ARCHITECT@WORK reaches higher than ever before, exploring the theme of air and architecture when it returns to its physical format at London’s Truman Brewery for its 2022 edition.
Written by Helen Parton
Je Ahn of Studio Weave will be talking about the practice’s Finsbury Circus project, a competition which is an opportunity to restore and rethink the Grade II-listed green space.
© Studio Weave
The theme for the 2022 edition of ARCHITECT@WORK in London on 26 and 27 January, will be Air & Architecture. As well as the opportunity to visit over 72 companies showcasing innovations to architects and specifiers, visitors can see design agency MaterialDriven’s curated display which explores the key role that design is playing to support our society, protecting us from contaminated air, as well as actively purifying and regenerating it. Visitors will discover healthy alternatives such as plant-based plastics and leathers that sequester carbon, new and bio-based masonry formats, naturally performing materials, non-toxic bacterial colour solutions, as well as pollution-based and pollution-absolving materials.
Then there is the stellar line up of talks, which explore a range of different projects, places and experiences based on this theme. Different sessions will touch upon how we breathe and what that means for our wellbeing, as well as the lungs of cities themselves. A wide variety of designers and experts will look at the spaces where we meet or exercise, and transport us high above the ground.
Among the Morris+Co project Joe Morris will talk through is the hanging gardens scheme at Sheldon Square in Paddington for British Land.
© Morris+Co
Among the programme across the two days is a session on health and wellbeing that takes a look at air, space, materials and biophilia; considering how they are key to comfortable experiences that encourage better interactions within workspaces. This talk will feature the Morris+Company director Joe Morris, speaking alongside Francesca Brady, CEO of indoor air quality (IAQ) certification company AirRated and rising star Anouska Anquetil who runs biophilic design studio Aterre.
Eleanor Brough of Sarah Wigglesworth will, among other projects, discuss Haycroft Gardens, a new eco-house which provides a flexible home for three generations of the same family.
© Tim Crocker
The relationship between architecture and landscape plays a huge role in making the built environment more inhabitable and kinder to the environment and will be discussed by Eleanor Brough of Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, which has worked on schemes such as Haycroft Gardens, Katherine Erne from HTA and Joanna Simpson, director with multidisciplinary design house Simpson Studio.
Guy Hollaway Architects has worked on a multi-storey skate park in Folkestone, believed to be the first of its kind in the world.
© Guy Hollaway Architects
Peter Karn of Met Studio Design, Zoe Adeline-Lindop from AHMM and architect Guy Hollaway will showcase ways that our desire to be active, mobile and interact with design manifest in buildings and shared cultural experiences. For his part, Hollaway was responsible for a multi-storey skatepark in Folkestone. Meanwhile public spaces with a greater emphasis on greenery, accessibility and neurodiversity will be discussed in a session featuring Je Ahn from Studio Weave, Adam Scott of FreeState and Alpa Depani from Waltham Forest Council. All in all, the London edition of Architect@Work presents a multifaceted take on the theme of air and architecture.