Minutes of meeting held on 20th February 2017, commencing at 4 pm in Room 24, Newton,

Nottingham Trent University.

PRESENT: All members

J. Borkowska (JKB), J. Bowen (JHB), S. Dowson (SD), M. Ford (MF)

ABSENT: 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
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
How much architecture practices pay themselves when they start up
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
Research into the materials Hill Holt Wood uses in their projects
Research into what Hill Holt Wood do
Create our individual SWOT analysis referring to our individual roles
Company SWOT analysis
Company PESTEL analysis
Find images of chosen precedents and upload to blog
What is the evidence of your directors suitability for their chosen roles
within the firm (modelled partially upon personal career development
plans following graduation)?
What is your firms product? What is the market for this product? What
is your unique selling point (USP)?
What are your firms strengths and weaknesses? What opportunities and
threats may affect its success?
Who are your clientele (and who else might they be in the future)?
How does your business fit into the Nottingham community? Who is
competing with you locally and/or nationally for potential clients?
How will you demonstrate commercial viability? Where will you get set-
up funding, and how much is required?
What will be the capital and running costs of the practice? What profits
do you anticipate and when?
 How will you manage your company? Will it be a private or publicly
owned organisation, a partnership or a co-operative? What kind of
employer will you be?
What is your attitude to sustainability and carbon reduction?
How might another economic recession affect your business? How would
you diversify or change course if needed? How might you expand the
scope of your business activities?
How will you market/promote your company?
Look into companies can order promotional materials from and the
prices they charge
Hands on promotion on the stand
Recycled wood/bricks. Research ways on how to make this interesting
and how to put this together
Freebies to draw people in eg. Sweets and Keyrings. Research into laser
cutting keyrings or using recycled paper
Talk to laser cutter technician about sanding down blocks for Jenga game
then laser cutting our logo into it (if this can be done as the pieces are
already cut out)
Social Media
- Instagram
- Facebook
- Twitter
- YouTube Account
- Set up all social media platforms to promote our company through
Apply uni disclaimers to the account and social media
CLT Precedent Research for an educational building eg. Laurentian
Architecture Laurentienne (A school built out of CLT)
Research in more detail PPS
Research cost of renting workspace, plotters / printers, insurance,
software etc.
SD start to add information to contact us page
Location map and text added to contact us page
SD added small paragraph about the company and location to contact us
page
JHB to add more depth about the company on the Contact Us page
JHB to link up all social media once they have been created
SD to move the minutes to the blog
SD to delete minutes from the website
SD to expand the boxes where you can view the minutes so that they can
be read easier
MF to do further precedent research that focuses on rammed earth
MF to look at School precedents that focus on CLT
Not just precedent research but the construction process behind it
Maybe start looking at these precedents in further detail, look on the
company website for construction details
Look how materials get put together
Green roofs do further research on construction details
Look into companies can order promotional materials from and the
prices they charge
 JKB to further research cost of renting equipment use these when we
start up and our own laptops and in our 5 year business plan aim to buy
some of the more expensive equipment
JHB to put information about Shine Charity on the website
JHB to post on the blog the competition websites found
JHB to create a page on the website on past competitions we have
entered
JHB to look into other companies we could be sponsored/accredited by

2.0 SOCIAL MEDIA CREATION

FK set up Instagram
JHB set up Facebook page and twitter account
SD set up YouTube

3.0 WEBSITE AND BLOG UPDATES

Task discussion:

Contact us page has been updated and all relevant tasks completed
JHB added business info to contact us page
JHB created a blog
Minutes have been uploaded to blog by SD and deleted from the website
JHB linked all social media feeds to the website
SD, JHB and MF copied all information across to blog from our groups
Facebook
JHB to add tab for business plan onto the blog
Everyone to contribute to blog in future by putting research on blog
rather than Facebook page
JHB added on Hill Holt Wood Research
JHB added Shine Charity Research

Tutor feedback:

Homepage:

pick one key image to have on the page rather than scrolling down the
page, looking at every project
looks exactly the same as our portfolio page
Hyperlink images or text on the homepage

Portfolio:

add project descriptions alongside / underneath precedent images

write a sentence or so for each
eg. Cynosium (make up the date) Spare petrol station came up for sale
at .. (can say a site in Nottingham)
can manipulate photos and add people in so that the designs look more
educational
Been in business in less than a year but could have worked with others /
other practices on the projects
 Dont spend too much time on just the precedents
Images need to clearly reflect our ideas / ethos - community,
sustainability, education

News:

pretend won an award

Website in general:

Split up website by moving items to the blog. This will make the website
appear more professional
Blog has the minutes and general research
Put information you dont want clients to see, on the blog
Instead of just having everything on under the practice tab, have
separate pages on each director under this / an about us page
Website must be full of cross-links if cant link say see ..
Dont want business to sound too corporate as we are supposed to be
people friendly

About us page:

What we do / What we stand for positioning statement / Disclaimer -

add in parts saying for more information click here
Link separate director pages to other pages
eg. marketing director add link say for more info about marketing
manager click here
- Add on what actions can you take as that particular person
On individual director pages - Have profile image and info about that
person
Talk to each other so that our director pages and what is on them link
(the design)
SWOT Analysis info goes only on the marketing manager page this
combines an analysis of the market
Admin Directors page something they see for the future and the
actions that come out of this

Blog:

Have blog as scrapbook / record of discussion

Can find stuff for each other and put on the blog
Discuss research with each other on blog add comments
Treated as a platform for posting completed research
Blog = 20% of grade

4.0 EQUIPMENT AND IT PROGRAMS

Discussed the research carried out by SD.
Cheaper monitor alternatives, Lenovo and ASUS monitors
5.0 STATEMENT OF ETHOS
Create 1 / 2 sentences about working with the community (our ethos)
Write 2 / 3 / 4 sentences relating to the Business Action Plan table on the
seminar sheet
Things you believe in as a practice
Idea, philosophy, design ethos working with people
Look at other practices ethos to see if they do a similar thing can take
their writing but need to reference it (put ref with statement rather than
creating a bibliography)
Copy and paste from peoples websites if they do a similar thing that you want
to do so that it looks okay

Statement to include:
1. Our values and beliefs
2. What kinds of work we would particularly like to focus on
3. Kind of reputation we aspire to maintain
4. How we aim to express our ethos internally + externally (our policies)
6.0 TEMPLATE FOR BUSINESS ACTION PLAN
Strategic Context business aims (who / what / where / when)
Long-term action how you will achieve these aims

S.M.A.R.T:
Specific describe actions that need to be taken
Measurable define actions by giving them a number (numerical targets)
Attainable actions that can be done
Relevant inline with our positioning statement + ethos
Time-bound

Think of strategy first and then an action

Need actions completed for next week as we are going to cost them

Started action plan:

Manager Strategic Suggested Short-Term Long-term

Responsible Context Topics Action Action
Administrative Create Activities Working Achieve ISO
standard and Services towards 9001 quality
documents quality standard
to give control
clients
Incorporate People Offer work Mentoring
teaching experience infrastructure
students the Invite local
ways of our students to
practice take part in
project
reviews
IT Ensure we QA BS 9001 Expand office
are Protocols registered handbook to
continuously include
 improving within 18 environmental
our QA months assurance
System
Create an
office
handbook
Technology Get Introducing Develop a Everyone
everyone up new staff CPD trained on a
to date with and CPD management particular CPD
CPD training plan to
ensure
(Technologist everyone is
could up to date
provide this with CPD
CPD training
for staff)
Image Expand Culture and Timber and Expand into
construction Design low the use of
materials embodied plastics
energy
designed
buildings

The actions for the Business Action Plan form the Business Plan
Business Plan format use tables where possible (but add our own
branding and colours so can jazz it up a bit)
Business plan split into row headings from sheet

6.1 CHARTERED RIBA PRACTICE

Decide if we want to be a chartered practice or not we will have to
have so many chartered architects (need to look up this value around
300 / 400 a year)
RIBA Membership expensive (look up cost on their website)
These all provide cost implications for the Financial Director to deal with
DECISION:
Not to become a chartered practice in the first three years due to the
cost overriding the benefits

7.0 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS

To be taken straight after the seminar at 6:05 pm in Newton Atrium beside the
Cafe on Level 1
After taking the photos, MF to upload the photos to the blog.
Upload photos in Black and white as this will give a more professional
image
10.0 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
Research into recycled materials available eg. Concrete and reusing MF
tyres and bottles
The amount of plastic that goes into landfill research MF
Company start-up costs research JKB
Look up how much architecture practices pay themselves when they JKB
start up
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
Create our individual SWOT analysis referring to our individual roles ALL
Create company SWOT analysis FK & JHB
Finish PESTEL analysis ALL
Everyone review minutes ALL
What is the evidence of your directors suitability for their chosen roles SD & MF
within the firm (modelled partially upon personal career development
plans following graduation)?
What is your firms product? What is the market for this product? What FK & JHB
is your unique selling point (USP)?
What are your firms strengths and weaknesses? What opportunities and SD
threats may affect its success?
Who are your clientele (and who else might they be in the future)? FK
How does your business fit into the Nottingham community? Who is FK
competing with you locally and/or nationally for potential clients?
How will you demonstrate commercial viability? Where will you get set- JKB
up funding, and how much is required?
What will be the capital and running costs of the practice? What profits JKB
do you anticipate and when?
How will you manage your company? Will it be a private or publicly SD & MF
owned organisation, a partnership or a co-operative? What kind of ALL
employer will you be?
What is your attitude to sustainability and carbon reduction? JHB
How might another economic recession affect your business? How would MF
you diversify or change course if needed? How might you expand the
scope of your business activities?
How will you market/promote your company? FK & JHB
Researching into ways we can provide a hands on promotion on the JHB
stand
Research in more detail PPS FK
SD to type up minutes SD
MF to do further precedent research that focuses on rammed earth MF
Not just precedent research but the construction process behind it MF
 Maybe start looking at these precedents in further detail, look on the MF
company website for construction details
Look how materials get put together MF
Green roofs do further research on construction details MF
JKB to further research cost of renting equipment use these when we JKB
start up and our own laptops and in our 5 year business plan aim to buy
some of the more expensive equipment

9.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING:

Monday 27th February 2017
2pm
Room 24, Newton, Nottingham Trent University

(ONLY GOT 4 WEEKS REMAINING OF THIS PROJECT)