Minutes of meeting held on 6th February 2017, commencing at 16:00 pm in Room 24, Newton,

Nottingham Trent University.

PRESENT: All members

J. Borkowska (JKB), J. Bowen (JHB), S. Dowson (SD), M. Ford (MF) and F. Knights (FK)

ACTION
1.0 MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES:
Every member to produce their fictitious CV.
Starts in 2017, the year when graduated NTU
Add in everything after then to lead you up to your role within the
practice
Discussion about the points outlined in the brief
Research into recycled materials available eg. Concrete and reusing
tyres and bottles
The amount of plastic that goes into landfill research
Company start-up costs research
Research upon potential studio spaces in existing Nottingham properties
How much architecture practices pay themselves when they start up
Research cost of renting workspace, plotters / printers, insurance,
software etc.
BIM level 4 research and what it is about
Behaviours in collaborations, in response to BIM level 4 research
Technologies research in relation to chosen sectors
Building methods research
Future materials research
Sector research Cultural, Social and Educational
Logo designs
RIBA logo on our company website
Website design
Research on the charity, Shine, looking at their work and the possibility
for our company to work with them

2.0 EDUCATION SPECIALITY

2.1 OUR CLIENTS

City council
Whoever runs private schools
Staff and students who work and study at the school
2.2 BEING MORE SPECIFIC
Look at education/ community facilities FK
Focus on local materials and recycling MF
Look at Jamie and Jimmy tv food programme (where they create a FK
community fridge) for inspiration and research
 Preventing waste working as a community and sharing things (see
programme listed in previous point)
Providing a similar atmosphere as RIBA Student Mentoring Scheme but
on a larger scale
Working with institutions through their courses, architecture students,
communities and children
3.0 PESTEL ANALYSIS:
This is outward focussed, looking at what the world is going to be like in
2024 and how that affects our company.
3.1 POLITICAL FACTORS:
Less funding from the EU for schools so less new builds are being built,
as it is harder to get planning and funding from the government.
However, our incentives of educational integrated courses with our
practice and the building construction are favoured upon and guaranteed
to get planning permission.
Environmental targets not set. EU set target for 20% renewable energy in
the UK by 2020 and now we have passed this date
More dependence on renewable energy
More demand for carbon neutral buildings with the Government
introducing a law that every new build has to be carbon neutral in the
next few years. Many companies are struggling to adapt to this but we
are ahead in this field. Creating more commissions for us with clients
choosing to go to experts within the field rather than those who
currently do not offer this feature.
More focus on vocational courses which we help institutions give
students real world experience in the construction industry.
As a result of leaving the EU, more locally sourced materials are used in
construction, favouring clients to come to our business.
Less import and export, less pollution created.
More taxes as they increase from 20% to 22%. This results in more
money given to the government, which can help to fund the creation of
new schools. In addition, this increases the number of projects
commissioned to us.
Government offering grants to get the community to participate in the
construction process

3.2 ECONOMIC FACTORS:

Economy doing well so interest rates go down.
Interest rates decrease because individuals want to save more. This will
benefit the firm because we do not have to pay as much interest on our
start up loans.
We do not earn as much interest on the profit we make but we can
borrow more, as we will not be paying back as much interest.
In case of a recession we have a wide range of different sized projects

3.3 SOCIAL FACTORS:

Population Increases resulting in the government demanding more
educational institutions. For example, primary and secondary schools,
colleges and universities.
5.0 SWOT ANALYSIS:
This is inward focussed, looking at us at individuals and our business.

6.0 ACTIONS FOR NEXT MEETING:

Type up minutes and upload to blog SD
Every member to produce their fictitious CV. ALL
- Starts in 2017, the year when graduated NTU
- Add in everything after then to lead you up to your role within the
practice
Book room for next weeks meeting SD
Read the Brief again ALL
Print out the Brief and annotate JHB
Company start-up costs research JKB
Research upon potential studio spaces in existing Nottingham properties JKB
Look up how much architecture practices pay themselves when they
start up JKB
Research cost of renting workspace, plotters / printers, insurance,
software etc. JKB
BIM level 4 research and what it is about SD
Behaviours in collaborations, in response to BIM level 4 research SD
Research technologies in relation to chosen sectors MF
Research building methods (building processes and techniques) MF
Research future materials MF
Sector research Cultural, Social and Educational FK
Improve logo designs JHB
Research more into the charity, Shine, looking at their work and the JHB
possibility for our company to work with them
Research into the materials Hill Holt Wood uses in their projects MF
Research into what Hill Holt Wood do JHB
Research into recycled materials available eg. Concrete and reusing MF
tyres and bottles
The amount of plastic that goes into landfill research MF
Create our individual SWOT analysis ALL
- Referring to our individual roles
Finish PESTEL analysis ALL
Everyone review minutes ALL

6.1 TO DISCUSS IN THE NEXT MEETING:

RIBA logo on our company website
Website design
Points outlined in the brief

7.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING:

Monday 13th February 2017
10am
Room 0.1, Boots Library, Nottingham Trent University