Design Quest: Whatever floats your boat - In-person workshop SOLD OUT

About the Workshop

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Design Quest: Whatever Floats your Boat SOLD OUT
Friday 21st February 2025, 11am-4pm

For children aged 7 to 10 years.

Is it a house? Is it a boat? No, it’s a…brilliant houseboat with a waterslide and a duck neighbour!
Since people were people, we have had a relationship with water - for drinking, washing, irrigation and … water slides!! But for some of us, living close to water just isn’t close enough. From islands made of reeds to floating markets to narrow boats on canals to whole floating cities – many different communities continue to live entirely surrounded by water.

But are floating homes architecture? What new skills would you need to build and live on water?
Will any wet place do, or does it need to be the right sort of water (shallow, clean, warm, fizzy?)
Join us in this one-day creative architecture workshop to find out! In the workshop we will explore different aquatic constructions and consider the practicalities of living on (or in) water. They will learn about communities whose homes are built on lakes and rivers and discuss different ways of living and working on water. We will investigate the properties of different materials before designing and building their own model house-boat. But will it float…?

This creative architecture workshop is led by artist educator Zoe Allen for children aged 7 to 10 years.

Zoe Allen is an artist and educator who makes collage, assemblage, sculpture, and paintings. She uses materials foraged from sites which have particular meanings or memories, re-purposing these to create new conversations. Zoe also has a collaborative practice in which she works with other artists to create large scale installation informed by architectural forms and mechanisms.

About the Workshop Series

For ages 7-10, our Design Quest workshops inspire younger children to use their imagination and hands-on creativity for a fun introduction to architecture. Previous workshops have seen participants create optical illusions, design sustainable dens, build stage sets, develop an animated story around a public space or assemble a house for a mouse.

Based in London, mainly our HQ at 66 Portland Place, all participants must arrive by 11am. These workshops are led by professional educators and all materials are included in the ticket price, but lunch is not provided.

If you're under 18, tickets must be booked by a parent or guardian. Online booking in advance is essential and if we do not receive full registration information in advance of the event we cannot allow the participant to attend.

Some of our workshops involve a visit to an offsite location that is designed to enhance the learning experience and provide vital real-world context. Children are supervised by RIBA staff and volunteers at all times during such visits and location information is provided in advance.

To see other learning workshops taking place in this series, see our families and children page.

Terms and Conditions

• Tickets for participants under the age of 18 must be booked by a parent or guardian and advance online registration is essential. Bookings made on behalf of someone else still require advance online registration and it is your responsibility to share the registration form with that person. If we do not receive full registration information in advance of the event we cannot allow the participant to attend.
• We can offer a full refund up to 30 days in advance of the event start date. Thereafter, we cannot offer a refund or transfer. Cancellations must be made in writing to [email protected].
• We reserve the right to alter the advertised content of events.
• In the unlikely event we need to cancel we will contact all ticket holders as soon as possible to rearrange or offer a full refund. We cannot reimburse or compensate for travel or other associated costs.
• On entry to the event participants agree to behave in an appropriate manner; the RIBA reserves the right to remove participants who behave inappropriately from events and request their immediate collection by parents/guardians.
• The details you provide will be used in accordance with the RIBA's GDPR obligations. For information on how we will handle your personal data please see our Privacy Policy at www.architecture.com.

Host or Publisher RIBA Learning