Bachelor of Design in Architecture (Urban Design & Planning)/(Digital Arch)/( Allied Arts in Arch.)
DESIGN PRACTICE 3A
Year 3, March Semester, 2006, 12 credit points
Coordinator: Kristine Sodersten
Aims
The aim of this unit of study, together with the following unit, Design Practice 3B, is to develop your
architectural design abilities in all areas, both pragmatic and poetic, to a pre-professional level.
• Progressive use of knowledge
Consistent with the aims of the course as a whole, you will be required to use the understanding you have
gained in all your previous core units of study. You will be required to build on that understanding.
• Scale and complexity of projects
In this unit, and also in Design Practice 3B, you will be engaged in architecture at the scale of the city. In
both units of study the emphasis is on complex, medium scale design projects, resolved to increasingly high
level of competence as you move from Design Practice 3A to 3B.
• Consultants
As projects of this type are the result of collaboration with teams of architects and other design professionals,
including consultants, there is increased emphasis on collaborative working with consultants, within groups.
• Designing skills
You will also be required interpret multiple levels of complex interacting design issues, problems and
opportunities. These will include site, context and programmatic issues, organisational, formal and
spatial issues, programming interpretation, materiality realisation and interpretative skill.
• Research
Research is a key aspect of the design project in this unit of study. Research will inform all aspects of the
design, and you are expected to show how you have used evidence from your research to investigate,
develop and interpret the clients requirements in a developed brief, in your design intent, and in your design
proposal.
• Technical Design Skills
The knowledge you will be required to understand and demonstrate includes the following:
• the design of key aspects of the internal environment of a medium scale building and impact of design
decisions upon aspects of the external environments.
• the construction and materiality of your designs particularly typical systems of construction for medium
scale buildings and their design for particular circumstances.
• sufficient structural understanding to develop architectural structural strategies for medium scale
buildings.
• Communications
A high level of your skills in communicating your designs in verbal, digital and physical graphic and modelled
form will be required to clearly demonstrate your understanding at a high level of pre-professionalism
required in this unit.
Objectives
On the successful completion of this unit you will have demonstrated at a high level:
 your ability to research, interpret and express poetic and pragmatic in your design, based on the
evidence from your own and others’ research, including:
 Social, cultural and physical context and site issues
 Developed brief, planning and organization
 Form, spatial expression, materiality and environmental performance
To do this you will be need to use critical thinking, investigative, interpretative and problem-solving skills
and scholarship to inform your design decisions at all levels, including the study of precedents; You will
need to use self-reliance, initiative and resourcefulness in finding information, references, case studies etc
for the project, and take responsibility for your learning.
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
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

your understanding of environmental, construction and structural issues, through embodying your
knowledge in the proposal and detailed development of your building design.
your ability to reflect upon, evaluate, understand and improve your own designing.

your ability to communicate and express of your design intent, concepts and proposals.
Skills of graduates of the University of Sydney
These general skills apply in all areas of your life but particularly in design. Through successfully completing
this unit of study you will develop the following generic skills:
• your collaborative skills, through researching in small groups.
• your reflective skills, particularly in evaluating your own work and development, leading to effective
reflective professional practice and life-long learning.
• your knowledge skills, through the increasing your body of knowledge in the field and applying theory to
practice in an new situation through applying knowledge to the design of a building in a specific context, and
through carrying out field studies
• your thinking skills, through accounting for your decision-making in designing, and through being realistic
self-evaluator; by adopting a problem-solving approach and by creative and imaginative thinking in solving
design problems.
• your personal skills and attributes, particularly your life-long learning skills, through taking further personal
responsibility for your learning, developing increased self-reliance and developing your judgement in
designing.
• your practical skills in the field of study
Workload
Workload in terms of total student effort required to get a pass level result for this unit of study is 312 hours
This includes both timetabled and non-timetabled work.
• contact time : 126 hours
• weekly preparation time: 12 hours average per week for 9 weekly studio sessions this
semester = 108 hours on average
• assignment preparation: 78 hours on average
Role of this unit of study
This mandatory unit of study in the BDesArch program will be expect students to use the knowledge gained
in the pre-requisite unit for the BArch – ‘Contemporary Architecture and Theory’ to inform their designing.
Design Practice 3A and 3B are central to the program, worth 50% of the course, and together with the prerequisite in each semester, accounts for 75% of the course. This unit of study is required as a key part of all
streams you are taking, and it relates directly to the practice of the profession of Architecture and all its
related forms. It forms the basis for further applied study and practice in all the fields related to the built
environment, from Project Management through to Heritage Conservation.
Structure of this Unit of Study
As with the degree as a whole, the unit of study is organised into three domains of knowledge. In this unit of
study, the relevant knowledge explored in each particular section of the domain knowledge is required to be
applied to the design project.
Design, social and cultural studies,
architectural history, theory:
• Social and cultural issues, design theories and knowledge,
contextual, formal, spatial,issues
• Precedents in architecture
• Communication of design
Environmental, Structures
and construction:
• Environmental strategies: sun, wind, fire and rain.
• Ergonomics, planning
• Construction systems, strategies, materials and details
• Services
• Structural decisions and strategies
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
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• Teaching Structure and Studio
In the studio the knowledge explored will be investigated on Mondays and in the BArch prerequisite units of
study, through seminars, lectures, studio, laboratories, tutorials, workshops or field studies, and this will be
followed by studio on Tuesday with group and individual tutorials on your design, work in small groups with
an individual tutor. You are free to consult with other tutors. You will have your own drawing/work table in
your group area and you will have 24-hour access to the building. Card access will be required to the
building, your studio, and the computer labs outside normal opening hours.
• Drawing equipment and materials
Bring to all sessions: model-making materials for study models and drawing paper and equipment –
butter paper or similar
Difficulties
• Breakdown of communication with your tutor.
Changing groups can only be through irretrievable breakdown of communication with your tutor and after
three weeks into semester there will be no changes. Group numbers must be maintained and exchanges
found only if exchange is essential. Make an appointment to speak directly with your Design Practice/Year
Coordinator first. After discussion, a cooling-off period of at least one-week will be required, followed by
another interview, before any change can be considered.
• Concerns about assessment
Concerns can range from arithmetical error, to concerns about a mark, to concerns about the assessment
procedures, to a concern about a tutor’s biased judgement.
All students have the right to ask for a re-assessment, however during parity, all tutors look at your work.
In a formal re-presentation and assessment the original mark is discarded and a new mark replaces the old,
which may be lower or higher than, or the same as the original. Requests for a formal re-examination must
be in writing.
See your unit of study lecturer first if you are concerned by the outcome of an assessment. If your concerns
have not been resolved, see your Year or Program Coordinator or then Head of School – you must set out
your concerns in writing – either email or a letter. Act sooner rather than later. Resolution can include a remark using same or new examiners, clarifying of issues, fixing arithmetical or other errors.
• Complaints
The University has a structured system of dealing with complaints – see MyUni or your unit of study lecturer,
Year or Program Coordinator, the Head of School, the Associate Dean Undergraduate, the Professor of
Architecture. Write, send an email or make an appointment. Act sooner rather than later to resolve issues .
University email communication
Check you university email regularly as it will be the way any changes of plan, clarifications etc are issued.
Consultancy hours – coordinator
I will be available at the following times for consultation:
Mondays 1.30 –3.30pm by scheduled appointments – there are 15 minute appointment slots for these
sessions on the schedule on my door Room 322.
and 3.30pm – 4pm by special appointments – please contact me by email or phone to make and confirm an
appointment.
My contact details are set out at the end of this handout.
Unit of Study Timetable
The generic timetable issued in Week 1 will be updated as required. Individual lecturers may also issue more
detailed schedules for their particular classes. It is each student’s responsibility to be aware of when
particular activities take place. Field trips or practical sessions may take place off campus Please make sure
you know the location of all classes and observe starting times. Note that attendance is mandatory
(compulsory) for all Design Practice sessions – see details further on in this handout.
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
3.
Unit of Study Attendance and Assessment Requirements
Assessment – competency and achievement levels
The approach to competency and merit grading of assessed summative tasks Design Practice 3A and 3B, and
in the degree as a whole, is based on the standards-referencing approach, where your achievements are
measured against a competency standard and assessed against criteria, rather than norm-referencing
approach, where your achievements are compared with the work of other students undertaking the same
assessment.
Summative assessment tasks
•
Mastery tasks must be passed – Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory results will be given
•
Satisfactory submissions will receive competency merit grades of C (Competent), HC (highly
competent or Superior) and OC (outstandingly competent or Outstanding) will be given for satisfactory
submissions.
•
Unsatisfactory submissions will either be given extra work as a Resubmission, or a Fail.
•
Resubmissions will be offered if the work is deemed by the examiners to be able to reach pass
standard within the time available and with a small amount of extra work.
•
Late submissions – see below under ‘Late Work’
•
Special Consideration – if you are ill, suffer misadventure or if your work is late due to the failure of
University equipment you may apply for an extension to submission dates under the Special Consideration
policy. See under ‘Late Work’ below.
Attendance
Attendance at all sessions of Design Practice 3A is mandatory. Attendance means arriving at the time
required – usually 9 or 10 am, and staying until lectures or studio ends [usually 5 pm except on presentation
days, when presentation may go to 7.30 pm or 8 pm – tell your tutor if you have a class or work after 6 pm so
you can be scheduled earlier]. Two early departures or late arrivals to studio are acceptable. Attendance is
recorded in studio by your tutor.
‘Not Satisfactory’ for attendance results in failure to pass. If you are absent, bring to the Coordinator
(Kristine) a Special Consideration Form with documented reasons for absence. You are expected to put in a
full day’s work on Design Practice days. Studio is a preliminary experience for professional work in an office.
Assessment tasks
2. Mastery/feedback
• Research topic report: due end of day, Monday 20 March 06 by electronic
submission (groups)
• Interim: design presentation Monday 24 April 06,
4. Feedback
• 27 June 05.
3. Summative tasks
• Final Presentation of Design (55%) , Evidence-based Design Research
Report (20%) and Design Development (Drawings and Report) (25%)
• Design drawings, models and 1:20 section to be SUBMITTED Monday
29 May 06, 3pm to 5 pm.
• Final Presentation of design 9.00am Tuesday 30 May 06
• Evidence-based Design Research Report and Design Development
Report submitted by 5.00 pm Friday 17 June for assessment
Design Development (Drawings and Report) will be assessed by consultants
and tutors in your absence on Monday 21 June and Tuesday 22 June 05
• All Resubmitted work due Tuesday 12 July 05
[Winter School -see below under Resubmissions - for selected students
Monday 20 June , then Monday 27 June to Friday 1 July
work due Friday 1 July in studio – to be confirmed ]
1. Mastery
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
4.
Late Work
NO LATE PRESENTATIONS for Interim design or Final Presentation WILL BE ACCEPTED EXCEPT IF
DUE TO ILLNESS OR MISADVENTURE.
Submissions of Design Development Report will be subject to the published Faculty Late Policy.
As Design Presentation submission date is prior to presentation, late submissions will be subject to the
published Faculty Late Policy.
Note that the Faculty of Architecture Special Consideration, Late Submission and Attendance policy has
changed. It is available on the Architecture website under ‘Current Students’ (www.arch.usyd.edu.au). YOU
are strongly advised to familiarise yourself with these policies early in the semester.
Apply for extension on the yellow forms as required (on Architecture Faculty website under ‘Current students –
forms’), and after your application is signed by the coordinator or lecturer in charge of the unit of study, submit
the completed forms together with any required certification, to the Student Services Office on level 4 of
Wilkinson Building within 7 days of illness etc unless prevented by serious circumstances such as
hospitalisation. You will be notified by e (Supply a copy to the Coordinator and submit a copy with your
submission).
•
Special Consideration – if you are ill you may apply for an extension to submission dates under the
Special Consideration policy. See under ‘Late Work’ above. See Faculty of Architecture home page on the
website www.arch.usyd.edu.au Note the limitations to receiving Special Consideration, and the definitions
of major and minor illness.
•
Extensions – see Faculty Late Policy and Special Consideration Policy. If your work is late due to the
failure of University equipment you may apply for an extension – see above policies.
Satisfactory submissions - Pass
Performance merit grades of C [competent], HC [highly competent] and OC [outstandingly competent] will be
given for submissions which meet pass requirements and demonstrate identified levels of excellence in
meeting assessment criteria.
The final mark and grade for Design Practice 3A, which will be awarded to each student at the end of the
semester will be High Distinction (HD), Distinction (D), Credit (CR), Pass (P): for passing grades
INC indicates that your assessment is incomplete [either due to illness or the requirement to submit additional
work.]
F
indicates that you have failed to satisfy the requirements of the unit.
These grades are based on your competency grades (see following section for details)
There are three principal assessments for this semester. The One-day Design Project forms 10% of the total
summative assessment and the major Design Project forms 60% of the total summative assessment, and
the Design Development Drawings and Report submission forms 30% of the total.
For conversion to grades, the competency indicators are weighted approximately —
OC
5
HC
3
C
1
However consistencency at a high level (OC) is rated more highly overall.
Unsatisfactory submissions - Resubmission
Students whose submissions are assessed as not satisfactory but in the judgement of the examiner show
evidence that they could be brought up to a pass standard with some extra work (but no extra teaching on
that task), may be resubmitted. This is a requirement for awarding resubmission, and is set out in the
University of Sydney Examiner’s manual.
All Resubmissions in Design will be ‘major resubmission required’.
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
5.
• Resubmission of One-day design project: all unsatisfactory work will be given a resubmission, due the
following Tuesday at 10am.
• Resubmission of the Major Design Project: Students must attend a one-week ‘Winter School’ program
on 20 June then from 27 June to 1 July, pass this satisfactorily, and pass satisfactorily the Design
Development (Report and Drawings) of the Major Design project before they may resubmit their major
design project. Failing to satisfy either or both the Winter School and the Design Development of the major
project will result in a ‘Fail’ result for Design Practice 3A. (details will be handed out at the time).
• Resubmission of the Design Development (Drawings and Report) of the Major Design Project.
Resubmission of a key component/s of one or more Sections of the Design Development (Drawings and
Report) will be a ‘Major resubmission’ while a resubmission of a minor component of one or more Sections
will be a ‘Minor resubmission’ required.
• Fail result if a ‘resubmit’ is given for both major Design project and Design Development Report
Students whose work is below pass standard in the Major Design Project (60%) and is given a
Resubmission, and then whose work is again below pass standard (‘Major resubmission required’) in
Design Development of the major project (Drawings and Report) (30%), will not be given opportunity to
resubmit, and will have failed to satisfy the requirements of the unit.
To clarify: if a student’s work is accorded a ‘Major Resubmission’ in both the Major Design project and
Design Development of the major project (Drawings and Report) at the end of the final semester of Year 3 in
Design Practice 3A, this will be recorded as an outright Fail.
The maximum percentage mark for a full Resubmission in either the Design Proposal, or in any section of
the Design Development (Drawings and Report) is 50% (Satisfactory/Pass – C2). If a resubmission required
is a minor part of the Section of the Report that is resubmitted, the assessment for that section is 50%.
If extra work is required to achieve Competent level in either the Major Design Proposal or in the full Design
Development Drawings and Report, the maximum overall mark for this unit of study will be 70%.
Unsatisfactory submissions - Fail
This result is recorded if a student’s work does not meet either pass or resubmission requirements (given
‘Not Satisfactory’) and in the judgement of the examiner will not meet pass standard without either a large
amount of extra work and/or extra teaching to complete that task.
Students whose work is assessed as Not Satisfactory in the major Design Project and Design Development
of major project), and in the opinion of the examiner that the work will not be able to reach a satisfactory
standard on resubmission, will have that work recorded as F and will not be able to pass Design Practice 3A.
Pass with merit results
70% Design
10%
OC
OC
HC
HC
C
OC
HC
C
OC
OC
HC
HC
60%
OC
OC
OC
OC
OC
HC
HC
OC
OC
HC
OC
HC
30%
Design
Develop.
Result
30%
OC
HC
OC
HC
OC
OC
OC
HC
C
HC
C
HC
99
95
95
90
90
85
85
85
80
80
80
80
HD
HD
HD
HD
HD
HD
HD
HD
HD
D
D
D
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
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C
OC
OC
HC
HC
C
OC
C
OC
80 D
75 D
75 D
Pass with merit results (contd)
70% Design
10%
HC
HC
C
C
C
OC
HC
C
C
OC
HC
C
60%
HC
C
OC
HC
C
C
C
HC
C
C
C
C
30%
Design
Develop.
Result
30%
C
OC
C
HC
OC
HC
HC
C
HC
C
C
C
75
75
75
75
75
70
70
70
70
65
65
65
D
D
D
D
D
CR
CR
CR
CR
CR
CR
CR
Pass on Resubmission of major Design project results
70% Design
30%
Design
Develop.
10%
60%
30%
HC
OC
C
C2
HC
OC
C
C2
HC
OC
C
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
OC
OC
OC
OC
HC
HC
HC
HC
C
C
C
C
Result
65
65
60
60
60
60
55
55
55
55
50
50
CR
CR
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
Pass on Resubmission of Design Development results
70% Design
10%
HC
OC
60%
OC
OC
30%
Design
Develop.
Result
30%
C2
C2
70 CR
70 CR
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
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C
C2
OC
HC
C
C2
C
HC
OC
C2
OC
OC
HC
HC
HC
HC
C
C
C
C
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
C2
65
65
65
65
60
60
55
55
55
55
CR
CR
CR
CR
P
P
P
P
P
P
Fail results
Resubmission
(major)
Resubmission
(major)
F
Not
satisfactory fail outright
Any grade
F
Any grade
Not
satisfactory fail outright
F
Responsibility for assessment
Your individual Interim Design schemes will be given feedback as satisfactory or not satisfactory by your
studio tutor and one other tutor, and compared across groups in a short ‘parity’ session.
Your Interim Design Development submission will be given feedback as satisfactory or not satisfactory by
the construction, structures and environment consultants.
A jury of two tutors will initially assess your Final Presentation, with visiting critics invited to comment. The
Technical Design will be assessed in a separate session by the relevant consultants only.
There will be final overall assessment of your whole Design Development submission by the studio tutor,
when the Design and Design Development (Drawings and Report) will be compared in a joint parity session
across groups on Tuesday 9 November 04.
The responsibility for all marks in this unit of study rests with the Design Practice 3B/Year 3 Coordinator,
whose word will be final in the event of any disagreement.
Plagiarism
Your enrolment if the University of Sydney indicates that you have accepted the conditions of that enrolment.
You are expected to be familiar with all relevant University Policies. These include University of Sydneythe
policy on Plagiarism, and ‘Responsibilities of students’.
You must acknowledge the intellectual property of others and differentiate it from your own by noting the
source of any examples, precedents and other work used by you.
All work presented for summative tasks must be your own, with any other authorship cited [noted]. Using the
intellectual property of others and presenting it as your own intentionally, and without acknowledgment of
authorship, breaches intellectual copyright and is called plagiarism, which will incur serious penalties ranging
from zero marks for the work to exclusion from the University.
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
8.
For example if two or more students independently submit the same piece of work, claiming it as their own
work, and without acknowledgement of the contribution of the other, that is plagiarism. If one student is
asked by another to help them with assessment and give them some work to copy, and the first student
complies, BOTH students will have committed plagiarism.
The University policy on plagiarism is to be found on the University of Sydney home page at
www.usyd.edu.au Follow the links to the plagiarism policy or use ‘search’.
Keeping a copy of your Work
KEEP A COPY OF ALL YOUR WORK. IF WORK IS LOST OR STOLEN IT CANNOT BE REPLACED. Work
on paper done in the studio is easily transported, however models are difficult and you must ensure these
are recorded through photographs for your portfolio. This is your responsibility. Take care of all work.
Drawing equipment and materials
Use a green cutting mat for model making. Do not cut on drawing tables.
Please bring in to studio each week the materials and equipment for making study models and for drawing
[butter paper level].
Language
The student and teaching group is made up of people from many different cultural backgrounds and with
many different languages. Our common language is English and the University conducts its units of study in
English. Students are required to present their design work in English. One of our unit of study objectives is
to develop students' skills in learning through curiosity about, discussion of and evaluation of their own and
others designing and designs, with their peers as well as with their tutors. It is therefore required that all
conversation be in English in all teaching time both through respect for mutual communication and for
learning.
Mobile Phones
Mobile phones are required to be switched off during ALL teaching time.
Contact details
CO-ORDINATOR: Kristine Sodersten
Phone: [w] 9351 5491 – or 9351 2771 to reach Sally Yong, the School Admin Officer, who will take a
message. [m] 0422 004 676 – please use in emergencies and if there are problems on submission days
only,
Email:
kristine@arch.usyd.edu.au
Office:
Room 322 Wilkinson G04
Copyright Kristine Sodersten Faculty of Architecture University of Sydney
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