Project Office; Unleashing a ‘Force for Good’

In 2013 The Leeds School of Architecture (LSA) at Leeds Beckett University (LBU) launched Project Office (PO), defined as ‘a design and research collaboration of staff and students. It is an architecture consultancy concerned with ethical, social and resilient architecture and design. We work with like-minded communities, organisations and individuals’ (Warren and Stott, 2014). PO has 12 ‘Rules of Agency’, which are expounded in this paper to demonstrate its ethical principles and how to occupy a space concurrently within the academic institution and architecture practice. These are: • To be ethical • To be environmentally resilient and informed • To advocate participatory design methodologies for staff, students and collaborators • To working only with clients who lack financial means to realise their projects • To generate research impact through practice related research output • To create opportunities for student engagement with a range of educational and formative experiences • To comply with established ARB and RIBA validation criteria and EU directives for architectural education • To develop architectural pedagogies • To cause the production of architectural live projects as defined by Anderson and Priest (2016) • To express the contribution of students as a force for good. • To have fun • To cultivate a space for an inclusive and virtuous practice that is inspiring for all participants The paper asserts that the Practice-Related Research at the core of PO’s work has a significantly positive social impact. It argues that educators of prospective architects have a societal responsibility not only to expose students to the social impact of their practice but also to make it the heart of pedagogic purpose. PO achieve this despite the changes witnessed in universities, where neo-liberalism defines their trajectory, having found a way to exist that puts a value, ‘a sense of care’ (Mountz, et al., 2015) on all people collaborating with students, work colleagues, stakeholders, clients and also ourselves.