Tutors: Adam Thwaites, Tabatha Harris-Mills, Tumpa Fellows, Alice Odeke, Vincent Yoell

Tumpa Husna Yasmin Fellows (course leader) is a chartered architect and had over ten years’ experience working for London-based architecture practices, before co-founding the inter-disciplinary practice Our Building Design (in 2018) and the charity Mannan Foundation Trust (in 2012). She was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Rising Star Award in 2017 and she has received a commendation for the RIBA President’s Award for Research in 2019. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster where she is also a PhD researcher undertaking practice-based research on architectural responses to the changing climate in Bangladesh.

Adam Thwaites: A passionate advocate of architectural technology as a distinct profession and route into a career in architectural design, Adam worked for a series of small architectural practices prior to his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster. Current research/areas of interest include the use of Timber (CLT) in construction within urban areas and medium- to high-rise buildings; using vegetation in the built environment to mitigate air pollution; and energy efficient and sustainable construction methods.

Tabatha Harris Mills: With 17 years’ industry experience, Tabatha is a practicing Architectural Technologist who established her own studio in 2005. With a background in a variety of projects from residential to healthcare, she brings her industry experience into the studio setting. Teaching at all levels and excited about the future of the profession and the course, Tabatha is a passionate technologist focused on pushing educational boundaries within the specialism.

YEAR 2: Borough Student Accommodation

THIS ACADEMIC YEAR we asked 2nd year students to develop proposals for a six-storey student accommodation building. We asked that the proposed building be ‘super- insulated’ and that provision be made for the inclusion of renewable technologies and/or passive strategies resulting in a low or ‘zero’ energy consumption building.

Student designs were required to include an element of vegetation as an approach to the aesthetic strategy, exemplifying the health benefits of green space and planting within the urban environment.

A material/construction technology requirement was that the structure utilise cross-laminated timber (CLT). Students were asked to research the logistical implications of this prefabricated material/structure which should be reflected in their design, paying attention to the Construction Technology module in order to develop these ideas and produce a component breakdown. CLT construction is a renewable material and as such is considered a sustainable construction method.

With the Building Regulations at the forefront of organisational planning and decision making, attention was directed to the consideration of escape routes and the prevention of spread of fire, accessibility for the disabled, sound protection from the external environment and from within the building itself, and the thermal comfort of occupants.

This year-long project comprised two stages. In semester one, following on from a research and development process and feedback from tutors, students produced a concept/ spatial design which was developed to approximate a planning proposal. In semester two, again informed by a research and development process, students developed working drawings and details of their individual designs.