AADesignMakeBrochure2014

Design & Make

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The Hooke Park fabrication workshop, designed by Frei Otto and Ahrends Burton Koralek, provides a wonderful space for working with timber and other materials.

Design & Make Post-graduate MSc and MArch Study at Hooke Park, Architectural Association School of Architecture MArch Master of Architecture (Design & Make) 16-month post-graduate design-build masters programme

MSc Master of Science* (Design & Make: Timber Technologies) 12-month post-graduate programme in timber technology, design and fabrication

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* In 2015 / 16 academic year a new 12-month MSc award will be introduced, subject to approval and validation by The Open University.

Hooke Park Hooke Park is a 350-acre working forest set in the west Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. What began in the 1980s as a furnituredesign college dedicated to researching new ways of using locally sourced wood has evolved into a growing campus of experimental timber buildings in the forest. Today, Hooke Park offers a unique backdrop for workshops with AA students from London, to short-course and Visiting School participants and the year-round Design & Make courses.

Prior to the AA’s ownership of Hooke, buildings by Frei Otto, architects Ahrends Burton Koralek, Edward Cullinan and engineers Buro Happold demonstrated the rich potential of round-wood construction and are used by students for their accommodation, dining, workshop and studio activities. Today, Design & Make students are continuing this legacy of the radical use of timber in architecture in their design and construction of new campus buildings. Recent MArch building projects include student accommodation lodges, the Big Shed assembly workshop and a timber-seasoning shelter.

Spruce and beech trees planted in the 1950s, make up the Hooke Park estate, and an active forestry programme maintains the woodland, with the objectives of sustainable timber production and improved biodiversity. Design & Make students work with the forester and estate managers to develop strategies for using this home-grown timber in construction projects.

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Top: With stands of beech, spruce, oak, cedar and other species, the Hooke Park woodland has a rich variety of forest landscape. Botttom: The Hooke Park campus is located in a clearing in the 150 hectare estate. The surrounding farmland and coastline is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Design & Make students test novel applications of traditional techniques.

Here steam-bend beech lamellas are joined to form a continuous roof structure.

Design & Make Programme The AA School’s Design & Make programme offers post-graduate architecture study in the unique context of an historic English woodland. At Hooke Park, the AA’s Dorset school for research and design in timber and alternative rural architectures, students inhabit an environment made up of studios, workshops, building sites, forest and a wider rural community rich in its craft tradition. Based on a masterplan for the extension of the campus, student teams design and construct experimental projects on site. The programme’s learning and teaching centre on two points: innovative environmental design tested through the holistic construction of buildings, from concept to completion; and the development of new fabrication technologies derived from the timber available in the surrounding woodland.

Two full-time programmes are offered: a 16-month MArch programme for graduates of architecture (5 years’ previous study) and a 12-month MSc programme for graduates of architecture, engineering or other relevant disciplines. Both consist of seminars, design-make studios and the individual production of a dissertation (MSc) or thesis (MArch). MSc students realise full-scale prototype structures in timber, and MArch students collectively design and construct permanent buildings on and for the Hooke Park campus. Both programmes share a fundamental premise: that research-derived knowledge in architecture is best acquired through the built realisation of design intent.

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Courses Design & Make teaching is structured around a series of hands-on designmake studio projects of increasing scale and sophistication leading to the student construction of either a Hooke building (MArch students) or full-scale timber prototype (MSc students). These are complemented by seminars and workshops in forestry, woodworking and building crafts as well as lectures and events at Hooke Park and the AA School in London. A team of architects, engineers, and construction experts provide guidance on all student projects.

Courses begin in the autumn with Induction Studio, which provides an intensive introduction to design and digital techniques. This is followed by the Core Studio, dedicated to the production of a full-scale piece of inhabitable landscape infrastructure set within the Hooke Park woodland. Seminar courses focus on the cultural theory of making as design; the agendas of ruralism, sustainability and place; and environmental and timber construction technologies.

For the first three terms both the MSc and MArch programmes share the taught components of the course. After the third term, MSc students complete their dissertations for submission in September, whilst MArch students continue, with project construction through the summer and thesis completion (term 4) for submission the following January.

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Full access to the Hooke Park workshops, and the experienced technical staff, means that the material considerations of design can be tested at any point.

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Students engage in design detailing and fabrication at all scales. Here (top) a Design & Make student is explaining fabrication details to participants of the AA’s SummerBuild programme. Below: timber framing in the Big Shed.

Design & Make Studios The Design-Make Studios lead towards the production of a full-scale construction at Hooke Park. Each studio is supported by visiting staff – tutors, mentors from practice, consultants and other invited lecturers, critics and jurors – and is carried out in the D&M studio space, the fabrication workshop and the ‘Big Shed’ assembly workshop.

Term 1: Induction Studio The four-week Induction Studio is a series of classes and tutorialworkshops to establish a skill base for an integrated digital-material, design-make methodology Students select an existing construction technique, research its processes and develop a generative parametric digital model that allows that technique to be deployed in a unconventional way.

Using the equipment available in the Hooke Park workshop, each student fabricates a ‘sampler’ produced via this digitally controlled technique.

Term 1: Core Studio The six-week Core Studio develops a design-make approach driven by the landscape considerations of our woodland site. Focus is on the development of a design methodology that reciprocates between on-site making and studio-based representations. The inhabitable constructions act as vehicles to research and test architectural ideas that will be further developed in proposals for the Project Studio and accommodated in the final built project.

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Design & Make Projects

Terms 2 & 3: Project Studio The Project Studio consists of the collective design and prototyping of full-scale architectural structures at Hooke Park. In collaboration with engineering consultants and specialist builders teams of students develop designs through prototyping, mock-up and physical testing.

For MSc students, the prototyping exercise results in a full-scale experimental timber construction at the end of Term 3, forming the research basis for the subsequent MSc dissertations. The prototype is designed with the explicit intent to test new architectural applications of timber, and radically exploit the woodland and fabrication resources (including new robotic fabrication equipment) of Hooke Park. Research topics are confirmed with tutors during Term 1 and relate to the innovative technical application of timber within architecture.

For MArch students, the Project Studio design takes the form of a permanent building on the Hooke Park campus. Construction begins in the third term and is completed in the autumn. The range of research topics within these projects can encompass individual interests in environmental and construction technologies, alternative forms of design practice or issues relating to Hooke Park’s topographic and cultural landscape.

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Top: The Timber Seasoning Shelter project tested the use of steam-bent beech timber in a reciprocal grid structure. It will be used to air-dry and store timber for future construction projects. Bottom: A steam bending jig, capable of bending unique shapes into the beech planks, was devised by the student team.

Drawing: Omri Menashe

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Design & Make student Nozomi Nakabayashi stands in the Big Shed assembly workshop building – which she co-designed – as it nears completion.

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Seminars Four Seminar Courses complement Studio projects, providing a historical and theoretical foundation of the programme, and introducing the various fields of knowledge relevant to the design of experimental sustainable prototype buildings.

1. Making as Design This seminar series explores the histories, theories and cultures of design philosophies that prioritise making. Sessions investigate and build upon a typology of mechanisms through which making is used in architectural design. Each mechanism is examined through case studies and key readings to determine its place in the culture of making in architecture.

2. Agendas of ruralism This seminar series enables students to place D&M projects in a critical context informed by contemporary debates surrounding rural architectures and cultural heritage in our specific geographic, historical and environmental context.

3A. Timber Design & Technologies This course presents a survey of applications of timber in architecture and the technologies of its use. For each session invited guest speakers will analyse traditional techniques, the study of the underlying material and engineering principles, and explorations of emerging timber fabrication technologies. The course aims to provoke a theoretical and practical attitude towards timber design that embraces inventive application.

3B. Anatomies of Environmental Design By presenting the principles and practices of environmental design and relating them to the construction anatomies of architecture, this course informs students on the underlying physical principles of low-energy and environmental performances. It equips them with the design tools to manifest these in their design-make projects. Sessions cover design software, environmental legislation, material selection and on-site measurement.

Students attend both 3A and 3B and complete an essay related to one or other course depending on individual interests.

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Learning Resources

Fabrication workshop The Hooke Park workshop is fully equipped with woodworking hand-tools, power tools and machinery, including a CNC router. The workshop is shared between D&M and visiting groups from the AA London campus. Workshop machinery includes: 3-axis CNC router 1220mm x 2440mm bed, tilting arbour saws, wood lathes, metal lathes, band saws, morticer, planer thicknesser, bench grinder, bench drills, horizontal borer, bench-mounting disc sander, belt linisher, panel saw, spindle moulder and four-sided planer.

Assembly workshop and robot fabrication cell The new D&M student-designed ‘Big Shed’ assembly workshop provides a 500sqm prototyping, testing and pre-assembly space for D&M students.

The Big Shed also houses the new 7-axis robotic timber fabrication cell.

Forest and sawmill The Hooke Park estate comprises approximately 140 hectares (350 acres) of woodland, consisting mainly of spruce and beech trees. There are also stands of western red cedar, douglas fir and corsican pine, as well as combined oak and spruce. As designated ancient woodland, Hooke Park is a rich variety of woodland landscape, including recently felled clearings, an ancient willow coppice and a broadleaf coppice of ash, hazel, alder and poplar. Students can work with the forester to source and fell trees for their projects. Timber is processed using Hooke Park’s sawmill and drying kiln.

Studio The Hooke Park studio space is located adjacent to the workshop and includes computing facilities, photocopier, printers and an A1 plotter. Each student has his or her own permanent desk in the studio.

Libraries Hooke Park holds a small reference library of books covering topics of sustainable and rural architectures, timber and other fabrication technologies, forestry, furniture-making and other crafts. Students also have access to the AA’s main library in London and all the other facilities at the Bedford Square campus.

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Top: The Hooke Park sawmill allows construction material to be sourced directly from the surround woodland. Bottom: Students develop build strategies with the support of leading construction specialists.

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Top: This Student Lodge project, design and built by D&M students in 2013-14, is now being lived in by the subsequent cohort.

Bottom: Hooke Park hosts a public programme of events including lectures, symposia, open days and concerts.

Life at Hooke Hooke Park is located in rural West Dorset, an area renowned for its historic farming landscape (documented, for example, in the novels of Thomas Hardy), exceptional coastline (the Jurassic Coast – a UNESCO world heritage site) and a rich local food and craft culture. Our woodland thus presents a very different environment to a conventional urban architecture school. Despite this D&M students remain part of the dynamic culture of the AA, through time spent on the London campus and contact with students and tutors visiting Hooke Park.

Accommodation For the pre-term introduction week and the first three weeks of Term 1, D&M is based at the AA in London. The programme is based in Dorset for the rest of Term 1. Accommodation during this period is included in the programme fee.

During Terms 2–4 students are responsible for finding and paying for their own accommodation. For most students, this is through rented housing in one of the nearby villages or towns. Some accommodation may be available for rent at the Hooke Park site.

Transport Hooke Park is easily accessed by car. Cycling is possible, but the hilly countryside means it is only realistic for those living nearby. Hooke Park has a 15-seat minibus and two cars available for communal use by the student group. They are insured for those who have a license valid to drive in the UK (students are advised to get the necessary license in advance).

Students may also bring their own cars. Transport to and from London is usually by train, which requires a taxi or minibus ride to the nearest train station at Crewkerne.

Refectory The AA’s Refectory at Hooke Park operates when there are sufficient numbers of students at the campus. At these times, meals (vegetarian only) are available for purchase. A basic self-catering kitchen is available on site for the use of D&M.

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Masterplan An outline masterplan, with associated planning permission, is in place for an expanded campus of about 16 new buildings that will provide a range of new workshops, teaching spaces and living facilities at Hooke Park. These buildings serve as research vehicles for Design & Make students, who on an annual cycle, design and construct one or more buildings.

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Application Procedure The AA Graduate School includes 12 postgraduate programmes offering advanced studies for students with prior academic and professional experience. It is an important part of the larger AA School, which is one of the world’s most dynamic, experimental and international learning environments. Students join the school in September at the outset of a new academic year.

For full details of the application procedure, including application deadlines and fees, please visit the AA’s website: www.aaschool.ac.uk The AA is a private institution and anyone interested in applying must: complete the online application form; pay the relevant application fee; and submit a portfolio of design work before the relevant deadlines as stated on the AA website.

The Graduate School does not insist on an interview as a condition of entry. However, applicants are strongly encouraged to visit Hooke Park and meet the programme’s academic staff before applying. Appointments can be made through the Graduate Admissions Team.

Institution / School Validation The AA School achieved the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Review for Educational Oversight with full confidence in 2012, plus a successful QAA Annual Monitoring visit in 2013, and maintains Highly Trusted Sponsor status with the Home Office / UK Border Agency.

Degree Validation The AA is an Approved Institution and Affiliated Research Centre of the Open University (OU), UK. All taught graduate courses at the AA are validated by the OU. The OU is the awarding body for research degrees at the AA.

Bursaries The AA is committed to giving as many talented students as possible the opportunity to study.

Around one in six AA students receives financial assistance from the Bursary and Assistantship programme. Further details of the bursary scheme can be found on the AA website.

Contact More detailed Admissions information can be found on the AA website: www.aaschool.ac.uk Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Graduate Admissions Team on +44 (0)20 7887 4007 / 4067 or graduateadmissions@aaschool.ac.uk

Staff Martin Self is Director of Hooke Park. He is an engineer and designer who has taught design and theory at the AA since 2004. He worked at Ove Arup & Partners, where he was a founding member of the Advanced Geometry Group, studied architectural theory at the AA, and has consulted for such practices including Zaha Hadid Architects.

Charley Brentnall is a timber-framing contractor who has played a pivotal role in the renaissance of timber framing in the UK. He founded Carpenter Oak & Woodland in 1988, is a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Bath and York and a member of the Timber Framers Guild, Carpenters Fellowship, ICOMOS and SPAB. Kate Darby is an architect and has taught at Bath University, the Bartlett, Cardiff, Cambridge, Westminster and London Metropolitan Universities, Oxford Brookes and the AA. In 2008 she founded KDA, a rural practice that is concerned with meaning and physicality of architecture.

Minimum Academic Requirements MArch Design & Make (16 months): Five-year professional degree in architecture or a related discipline (BArch / Diploma equivalent)

Thesis Tutor: Mark Campbell

MSc Design & Make (12 months): Professional degree or diploma in architecture, engineering, industrial / product design or other relevant discipline.

Photos: Valerie Bennett, Carlos Chen, Iosif Dakoronias-Marina, Steve Law, Piers Taylor

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Visiting Tutors: Kostas Grigoriadis, Toby Burgess, Jos Smith

MArch DESIGN & MAKE

MSc DESIGN & MAKE

Duration

16 months (October – January)

12-months (October – September)

Minimum Entry Requirements

Five-year professional degree in architecture or a related discipline (BArch / Diploma equivalent)

Professional degree or diploma in architecture, engineering, industrial / product design or other relevant discipline

Credits

180 (1800 hours study)

SYLLABUS

Autumn (Term 1)

Induction Studio Core Studio Seminar Course 1: Making as Design Seminar Course 2: Agendas of Ruralism

Winter (Term 2)

Project Studio Seminar Course 3A: Timber Design & Technologies Seminar Course 3B: Anatomies of Environmental Design

Spring (Term 3)

Project Studio: group design and prototyping work leading to subsequent construction of campus building.

Project Studio: full-scale prototype design and construction.

Seminar Course 4: Thesis Development

Summer (MSc: Term 4)

Summer break; construction period with minimum 4 weeks on-site

Autumn (MArch: Term 4)

Building completion (October); Thesis write-up (November – January)

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Dissertation write-up (July – September)

designandmake.aaschool.ac.uk

Hooke Park Architectural Association School of Architecture Hooke Park, Beaminster Dorset DT8 3PH T +44 (0) 13 0886 3588 F +44 (0) 13 0886 3226 E hookepark@aaschool.ac.uk

London Architectural Association School of Architecture 36 Bedford Square London WC1B 3ES T +44 (0) 207 887 4000 F +44 (0) 207 414 0782 E info@aaschool.ac.uk

The Architectural Association Inc is a Registered Charity Incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No 171402 24 Registered office: 36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES

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designandmake.aaschool.ac.uk

Hooke Park Campus Architectural Association School of Architecture Hooke Park, Beaminster Dorset DT8 3PH T +44 (0) 13 0886 3588 F +44 (0) 13 0886 3226 E hookepark@aaschool.ac.uk

London Campus Architectural Association School of Architecture 36 Bedford Square London WC1B 3ES T +44 (0) 207 887 4000 F +44 (0) 207 414 0782 E info@aaschool.ac.uk

The Architectural Association Inc is a Registered Charity Incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No 171402 2 Registered office: 36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES