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VIEWS
ASK THE ARCHITECT
Weymouth native Sarah Small is an associate and Passivhaus designer at Dorchester practice SPASE Design – here she answers ADF’s questions on what drives her, from early concepts to current schemes
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO BE AN ARCHITECT? From an early age, I was encouraged to recycle and reuse. My childhood was spent growing vegetables, keeping ducks and bees, and making things. My mother would make our clothes from patterns which were laid out on the kitchen table and we watched as she sewed them together.
My father encouraged us to travel, and during school holidays we would take long road trips navigating and camping throughout Europe. A place that stands out in my memory was a small remote village in Switzerland that had been constructed entirely from slate. I thought it was beautiful seeing buildings blending into the landscape, the roof and walls of the buildings made from one continuous material.
[Tutors at Kingston Polytechnic] Jeremy Till, Sarah Wigglesworth, Hilary French and Paul Shepheard all inspired me
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By the time I reached the age of 15 my curiosity in engineering and the built environment had grown into something I wanted to pursue as a career. My studies led me to Kingston Polytechnic and brought me into contact with some highly influential tutors. Jeremy Till, Sarah Wigglesworth, Hilary French and Paul Shepheard all inspired me and encouraged me to follow my passion. By the end of my year out I
was ready to start my post-graduate studies and I immersed myself in the creative surroundings of The Bartlett. I loved studying. My final year diploma project was the ’Master Cycle.’ It was the reunification of the River Thames with its city by reclaiming tidal land, opening the foreshore and allowing access to transient, hidden spaces within the city of London. I proposed to form the London Borough of Thames and to give a focus back to the river. The LBT uses tidal cycles of the river as a vehicle to cleanse the city through recycling wastepaper. The tidal force would be used to pulp paper in giant sacks. After graduating I moved back to Dorset and started full-time employment as an architect. I thoroughly enjoyed working for a large multi-disciplinary practice where I was able to develop an appreciation for other disciplines by working alongside landscape architects, urban designers, town planners and ecologists. I enjoyed working on high-quality large-scale projects covering the south of England.
WHAT DO YOU MOST LIKE ABOUT IT NOW? I love designing and running projects onsite, using my experience to provide
ADF NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
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