MEET THE SPEAKER
Rachel
Pickford
Project Architect and Vectorworks Lead
Sarah Wigglesworth Architects
Rachel Pickford is a project architect and the Vectorworks lead at Sarah Wigglesworth Architects (SWA). She joined SWA in April 2021, having worked as an architect and subsequently as an Associate at TDO Architecture for just under six years. Pickford is interested in how we can design and build in ways to create sustainable neighbourhoods from initial strategic definition to project delivery.
Pickford has extensive experience within the residential sector and mixed-use schemes. She has led extensions and one-off homes, as well as larger schemes for new neighbourhoods, which provide a mix of housing typologies and amenities. Within this sector, she has worked on several modular schemes which utilise repeated typologies. Her expertise covers all RIBA Stages, and her excellent technical ability supports her creative approach to problem-solving at a variety of scales.
Since joining SWA, Pickford has continued to develop her interest in sustainable residential schemes working across both new build and retrofit. She has been the project architect for the Elms for RIBA stages 2 and 3, leading the design and coordination of this new neighbourhood in Nottingham up to the Planning submission. In parallel, she has led a pilot project to retrofit of 9 service family homes with the MOD’s Catterick Garrison, currently featured in the Building Centre’s Retrofit 2023 Exhibition.
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Developing Workflows: Designing a New Residential Neighbourhood
Sarah Wigglesworth Architects (SWA) is an award-winning design practice that specialises in low-energy buildings and sustainable communities. SWA believe in a people-centered approach that acknowledges, rectifies, and minimises the social, environmental, and economic impacts of their work, through the life cycle of every project.
SWA’s presentation will give an overview of their practice’s Vectorworks strategy and how this has progressed over time. They have developed office resources, templates, and dedicated manuals to optimise their workflow to ensure continuity and standardisation across projects.
SWA will talk us through one of their recent projects, The Elms, a new residential neighbourhood in Nottingham, comprising 60 homes on a steeply sloping, landscaped site. They will present how this project was set up in Vectorworks to support the design development of housing typologies (plan layouts/space planning), streets, and public realm (sketch visuals and massing), culminating in a coordinated proposal for this new neighbourhood (planning drawings and schedules.)
The presentation will conclude with key lessons learnt from the project and ways in which SWA are looking to continue improving and developing its technological workflows.