Educational activities
We bridge the gap between education and architectural practice.
All three of us are experienced educators: Tom and Chris work are employed as studio leaders at Nottingham Trent University School of Architecture, whilst Thibaut is a regular visiting tutor at schools of architecture. We go into schools and community centres to run design projects with children and families. In your workplace, we can offer professional development and training sessions.
Architects are trained to turn constraints into opportunities, and to come up with imaginative solutions to ‘wicked’ problems — particularly if there is a real need for change in the face of obstacles. Through our educational activities we can help you to develop these skills too. For instance, we can teach you how to gather relevant background information, how to structure and organise them, and how to create and communicate new ideas for a sustainable future.
We design and deliver courses consisting of lectures, seminars, workshops and studio based sessions, for both small and large groups, ranging in experience and ability from primary school to university levels. For individuals we offer tuition and coaching which can be tailored to their needs..
What we can help you with
Organising learning programmes
- Giving talks and presentations, and helping you do the same
- Using computer software effectively
- Analysing and fulfilling your training needs
Running creative projects of all kinds
- Developing good design ideas of your own
- Communicating your design ideas clearly
- Organising public exhibitions
Sharing our knowledge and skills
- Enabling you to carry out surveys
- Developing your research skills
- Helping you write reports and funding bids
Some of our education projects and activities:
In collaboration with artist Marcus Rowlands, we empowered school children to design and build a gigantic (and recyclable) public sculpture for a children's festival, commissioned by the Arts Council England.
Mixing public art, craftsmanship and education, we initiated this project as a student design competition, and later transformed it into an involved exploration of traditional stone walling techniques and complex numerical modelling.
Working with Creative Partnerships, artists, teachers and school pupils, we explored the idea of creativity and how spaces can be made to support creative activities.
How will schools of the future adapt to support new ways of teaching and learning?
For the nationwide programme Building Schools for the Future, 2hD were asked by Lathams Architects to work on the conceptual development of one of the exemplar designs — the renovation and rebuilding of an existing 1960s school to accommodate an additional 300 pupils on a tight inner city site, within a limited £15m budget.