Monthly news updates on live projects, ongoing research and what others are saying.
Dec 2020Seasons Greetings
Thank you to our clients and collaborators for working so closely with us through an extremely challenging year. Wishing all a restful holiday season and looking forward to being together again in 2021.
Image of the Ice Cream Factory in Devon. Visit the new project webpage here.
Dec 2020Rising Star
We are delighted to announce that our colleague Bushra Mohamed has been shortlisted for the RIBA Journal's Rising Star Award. Bushra joined DKA in 2018 and qualified as an architect in 2020. She was the project architect for the refurbishment of Euroboden's offices in Berlin and led the practice's recent collaboration with artist Pablo Bronstein for the National Trust. Bushra teaches with David at the AA and has lectured on her research into the African courtyard house typology as part of the Architecture Foundation's 100 Year Studio. Visit the RIBA Journal award webpage, the Euroboden refurbishment webpage, AA Diploma 19 webpage and the Architecture Foundation lecture webpage for more information.
Nov 2020New Architect
We are delighted to announce that our colleague Nicola Blake has qualified as an architect. Nicola has played a pivotal role in several projects in the office and most notably, in the competition win to design Birmingham city's new £65M market halls. Nicola recently presented her research 'Representations of the Home during Covid-19 Lockdown' at her alma mater, London Metropolitan University, as part of a public research seminar. For more information, visit the event webpage.
Oct 2020Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
A model of the Gradel Quadrangles at New College Oxford has been selected for inclusion in this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Carved out of a block of Ancaster limestone by the stonemasons Grants of Shoreditch, the model shows the intended form, material and craftsmanship of the building that is currently on site and due for completion in 2023. The exhibition is open from 6th October to 3rd January 2021. For more information, visit the project webpage.
Sep 2020Greenwich Site Progress
The construction of two workspace buildings in Greenwich as part of the Design District continues apace. The giant brick colonnade to building A4 is beginning to take shape. Scaled to the district rather than the building, it extends a generous welcome to the whole site. For more information about the project, see David Kohn's interview with Jemima Burrell about the influences on the design, hedgehogs and foxes at the Design District website.
Aug 2020Superposition
DKA is featured in the first issue of Superposition, a new periodical based in Europe investigating 'the humanistic side of architecture.' Join the guest editors Fredi Fischli & Niels Olsen for an introduction to the project as part of the Architecture Foundation 100 Day Studio on Thursday 6th August 2020, 7pm – 8pm (UK Time). Follow this link to watch.
Also catch up on past AF 100 Day Studio episodes by the DKA team on Youtube: Bushra Mohamed presenting research into the African Compound House; Matt Volsen introducing Hamburg's Bauforum; Tarn Philipp presenting his Diploma project on low embodied carbon construction; and David Kohn discussing notions of assembly as part of the Alternative Histories discussion series curated by Marius Grootveld and Drawing Matter.
Jul 2020Architect of the Year Shortlist
DKA is shortlisted for UK Interior Architect of the Year 2020, organised by Building Design magazine. The award recognises "all-round design excellence and fitness for purpose over a body of work.” Recent projects range from exhibition design to domestic and commercial interiors. Pictured here: conversion of a listed C19th mansion in Berlin to offices for developer Euroboden in collaboration with Berlin-based Nord Studio. For more information visit the project webpage.
Jun 2020RIBA London Award Shortlist
The V&A Photography Centre has been shortlisted for a 2020 RIBA London Award. The project more than doubled the space available to display photography whilst reinstating the grandeur of three galleries in the Grade 1 listed building. Works to the fabric of the building and its systems significantly improved environmental performance and control allowing fragile photographic materials to be put on display for much longer periods. The Centre was opened by HRH Duchess of Cambridge on 10th October 2018 and received over 600,000 visitors in the first ten months. Read more about the project here.
May 2020Belgian Planning First
We are delighted to have made a planning application for our first project in Belgium. The Hasselt Beguinage project, in collaboration with Antwerp-based Bovenbouw Architectuur, was won through the Flemish Bouwmeester’s Open Call in 2018. Commissioned by the Province of Limburg and the University of Hasselt, the project will provide a new home for the university’s architecture faculty and a major public space for the city. For more information, visit the project webpage.
Mar 2020Covid-19
At DKA we have been working from home since 16th March in order to protect our team from the risk of contracting Coronavirus. We are set up to continue projects remotely, with appropriate IT arrangements in place. We would like to reassure our clients and collaborators that it is business (almost) as usual and to contact us if you have any queries. David has written weekly updates for the Architect's Journal which can be viewed on its website.