was awarded to Iona Hepworth for her ‘The Mussel Club’ project.

Darren Bray commented ‘The Mussel club is quite majestic in its concept and incredibly strong entrepreneurial narrative. The idea of working with water and the way in which this is harnessed for the process of mussel farming is delivered with real passion and rigor. The beautiful iterative platform drawings are reminiscent of Matisse’s abstract cut outs and give a real glimpse and flavor of how one would use and interact with such a space, with some powerful sensory moments, especially those demonstrated through the atmospheric film. There are some quite wonderful representation technique’s employed where the sections show both the tectonic qualities of the existing structure but also the sensitivity nature of the water collection fabric. Iona has created a wonderful world of sensory overload, which beautifully represented.’

Darren Bray awarded the RUSU Award

I am honoured to be recognised in this year’s Reading University Students Union annual awards, winning the Teaching Excellence Award for Built Environment. As these awards are nominated by the students I teach, it makes the prize feel even more exceptional.

Teaching has always been important to me, as I have written about in a previous blog post. When I was younger it was my teachers who saw my potential and helped to encourage me, this was something that inspired me to teach myself, I had always hoped to be able to pass this positive experience on to the next generation.

There are so many other great teachers at Reading University, I am humbled to have been singled out for this honour. This award has come as a very pleasant surprise, after such a challenging year for us all it is positive news that is even more welcomed.

‘Darren is an inspiration ever since the first lecture he gave. He always gets us talking and always has more to add to the lessons. He’s informative and precise. On a personal note he has helped me believe in myself by talking about his dyslexia, helping me to overcome what I have struggled with for many years, I cannot thank him enough!’

https://www.rusu.co.uk/your-union/awards/excellence-awards

Why teaching matters to me, by Darren Bray

‘I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.’ –Albert Einstein

 

Since becoming a fully qualified architect I have always kept myself involved with academia, through part time teaching, reviewing exam work and acting as a visiting lecturer at various universities. The more academic work I have been involved with the more I have realized that teaching is important to me, it is part of who I am and what I do and has a positive influence on the evolution of Studio BAD.

Part of the reason I love teaching is that it invigorates me. Students often have a seemingly naïve or fresh way of approaching problems that keeps me from getting stuck into an architectural rut. They also challenge me to be better, to teach better, to design better, as they are not easily impressed by my work experience they do not just accept my word but want proof. I find that by having to justify my ideas and views it makes me think harder.

I feel lucky that my teaching work makes my outlook more current, in this academic world of theory I am exposed to people who would normally be outside my natural sphere of the practice and we all bring different ideas together. In this space theories are explored, this is a luxury many small practices do not normally have the ability to do, often the time spent on the practicalities of running a small practice take over from the time we should really dedicate to critical thinking.

As cliché as it sounds I do also really like giving back, teaching allows me to do that. I am hugely aware of the positive impact my teachers had on me, they helped shape me to become what I am today and I do believe that without their belief in me pushing me forward I would not be a successful architect now. If I can pass this positive impact onto just one of my students then I will feel I have succeeded.

St Margaret’s Church – Phase One Completed.

‘Come as you are, no perfect people allowed in this church’

 

The first phase of our St Margaret’s Church redevelopment is coming to a close. This project has been such a journey. We are so proud to see the physical changes implemented into the building but also to have been part of the design journey the whole community has taken.

We were commissioned to undertake a complete architectural overview of the existing church, a Victorian church with a 50’s front extension. The building was in need of an overhaul, to revitalise it, make it more welcoming and more fitting for the array of community needs. More information on the building refurb can be found here.

Last month saw a milestone moment in the project with the polished concrete floor installation throughout the whole ground floor of the church. The interior has been transformed, the floor unifies the interior and the highly polished surface brings a contemporary edge to the traditional heart of the church.

The floor was installed with trenched underfloor heating, placed in zones and the concrete gives the thermal mass needed to heat this system. One of the key requirements for this phase was to introduce internal heating to the church, after listening to the community and their requirements we opted for underfloor heating as it gave full flexibility for the internal space, with the zones allow the heating to be adjustable across the interior.

Other new facilities which have been completed in this phase include toilets, baby changing facilities, a new kitchen and café and new internal lighting which have been recycled from a Russian factory. Very simple robust and movable furniture has been created as ‘meanwhile’ solutions, the multi-functional furniture can be used across the church offering flexibility of use across the community spaces such as the café, children’s soft play or the food bank. The bespoke units are crafted from birch plywood, on wheels which have created a fully adjustable interior space for the church.

We are so thrilled that Phase One of St Margaret’s Church is nearing completion, this was one of the first large scale community projects that Studio : BAD Architects were commissioned to work on and has become quite a personal project for us. The project has inspired us in so many ways, how the community has embraced the change and future plans for their church; how the client has engaged with the design journey and now driving design forward across the whole church and seeing the building reborn, reusing a sustainable preexisting building.

The next phase includes a revised front entrance, the designs have been submitted for planning and we hope to start on these in the new year.

Image credit: Andrew Malbon

https://www.stmagscc.uk/

Ecology of Communities lecture for PASS Portsmouth

I was delighted to take part in the PASS (Portsmouth Architecture School Society) series of lectures around the ‘Ecology of Communities’ last month. As a part time academic I feel it is important to continue to engage the next generation and to inspire those coming through. Others who have been part of this lecture series have included Piers Taylor, James Dale, Jo Hagan and Spark Architects. The whole series can be found on YouTube

 

‘In this time of uncertainty, we need more tolerance, compassion, and trust for each other since we all are one. Otherwise, humanity will face an even bigger crisis’

Ai Weiwei, Humanity

 

As a practice we have been fortunate to work on several community based projects, such as October Books, Bedford Place and St Margaret’s church, each quite different, with their distinct set of design aims, but all with driver to engage with their local community.

Recently we have been working on a feasibility for a mini masterplan of the Bedford Place district of Southampton. The area is set at the opposite end of town to the large shopping malls and has a reputation for being an independent district, with handsome Grade II listed buildings and with boutique retail offering and local restaurants. Due to the Covid outbreak many of the streets were closed to cars earlier this summer to allow for extra social distancing and additional outdoor seating. Initially this was a temporary measure by the council, done in haste and without much thought to the aesthetics, we were brought onboard to look at on-going street activation and animation.

Our recommendations included painting the concrete bollards, originally quite bleak but now bright and colourful, even acting as a draw to bring people to the area to see and engage with it. Our street activation plans have gone further to address the signage, put up street bunting, paint the road, increase planting and set up a series of events throughout the year to use this space. We see this as a huge opportunity for Southampton to create a distinctive district, with a unique sense of place which will draw people in, helping to improve the local economy.

This type of project is highly emotive, whenever there are discussions regarding reducing car access it makes people very passionate as we are a nation addicted to our cars. This is not a new thing, it is easy to find videos from Amsterdam in the 1970’s of locals getting violent at the new pedestrian streets, an area we now look at so positively.

It is however important to listen to the community and their concerns, to really hear what they are saying and reflect on their fears. As an architect it is important to not bring your ego or believe you know the solution from the start, I believe you can learn a great deal through listening and responding to issues, not only will you gain better community engagement in the project but it often makes for a far richer project.

Take a listen to the whole webinar here, it covers a lot more including an interesting Q&A session at the end which covers politics, dyslexia, collaboration, sustainability and even imposter syndrome.

The lecture can be seen here on YouTube. 

PASS lecture