Project Office is a design and research collaboration of staff and students based within the Leeds School of Architecture at Leeds Beckett University. It is an architecture consultancy concerned with ethical, social and resilient architecture and design. We work with like-minded communities, organisations and individuals. This book covers our work from January 2014 to September 2015

Stott, CR

Warren, SP

Leeds Beckett Repository

Project OfficeVol 2Project Office is a design and research collaboration of staff and students. It is an architecture consultancy concerned with ethical, social and resilient architecture and design. We work with like-minded communities, organisations and individuals.Project Office is co-directed by Craig Stott and Simon Warren, senior lecturers in Architecture. We have undertaken diverse projects within the Leeds City region, and we are now beginning to develop projects that broaden our scope nationally and overseas. We offer a full architectural service that includes feasibility studies, design guides and design advocacy, fabrication and construction. Project Office is unique in that we utilise the power of student led design and research to provide concept proposals for organisations such as charities and community associations who are unable to afford standard architectural consultancy. Student participants are always paid for their time, either financially (working directly for Project Office) or through the University currency of ‘credits’ awarded  towards their degree. The Project Office approach equips students with a fantastic pedagogic experience relating to real world complexities through the vehicle of live projects, whilst simultaneously supporting the needs of socially conscious organisations./ ABOUT US/ A FORCE FOR GOODAs Awan, Schneider and Till in Spatial Agency reflect ‘If you ask a potential architecture student why they want to study architecture, the most common response is along the lines of “I want to design buildings and make the world a better place”’. If architects are meant to ‘do good’, isn’t this something we should uphold as a desirable professional virtue. For most, the world is a precarious place and now more than ever architects are well placed to make a difference to the lives of people.The overarching pedagogical value of live projects is their potential impact as a force for good. Live projects equip students to make informed choices about the kind of architect they would like to be; particularly in raising the issues of their position regarding social responsibility.For many students, perhaps in part because of their induction to design-studio, thoughts of social responsibility remain disconnected or at least dormant. They are taught that the focus is mostly on the ‘self’, the figurehead designer, and this is perpetuated by the architecture journals and websites they readily absorb. This, as we know, is not the reality in a world wrestling with global imperatives of climate change, energy depletion, increasing population and an ever increasing divide between rich and poor.Finally, live projects achieve straightforward meaningful contributions (physical or otherwise) to our communities and built environment. In every school of architecture the one resource we have in abundance is the student, this can be harnessed as a force for good. I would suggest that if all our schools of architecture carried out live projects then we could create a beneficial legacy in the wider community, the upshot could be that that this also has a positive impact on the public perception of our profession.Simon WarrenWarren, S. (2014). The Fareshare Project, West Yorkshire, UK. In: H. Harriss and L. Widder, ed., Architecture Live Projects: Pedagogy into Practice, 1st ed. London: Routledge.The live project is defined here as a type of design project that is distinct from a typical studio project in it’s  engagement of real clients or users, in real-time settings. Students are taken out of the studio setting, and repositioned in the ‘real-world’. This external involvement tends to result in students producing something that is of value to the client/user group, which might range from ideas, feasibility reports, or research, to a completed design scheme, a construction or other intervention.Dr Rachel Sara/ NEW WORTLEY  COMMUNITY CENTRENew Wortley Community Centre is a thriving community centre in Leeds. The project is for a new multi-purpose building that will enable the centre to expand its reach and sustain itself in the future. The existing building will be transformed into a well-being centre in a future phase.Design Sketches and DiagramsNew Wortley Community Centre is a sustainable new building in a disadvantaged area of Leeds. Project Office worked with New Wortley Community Association to secure more than £800,000 of grant funding from Big Lottery to design and construct the building. The construction phase began in August 2015 and will be completed in Spring 2016. Throughout the design stages of the project students and academics, from the School of Art, Architecture and Design provided consultancy and design services. Our collaborative approach produced an exemplar method of working, broadly termed co-design, and this resulted in an inspiring, distinctive, thoughtful and durable building.The project has developed following Vahagn Mkrtchyan’s winning submission for the in-house design competition in 2010. We recognise Leeds Beckett University’s students immense contribution in helping to raise the funding and for all the architectural and design input at the various stages of the project. Students from a range of design courses will be involved in the implementation of some of the building’s elements during its construction.New Wortley Community Centre on site - September 2015 New Wortley Community Centre Live projects are very good at exercising and developing spatial intelligence, a skill and understanding that is absolutely central to architectural education.Leon van Schaik/ PROJECTS SO FARFurther details of these projects can be found in Project Office Vol 1.04/ Old Chapel Studios01/ FareShare09/ Bardsey Scout Hut02/ Arc Light_Orwin House06/ Garden Gate Hunslet07/ Hunslet Urban Framework 08/ The Orangery_Beam03/ BasementArts Project05/ House of Hope HaitiSketch by Christina Vafeiadi - BA(Hons) Architecture / NUNBURNHOLMEBA2 students were tasked with fulfilling the aspirations of Nunburnholme Village Group; the vision is to create a building and surrounding environment that can serve as a magnet and a fulcrum to unite, enrich, and sustain the vibrancy of the village and surrounding communities. A building that is sensitive to the land of the Yorkshire Wolds it will inhabit, and evocative of the history and nature of the area.Nunburnholme is a small village in rural East Yorkshire with a population of approximately 200 and a rich history including the first nunnery to be closed by Henry VIII and the founding of The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds by Reverend Francis Orpen Morris. At present the villagers have no shared amenity, other than the church./ FILM SCHOOLThe proposal for a new Film, Music & Performing Arts School for Leeds Beckett University is at this stage only a hypothetical project but it has a purpose, to develop and inform the school’s staff and students ability and capacity to engage with an actual relocation project in the future. Three unique ‘design guides’ have been produced by three teams of postgraduate architecture students. Sketch by Christopher Newbold - MArchEducation must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously students and teachers.Paulo FreireA move from the idea of architect as expert problem-solver to that of architect as citizen sense-maker; a move from a reliance on the impulsive imagination of the lone genius to that of the collaborative ethical imagination; from clinging to notions of total control to a relaxed acceptance of letting go.Jeremy Till/ MORLEY NEWLANDS  PLAYSCAPEThe Playscape is a live project collaboration between Morley Newlands Primary School and Leeds Beckett University. The project was designed and built by students from the Art, Architecture & Design School.Playscape Construction 2014Primary school pupils and architecture students worked together in the classroom to create the Design Guide for a ‘playscape’ of imaginative play and learning. This was used as the brief for an ideas competition, open to the school of architecture’s alumni.  Two winning entries of Bradley Spencer and Ashley Ball were selected by the school and imaginatively combined, developed, detailed and hand-crafted on site by a team of architecture students. The playscape has three discrete elements; a theatre space, secret garden and bell tower, all predominantly constructed from European oak, pine decking and marine plywood. In total some 40 students participated; gaining real life experience of brief writing, design of concept, construction detailing, and ‘on-site’ assembly. The live project exposed students to a design methodology that puts team working and collaboration at the heart of the creative experience.Competition Entry by Ashley BallConstruction Sequence of Theatre SpaceSo often [an architecture] school is caught up with ideas of what architects are supposed to be, without acknowledging how they actually have to operate in the world.Liam Young/ WHO WE ARECo-Director of the Project OfficeI am interested in the role of the Architect. How do Architects practice with ethical grace and respond to climate change and energy depletion imperatives? How do Architects use their skills to make a difference to the lives of more people? By thinking about the strategic urban design of the city and understanding the resources within communities the city can become more adaptive, resilient, egalitarian and coherent. I am currently working towards a PhD, the working title is ‘Live Project Pedagogy - Architecture in the Making’. Co-Director of the Project OfficeMy desire is to develop resilient communities through the instigation of zero waste and carbon positive closed loop design processes. The notion draws inspiration from our surroundings to drive architectural responses that are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable for everyone. Known as ecological urbanism, this holistic approach enables us to create socially inclusive environments to the benefit of all.Andrew Pye / Part 2 Architectural Assistant / ArchitectPaul Hansell / Part 2 Architectural AssistantGraham Davey / Part 1 Architectural AssistantAbdul Zafar / Architectural Technology StudentHamid Islam / Architectural Technology StudentKevin Wade / Architectural Technology StudentLiam Pyman / Architectural Technology StudentSIMON WARRENCRAIG STOTTPROJECT OFFICE STAFF 2013-2015/ PROJECT PARTICIPANTSSTUDENTSAdesina Adebauke   Alexander Adrienne  Ryan AinsleySpencer Alex   Ben Alexander   Beatriz Arbex   Joshua Arthur Nushoor Al-Mahoozi    Vanessa Baer    Ashley Ball    Heaven Belay   Sam Bedford    Rachel Berry Scott Bingham    Jacob Bojcun    Rebecca Brett    Marilia Cavalcanti  Farias Junayd Chaudhary    Duncan Colf  Josemar Da Costa Asma Dauleh Graham Davey    Emily Daye Marina De Araujo  PaturyCarolina De Bastiani    Grubert    Luiza De Melo    Lauren Di Pietro   Malaika Donkor    Oliver Dykes Joseph Earley Tom EddisonPatricia Escano    Amy Featherstone    Petrus Fernandes    Chris Foster    Freddie GarsideZahra Haghajat    Lylyan HamodiJack Hartley    Sarah HarveyMaria Herminia    Robyn Holden    Nick HusbandLana Ismail    Joshua Jenje   Mathew Kan   Tony Kangah Howard KentAna Paula Kouzak    Kamila Kudlata  Matteo Lattanzio Ylana Leal Melo de     Oliveira Nandara Mendes GomesNathalia Menezes  Silva Larissa Monteiro    Rod NetoChristopher NewboldAdrian O’Hagan Roberts Opincans   Agnesa Osmani    Joao Otoni Cardoso Chris Paraskos Piotr Pich   Vavara Politi     Lais Porcino Dos  Passos Matt Riley    Paula Rodrigues    Felipe Rossi FerreiraNils Schmidt-Hansen  Matt Shepherd    Bradley Spencer    Victoria Tainty    Julia Temponi    Arpeeta Thakur   Andrew Thompson    Max Timms Rebecca Turner    Paul Unett    Christina Vafeiadi Zachariah WallZiemann Wendt    Anastasia Whitehead  Stephanie WildingVinicius Wolff Suda   TUTORSPetros Tsitnidis Juha KaapaDr Maria TheodorouCraig StottSimon WarrenORGANISATIONSBig LotteryLeeds Beckett      University CONSULTANTS / CONTRACTORSBernard Williams    AssociatesAdept CSCEAGM Safety ltdPreston BarberWates Construction Guy Harnett    Michael Wadsworth  FRIENDSProfessor Alan SimsonAdrian Appleyard    Alan Stoyles LoneStarPeter DixonAndrew RabyLeeds Beckett     University Film,    Music & Performing    Arts SchoolJanet MulcroneCLIENTSNew Wortley Community  AssociationMorley Newlands     Primary School  Nunburnholme Village1st Bardsey Scout    GroupSTARTProject OfficeLeeds Beckett UniversityB504, Broadcasting PlaceWoodhouse LaneLeedsLS2 9EN+44 (0)113 81 26752projectoffice@leedsbeckett.ac.uktwitter: @_projectofficecagd.co.uk/projectoffice

Project Office Volume 2

Project Office is a design and research collaboration of staff and students based within the Leeds School of Architecture at Leeds Beckett University. It is an architecture consultancy concerned with ethical, social and resilient architecture and design. We work with like-minded communities, organisations and individuals. This book covers our work prior to January 2014

Project OfficeVol 1Project Office is a design and research collaboration of staff and students. It is an architecture consultancy concerned with ethical, social and resilient architecture and design. We work with like-minded communities, organisations and individuals.Project Office’s dual activities are education and enterprise. Our key motivations demonstrate both our ethical principles and how to occupy a space concurrently within the academic institution and architecture practice. Our motivations go to eleven; it’s one louder than ten.•• •••••••••Using architecture ethically The imperative of Environmentally Resilient Closed Loop DesignParticipatory design with students and collaborators Working with stakeholders who have no viable alternative to realise their projectsEmbedding research activity into our practiceProviding opportunities for student engagement with a range of educational and formative experiencesComplying with ARB/RIBA criteria and EU directivesEvolving architectural pedagogiesDoing and making architecture Having funAdvocating an inspiring experience for all collaborators / OUR MOTIVATION © New Wortley Community Centre/ NEW WORTLEYThe project has developed following Vahagn Mkrtchyan’s winning design for the in house design competition in 2010. With the assistance of students undertaking community consultation the Stage 2 Reaching Communities Big Lottery application was submitted in October 2013. A decision on capital funding is expected imminently and if successful our first substantial building will be completed in 2015.New Wortley Community Centre is in urgent need of additional space. The proposal for a new multi-purpose building will contain community led commercial functions (café/launderette/shop and meeting room) that will enable the centre to expand its reach and sustain itself in the future. The existing building will be transformed into a function hall.Image by Vahagn Mkrtchyan/ ARC LIGHT_ORWIN HOUSEFor many years Orwin House has provided a stable, safe and supportive home for up to 7 men and women with alcohol issues, the majority ex-street drinkers.  It has been a huge achievement in maintaining this facility for a group of vulnerable people. ArcLight’s focus is not ‘maintenance’ but quality of life.   Working closely with ArcLight and the residents a variety of designs were presented by students to enable stakeholders to envision possible adaptations to their home.The live project was to re-design and conversion of an outdated semi-detached house into a fit-for-purpose accommodation and support facility for clients drawn from a variety of socially-disadvantaged groups.In Bruno Latour’s terms, critical attention is shifted from architecture as a matter of fact to architecture as a matter of concern. As matters of fact, buildings .... can be treated as objects on their own terms. As matters of concern, they enter into socially embedded networks, in which the consequences of architecture are of much more significance than the objects of architecture.Awan, Schneider, TillImage by Josh Boydell-Smith & Joe Walton for Bauman Lyons Architects/ OLD CHAPEL STUDIOSThis live project started as collaboration between Old Chapel Studios, Bauman Lyons Architects and students, with students producing a vast range of design proposals in a week long studio competition. Karl Braidwood and Charles Ryan-Hicks’ shortlisted shipping container proposal helped shape the actual project. The students of the winning entry were invited by the Architect to produce the visualisation for the planning application. Our input ended at this point but the project was recently completed by adaptation of portacabins instead of containers.The Old Chapel Studios is a rehearsal studio in Holbeck and required a new build community classroom for meetings and classes. / BASEMENTARTSPROJECTA sustainable environment for the production, display and promotion of art. The project was designed to have two integrated but separable elements, one being the redesign of the basement in a occupied terraced house and the other being the ‘what if’ re-imagining of an adjacent area of amenity space.The project involved BA2 and BA3 students and lasted for two weeks from the point of inception to presentation. Students were divided into eight groups and the project was organised as a competition with awards for the top four sets of designs. The design work is being used by BasementArtsProject to commence fund-raising to the next phase.Image by Ross Couper, Joe Walton, Lee Houston & Josh Boydell-SmithCities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.Jane JacobsPhoto by Phil Khorassandjian/ HOUSE OF HOPE HAITIThe challenge was to help House of Hope Children’s Centre who were at the very earliest stages of considering how to rebuild their orphanage following the Haiti earthquake in 2010. Students produced four sophisticated and detailed thesis projects as part of their design studio course work. The only commitment we were entitled to make at this time was to offer our work as a means for the client and supporters to raise money and awareness.‘The work that the students produced did help in some small measure - in concept and confidence building if not in the detail of the proposals. House of Hope (has) managed to purchase some land and, with help from Friends of HOH, build a couple of “transitional shelters” as a starter.’Phil KhorassandjianImage by Andrew Pye, Tom Woodcock, Alex Durie & Michael Townsend/ GARDEN GATE HUNSLETA project for Leeds Brewery to redesign their toilet facilities at the Grade 2* listed public house in Hunslet, Leeds. For pedagogical reasons the project was augmented by a speculative exercise to re-imagine the building as a community focus.The re-worked public house could have the addition of a community cinema, a cider tower, ‘heaven and hell’ village hall or a music venue . . . as well as new toilets. All proposals are linked to our Hunslet Urban Framework project.Image by Daniel Wallace, Jason Yeung, Neil Graham & Andy ClaphamTea Shop Community Consultation dayThis is a self initiated project. Whilst engaging with the Garden Gate project we noticed that this beautiful pub’s immediate environment was a desolate street that we discovered used to be the high street and centre of the Hunslet community but has been dismantled over time. / HUNSLET URBAN FRAMEWORKFour urban frameworks have been produced titled Hunslet Grow, Responsive Hunslet, Handmade Hunslet and Patchwork Hunslet. The projects were presented at the Garden Gate to an invited audience. The next stage is to present our work formally to the local authority./ THE ORANGERY_BEAMPost Graduate students worked in three teams to design a ‘demountable-permanent’ building for BEAM at the Orangery. This is a space / structure that can be programmed for diverse creative activities, meeting space, and space for café/bar. BEAM intend to build a structure to be occupied from summer 2014.Students have produced proposals for a refined and practical work of ‘demountable-permanent’ architecture at The Orangery, Wakefield set within a re-imagined urbanscape./ FARESHAREYear 3 undergraduate student Antonia Frondella remarked after this ‘event’, “The project was fulfilling and was a definite highlight of my university career experience”. This project will be a case study in the book Architecture Live Projects: Pedagogy into Practice ed Harriet Harriss and Lynnette Widder (Routledge) in 2014.Students designed, project managed and constructed an office and staffroom structure within a food distribution warehouse for the food charity FareShare (West Yorkshire). The project was funded through donations amounting to £1500. Students pre-fabricated, assembled and installed the project over a ten week period.A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.George Bernard Shaw/ WHO WE ARECo-Founder of the Project OfficeI am interested in the role of the Architect. How do Architects practice with ethical grace and respond to climate change and energy depletion imperatives? How do Architects use their skills to make a difference to the lives of more people? By thinking about the strategic urban design of the city and understanding the resources within communities the city can become more adaptive, resilient, egalitarian and coherent. I am currently working towards a PhD, the working title is ‘Live Project Pedagogy - Architecture in the Making’. Graduate Architecture Co-ordinatorI believe architecture should be used as a tool for social, environmental and technological change. People, culture and context are integral to all good design. As designers, we are presented with exciting opportunities to address pressing local and global environmental issues with each new design. My passion for humanitarian design has stemmed from taking part in a volunteering project constructing a wind turbine for a small coastal village in The Gambia. Co-Founder of the Project OfficeMy desire is to develop resilient communities through the instigation of zero waste and carbon positive closed loop design processes. The notion draws inspiration from our surroundings to drive architectural responses that are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable for everyone. Known as ecological urbanism, this holistic approach enables us to create socially inclusive environments to the benefit of all.SIMON WARRENANDREW PYECRAIG STOTTSTUDENTSBesnik  AbdiuMohamed AhmedMoisidis AlexandrosGenenan AntoineHamaad AnwarEllie ArcherManuel AtkinsonNathalia AzevedoAbdulrahman BacheeriMatthew BakerAshley BallDavid BanberryClaire BastowAndrew BatesSarah BaylisKorab BegolliGurveer BhachuJordan BlackerKelela BlakeMichael BlandEmily BlowersWilliam BoardJosh Boydell-SmithJoe BradleyKarl BraidwoodRachael BrantonNicholas Bullen-BrownClaire BurrellValbona  CanolliHannah CawthorneMichael ChapmanJason CheungAndy ClaphamLauren ConnollyJosemar Da CostaRoss CouperLauna CowanStewart CravenLaura CrowtherJack DaveyHelen DaviesZoltan DeakChristopher DennisonHamid DhoratSteven DuqueminAlex DurieJosh DysonAmy FeatherstoneChris  FosterAntonia FrondellaDavid FullerAdam FultonBen GarfittHaroulla GeorgiouAndrea GhirawooSam GildingNeil GrahamRon GrahamAimie GriffithsMatthew Grindey Paul HansellTodd Harrison Felix HattonSam HayesDavid HeeleyHarry HewlettLauren HeysNick HigsonJake HinchcliffeLuke HirstJamie HoRobyn HoldenLee HoustonAyesha IqbalNick JonesCharoula Kassimati-AntonopoullouMimi  KwanNatalie LedwardSimon LewingtonAshley LineWilliam LiuRachel MackenzieAimee MajorStephen McCloyRob MillerVahagn MkrtchyanAmy MontgomeryJoe MorizzoHarvinder MudharTrim MuratiKatie NealSavio Yuen Chak NgaiJames NortonSam OakesRizwana OsmanTom PartridgeAlex PasseyChris PepperMatthew PickersgillChristopher PickupLauren di PietroMarco PossosMichael PowellAndrew PyeGareth RobertsHarry RobinsonMatt RobinsonJoel RoderickKathy RoeCharles Ryan-HicksSandeep SandhuDaniel SargeantHina ShahHarry SharpeJujhar SinghRaymond SokoIndia SolankiDarren TillGillian ToddOwen TomsMichael TownsendAlessandra UptonLee Wade Jack WakelinGemma WalkerDaniel WallaceJoe WaltonHarry WinfieldTom WoodcockNick WrightJason YeungAdeline ZeterYue ZhengImran ZulfqarTUTORSDes FaganSteve MorantSimon NorthJohn OrrellTony ReesCraig StottSimon WarrenORGANISATIONSBatley RoundtableLand SecuritiesLeeds Metropolitan UniversityCONSULTANTSSarah CropleyAndrew GauntJohn MurphyGuy SmithFRIENDSVikram KaushalChris NeedhamPhil TaylorCLIENTSBruce DaviesKimberly FrangosLesly FourcandBill GrahamMark HubbardMaureen InghamJeremy JonesPhil KhorassandjianSam MossGary PotterRobert PowellLaura SmithCharlie WilkinsonKate Watson/ PROJECT PARTICIPANTSProject OfficeLeeds Metropolitan UniversityB504, Broadcasting PlaceWoodhouse LaneLeedsLS2 9EN+44 (0)113 81 26752projectoffice@leedsmet.ac.ukcagd.leedsmet.ac.uk/projectoffice

Project Office Volume 2

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