RIBA BRIEF: MARCH 2010

Education tops our agenda too
Architectural education has emerged as a significant strand for the future of the profession in the RIBA’s Way Ahead Review.  The Council meeting in March will be a timely opportunity to debate the issues raised, including the role of vocational teaching. It should be one of the first of the new format full-day debates that will give Council the opportunity to commit significant time and consideration to an issue. Higher education funding pressures make this a timely moment to debate the future of teaching architecture.

Serendipitously I have been asked to serve on the executive of the Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum, set up by higher education minister David Lammy in response to the Fair Access to the Professions report and the creation of the Social Mobility Commission. Both this role and Council have prompted me to expand my knowledge of recruitment systems to courses in architecture and their content. So I was pleased that my tour to Eastern Region included visits to a secondary school, a further education college and two schools of architecture, as well as discussions with members and co-professionals about the skills needed by both Part I and Part II graduates.

The nature of architectural practice is fast changing, with demands on the performance of buildings pushing environmental requirements forward to the initial considerations of the brief. As a consequence, the architect as design team leader is under ever more pressure to respond to the demands of engineering and construction from inception. The architects of the future need the skills to lead an integrated design team so the educational pathways that throw them together with their co-professionals to synthesise integrated working equip them for this in practice. Many of the people I spoke to felt students needed greater exposure to the physical process of creating architecture to design effective buildings. Design is, after all, more than just aesthetics: efficient detailing for effective construction is also part of design.

This changing process is reflected in a new attitude to vocational skills evident in my East Anglian visits. Rather than being the alternative route for intellectual under-achievers, the government’s new Diploma for 14-19 year-olds runs vocational study in parallel with academic skills to give context to the theories. Practical training in electrician’s skills runs alongside physics, for instance. It marks a cultural shift, away from valuing those who think above those who make and do, to appreciating that achievement is a synthesis of creative thought and physical endeavour. It also provides pathways into the professions for those who begin with craft but develop wider intellectual skills.

The greatest strength of British architectural schools is their diversity of approach. The synthesis of design theory with the craft of creating architecture is one divergent strand that I hope Council will pick up in its debate.

Ruth Reed | RIBA President

Conservation register

Register helps clients find heritage specialists
The RIBA is establishing a Register of Conservation Architects to help those looking to commission work on heritage buildings to find architects with the right skills and experience, covering historic building conservation, repair and maintenance. 

Recognising the distinctive nature of conservation work, and moving away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach, the Register will operate on three levels of membership, which also provide an incremental process of accreditation for those in the early phases of establishing their careers in building conservation. The first level is Conservation Registrant (CR), for those working on the repair, maintenance, alteration and refurbishment of heritage buildings, eg unlisted buildings in conservation areas, locally important historic buildings and pre 1919 building stock.

Conservation Architect (CA) is suitable for those working on grade II listed buildings, regionally important historic buildings and in sensitive historic environments. The top level, Specialist Conservation Architect (SCA) will apply to those working on historic buildings of outstanding national importance, such as grade I and II listed buildings or scheduled monuments, and with highly specialist skills.

A steering group has been appointed to implement the accreditation processes, and facilitate the launch of the first application round in spring 2010 and the setting up of the initial Register by summer 2010.  Assessors will be recruited in early spring.

An application fee and annual registration fee will cover the RIBA’s assessment and running costs.  Fee levels have not yet been finalised.

Those interested in being a member of the assessment panel should contact (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)