ICAADE2015, the first international conference on amphibious architecture, design and construction, takes place in Bangkok, Thailand between the 26th and 29th of August 2015.   Baca is on the steering committee and Director Robert Barker will be a keynote speaker at this important new event. The conference will provide a forum for the presentation, discussion and sharing of research, and knowledge and field experience governing all relevant aspects of amphibious architecture, design and construction. The conference aims to promote interaction among academics, researchers and other professionals involved in planning, architecture, design and construction in order to further the development of an international learning community around this emerging topic. For more information on the conference please click here.     ​

 Robert Barker and Robert Pattison collected a Gold Award at the London Design Awards 2014 presentation ceremony on the 9th of December.  The  Amphibious House won the award last month in the Architecture category.   The awards celebrate the courage of those who commission and create excellent designs. Founder & CEO Mark Bergin said of the awards,”The calibre of nominations in this, our first London program, has been outstanding with participation from world renowned design studios and brands.  Across 30 categories we’ve awarded 57 winners.”      ​

 Thank you to everyone who made it down to the Baca stand or participated in the Planning for LifE workshops at the Flood Defence and Prevention Expo last week.  The event, at which Richard Coutts, Robert Barker and Riccardo Pellizzon delivered talks, was a great success and is set to become a key fixture for any professional with an interest in flooding prevention.   Visitors were able to  try their hand at masterplanning with water in mind in a Baca workshop to create a safe masterplan that also maintained a sense of community.  The Expo attracted some of the most forward-thinking minds in the flooding world and the Practice looks forward to being involved again in future conferences.      ​

The UK’s first Amphibious House has won a Gold Award in the Architecture category at the 2014 London Design Awards.  The trophy will be presented to the Baca Architects team responsible for the project at a ceremony to be held at the Truman Brewery in London next week.  The London Design Awards celebrate those who produce excellent design works. To see the winning project, please visit the LDA website by clicking here.           ​

12:30 Thursday 4th December, 12:30 Friday 5th December Visitors to the Flood Defence Expo will be able to try out flood-mitigation methods in a masterplanning workshop led by Baca, pioneers of the award-winning LifE (Long-Term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments) Project. As with real life, the challenge is to create a masterplan that fits all the playing pieces on the plan whilst maintaining a sense of community and ensuring it is safe.  No prior experience or specific expertise is necessary and it is hoped that teams will include a broad range of people such as planners, highways and environment officers, consultants, developers and local interest groups. At the end of the workshop, teams will be invited to present their plan, then compare and contrast against other teams. A small open debate will follow to discuss the challenges presented by the Planning Scenario and how these tools are transferrable to other sites in the UK. To register for the workshop, please click here . The Flood Expo has attracted some of the most forward-thinking minds in the flooding world. To attend the Flood Defence & Prevention Expo go to www.flooddefenceexpo.co.uk to register for your free ticket and show guide.   ​

Robert Baker, Richard Coutts and Ricardo Pellizzon  will be delivering talks about working with water, integrated zero-carbon solutions and mitigating the effects of flooding as we move into the future at the Flood Defence & Prevention Expo on the 4th & 5th December at ExCeL London. FREE tickets are available for the two-day event, which is set to be a key fixture for any professional with an interest in flooding prevention. The expo has attracted some of the most forward-thinking minds in the flooding world.     

Following the transmission of the Amphibious House on C4’s Grand Designs and the subsequent number of enquiries into where people can catch Baca Architects speaking and lecturing at events, a diary of forthcoming engagements has been created. A list of current speaking engagements is included below, with further details to follow as each event approaches: RIBA Masterclass: Floating Houses and Flood Resistant Homes 25th November 2014 Richard Coutts will be one of the leading experts discussing climate change and how to build to reduce the damage caused by flooding. Tickets are available to be bought by clicking here. Resilience 14 – BRE Watford 26th November 2014 The Britain Under Water seminar will highlight the latest thinking on flood issues and examine ways to incentivise flood-resilient behaviour, insurance, flood-resilient construction, and what can be learned from other countries. Robert Barker will be presenting the new Flood Resilient Property Handbook, produced by Baca, BRE and Aquobex for Defra. For more information, please click here. Flood Defence Expo 4th-5th December 2014 Three Baca representatives will be speaking at the Conference, a problem solving and solutions exhibition featuring many of the world’s leading flood prevention companies as exhibitors, alongside an extensive seminar and workshop schedule highlighting new, cost-effective ways to prevent and manage floods. Robert Barker – Aquatecture – Flood-proof cities and water place-making Richard Coutts – LifE Initiatives – Designing for Climate Change and Flood-risk Riccardo Pellizzon – Future Housing – Amphibious, Elevated and Flood-Resilient Designs Baca will be hosting a live workshop each lunchtime, to masterplan in flood-risk areas using the award-winning Blue Infrastructure Toolkit. Baca will also be hosting a stand at the event if you wish to talk to one of their experts at the show. To book a free ticket to the event at Excel in London, please click here. Vision London 2nd-3rd June 2015 Vision is a new annual event for communities to discuss, debate and showcase the latest innovations and developments in architecture, design and the built environment. Richard Coutts will be talking in the Innovations in Architecture and Design stream about the Amphibious House and other water-related projects. ICAADE – Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering 26th-29th August 2015, Bangkok, Thailand Robert Barker will be a keynote speaker at the first International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering. For more information, please click here.    

The Climate Adaptive Neighbourhoods (CAN) Project has received a commendation in the 2014 RIBA President's Awards for Research .  Funded by the Technology Strategy Board, the project progressed Baca’s LifE (Long Term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments) Project, itself a winner of a 2009 President’s Medal for Research.  The CAN project is a holistic design initiative to climate adaptive domestic buildings in flood-prone areas. No overall winner was announced in the Award for Outstanding Practice-led Research, however the judges felt the Baca research deserved recognition: “This detailed analysis of the East Norwich housing that was a case study in the practice’s LifE Project research resulted in findings that are pertinent and applicable to future developments on flood-prone sites.  The judges felt this excellent research worthy of a commendation.”     ​

Director Robert Barker spent a recent afternoon delivering a presentation to visiting Chinese officials at the request of the Town and Country Planning Association .  The twenty delegates from the Guangzhou local authorities, including the Vice-mayor of Ghuangzhou,  who were in London to discuss riverside environment planning and protection.  The TCPA invited Baca to share the Practice’s specialist expertise and experiences with the visitors, relating to planning and designing with water. Robert presented and discussed some of Baca’s high-profile research and projects, including the MIPIM award-winning Eiland Veur Lent, Holland’s most ambitious Room for the River Project; a proposal for the future of Shanghai, designed to work with water, from the Practice’s forthcoming book, Aquatecture , to be published by RIBA in the New Year; the ; and the award-winning LifE Project (Long Term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments).      

October saw the anticipated debut of the UK’s first Amphibious House, designed by Baca, on C4’s Grand Designs show.  The family home on the banks of the River Thames, that rises in its dock to float in the event of a flood, is a major breakthrough for British architects and engineers who have been searching for a solution to mitigate flood-risk. Highlights of the show included the successful passing of the float test and the site under water during last winter’s terrible national flooding.  With this winter approaching and the potential for the first flood on the site of the newly-built house, it may not be long before the Amphibious House rises to the occasion.