09.01.2007
Karl Singporewala, a postgraduate architecture student at the university, won this year's Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South East Student Award. The £800 award, administered by the RIBA South East in conjunction with the Lovell Memorial Trust, is presented annually to a student on a validated RIBA course of architecture who studies or lives in the RIBA South East area.
The award is made for a project that is either part of the student's coursework or a piece of extra, individual research. Karl's project, sustainable defences, is the subject of his final-year project, which is tutored by Dr. Christopher Pierce and Mr. Chris Matthews. Its objective is to design London's next generation Thames Barrier.
Design for a water barrier by Karl Singporewala
In his application, Karl described how the student award would enable him to research the architecture and deployment of water barriers in greater detail and ultimately to produce a well-informed design proposal, one that prioritises sustainability and innovation.
Key questions that his project will address include:
- How could the next flood barrier be sustainable and energy efficient?
- Does the Thames contain undercurrents that could be utilised for hydropower?
- Can the barrier(s) serve the city in more than one capacity - perhaps also acting as a bridge or power station?
His study will research different ways in which a new flood barrier(s) might power itself, and possibly even part of London.
A portion of the award will be used to travel to the world's largest flood protection project, the Delta Works (a series of barriers that protect the Netherlands from flooding), in order to survey and evaluate their design and function. This material will form a part of his final coursework submission. Karl is also hoping to incorporate lessons learned on a recent studio trip and exhibition in Trondheim, Norway by considering the possibilities that timber can contribute to the design of the flood barrier(s).
The first part of the award will be made at a formal presentation in February. It will be possible to follow the progress of Karl's project later in the year through the faculty's website at: www.brighton.ac.uk/arts Karl will be regularly uploading images of work-in-progress as well as videos describing his ongoing working method.
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