Year 13 Built Environment Learners had the amazing opportunity to work with RIBA and Holland Harvey Architects. The three-month long Employer Led project focused on understanding the RIBA work stages as well as supporting our learners Unit 2 of the Built Environment course- ‘Construction Design: Learners are able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of construction design and build concept, meeting the initial brief.’  

Holland Harvey Architects specialise in hospitality, community and residential projects with the core belief that architecture should make a positive environmental and social impact. This belief is optimised through the projects they have undertaken in the UK and abroad such as Shelter from the Storm- a London based homeless shelter that provides holistic support to its guests and Inhabit Queen’s Gardens- a hotel that promises a commitment to environmental initiatives and meaningful community partnerships. 

This year, the site chosen for this regeneration project is Canning Town Pocket Park. During the site visit, our architects were tasked to identify strength and weakness of the area as well as the opportunities, threats and geographical quality of the area. They took photos and recordings of the site to support their findings. With the guidance and support of the architects from Holland and Harvey, our learners worked tirelessly researching precedents, sketching adjacency diagrams and 3D designs and using CAD design programs such as Revit to bring their transformation of Canning Town Pocket Park to life. A range of exciting ideas were produced including community centres, sports and outdoor community spaces, cafés with unique features and rooftop gardens. 
‘It was a new experience presenting to an architectural firm and understanding how to convey my ideas to them. It was valuable to get feedback from leading employers in this field,’ Maya, year 13 Built Environment.

With exciting presentations full of exciting ideas, our learners travelled to Holland Harvey Architects headquarters to showcase their ideas. For many, this was their first ever Architectural Crit in a professional setting and they gained valuable live feedback during this process. Jericho, who impressed the judges with the Cliffwalk Workshop, won the Best Project. Congratulations to our winners of the Top Three Projects: Jericho(1st) Salma (2nd) Theo (3rd).  

 
“A big thank you to RIBA and Holland Harvey Architect for the planning and delivery of this amazing Employer Led Project. The learners have walked away with so much Industry knowledges that they can apply endlessly in their academic and architecture journey” - Andrew, Built Environment Teacher.  
 

"Holland Harvey would like to thank all the learners who participated this year for their hard work, it was a pleasure to have them in our studio. We saw many creative designs and learners rose to the challenge of considering key topics such as sustainability and community, which are core values in our studio and within Architectural practice. By working with us we hope they were able to gain new skills and valuable insight into our profession which will hopefully have helped them with their choices for further education as well as longer term career aspirations."