Build Studios

Write for Your Website: How to Turn What You Do Into Words
2018-09-13 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | Build Studios, 203 Westminster Bridge Road,, London, SE1 7FR, United Kingdom
Getting the text right on your website is crucial if you want your clients to understand what you do. Over the course of two hands-on sessions, you’ll learn new ways to write about your practice, your projects and yourself.
The first session will cover:

key strategies to make an impact with fewer words
simple tricks to draw out what makes your practice different
writing a practice profile and a bio which get to the heart of what you do.

The second session will cover:

ways to bring out the stories in your work
making the most of the words alongside the images
writing one complete project description.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have got the critical elements of your website written and you’ll have the framework and the inspiration to write the rest. And you’ll have learnt the secret of writing – and talking – about what you do.
About the lecturer:
Juliette Mitchell worked for many years as an editor at Penguin Books. She now runs architypal.co.uk, helping architects write about what they do.

The Alternative Architect - Launch & Talk
2018-06-27 18:30 - 20:30
The Alternative Architect is creating a resource that highlights the diverse and non-traditional career roles and routes that exist within and beyond the world of architecture. This launch event at Build Studios, as part of the London Festival of Architecture, will have talks from four Alternative Architects, a short discussion and the chance to stay and chat following this.
For full details and registering for a free ticket: Click here

Leadership Workshop for Associates
2018-06-06 18:30 - 20:30
Associates have an essential role in architectural practices. Leading people and teams, managing project and client priorities, and being the key people between directors and the rest of the studio requires sound leadership skills, knowledge and judgement. For architects, there is an additional layer of balancing project constraints and creative aspirations. Participants in this workshop will gain knowledge of how to motivate and lead creative people, a better understanding of their own leadership style, and an overview of inclusive leadership practices for diverse teams.
Due to the interactive nature of this workshop, enrolment is limited to 25 participants.
Facilitated by Innovia Partners
Innovia is a specialized management consultancy for creative businesses. Services include advisory and implementation of projects in the areas of strategy, finance, operations, talent and business development. Our team also develops and delivers leadership training programs for architectural and other creative practices.
This program will be facilitated by:
• Rowley Mossop, B(Architecture), MBA
• Russell Pollard, B(Leadership), MBA

Creating the Office Culture to Lead Your Team towards Transformation
2018-05-31 18:30 - 20:30
As architects we are tackling some of society’s current and future challenges through the places and future legacy we create for people. Architects and practices must evolve in order to stay relevant or to be overtaken by others. Loathe it or love it, change in our business is a fact of life, from adopting new technology to looking at ways we can make a difference to the lives of people who use our buildings and cities.
We naturally resist change for a variety of reasons, especially when it’s imposed on us, and this can cause uncertainty and unease. Learning to navigate and manage change successfully is vital to creating our sustainable future and build a healthy office culture based on trust and openness. A practice based on purpose only goes as far as it’s people are willing to carry it.
In this interactive session, we explore how we lead this change whilst enabling your team with the capabilities they need to succeed through a transformation, instilling a culture of continuous learning, and creating inclusiveness, and how this leadership is vital to foster a truly creative environment in which your people can thrive.
Topics covered:

Manager or Leader: What’s your role?
Connecting with your vision and purpose
Creating the environment for creativity, and failure
Why compassion, and taking care of the heart and mind is a vital part of navigating change

About the lecturer:
Briony Lumb runs a purpose consultancy that helping real estate organisations define their purpose and create the next generation of purpose-driven leaders.

Winning and commissioning good work through collaboration
2018-04-26 18:00 - 20:30
Join high profile speakers and like-minded practitioners at this event to showcase the importance of collaboration in winning and commissioning good work.

Take away practical tips for your own business on how interesting (and unusual) partnerships can help you win work
Hear from those commissioning projects about the challenges they face and hear about good practice and new innovations that can improve the experience of the commissioning process and the quality of the end result

The event will be informal in style, but high impact in content. It will consider themes of risk, both in procuring and tendering for work, capacity to develop new business and how to overcome skills shortages.
Confirmed speakers include:

Kiran Pawar, Development Director – HB Reavis UK and Natalie Essa, Development Manager – HB Reavis UK
Chris Romer-Lee, Founder and Director, Studio Octopi, Thames Baths CIC and HMS Parliament, the floating parliament
Cathering Greig, Director, Make:Good
Dan Taylor, Regeneration Programme Manager, Southwark Council
Hannah Lambert, Associate, Public Practice
Dean Bové and Jon Miller, Co-Founders, Architects Republic
Russell Curtis, Director, RCKa architects, Mayor’s Design Advocate

Cost: FREE (Tickets are now SOLD OUT, but do contact to be placed on the waiting list). Refreshments will be served, with Japanese street food from Lower Marsh Market.
Timings: 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start.
RSVP to helen@buildstudios.co.uk by 29th March to register.

Who should attend:
Practitioners across the built environment sector, including private companies, public bodies, university practitioners and students. Both commissioners and implementers of public realm projects will be represented in the debate.
The event is delivered by Build Studios, London’s only co-working space for the built environment sector. We provide affordable workspace for new companies, business support and events, and promote a social give-back programme to broaden access to careers in the built environment sector. One of our core aims is to promote improved collaboration across and beyond the sector.
[Images: Thames Baths – Studio Octopi & Picture Plane. HMS Parliament – Studio Octopi, Beckett Rankine, Expedition Engineering, Jackson Coles, Houlder & Securewest. Westminster Bridge Road public art – Make:Good]

Compensation - What You Need to Know
2018-04-19 18:30 - 20:30
Compensation is more than salaries and annual bonuses. Compensation can shape behaviours and motivate talent to achieve individual and team goals. Participants of this presentation will learn a set of compensation tools that can be applied to align employees’ performance and actions with the strategic needs of the firm, while also remaining competitive to attract and retain top talent.
This program is highly interactive and aims to provide participants with actionable insights to improve their compensation practices. It is suitable for practice leaders and those charged with related responsibilities.
About the lecturer:
Innovia is Canada’s leading management consultancy for creative businesses, helping owners develop and implement business strategies to reach the creative and commercial potential of their firms. Innovia’s Principal, Rowley Mossop, is trained in the disciplines of architecture, business, media, and design. Rowley is a Rotman MBA, holds a diploma from the Ontario College of Art and Design, and has a B.E.S. (Architecture) from the University of Waterloo.

Alternative Careers in Architecture with Caroline Cole
2018-04-12 18:30 - 20:30
This talk is part of MoA’s Alternative Careers in Architecture series, that discusses the way architects are disrupting other industries, as well as the knowledge and skills that architectural training can bring to other professional spheres. This session will feature Caroline Cole, the founder and director of Colander.
​
So how did Caroline Cole, who started out on a career as an architect, end up where she is today, running a firm that sits on the interface between consultants and their clients – working with both and helping each interact with the other?
This talk will explain how an eclectic career has enabled Caroline to inspire many of the UK’s most successful architectural practices to develop their businesses, and enabled her to work alongside some of the most influential developers and building owners, helping to formulate their approach to architecture.
Drawing on anecdotes and observations that chart a personal view of the changing role of architects, this talk will consider the importance of four main themes:
1. Interdisciplinary working
2. Fairness
3. A belief that good design adds value to world we live in
4. Honesty founded in logic and reason
About the speaker:
Caroline read architecture at New Hall, Cambridge and during her professional life has worked both as a design consultant and as a client commissioning design professionals. She works with architects, landscape architects, designers and consulting engineers, helping them develop and run effective creative businesses. She also works with clients to identify the best design teams for their projects.
Through Colander, she pioneered the concept of benchmarking for the architectural profession and, building on her commitment to integrated design, has set up Equilibrium Network a group of senior and influential inter-disciplinary women working across the built environment.

Member's Easter Social
2018-03-29 17:30 - 21:00
Here at Build Studios we like to thank our members for helping create such a vibrant, exciting and engaging environment here at Build Studios.
As a thank you we’ll be laying on the drinks and eats for all of our members and helping us all begin enjoying the Easter period with plenty of laughter.
