2024 - London Metropolitan University

Studios and units 2024-25

An undergraduate 'studio' is a smaller study group taken by Year 2 and 3 students of the Architecture BA (Hons) course, Architecture (including foundation year) BA (Hons) course or Architecture (Top-Up) BA (Hons) course at the University's School of Art, Architecture and Design. A postgraduate 'unit' is a smaller study group taken by students of the Architecture RIBA 2 – MArch course or Architect Apprenticeship (Level 7) (RIBA Part 2 and Part 3). Each studio or unit is led by a member of academic staff, often in association with a professional practitioner or organisation. At the start of the year, the leaders of each studio and unit present their studio's themes, position and approach to all students during a market day. Students then choose their preferred studio from the wide range of issues, methods of working and types of projects available.

The studio approach brings many benefits including smaller and more focused teaching groups, a joined-up approach to modules, experience of professional practice, collaboration and teamwork, opportunities to exhibit and even an element of healthy competition. Academic staff work hard every year to make sure that they are appealing, engaging, challenging and relevant.

three photographs of an architectural model of a greenhouse

Archive studios

Our studios evolve year on year. You can see details of older studios in our studio archive.

Undergraduate architecture

monochrome image showcasing a variety of geometric shapes and objects in an abstract arrangement

Studio 01: Building and Belonging

Holly Jean Crosbie, Kieran Wardle, Owain Williams

Studio One proposes buildings which have a deep appreciation for time, place and belonging

street scene featuring a building alongside a fence, showcasing urban architecture and outdoor space

Studio 02: Back to Front II

Charlotte Harris and Colin O’Sullivan

As the need for alternatives to building anew with unsustainable material becomes increasingly urgent, Studio 2 will continue to explore themes of tolerance and compromise on complex sites in London’s East End. Through reimagining existing structures held by Housing Associations and appropriating adjacent underused sites (SLOAP) you will propose innovative and ambitious adaptations & insertions that offer more than ‘just housing’ to the city.

A black and white photograph showcasing a building featuring a prominent window, emphasizing architectural details.

Studio 03: From Kitchen Cabinet to Public Room

Jane McAllister and Andrew Houlton

Working as a designer is as much about cutting away as it is about adding in. Learning what to draw and what to edit out is a design proposal.

Collage of proposed blocks around a courtyard with historic building in the background

Studio 04: Urban Rural

Fran Balaam, Ingrid Petit

Studio 4 continues to explore housing, shifting focus to the countryside and designing homes in Frome, a small Somerset town. We will examine the specific spatial characteristics of a home in a 21st Century town in a housing crisis, and how in a commodified housing market, a well-designed typology can create a sense of community. We will help you develop a deep understanding of materials, tectonics and construction methods with proposals that are practical, robust and responsive to life.

Detailed model of a structural canopies on a sloping terrain set against an autumnal tree

Studio 05: Theatre?

Theo Thysiades, Adam Webster, Will Pearn

At a time when much of our life is spend online, we will question if places like theatres, are still important for sharing culture and connecting with others. We will design a carbon-positive theatre in Walthamstow, East London, integrating it with the urban landscape. The design will incorporate adaptable spaces, including auditoriums, studios and public areas, serving as vital social infrastructure for the diverse local community.

Postgraduate architecture

Street corner featuring modern and classic buildings with trees and a monument in foreground

Unit 02 RCA2 - A new building for the Royal College of Art

Tony Fretton

In 1963 The Royal College of Art opened a magnificent building in Kensington Gore, designed by architect H T Cadbury-Brown. In the 1970s the RCA proposed to construct another building on the adjacent site at the corner of Kensington Gore and Queensgate. Unit 2’s project in 2024-5 will be for this un-realised new building, focusing on creating strong interior and exterior character and using low energy materials.

Two images showcasing a building featuring a clock tower alongside a large architectural structure

Unit 04: Phenomenal Layers: A Stratified Approach to Design Innovation

Jonas Lundberg, Nate Kolbe

It is imperative to urgently address the environmental impact and energy consumption associated with building construction. Unit04 reconsiders the conventional use of materials and resources, as well as the tools of 1st person design, manufacturing, testing, simulation and spatial experiences explored via moving images, in favour of an architectural approach that contributes more to the environment than it detracts from it.

View of people next to photographs hanging on a washing line, with a park context in the background

Unit 06: After the Arrival City: Tavros

Dr Bo Tang, Robert Barnes and Shamoon Patwari

Unit 06 will explore prosfygika (refugee housing) and social infrastructure in the Tavros neighbourhood of Athens, Greece.

Unit 07: Poetic Pragmatism III: Building Simply with Precision

David Grandorge, Ted Swift

This year, the studio will once again be undertaking a live project, the construction of a greenhouse in a part of North London’s Green Belt that has become a little more ‘grey’ than green. The major project will address a self-build settlement on the same site.

Architectural drawing in monochrome, showing sketched buildings and landscape

Unit 08: City – Weather – Reuse Midland Cities IV - Coventry

Takero Shimazaki, Lily Markey, Jonathan Mortlock, Paolo Emilio Pisano

This year, Unit 8 will explore what it is like to work through reusing existing buildings, in order to create architecture that resonates with a city’s history and culture.

Stone arch with ornate circular plaque set in marble over wooden door and bust of a man on pedestal

Unit 09: Elements of Architecture & The Visual Pleasure of Buildings

Stephen Taylor, Han Wang

This year Unit 9 will address the pressing issue of affordable housing, across existing buildings through adaptive reuse on four sites within South Shoreditch, London. Amongst the many considerations an architect must engage with from communities and context to construction and cost, we will not be forgetting to talk about The Visual Pleasure of Buildings.

Architectural drawing of the interior of a room, with many wooden-framed windows.

Unit 12: The Extinction of Beauty

Peter St John, Amy Grounsell

At a time when architects need to address the implications of their professional activity and their use of resources, the unit will concentrate this year on the idea of repair, modest form, and the softer beauty found in nature. The Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi is a more earthy alternative to the modernist view of technological progress. The Unit will explore this alternative view in a first project to restore a dilapidated 500-year-old barn in Suffolk on open farmland.