Clipping of Jonathan Ellis-Miller's opinion piece, BD Magazine, 23.03.12

Partner, Jonathan Ellis-Miller was invited to express his opinions in a debate on school standardisation for the Friday 23 March 2012 edition of BD magazine. Using the Catmose Campus project to illustrate his case, Jonathan shares his views of how standardisation does not compromise long-term, high-quality and adaptable design.

NO, flat-pack schools are NOT a short-term fix…

“Standardisation in education isn’t new. The National Curriculum, introduced in 1988, sought to standardise taught content in schools and thereby raise standards across the country. Nor is standardisation a novel architectural concept: it could be argued that standardisation is the tradition of the vernacular. There’s uniformity in Georgian squares and rectories, Victorian terraces and even London Victorian Board Schools. None can argue, however, that any of these educational or architectural models lack interest, character or an ability to change and adapt with time.

Bespoke products tend to bear the stamp of a strong individual – whether an architect or a client – and are thereby vulnerable to becoming outdated. Fads or egos rarely solve practical problems: to quote Le Corbusier architects should be “organisers or space not drawing board stylists”. This is particularly the case in a school where change is a way of life, with a constant churn of staff, pupils, curriculum content, technology and pedagogies. An architectural dream for one headmaster is a nightmarish straightjacket for another who has to live with a bespoke building from another time.

High quality standardised solutions, like the national curriculum, embody an egalitarian approach and can fulfil a wide range of needs, teaching styles and functions over a long period. A good standard building must by definition be inherently adaptable and allow a school to fulfil its current and future purposes. Unlike bespoke designs which are really only ever prototypes, standardised designs permit measurement, analysis, refinement and improvement.

At Catmose College, Rutland, we pointed to the possibility of a successful standard product that is inherently flexible, adaptable and creative. Contrast this with the Stirling Prize winning Evelyn Grace Academy, bearing the unmistakable mark of a bespoke architect and her sponsor and representing an immovable snapshot in time.

Standardisation done well, offers quality, equality, economy and, importantly, long term solutions.”

Students using the multi-functional study space

The practice is very pleased to announce that our completed project, Catmose Campus, has been shortlisted for the RIBA Awards 2012 and the RICS East Midlands Awards.

We look forward to having the opportunity of hosting both judging panels, and giving them a guided tour of our exemplar education project.

Watch this space for future posts about the awards.

Catmose College, our exemplar education project, received an ‘Outstanding’ grade in its OFSTED inspection at the beginning of February 2012. This comes almost one year after the project was completed and occupied by the students and staff.

For all areas of the inspection, the college received the highest grade, and was praised for being “an outstanding school led by an inspirational and visionary principal.” A statement EllisMiller would most definitely endorse.

The college was commended in particular for achievement levels “rising steadily” with “results at the end of Key Stage 4 that were well above average.”

With regard to provisions, OFSTED commented that the “specialist provision was highly effective in supporting students’ progress through a fully inclusive and integrated approach to its work.” Indeed, inclusivity, equality and empowerment in the learning experience were aims at the core of the campus’s design.

EllisMiller would like to congratulate the college on its exceptional OFSTED inspection. We indeed share the view of the inspectors that the college’s motto ‘equal value, outstanding progress’ is a reality being lived up to.

We are certain that Catmose, with the college’s strong leadership and fantastic staff and students, will continue to progress, in its attainment levels and beyond – to ultimately transform the lives of the young people in Rutland for generations to come.

John Winter in discussion with Adrian Forty

Last night, the whole EllisMiller team attended the annual Docomomo lecture by John Winter with Adrian Forty, where John spoke about his lifetime work. The main lecture room in the AA was thoroughly packed and overflowing, with people standing right to the back of the room.

The discussion was incredibly insightful and fascinating, and John was full of wit – he often got the room bursting with laughter. Adrian meticulously reviewed John’s entire career; John spoke of what he learnt, what inspired him and what he believed were essential attributes in a successful architect – ‘commitment’ and ‘passion’ being two of the most important.

With every audience member tentatively clutching onto John’s every word, the event reluctantly ended, with much cheering and applause from the attendees, who were a vibrant mix of friends, family, colleagues and supporters.

It was wonderful for the EllisMiller team to attend this special event and learn how John Winter has been an inspiration to our practice and architectural vision. Safe to say, John has been an asset to the modernist architectural movement in Britain, and we are privileged that he is a friend of the practice.

For more information about the event, please visit our twitter page to see our live updates from the event.

Arial view of Manchester

Today, partner, Jonathan Ellis-Miller was invited to be a panel member for the PlacesMatter! Design Review. Jonathan was chosen out of 180 applicants to be a panel member, alongside other architects, council members, consultants and organisations from January 2012.

This is a great opportunity for Jonathan to bring his architectural knowledge and expertise to the panel – particularly due to his notable experience working within the education sector. And, we are certain that he will be a valuable member and contributor for the coming year.

Jonathan’s promised he will keep us updated on what should be a very exciting year with on the panel – so watch this space!

For more information about the PlacesMatter! Design Review panel, click here.

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Places Matter! “is an organisation devoted to generating a strong sense of place in living, working and leisure environments throughout the Northwest,” aiming to “work across the public and private sectors to drive up the skills and knowledge of all those involved in new development, to promote good design and encourage strong client leadership.”

Recently EllisMiller were included in the top 40 best architects’ website list. Our website was quoted as “offering the most accessible experience for all”. Indeed accessibility and simplicity are two principles that are an innate feature of not only our website and branding, but our architectural designs too.

On Friday 4th November 2011, John Winter’s feature article about EllisMiller’s completed Catmose College project was published in the RIBA Journal.

It was great to have someone we greatly respect visit our building. And whilst we were sure it was the type of architecture he might like, it was brilliant to have his valued criticism. John has devoted his life to architecture, and despite his age, still retains enthusiasm and passion for the subject.

We’re very grateful indeed to John, and greatly appreciate his review of the project.

John Winter, RIBA Journal, 07/11/2011

Viewable at: http://www.ribajournal.com/index.php/feature/article/his_masters_voice/

In today’s The Times, Jonathan Ellis-Miller and the practice got a special mention in a feature section about the London borough of Hackney.

In an article about the increasing ‘pop-up’ trend  – where temporary shops, exhibitions and restaurants miraculously ‘pop-up’ for a limited time – Ellis Miller’s very own Hackney House design was featured. The article’s author, Mark Frary, described the project as “the borough’s biggest pop-up project… a temporary media centre for the 20,000 journalists without official accreditation”, to serve as the media and communications hub during the 2012 Olympic games.

We’re very grateful for the plug, and look forward, along with Mark Frary, for the Hackney House expo centre to pop-up on Shoreditch High Street in the Spring of 2012.

Mark Frary, The Times, ‘Meanwhile, what’s popping up in the high street?’ 02/11/2011

Stuart Williams, Catmose College Principal, leading the tour

On Monday 19th September, EllisMiller took a party to visit Catmose College, which we had huge demand for. Stuart Williams, the College Principal, was kind enough to show our visitors around the Campus and carefully explained how the College’s educational agenda had been enhanced by the new facilities.  The tour was a massive success, with an extremely positive response from our guests.

Since completion in February of this year, we have kept in close contact with the College and the College Principal, Stuart Williams, who is incredibly pleased with the campus redevelopment. With this is mind, we thought that it would be a great idea to show some intrigued friends of the practice around the campus. We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to explain our thinking behind the design, and show how a college with strong ethics and principles about how to learn, can be built into the very foundations of the campus.

Further into the tour, by luck, the College’s wonderful Head Boy, Max, wandered past en route to his next class. He was absolutely beaming about the College’s new buildings. Max said that he ‘totally loved the new school’, and felt the difference it was making to his learning already!

After Stuart led the party around the entirety of the campus, giving key explanations behind the design and answering lots of questions, we made our final pit-stop at the college restaurant. The food as always was great; all our guests were impressed by how comfortable and civil the dining experience was in Catmose College.

The guests were extremely impressed by Catmose College – the way it looked, the way it contributed to the learning experience, but most importantly we were informed, the way it felt – with the spirit that engulfed the Campus. The powerful ethos present in the physical make-up of every classroom, social space and creative space, boasted principles of what a progressive education should be: fun, accessible, based on equality, fairness, honesty and openness. This aspect, we were told by our guests, they felt and loved the most, and it’s the bit that we love most about it too.

The event was such a success that we are hoping to repeat a similar tour as we were over-subscribed on this occasion. We are incredibly grateful for the College’s willingness to open their doors to us, and for the careful organisation for this particular event by Stuart, the Principal, and Shirley Wright, Assistant to the Principal. We are very thankful indeed.

We hope that from this event we have inspired our guests, and evoked wider discussion and debate about how the built-environment can and does contribute to positive social outcomes. We’re certainly firm believers in it.

Please email london@ellis-miller.com if you would like to be added onto our mailing list, or to find out more about future visits to Catmose College Campus.