ArchiVisit 7th Edition - organised by SACES in collaboration with iAS

The 7th edition of ArchiVisit has now come and gone, and once again the trip proved to be an invaluable experience for students of the Faculty for the Built Environment.

Organised by SACES in collaboration with iAS, this year's edition took students on another week of site visits across London, building on the success of last year's 6th edition.

The week began with a visit to Chapman Taylor, where the students were shown the firm's work across different countries, offering a fascinating look into the diversity of their portfolio. This was followed by a workshop in which the Maltese students were divided into groups and tasked with developing proposals for two different areas of the Grand Harbour in Malta. The proposals were then critiqued by the team at Chapman Taylor, giving students a genuine taste of what it is like to work on a large-scale project and receive professional feedback on their ideas.

In the afternoon, the group visited the Bartlett School of Architecture, where students were once again impressed by the unique design approaches on display. A number of Bartlett students presented their projects and walked the group through their creative processes, making for a highly relatable session filled with questions and shared perspectives. The visit also included a walk through the school's summer exhibition, showcasing a diverse range of student work, as well as a look at the workshops and the wide range of tools and materials available to Bartlett students.

On Tuesday, the day started with a site visit organised by ARUP. Students were brought to a vantage point close to an active construction site, where they could observe the different stages of the build from a bird's eye view. The team from ARUP explained the process of construction in London, and also spoke about the importance of roof gardens as amenity spaces. Standing atop the building surrounded by skyscrapers, the students were treated to a skyline unlike anything they are used to seeing in Malta.

The second visit of the day was to the Squire and Partners Department Store in Brixton. This office visit focused on the conservation and adaptive reuse of the historical building, with students learning about the design strategies used to preserve its original character while transforming it into a modern space. The visit ended, fittingly, with a stop at the firm's rooftop bar, a perfect way to close out the day.

Wednesday began with a visit to an exhibition space focused on glass and facade engineering, a discipline that is not given much attention in Malta. Hearing from someone who has worked on major facade projects across London gave the students valuable insight into how this knowledge might be applied back home, and hopefully offered inspiration that students of all levels can carry into their own studies.

The second visit of the day was to Fardaa/Morris & Company Studios, where students learned about the journey of starting up an architecture firm and gradually growing it into an established identity. The visit also included a tour of the workshop spaces available to the firm, giving students fresh ideas for model-making and new ways of expressing their projects physically.

Thursday's first visit brought the students to the offices of LOM, where they were welcomed alongside EOC for a workshop on facade design. The two firms explained their working methods before dividing the students into four groups to tackle the facade of the very building they were standing in. These short, one-to-two-hour workshops once again proved to be highly effective at getting students to collaborate and develop concepts quickly, and the Maltese students were commended for the quality of their work.

The second visit of the day was to UCL Skylab, where students had the opportunity to view the university's advanced laboratories, including a daylight simulator. Researchers spoke about the work being carried out at the Skylab, giving students an eye-opening look at the upper limits of research in architecture and engineering.

The final day began with a return to Kew Gardens, a visit that has become something of a tradition and was also a highlight of last year's edition. This year's workshop, run with Mizzi Studio, asked students to find an organic shape within the gardens and use it as inspiration for a design that could be applied anywhere of their choosing, whether in Malta, London, or Kew Gardens itself. Students were also encouraged to use artificial intelligence to generate renders, demonstrating just how efficient AI can be for producing quick conceptual visuals, an approach that impressed the team from Mizzi Studio.

The trip concluded, as it did last year, with a visit to the Royal College of Art to see their architecture show, giving students yet another perspective on how architecture can be approached and presented.

Once again, ArchiVisit proved to be more than just an educational trip. It gave students the chance to work together, exchange ideas, and build friendships across year groups, all while gaining exposure to practices and ways of thinking that are difficult to find at home. As SACES, we are extremely grateful to our sponsors and to all those who made this year's edition possible.

Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors, Project Green, Malta Tourism Authority, Building and Construction Authority, Planning Authority, Bonnici Brothers, and Atlantis Management Limited, as well as the Faculty for the Built Environment for their continued support of our student organisation, without whom events such as this would not be possible.