ARB to Consider Reciprocity after Brexit

For foreign-educated or foreign-licensed architects whose qualifications do not meet the EU Mutual Recognition requirements, the Architects Registration Board (ARB) 'Prescribed Examination' represents a significant hurdle in the path to licensure in the UK. In the absence of any reciprocity arrangements between the UK and countries outside of the EU, this case-by-case, evidence-based evaluation of qualifications is a process that all candidates must go through in order to obtain a UK recognised Part 1 or Part 2 qualification.

For some time now, the ARB has been responsible for administering the exam, gradually updating and modifying the process in response to examiner and candidate feedback. In 2018, the ARB has begun the consultation process for one such update, described as a 'Business as Usual Review,' that focuses on the administration of the exam, rather than the larger strategic questions that underpin it. Although the ARB had originally scheduled a broader strategic review of the entire Prescribed Examination process, this has now been delayed due to the exigencies of Brexit, and the resultant issues that the ARB must currently contend with. However, it is notable that the ARB is considering a broad scope review of the licensure process, which is likely to take place once the Brexit negotiations have concluded, leaving the door open for reciprocity to be re-considered.

Although this year's 'Business as Usual' review is necessarily limited in scope, it nevertheless provides an important opportunity to clarify and streamline the exam process for candidates, and this formed the core of the discussions at a recent round-table held by the ARB in their Weymouth Street offices in London (a similar event has also been held in Nottingham). The event was chaired by Teresa Graham and Rob Wilson, the ARBs registration executives, and was attended by current and former examiners, and students who have successfully passed the examination. The discussion addressed questions that were also made available in an extensive online survey on the ARB's website, and while there were a number of areas that were not within the scope of this review - eligibility requirements and the Graduate Criteria being the two main ones - the suggestions from attendees for improving the exam were constructive and included:

- Simplifying the comparative matrix and emphasising its importance in the exam submission, perhaps doing away with the written part of the matrix completely.

- Adding more (good and bad) portfolio examples to the ARB website, or describing in more detail what a successful portfolio might look like.

- More clarity on the website about how to put together a successful portfolio, emphasising the importance of mapping to the criteria clearly.

- The possibility of 'pre-interviews' to ensure that candidates who are not exam-ready avoid paying the fee.

- The possibility of a template on the ARB website that helps candidates by showing them how to arrange work, map it to the graduate criteria and explain how their work meets the criteria.

- Limiting the number of pages of the portfolio submission to minimise the work required both to produce it and to examine it.

- Moving to an optional online submission process to minimise the cost of printing.

- Moving to two examiners instead of three in order to reduce the cost of the exam and make the interview less stressful for candidates.

- More clarity for graduates of RIBA-accredited programs outside the UK and an explanation of why they need to sit the ARB exam.

- Further ways that the ARB can ensure the exam is accessible for those with special needs.

The above list is not exhaustive, nor does it come with any guarantees of implementation, but it does highlight the types of issues the ARB is considering relative to the Prescribed Exam. For those thinking of sitting the exam, it was heartening to hear the ARB acknowledge its difficulty and complexity, and see the seriousness with which it approaches the task of simplifying and streamlining the process for candidates. As the ARB's Registration Executives, both Rob Wilson and Teresa Graham are keen to improve the process, and are very happy to personally answer queries and comments from anyone considering taking the exam.

If the ARB brings this level of thoroughness and thoughtfulness to future reviews of the paths to licensure, including the recognition of qualifications, then candidates may at least feel confident that their struggles are recognised and that the ARB is working hard to clear an easier path forward.

Written by: Nicholas Kehagias, AIA 

London Bloomberg Headquarters Building Tour

Bloomberg’s new European headquarters, occupying a full city block in central London, comprises two buildings united by bridges that span over a pedestrian arcade reinstating an ancient Roman road. The headquarters was completed by Foster + Partners. It has received much interest and we were diligent in our efforts to arrange for a tour of the building. Michael Jones a senior partner at the firm was our tour guide. He worked on all phases of the project and brought tremendous insight into his presentation.

The building design was sensitive to the context of the surroundings. The Cannon Street station is located across the street offers a thousand of people a minute. The site needed to respond to many activities. The site potential was actually much higher than was finally built. The client wanted the headquarters to only contain no other tenants but Bloomberg. The resulting structure was then designed to fill that need and created a highly sensitive contextual in response.

Many innovations were pursued in the solution of the structure. Michael Jones described the design of the lighting, a desire for user interactions, the detail of workspace desks, environmental controls, sustainability and many others. The building has a BREEAM Outstanding rating and the highest design-stage score ever achieved by any major office development. Natural ventilation is introduced into the spaces through the large bronze-finish fins found on the exterior of the facade. The fins conceal the filters and mechanisms while also shading the adjacent windows -- minimising solar heat gain. The building in fully computerised and data is continuing to fine tune its operation. The toilets are a net zero water demand as stored rain water is used in their operation. Many technologies are utilised. It is easy to see how this building will be an exemplar for future designs.

The building received the 2018 Stirling Prize. It was an inspirational tour and the participants were equally inspired.

Written by: Lutz Barndt and Innocenzo Langerano

Reports from the Courts

Beale & Co.’s regular round up of the court decisions of most interest to the design and construction industry from Andrew Croft and Ben Spannuth.  In this month's issue, they look at: 

• A Scottish case considering liability for fitness for purpose and the limit of liability in respect of design under the NEC2 Engineering and Construction contract, which highlights the interaction between design obligations and workmanship obligations; and
• A case introducing a new ground for seeking to resist enforcement of an adjudicator's where there is a real risk that any adjudication award would be dissipated by the claimant.

To read the full article, please click here. 

Written by: Andrew Croft & Ben Spannuth

AIA A'18 Conference

Emerging from the 7 Train into the new station at the base of Hudson Yards and its bevy of towers nearing completion, the enormous glass structure of the Javits Convention Center came into view. 

Yet, even the 170,000m2 Convention Center was not big enough to host all the sessions that kept all 26,000 attendees busy over the course of 4 days, and events spread to the conference wing of the Hilton and across to the New School auditoriums and campus.

They think it was the largest assemblage of AIA architects ever.

The keynote presentations were powerful.  David Adjaye headlined the first evening to a sold-out crowd at Radio City Music Hall sharing the breadth of his recent work, spanning from social housing, museum and civic projects in Harlem and Gwangju to high-end residential units in the heart of Manhattan.  His first hand account of the process, concepts and realization of the National Museum of African American History & Culture revealed the deeper meaning embedded in the project as far down as a considered approach to the emergency lighting within the screened facades.

For the second evening, Sheela Soogard spoke to yet another capacity crowd about the business of architecture.  Notable was her mention of offering best-in-class parental leave to attract and retain staff and the simple principle borrowed from The Dark Knight:  "If you are good at something, never do it for free".  

Being at my first National Convention left me in awe of the whirlwind of activity - business sessions for the running of the Institute; a trade show of building products spilling over what felt like acres on two different floors; International Region meetings with National staff; masterclass workshops, tours of new and old New York City – amid all the other wonderful distractions.  I confirm that Starbucks opens at 6am.

Throughout the event, I ran across US-practicing architects with international ties. The first morning, I sat by chance with an architect who had practiced in London before opening her own successful firm in New York. At the Emerging Professionals evening, I met architects from AECOM based in Virginia working on projects all over the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The nature of sharing international experience and working across borders is a vibrant aspect of the profession.

At the convention, the heads of the other global professional bodies of architecture were invited, from the Royal Institute of Canadian Architects close to home all the way to the Japan Institute of Architects. It is encouraging to know that the lines of communication are open between the organizations.

To anyone that has not yet attended the national convention, I recommend finding a way to attend next time.  The next convention has been announced for Las Vegas in 2019 and the call for presenters and peer reviewers is open. 

Written by: Alex Miller, AIA

Find the Gap

In big auditoriums when prominent architects give lectures the conversations are most often focused on their recent built work or current research projects and they do not always touch on the questions that young designers might have for their role models. How did you get where you are? When did you know it was time to set out on your own? How did you find mentors and work early on? Additionally, these may not be questions emerging professionals feel comfortable asking even the most open minded of employers.  For just this reason, the AIA UK has launched a round table series focusing on bringing together emerging professionals with leaders in the field to discuss in an intimate setting the pressing questions of young designers.

Shelia O’Donnell and John Tuomey kindly joined us for our first Ask an Expert session in May. Seated in a historic pub cellar in London, John and Shelia shared with us their belief in the importance of the first five years after graduation for young designers. For them their post graduate travel to see buildings by Palladio and Corbusier and their experience working for James Stirling shaped their understanding of practice. For example, at one point a group of A-team engineers showed up to work on a project but were so overly confident, having just completed a successful international project, that they didn’t properly address the architectural intent of the one they were being asked to consider by Stirling and his team. As soon as the engineers had left, without flinching, Stirling picked up the phone to the company and asked to be sent the B-team for the next meeting instead.  Stirling taught John and Shelia early on about tenacity and the prioritization of design that allowed Stirling’s company to complete its bold iconic buildings.

Communication is also key, John and Shelia stressed the need to speak clearly about architecture and design intent with all parties. For this attendee, it was refreshing to hear how they believe architects should find ways to communicate which can reach all audiences equally, from clients to contractors and other architects. Even complex architectural ideas can usually be expressed more simply and understood more clearly then they are. Language, both verbal and visual are essential to John and Shelia’s design process, whether it is speaking about a project when they are traveling together and finding names for its elements, or layering up graphic ideas as they draw though a plan or elevation.

In John and Shelia’s estimation the best designers are the ones who have an innate curiosity and stay engaged in the world. Their own curiosity extends to experimenting with design features on their own house which is continually evolving as well as to teaching and using academic spheres as a way of exploring new ideas. For example, the usefulness of models was a lesson John and Shelia learned from their first experiences teaching in the United States which they brought back with them and implemented in their European teaching studios.

One sensitive subject the two touched on was how much more difficult it is now to start a practice and that often smaller and younger firms are overlooked for work. In the current climate, even well-established firms like theirs may have trouble because the base requirements for practice size, income and number of similar projects completed is so stringent. They lamented that by today’s standards they may not be qualified to complete some of their most celebrated work. This contradiction is something they have been vocal about when speaking with institutional clients and urge anyone putting together competitions to consider it and recognize how this may be stifling the next generation’s rising stars and the future’s important buildings.

When John and Shelia started their own practice, they chose to move back to Dublin from London where they had been working.  It was in Dublin that they contributed to and benefited from a renewed cultural awareness in the city. They also became politically active in the community which led to some of their earliest projects. This opening up of the minds around them and the political will to create good designs was what enabled them to launch their brilliant careers. Their advice for young designers was to find “find the gap!”

AIA UK Chapter Bike & Sketching Tour – Kent Coast

Margate Beckoning; Guide Ben O’Looney has Brought Us Almost There . Photo Credit: D Fairhurst

Adding on perhaps only an additional mile or so (and ignoring some generous rounding up), it looks like the participants in this year’s annual AIA UK Bike Trip on 30 Jun 2018 earned at least 1 Continuing Education Credit for every 6+ miles of biking.  So – after battling vicious headwinds in relentless heat under a blistering sun – were the CEU points really worth 36 miles of knee pumping effort?

For the first mile or so, we walked our bikes through the pedestrian zone of the refreshingly unpretentious, historic town of Faversham.  There were unexpected pleasures in extensive vernacular architecture, a medieval market square (for some truly delicious bakery treats), a scattering of period buildings from the 16th century onwards, a fine church and an odd cast iron pump thrown in for good measure. The whole Faversham effect of bustling commerciality held hints of how parts of London might have looked before the Great Fire.  

Tour Guide Ben O’Looney Adds Architectural Insight; Medieval Market (and Pump); 16th Century Inn. Photo Credits: M Loring AIA, E Top

The next miles started off innocently enough where the boat yards, warehouses and semi industrial buildings of Faversham petered out into a rural backwater.   Then, we got thoroughly lost trying to find a route to Whitstable and the going got rather rough.  For some time without a GPS signal, we meandered through fields of bizarre, unidentifiable weed crops, plagued by leg-attacking nettles and clothes-grasping blackberry vines - the usually benign English countryside in apparent rebellion.

Faversham Trading Warehouse; Lost on the Way to Whitstable. Photo Credits: M Loring, A Pohl

Eventually, we made it to the village of Graveney by a series of rolling, rural roads.  The Graveney Church proved to be that rare treat – a village church untouched by Victorian or modern interventions. 

Out of the Sun into Graveney Church. Photo Credit: D Fairhurst, M Loring

However, biking the next miles from Graveney to Whitstable was a less than salubrious, hard slog as the weeklong heatwave brought out every stray motorist in the area looking for beach relief via normally tranquil, deserted roads.   Despite a look-in at Whitstable’s heritage and harbour, morale was lowering – that flat tire on the way had not helped - until we reached the haven of the Hotel Continental for drinks, gourmet lunch (fresh oysters!), swimming and sketching.

F1 Calibre Teamwork; Waiting in Whitstable with Beer, Oysters and Sketchpads. Photo Credit: M Loring, L King

Unfinished Business

Well-fed, rested and with morale restored, the level miles from Whitstable – punctuated with picturesque beach huts - flew by until we reached Herne Bay, where the seaside ambiance, a clock tower and pavilion gave us a further architectural boost. 

Herne Bay Architecture in all Types and Sizes. Photo Credit: C Musangi; J Sturt

By the late afternoon with increasing headwinds, some of us were flagging again, but the miles from Herne Bay to Birchington along the coastal Viking Trail beckoned with undeniably spectacular potential.  So, with sea gulls dive bombing us from above, wind farms twirling in the distance, beach huts basking in the forefront and the Romanesque towers of Reculver enticing us ever onwards, we persevered. 

From a Distance, a Shipping Landmark; Up Close, a Biking Milestone. Photo Credit: M Loring, E Top

There was a convenient train station at Birchington, but group pressure kept us focused.  The advance of late afternoon lengthened shadows, while the extraordinary visibility foreshortened distances.  Was that Margate just around the next headland or just a mirage?

No - there were still a few miles and a multitude of strangely stunted, ruin-pocked, white cliff headlands to round before arriving at the real Margate.  Margate’s architectural landmarks included (inter alia) a modern Chipperfield gallery, Dreamland’s scenic railway and a lovely, welcoming Beaux Art train station – with a very convenient timetable for London bound trains.  After a long day in the saddle, we had reached our destination.

The White Cliffs of Margate; End of the Road. Photo Credit: C Musangi, E Top

So – in answer to that overriding question ‘were the CEU points really worth 36 miles of knee pumping effort’?  The short answer is – of course – ‘yes’.  Or, as one participant described it succinctly ‘it was fun’, although – admittedly - there were a few knee protests on Sunday morning.

Many thanks to our tour guide, Ben O’Looney for another exciting Kent adventure filled with architectural insights and scenery to wonder at.

VIEW PHOTO ALBUM HERE

Written by: Lorraine D King AIA