SUMMER OF WORK EXPERIENCE AT NMLA
SEPTEMBER 2024
Over a 4-week period this summer, we were delighted to host eight work experience students from a range of London state schools and sixth-form colleges. Our programme aims to inspire and provide insight into architectural practice through a bespoke week-long project involving a brief, site survey, research and consultation, design, drawing, image and model making, and presentation. Attending in pairs (and mostly having never met before), all four sets of students choose to work together on design proposals. It was wonderful to see their lively exchange of ideas, evolving team work and complementary skillsets being developed. Members of staff volunteered in pairs to support the students with their design project but also held portfolio review sessions for those interested in applying for architecture degrees, and involved the students in office meetings and design reviews. At the end of each week, a larger group of staff gathered for the students’ presentations as an informal crit, celebrating the excellent work and relaying constructive feedback. We’d like to thank Manar and Zain, Katerina and Khaterah, Megan and Wasim, and Kacper and Ayushi, and wish them all well for their future studies.
AIA UK BUILDING TOUR - SALTMARSH HOUSE
SEPTEMBER 2024
On the 12th September, Alastair Browning will be leading a virtual tour of Saltmarsh House as part of the AIA UK Building Tour Series 2024. Saltmarsh House was a winner in the AIAUK Small Projects Category.
Conceived as a delicate steel frame that floats above a meadow of wild grasses, the pavilion houses a long dining hall framed by three smaller spaces: a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom.
https://www.aiauk.org/events-calendar/2024/9/12/aia-uk-building-tour-series-2024-saltmarsh-house-by-niall-mclaughlin-architects
ARCHITECTURE AS AN INSTRUCTION-BASED ART – HARVARD UNIVERSITY EXHIBITION
SEPTEMBER 2024
An exhibition has opened at the Druker Design Gallery at Harvard University titled ‘Architecture as an Instruction-Based Art’. The exhibition is a selection of drawings which are used to coordinate the process of construction, that is, drawings which reflect the nature of architecture as an “instruction-based” art. We selected a drawing from our International Rugby Experience project in Ireland that shows the complex co-ordination and layering of construction from ceiling to roof level. Here each bay of the sculptural ceiling transitions upwards from an expansive oculus aligned with the building axes, twisting through 20 degrees to accommodate eye-shaped north-facing skylights and bespoke solar shades at roof level.
The exhibition has been curated by the Farshid Moussavi and runs until the 15th October. More information can be found on the Harvard website here.