Neurodiverse friendly architecture: J.E.D.I. Talk

Earlier this year I was invited to take part in the J.E.D.I (Just Equality Diversity Inclusion) talk, hosted by RIBA NE as part of their ‘Change the Record’ Campaign Group. Chaired by Chithra Marsh, Associate Director at Buttress Architects, with other speakers along with myself on the panel including Nick Simpson from Leap Architects and Jean Hewitt, Inclusive Design, Associate at Buro Happold.

The discussion looked at how neurodiversity has affected us all, how it has impacted our personal and work lives, the way we approach work and how we can design with equality and inclusion in mind. Each speaker shared their own, hugely personal experience of this unseen disability, I urge you all to have a listen to the fascinating stories.

Very simply put we are all neurodiversity in different ways, there is no norm for everyone and how it can effect us. How we communicate, how we think, how we learn, these are all unique to the individual, there is no right and wrong, we just experience the world differently but there are ways we can make things easier.

I shared my own living experience; growing up with undiagnosed dyslexia I found the academic system incredibly difficult. After leaving school without achieving any GCSE’s I was fortunate to enter a youth training scheme where I was so lucky to find a lifelong mentor, and friend, in Roger Tyrell.

My route to architecture has not been a typical one. I gained vocational qualifications and entered university at 21, something I never thought would be a possibility for me. Interestingly it was only after I had submitted my first essay that my tutor noticed I might be dyslexic, something I had never heard of let alone thought I might be affected by. Architecture itself I find suits me, and how my brain works. I think differently and work at a different pace which suits how I design – I now see my dyslexia as a sort of superpower, which I have talked about before.

Jean Hewitt shared her recent work on Inclusive Design, PAS 6463, Publicly Available Specification. This work is the first step to becoming a formal standard, highlighting changes that should be embraced as the norm to help those with neurodiversity needs.

Obviously, it is difficult to have a design standard to fit all, as everyone is impacted differently by the environment around them. The study does important work to highlight areas designers might overlook, to help build better surroundings for everyone and it is well worth having a closer look at the full report. There were three key pull outs from PAS 6463; firstly, each environment should have clarity so people can find their way and not get lost. Secondly, each environment should give the user choice and control. Finally, that, if possible, there should be a calm place to escape to, a place of calm if things get overwhelming so individuals can reset and rejoin when ready.

My overall impression from the talk was of positivity, that everyone affected by some form of neurodiversity would not change their diagnosis. I hope everyone can learn to understands all neurodiversity’s should not be seen as a barrier to life, personal or in work. We are all different, but that ‘difference’ is often what makes us uniquely us.

MESH Energy Panel Discussion

Challenges to retrofitting the UK housing stock

I was invited to join the panel of experts for the recent MESH Energy discussion, looking at the challenges we are all facing when retrofitting the UK housing stock. The aim of the session was to understand how we could adapt the current housing stock in the UK, to tackle the fuel crisis and to reach the critical net-zero targets.

There were some interesting questions, including: What role do you think architects have when it comes to retrofitting the UK housing stock in light of the fuel crisis? Can you explain the difficulties when considering embodied carbon in retrofitting of buildings? We know retrofitting can provide an influx of new jobs, but how can we bridge the skill gap? If you were in change of the political retrofit, what would you priorities?

I was joined by three brilliant experts, each at the forefront of their specific area of the sustainable sector, so it was a great discussion to have with some interesting input from each person.

  • Graham Hendra, an independent heat pump consultant with over a decade in the renewables sector specialising in air to water heat pumps.
  • Jenny Wallace, Operations Director at MESH Energy, with over a decade of practical experience in the energy industry consultancy.
  • Graham Lock, founder of Low Carbon Homes a nationwide independent retrofit network.

The discussion was hosted on MESHWorks, the free community hub that brings together sustainably conscious members across the design, architecture, built environment. If this is an area of interest to you it is well worth looking into, details can be found here. 

MESH Energy are independent building performance consultants who I have had the pleasure of working with them on multiple projects, most recently when looking at sustainable energy solutions for St Margaret’s Church refurbishment. It was a privilege to be asked to be part of this event, as it is such an important topic and so central to Studio BAD’s company ethos of reuse.

The watch can be viewed here. 

The Business of Listening, discussion record with Business of Architecture.

Click here to listen to my full discussion with Rion Willard, from the Business of Architecture, about the ‘Business of Listening’, a topic I deeply believe in.

It is an area of architecture that I find more relevant and important than ever before, our conversation covers my approach to clients, being a teacher, setting up Studio B.A.D and how I see the role of architects in the 21st century.

Traditionally I feel architects have had a tendance to ‘know’ the solution right from the start but I believe we need to stand back, listen to what a project or client really needs and gaining the trust from the client. This in turn can give us permission as designers to be bold in our approach and our process, it also helps to get clients truly engaged with the process.

Our project at St Margaret’s church is a clear case when listening has been vital in unlocking the potential of the building and what it can offer the community. I think our clients on this project initially found it unnerving when we wanted to take time to listen, as they had expected their architects to come with a solution. We stood back and reflected on what we saw, not just with the physical building but also the community needs. By going through this process, the project has become richer. We were able to persuade the church to reopen the beautiful old church (previously condemned) and discover what the community really needed, since this exercise they have opened a café, a drop in area and second hand shop within the church. By not rushing the solution, this has given up the ability to go deep, aligning our design ideas with the business case of the client and giving solutions that work long term, our solutions for the church have future proofed an unidentified business stream for the church.

The piece around listening and communication is so important. As architects I feel we can’t be passive in all of this, we need to be thinking about the future and the impact our work will have, most importantly how we can have a positive influence. I believe we don’t have to always wait for the brief, we can communicate ideas out. For example, Studio BAD try to only work with existing buildings, pushing the idea of refurbishment and repurpose rather than new build, this stance has given potential clients alternative solutions that they might not have even thought of before.

By adopting this process of being a listener we are able to be influenced by cultural changes, it doesn’t always have to be about a physical change and designing a building, but as architects we can still have positive impact on our communities by working more in a curator role. Working on feasibilities can unlock potentials of buildings and businesses, I feel as a practice we can bring together people from different backgrounds to creating a richer discussion.

The importance of listening is not just relevant in the private sector, it is also critical to my teaching work. I have to really listen to students, learn who they are as people, their background, what interests them. By really listening I start to know what can unlock their potential, but one approach does not work for them all.

I can’t define what a career in architecture looks like now, I feel we should be more flexible on how we see ourselves, being more part of the conversation for positive change rather than just concentrating on the traditional architectural role. Students studying architecture now could go on to be an architect, or work for a developer, or be a developer, or set designer, architecture can be the bedrock for many other disciplines. By being more flexible on where an architectural degree can take you, I believe it takes the pressure off the need to complete all parts of the degree (which doesn’t suit all), helping to redefine what architecture is in the 21st century.

The benefits of reusing and repurposing existing buildings

Recently I was invited to take part in the MESH energy webinar series where I talked about the benefits of upgrading and repurposing existing buildings. At a time where the conversation around the environment and climate change is happening across society as a whole, I am always surprised that the design sector is not discussing this issue in more detail and facing it head on with positive solutions.

We have been working on several varied projects that are reusing a current building. Just by looking at the statistics from Historic England, it is astonishing how damaging it is to build a new building when there is an alternative and environmentally better solution.

‘Compared to a refurbishing a traditional Victorian terrace, a new building of the same size produces up to 13 times more embodied carbon. This equates to around 16.4 tonnes of CO2 which is the equivalent of the emissions released by driving 60,000km’

The design approach to repurposing a building is quite different, each project will bring its own challenges and a successful refurbishment is able to turn these into opportunities. Within our ‘October Books’ project, which has repurposed an old high street bank into a community book store, it was not possible to remove the old walk in vault from the building so this was integrated into the interior design and is now used as the storage room with the old door kept in place as a feature behind the service counter.

Our St Margaret’s church project in Southsea, Portsmouth, is nearing completion of Phase 1 of their refurbishment, thermal upgrade, extension and repurpose to deliver a church that could meet the needs of its congregation. The building had no central heating installed, to retrofit this we decided the best solution was an air sourced heat pump and trench underfloor heating, laid in zones across the building. This solution gave us full flexibility across the floor space which was essential for this building. In keeping with the need for internal flexibility we have designed ‘mean-while’ solutions such as seating, screens and even a café on wheels, this allows the interior of the church to be configured and used as the community needs, with future proofing the design and also reducing the costs.

As we had to remove the old parquet flooring, to allow for the underfloor heating and a polished concrete floor, we were delighted that we were able to repurpose it and sell it on. Not only is this environmentally positive but it also raised much needed funds for the church building project.

In each project we believe the key to success has been achieved through two way communications, through deep listening we are able to really understand what people are saying which often unlocks the potential to a space.

The full webinar can be viewed here

‘If you help one person, you help humanity’ Ai Weiwei

RIBA Black History Month

The RIBA, working in collaboration with Paradigm Network, celebrated Black History Month with a special book club held throughout October. I was honoured to be asked to take part in this event, the importance of this movement is inclusion, everyone should be passionate about the accessibility for all to increase diversity and ultimately to drive our industry forward.

 

The month was about us all appreciating and celebrating the achievements from the BAME communities, and championing professionals from all backgrounds in all sectors of society.

 

For the Book Club we were all asked to nominate a book or song that has had a profound effect on us as a way of showcasing the inspirational work from Black and Asian talent. I selected the book ‘The Black Album’ by the hugely talented Hanif Kureishi.

 

This book transports me back to a specific time in my life, of being 23 in my final year of my architectural degree at Portsmouth School of Architecture. It represents a period of awakening for me, I remember it being a wonderfully diverse cultural era in the 1990’s in terms of literature, music, art, architecture, film and of course my education.

 

I find Hanif Kureishi has such a wonderful way of dealing with some complex social issues around race, religion, sexuality and modern culture, painting the world through wonderfully colourful words and descriptions. I think it’s fair to say, his work has played a huge part in my learning and what I do now in practice.

 

There was a free webinar on Thursday 29th October where all the design leaders participating in the book club discussed their selection and how it has affected their practice, an interesting insight into what motivates and inspires design leaders.

 

RIBA Event Details