BACK TO PART 4
DESIGN FOR LIFE? FIRE SAFETY AND BUILDING RESILIENCE
6 weeks – Hybrid – Every Friday morning from Friday 12 January 2024 – £500
Led by Dr Liam Ross (Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh; author, Pyrotechnic Cities: Architecture, Fire-Safety and Standardisation (Routledge, 2022))
We are, rightly, entering a new regulatory landscape that responds to the professional, moral and ethical imperative of all professionals in the building industry to equip themselves with the essential and latest fire, health and life safety knowledge.
Design For Life? provides the context and tools needed to equip practitioners with not only the knowledge required to address new regulatory frameworks, for example the ARB and the RIBA’s new mandatory core competencies for health and life safety, but also the experience to apply this knowledge in practice.
Learners will emerge better equipped to work with specialist consultants, will fulfil requirements for defined roles under the Building Safety Act (and secondary legislation), and to define marketable services to add greater value to clients.
What will I get from this course?
Through this course, you will gain the skills and knowledge to:
- Exceed regulatory compliance: Meet upcoming requirements to undertake designers’ duties as a chartered architect (RIBA mandatory core competencies, ARB’s beefed-up powers under the Building Safety Act)
- Increase business efficiency: Ask the right questions of your consultants and add value to your clients
- Intelligently design for life: Make ethical and professional design decisions earlier, and throughout the process, to keep people safe
Course context
A direct response to the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the Edinburgh Schools scandal, and a new regulatory landscape (including the introduction of ARB and RIBA’s core competencies for ‘Health and Life Safety’ and the passing of the Building Safety Act 2022), Design for Life? responds to the professional, moral and ethical imperative of all architects and practitioners in the building industry to equip themselves with the essential and latest fire, health and life-safety knowledge, and to learn how to apply it in practice.
Design for Life? cover all topics included in the RIBA’s ‘Health and Life Safety’ Mandatory Core Competency – a requirement of Chartered Membership for 2024 renewals – and the ARB’s competence guidance on Fire and Life Safety, unpacking the implications of these documents for professional competency.
But more than this, the course will arm your teams with the latest design and technical knowledge alongside a confidence in selling professional service to clients, and an ethical framework to keep the public and our communities firmly at the centre of decision-making and accountability.
Course format and objectives
Design for Life? is a six-week course structured around the lifecycle of a building project, covering fire, health and life safety from Appointment to Concept Design, and Technical Design to Use. While addressing the gamut of health and life-safety risks associated with building design, particular focus is given to the risk of fire, and related concerns of regulatory change, product certification, professional competence, the user’s voice, and design ethics.
The course is led by Dr Liam Ross (Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh; author, Pyrotechnic Cities: Architecture, Fire-Safety and Standardisation (Routledge, 2022)) and supported by an expert advisory panel including Ian Abley (former Technical Consultant to RISCAuthority), Paul Bussey (Senior Technical Consultant, AHMM), Paul Hyett (RIBA Past President, Expert Witness to the Grenfell Inquiry and Partner at Vickery Hyett) and Arita Morris (CGL Architects and Chair of the NLA Expert Panel for Technical Competency).
Participants will leave with a toolkit of related documents and skills to integrate with their professional practice, confidence to sit the RIBA Health and Safety test, a prepared reflective statement as required by the ARB, a broader understanding of the ethical, legal and design consequences of their work and a greater confidence in offering fire, life safety and property resilience guidance in practice.
General information
- The course runs for six weeks in a hybrid format (including some weeks in-person) every Friday morning from Friday 12 January 2024
- In-person weeks will be held at the LSA’s premises: 4 Beechwood Rd, Dalston, London E8 3DY
- To ensure high contact, we’re recruiting a small cohort of no more than 35: spaces are very limited – bookings go live on Wednesday 18 October
- The course cost is £500 per participant
Register your interest
Bookings for this course go live on Wednesday 18 October. This course suits a small cohort of no more than 35, so spaces are very limited. Register your interest to ensure you don’t miss out. Equally, if you would like to speak directly to us about Design for Life? or the Part 4 programme more broadly, please email part4@the-lsa.org.
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