Member News: Past Member Awarded OBE for Services to Interior Design

This article has been written as part of the AIA Newsletter’s commitment to up-to- date member news. If you are aware of UK Chapter members’ involvement in other newsworthy projects or events, please bring them to our attention via a “comment” follow up note at the end of this article and we will endeavour to publish further feature articles.

The AIA UK Board of Directors is pleased to report that past AIA UK Chapter member, Diana Yakeley was awarded an OBE – Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to the interior design profession. Although Diana was an actual member of the Chapter only briefly in the past, she has always been a part of our architectural design community and - as wife of Chapter founder member and long serving Board Director, Stephen Yakeley, AIA RIBA - a frequent attendee of our events and gatherings.

Diana served as President of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) for two terms, first in 2005 and again in 2011, and is a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers (FCSD). As well as being a multi-award winning designer, she has also served her profession by a commitment to training and development and by raising practice standards in the industry.

Following the lead of the AIA, Diana was instrumental in introducing the BIID to the concept of student charrettes as a way of promoting team building in design. From 2011 to 2014, she brought several interior teams from UK universities to join architectural teams at the UK Chapter’s Student Charrettes held at the Roca Galleries. Having achieved their own momentum, the interior teams have now gone their separate way, but the overall value of collaborating with interior designers should be a lasting legacy for all the participating student architects.

We warmly congratulate Diana for her many achievements and her richly deserved recognition.

A Mid-Summer's Night Gala

This year’s ever popular AIA UK Summer Gala was held on 21st of June (mid-summer) in the enchanting conservatory terrace at the Barbican. The Mid-Summer Night’s theme, honouring the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare, echoed in the raffle prizes which included a themed experience at The Globe Theatre, London Eye tickets, furniture and many more generous donations from AIA UK sponsors. Prizes were entertainingly raffled this year, with sales proceeds supporting the work of the chapter.

Dinner was served a’la carte via “street food” stalls set up around the terrace and allowed guests to wander the gardens whilst enjoying their food and drinks. It was a rare beautiful day following a string of rainy days; the enclosed terrace must have insured against the rain. Guests enjoyed a beautiful sunset through the glazed interior, and were able to socialise with a wide variety of industry professionals.

Guests proclaimed the Gala a huge success. To improve upon it in the future, we would like to offer reduced entry tickets for emerging professionals, and invite guests from an even wider variety of professionals including developers and potential clients.

EU Referendum: A letter to our members

Dear Members,

Following the news of the historic referendum, and forthcoming withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, we must remain patient and hopeful. Brexit will require time before we understand the full effect of the country's decision on our industry. My former boss in Chicago once told me that architects need to be eternal optimists otherwise we feel constant defeat. This may not feel a time for optimism, but at least we can hope.

Undoubtedly our membership is concerned about the impact of the UK's Referendum on EU membership to their practices and personal lives. Many of our members are expats living within the UK, with projects that have teams and supply chains spanning multiple borders. As we have witnessed with previous political changes, the uncertainty itself can cause both clients and practices to adjust their strategies. We must engage this change, and follow the developments as we begin to understand what it will mean for us. The AIA UK will do its best to keep you informed as we ourselves learn how it will unfold.

We look to the political engagement and advice currently offered by our friends at the RIBA. We will do our best to support the political discourse, and encourage you to voice your concerns and express your thoughts. If there is interest, we’ll be happy to host an evening of discussion specifically for this purpose. Brexit will certainly continue to be an important topic of discussion, as it is historic and will have a lasting impact on our future.

Kind Regards,

Frederick Grier, AIA UK President

On behalf of the AIA UK Board of Directors

Excellence in Design Awards Gala 2016

The AIA UK Chapter hosted the Excellence in Design Awards Gala 2016 on 18 April 2016 at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in London. The impressive elegance of the Nash & Brand Rooms provided a warm and welcoming reception to the guests who arrived from different parts of the world to celebrate creativity, design and architecture.

The AIA UK sets an open awards platform in order to minimise restrictions and provide more opportunities for architects and designers to submit their projects. This year the AIA UK set 3 categories (Student, Young Architect and Professional) to balance the competition so younger architects do not compete with larger, long-established firms.

The jury's review process involved a full day of long, ardent debate over the anonymous submissions, clearly indicating the high quality of the submissions received, and confirming evidence that the UK is a leading centre for innovation and design. As an outcome, the jury decided to award three commendations for the Professional category.

Frederick Grier, President of the AIA UK, paid tribute to the late Dame Zaha Hadid, sharing the highlights of her involvement with the AIA UK chapter from inception both as a juror and as an award winner, in addition to her involvement in other AIA UK events.

The members of the jury included: Armstrong Yakubu, Charlotte Skene Catling, Michel Mossessian, Alex Lifschutz, Amy Frearson, Frederick Grier and Adrian Evans. On the evening, the jury was represented by Amy Frearson who announced the winners by elaborating on the jury comments for each winning project.

The 2016 AIA UK Excellence in Design winners:

Noel Hill Student Travel Award       
Tonderai Prince Maboreke - Ravensbourne University
Southbank Pavilion

 
Young Architect
Merrett Houmøller Architects - Analogue Boathouse

© Alan Williams

Professional Commendation
John McAslan + Partners - Sacred Heart Cathedral of Kericho

© Edmund Sumner, Sumner Partnership Ltd.

Professional Commendation

Allies and Morrison - Rambert

© Allies& Morrison

Professional Commendation

Duggan Morris Architects - Richmond Adult Community College

© Mark Hadden

Professional Award Winner

Zaha Hadid Architects - Messner Mountain Museum

© Werner Huthmacher

 
The 2016 AIA UK Jury:

• Armstrong Yakubu - Foster & Partners
• Charlotte Skene Catling       - Skene Catling de la Pena
• Michel Mossessian - Mossessian Architecture
• Alex Lifschutz - Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands  
• Amy Fearson - Dezeen
• Frederick Grier - UHA London - AIA UK President
• Adrian Evans - Huddersfield University

AIA UK Mentorship 'Meet & Greet'

As part of AIA National’s commitment to advance the standards of architectural education, training and practice, our chapter evaluated how we serve the UK community of students architectural designers and young architects alike. Following on the success of the AIA UK Student Design Charrette at Roca Gallery and its Noel Hill Travel Award to exemplary year­ out or final year students, the UK Chapter felt more could be done to assist young architects and designers as they enter the work field and face the challenges of the real world. Thus was born the AIA UK Mentorship Meet­up.

Several chapter members brought together their experiences of participation in other programmes, such as AIA Chicago’s Bridge Program and AIA San Francisco’s Mentorship Program. Based on the success of these programmes, Katharine Storr (new AIA UK Board Director and Architectural Assistant at Foster+Partners), organised the first “Meet and Greet” for the chapter. Armed with colour ­coded name tags and various experiences, 25 chapter members shared their career paths over drinks.

Conversations quickly started up and ranged from the differences of taking AREs when they were on paper versus the newest computerised versions; the experiences of moving to the UK from the US; the adjustment of life in the professional world abroad; and the differences between architectural education in the US versus the UK, among many other topics.

We were happy to see so many new faces and to welcome several recent arrivals to the UK. The enthusiastic turnout has meant that the mentoring programme will become a part of the chapter’s agenda for the future. The next event will likely take place in mid ­June. If you are interested in participating as either a mentor or a mentee, please get in touch with us at chapterexecutive@aiauk.org

AIA UK Building Tour - Crossrail, Canary Wharf

The tour was led by Jonathan Rabagliati of Foster + Partners who worked on the project for over eight years since its inception. Foster + Partners were asked by Canary Wharf Group to create something different from the steel and glass buildings which define Canary Wharf. The architects developed the project around a park – elevated over the dock and partially sheltered from the harsh surroundings. The use of heavy timber and ETFE inflatable cushions for the roof structure brings a sense of nature and lightness to the park.
 
Jonathan explained how the arched ends of the roof structure reference the nearby Canary Wharf tube station also by Foster + Partners which features two similarly shaped canopies (of glass) and a park on top. The form of the new roof structure was originally designed with a more expressive shape, but was simplified through value engineering during the 2008 world financial crisis.
 
Parametric modelling was essential to the design and fabrication of the complex roof structure, even with the simplified form. Scripting was used to document and validate the thousands of unique steel nodes which were fabricated through an automated welding process. The laminated timber members were fabricated using a scanning technique to ensure structural and visual consistency through each member. ETFE cushions and aluminium copings were detailed to protect the timber structure from exposure to UV and moisture.
 
Beneath the roof are housed three levels of retail and restaurants, and four levels of train station below grade. Several architects worked on different areas of the project including Adamson Associates on retail, and Tony Meadows Associates on the below ground station which was under construction, and is due to open in 2018.
 
The tour concluded with drinks (and dinner for some) beneath the arched roof at the Big Easy.