The colour theme for this issue is a serene shade of turquoise, celebrated for its connection to balance and harmony. Widely embraced in Impressionist, PostImpressionist, and early Modern art - such as Van Gogh’s Irises (1889) - turquoise is often associated with clarity of thought and rejuvenation. Its selection also nods to Ernest Vinet’s 1926 work, ‘Esquisse d'une Histoire de l'Architecture Classique’, weaving a thread between artistic tradition and thoughtful design.
INTRODUCTION: ESQUISSE CONTENTS
AVIATION: HOW CAN WE REDUCE WALKING DISTANCES IN A HUB AIRPORT?
BUSINESS SPACE: RE-IMAGINING THE POINT OF WELCOME INTO A BUILDING
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES: HOW CAN WE BRING LIFE TO A BLANK FAÇADE?
EDUCATION:
HOW CAN WE CREATE LEARNING SPACES TO SUPPORT SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH?
RAIL & INFRASTRUCTURE:
WHAT ROLE COULD TRAIN STATIONS PLAY WITHIN THE WIDER COMMUNITY?
RESIDENTIAL:
WHAT DOES MULTI-GENERATIONAL LIVING MEAN TO YOU?
WHAT DOES SAFE STUDENT ACCOMMODATION LOOK LIKE IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
CONCLUSION: OUR ESQUISSE INITIATIVE
Propositional thinking
Introduction
The esquisse was embedded into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts curriculum (and would have been used in other schools as well). It is often defined as the preliminary sketch or diagram capturing a concept at the initial stages of a design challenge. It is a short immediate sprint, where thinking and description of the idea is captured in the clearest and most succinct manner possible.
1. This edition of iA uses the esquisse as a means of illustrating and sharing specific aspects of our design process at Scott Brownrigg. The motivation and ambition behind this initiative has allowed for short moments of unrestrained investigative design produced at a fast pace. In this space uninhibited instinct combines with assimilated knowledge and experience. The process has enabled individuals to react to a particular brief in their own way and is primarily seen as a means for generating group discussion, and a sharing of individual ideas through process that can transfer back into our design ethos and buildings.
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The Hemicycle of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts by Jean Auguste Marc via The Walters Art Museum collection.
Esquisse
[ Ɛs ˈkiːs ] noun
a rough or preliminary sketch. "the seeds of the concept can be discerned in that very first esquisse presentedtotheselectionpanel"
In February 2024 when the esquisse process began, the Design Research Unit published and shared a high-level generic brief that could be used across all sectors within our studios. Production time was limited to two hours per architect, with a further hour for a group presentation and discussion at the conclusion of the study. The ability to clearly explain and summarise the proposition in a few words is important.
This timeline demonstrates the necessary brevity of the exercise, and the outcomes have demonstrated an energy and dynamism that embraces the principle of a sprint. This is not to say that the slower burn of ‘thinking’ time involved, or cerebral ‘warm-up’ is not critical, and the final drawing, model or image is only the visible tip of the iceberg. The esquisse exercise has enabled a form of ambient or subliminal thinking to be undertaken when not directly on task. This is a form of envisioning or propositional daydreaming and offers a positive counterpart to other parts of our jobs.
Using polarities and contrasts and adding sudden variety into the professional roles within our design led groups has provided unexpected energy when a certain curiosity is sparked and subsequently ignited. This immediate disruption of any given working regime offers important contrast, and a need for agility and multitasking that is designed to keep us ‘on our toes’ and ready to imagine harder and more fluently.
Image generated using Dall-E, by Massimiliano Martinenghi.
Aviation: How can we reduce walking distances in a hub airport?
Airports are inherently large buildings with complex operational and security requirements that frequently evolve and grow to accommodate advancements in technology and changing passenger needs.
According to research carried out by ABTA in 2016, ‘customers at major UK airports may have to walk over 1 km from check-in or special assistance desks to the gate, which can be a challenge for passengers who find it difficult to walk longer distances.’
Optimising the footprint of a terminal and focusing on designing for flexibility creates opportunities to enhance operational efficiency, reduce carbon footprint and of course, improve passenger experience. A well-designed
and efficiently organised terminal facilitates easier wayfinding, shorter transfer times, and improved accessibility, while making it easier to manage passenger flows, security, and baggage handling efficiently.
Our aviation team were asked to consider ways in which walking distances can be reduced in a hub airport to enhance passenger experience and streamline operations.
Having identified centralised processing, pier configurations and contrast between the scale of landside and airside as factors that necessitate long walking distances, James tests through a series of explorative sketches how initial ideas could be developed into a more detailed design response. A curved, thin terminal harbours potential to fulfil both airside and landside requirements while offering arriving and departing passengers a more direct journey through the building, without having to walk to a central processor.
ISABEL RIVAS, ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT
Here Isabel has used three northern European airports –Oslo Airport and Bergen Airport in Norway and Keflavik Airport Expansion in Iceland – to explore and identify opportunities to create an efficient and enhanced passenger experience. As a result, seven key strategies are proposed to reduce walking distances in airport terminals, including the need for centralised facilities, simple and intuitive routes, considering the commercial strategy at the competition stage, and engaging airport staff at design stage.
The initial sketches of this idea, done while commuting home on the bus, epitomise the essence of an esquisse - exploring ideas, communicating swiftly, and serving as a foundation for further refinement.
No limits or boundaries
JACK WILLIAMSON, ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT
Starting with a series of spontaneous sketches to explore passenger flows and identify opportunities within them, Jack then used Artificial Intelligence to interpret and start to bring some of these ideas to life. A retro graphic explores the potential of vertical stacking, centralised entrances, and condensed amenities as means to reduce walking distances within a circular terminal space.
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Image generated using Midjourney, by Jack Williamson.
Poetic atmospheres
Image generated using Gencraft, by David Blackwell.
Business Space: Reimagining the point of welcome into a building
The perception of an organisation can be greatly influenced by the building it occupies, with first impressions often shaped by the welcome experience. The first point of contact, be it an entrance space, reception desk or digital check in point combined with the quality of engagement, is an opportunity to reinforce brand, values and set the scene for accessibility and inclusion. Our business space team were asked to conceptulise a point of welcome that would provide focus, reinforce brand identity, and create an impactful and positive first impression of an organisation.
Here artificial intelligence is used to broaden thinking; to inspire, inform and encourage new and unrestrained design ideas and responses. David explores initial ideas for a centralised reception desk or a landmark meeting point that flows down from the ceiling to the floor with bright ribbons of colour twisting to embrace those who work while offering a legible and uplifting welcome to those that visit.
BELOW Image generated using Gencraft, by David Blackwell.
LAURENCE ORSINI, PROJECT DIRECTOR
Laurence’s proposition considers the potential to create a reception desk, concierge and security desk that move in and out of position, tilting an oscillating to maximise their individual function, appearing and disappearing again as and when required. For three interchangeable elements that rise and fall via a system of pullies to create a kinetic, dynamic welcome with the potential to intrigue, surprise and delight.
How can a space cater to individual needs while offering diverse experiences to its users?
BEATRIZ GONZALEZ, HEAD OF WORKPLACE INTERIORS
Exploring the relationship between architectural forms and the experiences they create, Beatriz’s initial sketches were inspired by the natural environment including river channels that evoke curiosity, fallen trees that form thresholds between spaces, and nests that offer a sense of inclusivity.
The point of welcome is an important impression of the space; a sculptural intervention creates opportunity to attract attention and provide a focal point. Bei’s response is inspired by the organic, soft, free form shapes of summer flowers. Here, she deconstructs these flowers, using sketch as a medium to experiment with form and scale to find unique and suitable elements that could form the basis of the design of a reception desk. Before using artificial intelligence as part of an iterative process to help bring the complex 3D free form to life.
Using water as an element to intrigue; to encourage curiosity, Anastasia’s design response focuses on slowing the pace, creating choice, encouraging engagement and exceeding expectation. Using Artificial intelligence, she envisages a dynamic sequence of entry to a structure surrounded by water.
In lieu of one clearly signposted entrance that dictates direction, steps rise out of the water in numerous directions to provide choice on how to enter. Encouraging a moment to pause, contemplate and consider the options and opportunities that lie ahead. Here, the welcome experience is deconstructed and reinterpreted as process and movement to invite visitors in.
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Image generated using Midjourney by Anastasia Kapustina.
Advanced Technologies: How can we bring life to a blank façade?
Buildings for advanced technologies, such as data centres, advanced manufacturing, power generation and energy storage, are highly secure, process driven facilities with controlled internal environments. Aesthetically, this often results in the creation of large scale, simple industrial structures with characterless façades. As demand for advanced technology buildings in urban and industrial areas grows, their interaction with the physical and social environment is becoming increasingly significant.
Rethinking the way we design these ‘blank’ façades creates a key opportunity to enhance user experience, reduce embodied carbon and change perceptions. As we look to the future to understand how process driven buildings will influence a new urban code of living and working, our advanced technologies teams were asked to consider how blank façades can be designed differently to create a more impactful and positive contribution to the natural and built environment.
Serkan’s ‘Community Wall’ concept proposes utilising vast blank facades to integrate functionality with community needs, creating opportunities to enhance aesthetic and minimise environmental impact.
The wall’s design and purpose can be tailored to the specific needs of the surrounding community; depending on
the size, location, and environmental factors, functionality could range from hosting vertical gardens or public art, to facilitating recreational or educational activities. An opportunity to transform blank facades into assets that provide value to the community.
Considering the relationship with Data Centres and the urban context, Angus explores how enlivening blank facades creates opportunities for interaction with the public domain. Here he explores the possibility of treating large expanses of blank façade as a television screen with simple games integrated onto façade panels to engage passersby and encourage pedestrians to partake. Injecting a sense of curiosity and playfulness into the built environment and creating opportunities for people to gather, relate, and interact.
Education: How can we create learning spaces to support social, emotional demand mental health
Schools across the world are struggling to meet the individual needs of students within their diverse communities. A culture of inclusion is vital to enable everyone to participate in all areas of school life and beyond, be inspired and able to flourish.
All students are entitled to an appropriate education, one that is suitable to their needs, promotes high standards and achieves excellent outcomes.
Schools are increasingly looking for physical spacesinternal and external- specifically to support students with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties in mainstream schools.
Our education team were asked to envisage a space that would support social, emotional and mental health. Designed to accommodate students of any age group, staff and visiting professionals and promote flexibility, adaptability and accessibility.
Oliver considers the potential for learning to take place anywhere by creating truly immersive and experiential environments that provide students choice in how to engage, like a ‘Bop It!’ game on a grand scale.
Using Artificial Intelligence, he explores ways in which students can be encouraged to develop autonomy by finding and shaping their own environment and learning experience. Facilitating the process of personal development through discovery, with valuable lessons to be learnt about interaction, and learning to understand and live with the consequences of decisions made.
HELEN TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF PRACTICE
Post-covid, children and young people are struggling with mental health and behaviour issues and many have not been able to return to mainstream schools. Helen's proposal looks to encourage and support these students back into school by creating diversity within the arrival experience, providing options that support comfortable transition. Different pathways and "pop-up" spaces at, or just within, the boundary that allow time and space to meet different needs - such as food, exercise, relaxation, quiet space. these can also act as withdrawal spaces during the day to support students to remain in school once they are there. Adults are demanding a flexible working environment and children deserve a flexible learning environment.
Moving away from box ticking exercises can enable us to create spaces for learning that embrace conversations around the Savannah Theory (humans should be immersed in nature), floriography, Tim Beatley's Nature Pyramid Theory, and inherited genetics of knowing our place is in nature.
Through the medium of sketch, Stuart challenges what biophilic design really is and how it can truly assist in the creation of educational spaces that are devoid of barriers, providing students with a direct and indirect connection with nature to support social and personal wellbeing.
The rising number of vacant commercial properties across the UK, combined with the poor state of many school buildings, presents an opportunity for adaptive reuse. Transforming unused spaces such as shopping centres, office buildings, and department stores into schools offers a sustainable, cost-effective solution to urban decline and educational infrastructure challenges. Here Elizabeth uses Artificial Intelligence to envision how this innovative approach could leverage existing assets to benefit communities, providing modern learning environments while revitalising towns.
THOMPSON,
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Images generated using Midjourney, by Elizabeth Thompson.
AMY BOURNE, PROJECT LEADER
Creation of spaces that serve both schools, and the broader community encourages deeper community involvement, fosters connections, and enhances children’s social, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
Through a series of images produced using Artificial intelligence, Amy explores the potential to integrate community gathering and culturally celebratory spaces, spaces to encourage intergenerational interaction, and family engagement areas into education environments. Creating opportunities for schools to serve as dynamic community hubs that nurture a supportive and inclusive environment, benefitting children and their families, with shared resources and facilities to strengthen communal investment in the school’s infrastructure.
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Image generated using Midjourney, by Amy Bourne.
ALISTAIR BRIERLEY, HEAD OF DESIGN RESEARCH UNIT
This sketch study addresses the issues of positioning a classroom in a wider school environment.It is seen as a destination.The freehand graphics illustrate the notion of Macro (the wider campus) and Micro (the actual classroom itself).The tryptych is taken from a range of studies that were produced illustrating interpersonal exchanges as part of the learning process.
Images generated using Copilot, by Alistair Brierley.
Experimental attitudes
Image generated using Canva, by Rebecca Williams.
Rail: What role could train stations play within the wider community?
Stations are often thought as buildings we traverse through, that form part of a journey. But what if stations were not just a means of facilitating travel, what if they were the end destination too?
As civic buildings with presence and significant footfall, stations have immense potential to contribute to sense of place and function as a focal point for the community. Made increasingly possible as advancements in technology continues to automate the check-in process, freeing up space within existing stations for other uses. Could redundant space be repurposed to provide places for people to socialise and gather? With a diverse range of spaces to support different users and activities throughout the day, and all year round.
Our rail team were asked to consider the role of stations in placemaking and what more our stations might offer us while promoting equity for all.
ANDREW POSTINGS, HEAD OF RAIL
This sketch represents a possible future of the railway station where those areas outside of the specific railway interface become an opportunity for shared community place. A place where people can congregate to celebrate, to support, to learn, to heal as the circumstances require. The potential for Transport Oriented Communities with a mix of commercial revenue generation and the wider welcoming of locals and visitors alike into the aforementioned shared community place.
VIVIEN LEONG, DIRECTOR
Using Ai to bring her vision to life, Vivien’s proposal is for a pink dreamlike world with light spaces, wide open vistas and biophilia to promote feelings of safety, comfort, and inclusion. Use of modular design with natural materials promotes longevity and sustainability through the design, while level access, generous seating provision and colour contrast enhances accessibility and connectivity for all. Ballon art installations inject a sense of fun into the space.
ABOVE
Images generated using ImagineArt by Vivien Leong. LEFT
What early strategic decisions can be made to ensure a fully integrated station? Here Rob considers the various ways a station can be integrated within its environment, the community, and co-located with other uses to create quality of place that responds to and provides for its locale. Through sketch, he explores the relationship between the built form and public realm and cut vs fill and where there are opportunities to balance excavation with ground build-up, carving platforms out of the ground to create a linear cloister.
This concept is based around the creation of the ‘Adventure Station’, a building and plaza that provides a point of reference within the community and a place for people to discover, meet and explore.
Through a series of sketches, Stefan explores the potential to create a communal space sheltered by a light glass façade and brought to life by a series of dancing
inclined columns that stretch skyward to support a dynamic moving timber roof. Tactile sandstone with softened corners and braille relief contributes to an inclusive environment and invites visitors in.
Image generated using Copilot, by Alistair Brieley.
What does multi-generational Residential: living look like to
As the UK’s housing crisis grows, it is estimated that we need to build hundreds of thousands of new homes each year until 2031 to meet demand. When space is at a premium and house prices continue to rise, how can we ensure everyone in the UK has access to affordable quality housing while minimising impact to the environment?
Bringing together multiple generations within one development could offer a possible solution, with significant potential to deliver social value and meet wellbeing needs. This approach can be mutually beneficial for both younger
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and older generations, providing opportunities for increased social interaction, improved provision of care to the elderly, and the sharing of resources to facilitate more affordable living.
Our residential and mixed-use team investigate potential benefits of embracing the continental model of multigenerational living in the UK.
Special space for celebration and storage of precious things
CLAIRE DEVANNEY, ARCHITECT
Here, Claire considers the potential for multigenerational living to happen within both the household and the wider community. The concept is centred around the development of shared multipurpose in-between spaces that can be adapted to suit a range of needs and encourage social interaction between different generations. Within households, the kitchen and dining space is celebrated as the heart of the home, providing opportunities to dine, share, learn and play.
Multi-generational living is more than just cohabiting with people of different generations, it should encourage multigenerational engagement and sharing activities. That is how people of all ages and experiences can benefit from each other. Here Elizabeth explores the potential to create connections through the provision of communal space and the layering of activities. Is there a way different types of living spaces can be connected? What kind of activities bring different generations together? What does multigenerational play look like?
Image generated using Midjourney, by Elizabeth Akamo.
Residential: What does safe student accommodation look like in the 21st Century?
Student accommodation can provide a sense of ownership and independence for the occupant, often as the first step away from the family home. The cultural shift towards an online medium could potentially change this sense of independence for one of isolation – making the standard student housing model more unsafe for occupant mental wellbeing.
Our residential and mixed-use team draw upon expertise from our education sector to consider ways in which accommodation can be better designed to support physical, mental and environmental safety for students.
ANNABEL CHAPMAN-SMITH, PROJECT DIRECTOR
Focused around shared gardens with areas for allotments, socialising, sport, nature and quiet reflection, Annabel’s proposal is all about creating an inter-generational community which can foster relationships and understanding between age groups.
Small clusters of accommodation, from smaller single person studios to larger apartments, is designed to suit both students and older people with independent tenures available to provide choice in how much one would wish to integrate. Other shared facilities such as workshops, cooking and dining spaces encourage interaction and the transfer of knowledge and skills between different generations. While helping to prevent loneliness and improve metal health for all.
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Image generated using Copilot, by Annabel Chapman-Smith.
CRAIG WALLACE, ARCHITECT
Reflecting on personal experience of living in student accommodation, Craig centres his proposal for a curvilinear array of modular accommodation pods around a dynamic communal outdoor space that can be used for social gatherings, sport and leisure. Recognising the importance in providing active green space, covered entertainment spaces and community areas to support individual wellbeing and foster a sense of belonging and community.
Image generated using Stable Diffusion, by Craig Wallace.
CRAIG GODDARD, DIRECTOR
Considering ways in which to encourage social interaction and safety amongst students, Craig envisages the creation of a ‘study farm’; a communal heart to student accommodation that incorporates spaces for the production of food or food-based products alongside spaces to study and live.
By creating a common goal for residents, be it to produce high yield, live more sustainably, or create the potential to offset ever-increasing student fees, we place greater focus on creating a sense of community and can potentially reduce the risk isolation.
Image generated using Copilot, by Alistair Brieley.
Our esquisse initiative
This volume of iA captures the architectural mood and individual responses into a short and concise moment of high intensity imagery and short staccato notes.
The disruption of the change in pace and focus that the esquisse process provided has had a positive effect on our design process, with responses that highlight contrast, variety and above all imagination. The breadth of our expertise and unmistakeable talent is clear to see, and this snapshot of a moment time raises important themes within the profession and beyond.
Defined by the quality of the brief and a clear expression of the central question that needed to be answered, Sector leads and colleagues stepped forward to pose questions and challenge their teams in a variety of ways. The Business Space puzzle was based around the experience of welcome when entering a building, in this case predominantly office space. The principles of threshold and progression from outside to inside, as well as the
sequential experience of moving within the geography of a lobby or ante room has been strenuously tested, challenged, and illustrated in a multitude of ways.
The Rail team have worked through an often-found situation in the railway network where a road crosses a cutting which houses a station. How can the entry sequence be signalled from street level above? By what means do passengers move up and down from street to platform level? Ideas for necessary transport infrastructure and placemaking were introduced with living bridge, mini piazzas, and squares on offer. Buildings crossing the tracks and exploiting any available air rights were explored maximising land values and paying for the costly infrastructure. A variety of architectural languages went into the mix with elegant, vaulted canopies and engineered
retaining walls. One free form squiggle boldly abstracted and captured a proposition for a complex multilayered series of spaces and places. This is a kinetic architecture focusing on wayfinding and movement.
The residential teams investigated and explored the notion of multigenerational living. As the housing crisis in Britain builds, with huge demands for quality homes, multigenerational living was the chosen topic. This model is more widely available on the continent where family life is highly valued with grandchildren and grandparents benefiting from shared experience and help to shape a more stable and less divided society. This was a fascinating exercise allowing architects to explore a typology that is much needed. Safe and inclusive student housing was also
explored where once again social value, comfort and a sense of hearth and home became a central theme.
The aviation team placed the configuration of the terminal building at the centre of their thinking, particularly ways of condensing and making the travel experience more intuitive and potentially less stressful. Plan and section were investigated focusing on shorter travel distances for passengers, and more efficient gate layouts for aircraft. The terminal becomes a hard-working machine working to maximum efficiency whilst making the internal landscape, comfortable and sequentially progressive for both arriving and departing passengers.
The education team joined in exploring the evolution of the classroom within a school environment. How much has changed over the years, and how have pedagogies and teaching styles allowed for more informal interactive spaces for pupils to inhabit. It wasn’t just what lay within the classroom that was important here, it was the journey to and from individual learning spaces that became important within the often-complex landscape of a large school. It is important to reference the variety of media and methodologies that architects used to portray their thinking. As AI gains momentum it was inevitable that this would be used as a tool for illustrating a concept by many. Although it was sometimes used to beneficial effect it became apparent that it had the capacity to remove a direct and meaningful connection with the central idea, often missing the point or moving off at a tangent. Experimentation with this technology offered insights into its dangers and advantages and by the time we carry out esquisse this year there may be helpful refinements.
