Knowledge

The Wales Future Practice programme is the Royal Society of Architects in Wales' alternative to RIBA Core CPD in England and offers a variety of seminars, tours and conferences that cover the 10 RIBA core curriculum topics at various venues across Wales. All CPD sessions are tailored to the Welsh context and respond to recent changes in Welsh Government legislation.

RIBA South West Ask an Architect is an opportunity for local architects from RIBA Chartered Practice to meet with members of the public in one-to-one consultations, offering advice and expertise on plans and schemes as well as promoting the profession and hopefully picking up a new project or two.

The latest RIBA survey of architects indicates a considerable fall in optimism about their future workload (RIBA Future Trends Survey December 2018 - Workload Index fell significantly to +3, from +10 in November).

RIBA South West provides guidance on the format of Ask an Architect sessions across the region

The RIBA has published Design Matters: Promoting Good Design Through the Planning System - a toolkit for local authorities to help improve the design standards of new homes.

Oliver Lowrie is developing ways of using Virtual Reality to take clients on a design journey, test designs out, and ultimately make better buildings.

Tomas Millar, of Millar+Howard Workshop, enthuses about how Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and 3D modelling are providing clients with a much clearer picture of the building they want.

Five practices explain the impact technology is having on their work, from new design capabilities to algorithm-assisted costing and custom-build houses.

Ingval Maxwell, a consultant in architectural conservation, discusses some of the challenges and opportunities that BIM poses for his sector

Architects should take the lead in ensuring a fire safety strategy is handed over