CV: Annette Hards, RIBA

Transcription

1 CV: Annette Hards, RIBA Contact details: Telephone: Mobile Address: Gabriel s Farmhouse, Mill Hill, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 5DQ Key skills and experience: Chartered Architect and Urban Designer with over 25 years of experience as a practitioner, and a passion for more sustainable approaches to development Enthusiastic, skilful facilitator of community and stakeholder engagement in the design process Wealth of experience in developing innovative and successful engagement of young people in place-making. Experienced and effective Facilitator for DQI (Design Quality Indicators) and Spaceshaper Workshops Considerable experience in the researching, devising and delivery of effective, hands-on Urban Design learning programmes, publications, study trips and workshops for a range of audiences, including local authorities and housing associations Fluent writing style, and editorial experience- publications include Kent Sustainable Design Directory, in association with Rob Hancock, and Shaping Places, in association with Eileen Adams, plus articles for magazines and websites. Assessor for Kent Design Awards 2007, and Civic Trust Awards 2009 Extensive experience of assessing design quality using Building for Life, DQI and Spaceshaper, either as part of the design development process, informal design review or as a post-occupancy review Ideas person with track record of developing creative approaches and resources to support a wider understanding of design issues by clients, users and communities

2 Personal Statement: My career path through architecture over the last 36 years has been as much shaped by my time out as it has by my experience as a practitioner- the opportunity to take my architectural skills into my children s school classrooms was instrumental in sparking my interest in built environment education, which subsequently led to my involvement over twelve years with Kent Architecture Centre, and its innovative portfolio of community and stakeholder engagement, design enabling and review, architectural competitions, and brief development. My interest in architecture has always focussed on people rather than the technical aspects, and I am always looking for ways to encourage and enable young people to participate in the process of change, particularly building on their existing local knowledge, fostering transferable skills, and hopefully inspiring in them an interest in the built environment, both contemporary and historic. My preferred way of working is in a team where collaboration, innovation and creativity are respected. I have found that the most successful projects, both in terms of process and product, are built on a genuine desire to value and acknowledge each participant s contribution as part of a shared vision. Areas of expertise: My knowledge and experience as a designer has informed the projects and programmes that I have initiated, developed, delivered, evaluated and feedback about over the last ten years. These have included the following: tailored urban design training for individuals and groups, with a focus on utilising participants own projects as a base for learning research, development and delivery of short courses, seminar and workshop programmes and study visits to support place-based approaches,early stage project team building, including facilitating stakeholder workshops, including the use of DQI, devising and delivering effective community engagement, supporting the brief development process, and the design team appointment facilitating community involvement in regeneration and development, using both bespoke resources and generic tools, including Spaceshaper and Placecheck facilitating cross-professional collaboration, often through the context of a live project

3 I have a sound knowledge and understanding of sustainability, in a holistic sense, with an emphasis on a simple low tech, green place-making approach rather than the adoption of complex, engineered solutions and a good understanding of the opportunities and constraints for sustainable development within both the public and private sector. Brief Career Resume: 2011 Freelance consultant and Associate at Kent Architecture Centre Permanent staff member at Kent Architecture Centre Part-time sole practitioner architect based in Edenbridge, Kent and part-time freelance consultant for Kent Architecture Centre Partner in architectural practice, The Hards Partnership, Edenbridge Part-time freelance built environment education consultant At home with young children, and involved with a range of community organisations, including PTA, School Governors, local Arts Trust and Residents Association Architect at Brunton Boobyer Partnership, Greenwich Architect at Damond Lock Grabowski and Partners, London Qualifications: 1982 Registered Architect 1981 Dip Arch (Thames Polytechic) 1978 BA (Hons) Nottingham A-levels O-levels

4 Key project summaries Built Environment Education: I have initiated, devised and directed the delivery of a wide range of built environment education programmes. Shaping Places brought together students, teachers, artists and built environment practitioners in 15 schools across the south east, between , to develop collaborative curriculum-based projects using the context of development in the local area. The experience and knowledge gained through the programme were captured for dissemination in a publication written by Eileen Adams, which is freely available in both hard copy and downloadable formats. Other built environment education programmes developed at Kent Architecture Centre have included: Journey to Learn, developed in in collaboration with University of Greenwich as part of the UniverCities initiative, and piloted with schools in Medway. It used the context of students journeys between school and home as a focus for learning across a range of curriculum subjects, including Design Technology, Geography, History, Citizenship and Art. In 2007 we worked with a group of secondary school students from 5 schools in North Kent, the Kent Education Business Partnership and Swale Housing Association, on a project which used the context of the improvement of a small sports pavilion near Sittingbourne. The students worked in teams to carry out a survey, talk to the range of stakeholders involved, produced models and CADbased proposals and participated in an end of project celebration. Facilitating Stakeholder Engagement: During my time at Kent Architecture Centre I led on a number of stakeholder engagement programmes which have since resulted in successful built projects. In the two examples described below, the engagement of stakeholders and users at the earliest stage of the design and development process has resulted in buildings which are both of the highest quality and clearly meet the needs of those who use them. Between we worked with the management team and stakeholders at a Girls Catholic Secondary School on Tower Hamlets as they commenced on a project to accommodate additional facilities on an extremely tight site to enable them to provide education for boys alongside the girls. We ran hands on design workshops with staff which helped develop a sketch masterplan and detailed brief, made presentations to the governing body and local authority about the vision and sketch proposals, managed the OJEU process for the appointment of the design team, and facilitated a stakeholder workshop which served as Perkins Ogden Architects introduction to the project.

5 The new buildings for the Bishop Challoner Learning Village were developed in phases, and were officially opened in 2010 to wide acclaim. In 2003 we were commissioned to work with stakeholders at Clapton Library in East London as they developed proposals to update and extend the 1914 Edwin Cooper designed Grade II listed building. We worked alongside consultants, Creative Cultures, to engage with staff and users prior to developing a detailed brief which Hackney Council subsequently used as the basis for their appointment of Shepherd Epstein Hunter Architects in The transformed library was officially opened in 2010, and incorporates a range of sustainable design features. I am proud to have played a small but important part in the creation of these two high quality design projects. I have produced short Case Studies on these and a number of other projects, including the TN2 Community Centre in Tunbridge Wells, the Sevenoaks Library Kaleidoscope project and Farley s Yard. Research and Innovation: Most of the projects that I have been involved with over the last ten years have required research to be undertaken. This included some or all of the following: sourcing and briefing specialist speakers on particular topics researching and then visiting locations in preparation for leading a study visit taking photographs to illustrate aspects of urban design for workshop presentations identifying and meeting key stakeholders to inform the development of community engagement proposals Main sources of information are the internet, my network of contacts, and my archive of images, articles, publications and past projects. Over the last five years I have led the development of a question card based toolkit, based on the DQI (Design Quality Indicators) framework, which can be used to help project stakeholders (users and clients) better understand a wide range of design issues. These question cards can be used to facilitate a visit to an exemplar building, or to interrogate an existing building, as preparation for participation in a DQI workshop, or to enable stakeholders to contribute effectively to the brief development process. I wrote an article about these question cards for Building Futures, the magazine for members of EBDOG (Education Building Development Officers Group) and delivered a workshop to delegates at their Conference in November In researched and wrote, in collaboration with Rob Hancock from Kent County Council, The Directory: a guide to sustainable construction products and services for Kent. This guide was published by Kent County Council and circulated to all built environment practitioners based in the county.

6 In I was part of a collaboration between three Architecture Centres and CABE in the development of a version of the Spaceshaper toolkit to engage young people. Spaceshaper 9-14 aims to get young people involved in improving their local parks, streets, playgrounds and other spaces, through a facilitated workshop comprising a series of hands on activities. I have facilitated a number of Spaceshaper 9-14 workshops, and also led Facilitator Training sessions for practitioners wanting to make use of the tool in their work with young people. Urban Design learning programmes: I have researched, devised and delivered a range of learning sessions and programmes that provide non-designers, including Housing Association staff, Councillors, Local Authority planning and housing officers, and school teachers and governors, with a grounding in architecture and urban design. These sessions are designed to build on the participants own experience of using buildings, spaces and places in their everyday lives, clarifying the vocabulary that designers use, developing the skills to interpret design drawings and helping them to identify good and bad design solutions. At Kent Architecture Centre in 2004 we devised and delivered a series of six half day sessions for the development staff of an Essex-based Housing Association, which gained accreditation through the Open College Network. This course has been adapted, updated and delivered several times since, and continues to form the basis of a range of Urban Design learning programmes Between 2004 and 2009, I led the development and delivery of learning events, including presentations, workshops, and study visits for Design Champions in the south east region, working closely with SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) and URI (Urban Renaissance Institute). Highlights included a study trip to Lille, the European Capital of Culture at the time, to look at public realm for a group of 25 councillors and officers, for which I developed a self-led map-based guide to a wide range of public spaces in the city. I still use some of the images I took on the trips to Lille to illustrate aspects of Urban Design- examples below. More recently I devised and delivered a series of three lectures to planning students at the University of Brighton, as part of their newly accredited MSc course.