Power of Hand-sketching: Façade Detailing for Architects

Learn façade detailing through hand-sketching, design exercises, and hands-on mockup building with Shinobu Homma.
About this Event

This two-day workshop led by Shinobu Homma, former Technical Director at Revery Architecture, uses hands-on techniques of hand-sketching and mockup building as tools for learning and developing facade details.

The first session takes place at Surrey Central City / SFU Surry Central (SRYC) where participants will study and sketch selected facade details, focusing on examining construction sequence, materiality, structure, and envelope performance. The second session, held at Abaton Projects, will translate these observations into practice through a series of design exercises and building physical scale mockups.

Ideal for Intern Architects and architects in their early to mid-careers with a basic understanding of facade/envelope detailing who are looking to build a strong foundation for tackling increasingly complex façade conditions. Limited spots available – Don’t miss it!

Learning Objectives & AIBC Learning Units

This event is eligible for AIBC credits* (10 Core Learning Units). Learning objects include but are not limited to below:

• Improve hand-sketching and hand-building techniques to represent architectural details.
• Develop observational skills by evaluating and assessing facade components and assemblies through hand sketching on site.
• Understand how details evolve from design to construction by evaluating and reverse-engineering a built facade detail component.
• Put observational skills into practice by building 1-1 and 1-5 scaled mockups to understand and work around limitations of materiality and construction sequence.
• Strengthen critical thinking by evaluating, refining, and improving construction details for better constructability and performance.
• Utilizing iterative design methods to redesign a built façade component, considering current material technologies and increased envelope performance requirements.

Prerequisite: a basic understanding of facade and envelope detailing is required for this course.

*Note: All participants registered with the AIBC qualify. Further instructions will be provided upon registration. For questions, email [email protected]

Event Details:

Day 1 - Oct 03, 2026 at 11 am - 4:00 pm PST: Meet at 11 am at the entrance to Surrey Central City Mall, 10153 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 2W1

Day 2 - Oct 04, 2026 at 9:00 am - 3:00 pm PST: Meet at 9:00 am at Abaton Projects, 1598 Bay St, North Vancouver, BC V7J 1A1. Optional lunch provided for Day 2 —opt-in via RSVP

An additional tour of the SFU Surrey University block as being offered by AFBC the same weekend, with Revery Architecture before this event starts. If you are participating in the workshop, the tickets are offered at a discounted rate here.