This year MArch Studio: Collaborative Production has explored the relationship between education and the city through the creation of an alternative form of Higher Education Campus. Throughout the year the studio has been supported by the Higher Education Design Quality Forum (HEDQF) whose specialist input has given students an understanding of emerging issues in the design and procurement of University buildings.
The studio’s aim has been to break down the barriers between academia and local people, creating a collaborative space which promotes meaningful and productive interaction. The projects aim to create a vibrant, environmentally and socially sustainable piece of the city, with learning and innovation promoting new kinds of employment and novel forms of production and exchange.
At the end of the project the HEDQF awarded prizes to the projects which best exemplify the organisations aim to increase the emphasis on environmental sustainability and social responsibility in the design of University buildings. Andy MacFee, representing the HEDQF said of the four prizewinners:
Kelubia Onaro, Year 6 (1st prize, £1200)
Wicker Innovation Commune:
‘A highly original and distinctive project imbued with progressive low carbon strategies and a socially sustainable program. All suggesting an exemplar approach for sustainable university buildings of the future, located within a socially integrated urban campus.’
Charlie Perriam, Year 6 (2nd prize, £800)
School of Urban Activism:
‘A socially sensitive and idealistic project borne from an authentic engagement with the local community. It suggests positive ideas for universities to move away from their traditional ivory towers and to regenerate urban sites in socially responsible and engaging ways.’
Kanai Devang Shah (joint 3rd prize, £500):
Centre for Innovative Learning Environments:
‘Founded on good research into alternative learning spaces and pedagogical models, Kanai’s project investigates the potential for dynamic architectural assembly and disassembly and expresses this concept in an attractive and engaging way.’
Kristie-Lee McAreavey, Year 5 (joint 3rd prize, £500):
Sustainable Construction Institute:
‘Kristie’s project is filled with imaginative ideas for sustainable student/community housing. The project is programmatically creative, suggesting a strategic shift for universities to co-locate living accommodation with teaching, learning and research space.’
The students will now be invited to present their work at next year’s HEDQF Conference in London, which is attended by University Estates Directors and leading architectural practitioners.
For more information please contact Studio Leader Daniel Jary: d.jary@sheffield.ac.uk
For more examples of work from our RIBA Part One and Part Two students, visit our Online Exhibition and catalogue.