Congratulations to Architecture BA(Hons) students Jamie Singlton and Armen Etemadrad, two brilliant Brighton students who have been awarded a Sussex Heritage Trust bursary for the Oak Timber Framing: Wall Framing course. Find out more about Jamie studies at Brighton and what the bursary means to him .You can find out more about Armen here.
I grew up in a village in West Sussex so Brighton has always been fairly local to me. From looking at the variety of Architecture courses available from universities, Brighton seemed to be the only real course that has actively demonstrated how it is possible to achieve and practice more. Opportunities of making a real difference with projects such as the waste house and other live project like the current one we are doing in Studio 26 – a cricket Pavilion and community centre in Bexhill – excite me. It provides a level of detail to and specificity to what we do to create real conclusions of what’s around us and how we can use architecture as a means to change communities positively.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, I found the format our course personal, and allowed us to better engage with staff and students. The structure of the design studios acting as an office space creates a pleasurable working environment with each of us having a dedicated space that encourages us to come in and work collaboratively.
In my second year whilst I was taught by Tony Roberts, I really found my interest and specificity in the relationship between architecture, location and materials. I learnt about how these elements can create a perception of a unique, bespoke location, ie Paris is identifiable due to all of it being made from Parisian Limestone, as is Bath and Bathstone, this relationship of the hyperlocal being something I chose to focus in on.
One aspect of the course I’m very passionate about is model making, the workshop facilities and technicians are excellent here so having the ability of making high quality models out of great local materials to create something visually interesting has been a great experience. It’s why I’m thrilled to be doing this Oak Timber framing course at the Weald and Downland as it is my favourite part of the course, in a 1:1 scale.
Now in my third year, I was pushed by my Studio 26 tutors Glenn Longden-Thurgood, Tom Atkinson and David Chambers to look at how I could design this cricket pavilion to be made from traditional ‘simple’ materials from local sources and how the can be adapted to a contemporary format. Glenn pushed me to apply for the scheme as an opportunity to practice what I am proposing in my project and to better deepen my connection to materials and construction.
I hope to go into practice in quite an involved role in Architecture and Construction in which I would be able to do a number of tasks that revolve around model making, material sourcing and construction application.
I feel I have learnt such a great deal from all the staff whilst I have been here, However I must say that my second semester design studios in both my second and Third year have really stood out as enjoyable so I must state how my lecturers and course leader, Luis Diaz, have all pushed me to work in different ways to diversify my skills.
My studio is full of my friends with our staff being super approachable making it such a pleasurable working environment. The technicians are all fantastic and really push you to skill up and to learn new techniques to create more fascinating work. Site visits and other expeditions have really enforced this as our last site visit to Bexhill Cricket ground was in the middle of a storm, with terrible weather, in which we all got super muddy and spent the rest of the day in search of warmth. Opportunities such as this really enforce our essence of studio culture, and the recent success of the Design and Architecture Student Society (DASS) studio social events have helped students from all School of Architecture Technology and Engineering courses get to know each other. I have many friends in Masters of Architecture, Product Design and Interiors because of events like this which means Mithras is never a lonely place.
If you want to come here, you must be dedicated and really want to do it. Be ready, this course will throw at lot at you, however if you’re dedicated and listen to your tutors and engage, you’ll learn to catch pretty quick. I can recommend you really get stuck in and make the most of facilities to find how you work.
Brighton provides the opportunity to be more, you can push Ideas, try new things in order to drive positive change in the world. We should be proud of being from Mithras House, and what it means you can achieve here.
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