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Design and Make is based at the AA’s satellite campus at Hooke Park, a rich context which serves as an immersive laboratory for architectural research. Students live close to the site and the forest, inhabiting a unique environment in which landscape, studio, workshop, forestry and 1:1 fabrication are interwoven. The landscape, being both material library and site, is critical to the design process and our experimental constructs are nested carefully into the tissue of the working forest environment at Hooke Park.

Design through making is the focus here in our woodland studio. The research we conduct demonstrates a vision for architectural education in which making (and remaking) is central to the act of design itself. The large-scale fabrication facilities on site provide a unique testing ground where we devote time to speculative research through the design of experimental prototypes and highly crafted full-scale architecture. We materialise architecture through curiosity, craft and creativity. Speculative design attitudes drive the work, and our twin catalysts for the imagination are our physical engagement with the site and the alchemy of the act of making. We thrive on the unexpected revelations brought about by each.

Our toolbox contains a diverse array of resources that facilitate design and fabrication. We use a hands-on approach, guided by an in-depth material understanding and a deep respect for tacit knowledge. At the same time, technology – such as 3D scanning, advanced modelling, robotic and CNC production – is deployed to augment traditional craft and material knowledge with the aim of striking an agile balance between the computational and the physical. This is a delicate blend which creates fertile conditions for innovative projects to thrive. Our forest laboratory is a space of intense investigation, a wild-wood of creativity and a home for architectural adventurers.

Programme Structure

Both programmes (MArch and MSc) are structured around a series of hands-on studio projects of increasing scale and sophistication, leading to the production of small-scale and bespoke architectural fabrication (MArch) or 1:1 architectural prototypes (MSc). These studios are complemented by seminar courses and workshops, by lectures and events at Hooke Park and Bedford Square.

The MArch and MSc courses share taught components in the first two terms, after which the programme bifurcates, with the MSc students completing their project and dissertations for submission in September. The MArch students submit their thesis in September and continue with project construction until January.

MArch students use full-scale fabrication at Hooke Park as a vehicle for design-led research. Individual research interests are developed within the framework of a group design project, after which each student undertakes research to underpin the work of their thesis. MSc students focus on technology and material properties through the innovative application of timber in architecture, which is developed and tested through full-scale prototypes using diverse fabrication technologies and strategies.

The teaching team consists of architects, designers, theorists, engineers and construction experts, who provide technical guidance and creative mentoring for the projects. Visiting specialists spanning art, science and technology augment the studio teaching. The team works side-by-side with students to develop knowledge and expertise collaboratively, resulting in 1:1 prototypes and architectural built works.