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We thought we’d finish the year off by sharing what some of the team have been up to over the last 12 months or so…

Mike’s year:

- The tree house was completed and baptised with a summer sleepover by three grandkids, BurgerKing Whoppers & fries and watching a DVD. Also the household extension – we have lift off… windproof and watertight at least. Completion of interior…? when the architect gets the drawings done.

- The reinvented artist…. painting and sketching for enjoyment or maybe going a bit mental… Painting scottish mountains fine but drawing flowers on holiday…? Highly suspect.

- Tail end of last year’s architectural tour was two nights spent in the Duncan House (above), a reconstructed 1951 Usonian timecapsule down the road a bit from Fallingwater. Low cost, prefabricated housing for lower income families now there’s a thought… maybe not?

- Discovery of the year: Hines’ book: Architecture of the Sun, LA Modernism over 50 years. Sachs apartments already influenced one of our schemes in Birmingham, which just got planning approval.

Katie’s year:

I started RIBA Part 3 in September at BCU which included an essay on BIM which was timely given the changeover to the system at the office this year.

My biggest achievement of the year was finishing the 2011 Birmingham Half Marathon in 2 hours 12 minutes and raising £215 for Cancer Research Uk.

I’ve already signed up for the 2012 Birmingham half Marathon and another local running event. There are also plans in the pipeline to climb Ben Nevis & Snowdonia in 2012.

Rob’s year:

This year I have been mostly having a busman’s holiday and designing a house for my family. In 2012 we hope to finally start the self-build project we started planning nearly 4 years ago. The latest drawings are all available at http://home4self.tumblr.com and although there have been some dramatic changes to the design we are looking forward to barn raising party involving friends with muscles and lots of pieces of wood.

There’s been a modest of amount of writing over on the BD web site. Putting aside the time to write more often – both there and on my own blog – is a resolution for next year.

The parenting project continues and has been further complicated with the addition of a dog. She’s been a useful comfort though when dealing with the emotional turmoil that comes with an 8 year old in national ballroom dancing competitions and a 10 year old on the rugby pitch. The latter of which proved, surprisingly, to be the least violent.

My architect-by-day / geek-by-night aspirations continue with numerous side projects and tinkering online; including the use of a soldering iron and some circuit boards in an effort to learn how to do some new energy monitoring projects next year.

Liz’s year:

In September I embarked on my final year of Part 2 of my architectural education at the Leicester school of Architecture. Most recently I completed a dissertation on the ‘Architecture of Creativity’ exploring the integration and exposure of spatial and elemental relationships in school building and its possible impact upon the psyche and the development of creative thinking within the individual.

I got a dog this year! Macy, a 7 year old rescue dog (left).

I’m also looking forward to completing my house project in 2012 including installing internal wall insulation, knocking a wall down, and possibly adding a small extension – looking forward to getting rid of the old carpets! However, everything is on hold until I’ve completed my final design project for university. The project in progress is ‘The Entrepreneurs Foundry’. Based in Birmingham’s Gun Quarter, it accommodates a social enterprise that manufactures musical instruments from recycled household appliances.

Once again we’ve chosen to continue with our tradition of putting our Christmas card budget towards a charity – this year we’re supporting Kiva. Our donation has given Francisco in Nicaragua and Evelio in El Salvador (below) access to capital to improve their homes, enabling them to lead more stable lives. We’ll be following Francisco and Evelio‘s progress online – when their loans are repaid, our donation will be reinvested on an ongoing basis with another Kiva ‘borrower’, and will continue to make a difference to people around the world.

Merry Christmas from Mike, Rob and all the team at Axis Design!

Axis Design have adopted a full BIM strategy this year and all our future projects will be delivered using Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD. There are many aspects to how this will change the way we work and collaborate with others in 2012 and beyond.

As part of our ongoing to commitment to sharing best practice knowledge we have joined a new group of BIM experts organised by WMCCE and in January we will be helping to deliver the group’s first event. Rob Annable will be speaking about our experience with BIM so far and exploring its impact on smaller practices.

We hope you can join us. Here are the full details:

Breaking Down the Barriers to BIM Adoption

Date: 31 January 2012: 9:00am – 4.00pm
Venue: WMCCE, Faraday Wharf, Birmingham Science Park Aston, B7 4BB
Fee: £150 + VAT

Keynote speaker:

David Philp – Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office and Director of Tech Services, Balfour Beatty

Summary:

Would you like to learn how the transition to Building Information Modelling can make the Design, Construction and Management of your projects more efficient and cost effective?

Do you want to find out how the Government intends to drive the roll out of BIM throughout the Industry by 2016?

This is YOUR opportunity to listen to a keynote address from David Philp to hear the Government’s viewpoint and get ahead of the game. By 2016 all public sector construction projects will have to use BIM.

Bringing together leading practitioners this conference aims to showcase the benefits of using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and explain how its adoption will require changes in workflow, practices and procedures.

The event will also include case study presentations, workshops, Question and Answer session and opportunities to meet software providers.

Workshop session topics

1. Breaking down the barriers for SMEs – Diagnostic tool
2. Open BIM – Collaborative Working
3. Legal Considerations
4. Facilities Management

Who should attend?

• Engineers
• Architects
• Installers
• Manufacturers
• Design consultants
• Software solutions providers
• Project managers
• Facilities managers
• Academics

To book your place, or for more information, please contact Frankie Yorke at events@wmcce.org or follow us @WMCCE on Twitter.

Axis Design have been working with Birmingham City Council since 2009 to help deliver the local authority’s ambitious social housing project, Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT). To date we have designed new housing on seven different sites across Birmingham and over the last few months, the team’s hard work has been rewarded with a total of four awards including the top prize in two of the industry’s most prestigious awards ceremonies.

In September 2011, BMHT was the overall winner (Grand Prix) at Regeneration & Renewal Magazine’s Annual awards and also picked up an additional award in the Best Use of Housing category.

“I think that one of the things that impressed me, and still does, is the quality of the team. They’ve got very strong leadership, officers, developer partners – everybody lived and breathed this enterprise. The dedication is amazing.”
Mary Holt director of planning and development at Scott Wilson and judge for the ‘Best Use of Housing’ category at the Regeneration & Renewal Awards, 2011.

In November we were pleased to achieve another double win at the Inside Housing Magazine Awards (left); taking the trophy in the Outstanding Achievement in Housing in England category and also becoming the overall UK winner.

Finally, BHMT was also shortlisted for Sustainable Housing Finance category of the 2011 Inside Housing Sustainable Housing Awards.

We’re delighted by the success of the BMHT Programme and are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Birmingham City Council and the BMHT Team in 2012.

Urban Vision North Staffordshire along with RIBA West Midlands recently asked us to be part of an event dedicated to Neighbourhood Planning. The event brought together representatives from four community groups based in Staffordshire with Architects who specialise in community engagement to help them in the early stages of their Neighbourhood Plan.

Rob went along armed with aerial photographs and a pile of blank Proboscis storycubes and stickynotes. He worked with the community group from the Burslem area of Stoke-on-Trent and was able to update the dedicated StickyRoom as conversation was taking place. Community representatives are being encouraged to use the StickyRoom after the event to allow dialogue to continue.

An update on one of our previous projects… A number of years ago we designed the first phase of a project called Pride in Camp Hill in Tuttle Hill, Nuneaton. We’ve mentioned it here previously in the project section but we’re returning to it again today and sharing more images because we’ve just discovered that the development has been awarded ‘Project of the Decade’ at the recent Regen WM awards. The awards covered a number of categories including this overarching one that asks the chair of the panel to choose their favourite of all the shortlisted nominations.

We’re delighted to have been involved in a project that has achieved such a fantastic accolade. Thanks to all the team members at Pride in Camp Hill and Lovell that we collaborated with.

More details of the award can be found at the Regen WM web site and also the Pride in Camp Hill web site. More photos are available on our flickr page.

As part of a new exhibition organised by the BAA and RIBA, Rob was asked to declare what his favourite building in Birmingham was. It’ll be shown alongside the choices of other local architects at tonight’s awards event being held in the new Cube building. Picking a building and describing it in a 50 word limit proved to be both challenging and enjoyable so we decided to ask the rest of the staff members at Axis to do the same. Here are the first couple of results along with Rob’s submission:

Rob: Bournville Junior School Carillon

It lifts the soul every time I see it. Bulky swaggering scale, delicate details, bold asymmetry, endearing charm and a machine on the roof worthy of a Dr Who episode. Also, in these dark times we all need reassuring that the free market can occasionally be philanthropic. Different George though.

Liz: 83 Newhall Street

What is Birmingham’s identity? What has it been? What will it be? This small building presents an older Birmingham. Its indomitable existence neighbouring the positivity of commercial progression. A gesture of hope that each era can hold fast as Birmingham continues to progress, change and develop.

Becky: Ikon Gallery

It oozes contradictions. It’s old and new. It’s indoor but feels positively outdoor. You go in for the art, but leave having spent 2 hours in the shop, had lunch, but not actually set foot in the gallery. The café serves tapas but is so un-spanish. Yet, somehow it works!

We’ve been visited today by an A-level student who had the foresight to visit a number of offices to find out more about the profession before she committed herself to life as an architect. To complete her experience it seemed appropriate to ask her to blog about her experience…

When I tell people I want to be an Architect, they usually reply with one of two things. The first (usually from from my fellow A level students) is to remark on the length of the university course, the second is to decide that it’s a fantastic choice because I’m a girl. Basically, people point out the obstacles. In truth, neither of these things really phased me. Many of the architects I visit have (jokingly) tried to put me off, but it can’t really be that bad? 

I want to be an architect because the skills seem really appealing. I see buildings as a public art that everybody sees, as well as a clever use of light, space and materials. I love art and maths, and architecture seems to find the perfect balance between the two. The offices I’ve visited (Axis Design is the third) have all shown me what they do and so far I can’t complain. They’ve shown me drawings, sketches, models and how to survive on multiple cups of tea. I’ve been to client meetings, site visits and finished projects. I’ve also been shown the importance of organization, the relationship with clients and the responsibilities as a designer. Importantly for me, I’ve really enjoyed the atmospheres. Architecture involves many skills, one in particular being able to communicate with people and because of this, everybody I have met has been friendly and helpful, and although some try not to show it, enthusiastic about my future plans for university. 

The best part of my visits to architecture practices is that I’ve been shown things I already know how to do. I can’t pretend I wasn’t nervous visiting a group of new people for the first time over and over again, but I was quickly reassured by the fact I can already draw, already alphabetize and MAKE tea. I haven’t found anything boring and at certain points in the day, hours have flown by. I just need to get myself a university degree and a stronger need for caffeine and hopefully one day I’ll fit in an architect firm just right. In truth, all careers have obstacles, and for the time being I’m still going to pursue this one.

If you’re interested in hearing more about how we use both online and offline tools to help us collaborate better with clients and the public, come along to The Building Centre on Tuesday 30th to hear Rob Annable talk at the Collaboration Cafe Symposium event organised by Slider Studio

Speakers Include:
Michael Kohn, Slider Studio (the developers of StickyWorld)
Rob Annable, Axis Design
Paul Wilkinson, Be2Camp

Discussion Panel Includes:
Robin Nicholson, Edward Cullinan Architects
Ben Derbyshire, HTA
James Goodfellow, Make Architects
Darren Comber, Scott Brownrigg
Renee Tobe, Head of Architecture at UEL
Peter Murray, Wordsearch and NLA
Ty Goddard, Centre for School Design

Thanks to everyone who came to see us at the West Midlands Design Fair, we really enjoyed the event and hope you all enjoy your copy of the Axis Design newspaper.

We were joined by the guys from Slider Studio and we took the opportunity to show our innovative work in the online consultation field and YouCanPlan in Lozells. Our investigations into self-publishing tools were done with the help of bookleteer.com and newspaperclub.co.uk.