The 146th Annual General Meeting of the Leicestershire and Rutland Society of Architects (LRSA) on Friday 14 June saw the appointment of a new President, Adam Smith, along with the re-election of Sylvester Cheung as joint President for a further year. A motion was passed to allow Sylvester to continue, with the proposal that the position will continue as a joint role with one being replaced each year to maintain continuity.
Michael Cooper was re-elected as Honorary Treasurer and the following members have been appointed to the committee: Nicola Pettman, David Hickman, Nils Feldmann, Richard Woolford, Richard Crowson, Loo Chong Wong and Sanjeev Sharma. Dr Arthur Lyons, Alf Sharman and David Gibson are all lifetime honorary members.
The branch is also looking for a nomination for President Elect and welcomes any others who would like to be part of the committee.
2019-2020 Plan
Engaging with existing members and encouraging growth
- Support CPD initiatives provided by the RIBA East Midlands office
- Push for more RIBA events to take place in Leicestershire and Rutland to help bring Portland Place to the area
- Increase the exposure of the LRSA and RIBA in Leicestershire and Rutland by visiting different towns in both counties for monthly branch meetings
- Include new social events, such as the re-introduced skittles league and annual pub quiz, which allow for networking and team building
Education
- Support the RIBA East Midlands Education Group's activities, including the schools ambassador programme
- A new initiative to provide schools with practices who are willing to support work experience
- Continue the popular student mentoring scheme for third year undergraduate students
- A shadowing programme, proposed by post graduate students at De Montfort University, for a mentor in practice to help build key skills and fill knowledge gaps before students complete their Part 2 studies
- LRSA Presidents prize for undergraduate and postgraduate students at both De Montfort and Loughborough schools of architecture
- Continue the one day design charrette, which is extremely well supported by students
Society
- Commentary and new plaques for the LRSA trail
- Continue to host quarterly events which encourage participation by the public, such as meet the architect and family events
- Heritage Open Days, to involve two guided trails
- Open Street, a series of events on the last Sunday of the month up to October which focuses on various periods of Leicester's history
- To continue our involvement with Leicester City Council's Conservation Advisory Panel and strong links with their planning department
Love Architecture Festival
- A three-week festival in October as part of LCB Depot's Design Season 2
- 16 events across the three weeks, starting on Tuesday 1 October, with the aim of promoting architecture to the public, RIBA members, non-RIBA architects, industry professionals and students
- Events to include social and networking events, talks by famous architects, CPD, Pecha Kucha, family events and awards evening, which will include a housing development exemplar exhibition, president’s prize and photography award. Also, events which tie into other disciplines in Design Season 2
- A photography competition and exhibition by RIBA Ambassadors and local schools
- Launch of the 2019 President’s prize which will have an Ecology and Architecture theme
- An ambition to continue the Love Architecture Festival beyond 2019 and to move events around both counties to engage with more members
