EVENT – Where is the Threshold
Check out the details below for our London Festival of Architecture (LFA) 2019 Fringe event, Where is the Threshold?, exploring how design can facilitate safe and secure buildings, spaces and places from external/internal dangers. Please sign up for tickets to our Fringe event on the 7th June 2019 using Eventbrite.
“London murders are the symptom of a knife crime ‘epidemic’ that shows no sign of ending” (www.independent.co.uk)
Considering the recent increase in reported knife crime within the capital and across the country, how can architecture contribute to designing safer built environments that reduce the risk of attack?
“If there’s no local youth club providing a safe place to meet, where do they go? They’re on the street corners, they’re in the takeaways, they’re congregating and that’s where you get trouble”. Junior Smart, of youth charity the St Giles Trust (www.independent.co.uk)
What are the various spatial boundaries that can facilitate safe and secure shelters from external or internal dangers? To what extent can architecture and urban design make a difference?
Through a panel discussion, chaired by MEB Design Director Charles Darby, MEB Design and some of its collaborators will explore the use of security and safeguarding principles from a design perspective within their Education, Worship and Healthcare communities. Each panellist will have 10 minutes to present their approach within the sector showcasing case study examples. This will be followed by a panel discussion before opening out to a Q&A with the audience.
In our London Studio we will also have a photographic exhibition on the theme of ‘Architectural Boundaries’ showcasing the work of MEB Design through the photography of Des Hill.
Drinks and light refreshments will be available before and after the panel talk to network and continue discussions further.
Timings: Studio open from 5.00pm / Panel discussion between 5.30pm – 6.30pm / Studio closes at 7.30pm
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Speaker Bios:
Charles Darby MA(Cantab) DipArch DipDevPrac RIBA (chair)
Director, MEB Design Ltd
Charles studied at Cambridge and Oxford Brookes Universities where he won competition and year awards. His work has previously been short-listed for the RIBA Downland Prize and the RIBA SW Awards.
He set up and helps to run the Oxford Office of MEB Design and is the company lead on Education projects, as well as having a special interest in sustainable communities.
He also leads the Professional Studies subject area of the RIBA Studio (previously the Office-Based Exam) and is an Examiner and Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.
Charles supports L.A.R.K., a UK-based charity which helps fund a street children’s rescue centre in Kenya, for which MEB Design have helped to masterplan and build a number of new facilities.
John Marsh DipArch RIBA
Consultant Architect, MEB Design Ltd
John studied at the Brixton School of Building (now the University of the South Bank) where he was Year prize winner. Since then he worked for Oxfordshire County Council and a firm of architects, WBC, as an associate.
In private practice since 1978, he formed what is now MEB Design Ltd with Mark Eddison and Peter Brown in 1983.
He served terms on two of the Provincial Listed Buildings Advisory Committees of the United Reformed Church. When younger John was involved with the Oxford & Bermondsey Club both as a leader and as Chairman and has been Chair of Governors of a girls’ boarding school and a trustee of Woodbrooke, the Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham.
For many years he was a director of the Pleasance, the fringe venue in Edinburgh and London, was founder Chairman of Youth Music Theatre UK and ran a youth theatre company, Silver Lining in Sevenoaks. He has been a Quaker for most of his adult life.
Mark Johnson CMLI BA Hons BLA
Founding Director, UBU Design Ltd
A Landscape Architect with over 20 years’ experience in a variety of sectors, including commercial, health, education, retail and leisure.
Having first undertaken studies in both horticulture and arboriculture, Mark then graduated in Landscape Architecture from Manchester Metropolitan University.
At the Community Technical Aid Centre (CTAC) in Manchester, he worked extensively in deprived communities developing excellent skills in community consultation and an intimate understanding of the needs of socially deprived communities.
Mark is a CABE Built Environment Expert (BEE). BEEs are a group of highly respected specialists supporting CABE in delivering high-quality designed places throughout England.
Sadiqa Jabbar BA(Hons) DipArch MSc RIBA
Architect / Urban Designer, MEB Design Ltd
Sadiqa is an architect and urban designer who studied architecture at various London universities and earned an MSc in Building and Urban Design in Development with Merit at UCL
Her portfolio in practice and freelancing comprise schemes in education, residential, healthcare and community sectors. Her architectural interests lie in sustainable projects that benefit the community at large and that have a positive social impact.
She was involved in the design and fundraising for a girls’ school reconstruction in Haiti with Thinking Development, and research projects in Delhi and Bangkok.
Sadiqa is a Mosaic Secondary School Mentor for The Prince’s Trust, a volunteer for MWC’s School Speaker Programme, and RIBA Student Mentor. She is Founder of Pass the Mic Sis, a networking event series for professional Muslim women.