Our Creative Community Classes

22/12/2025

DO YOU KNOW AN ASPIRING ARCHITECT OR CREATIVE AGED 13-18?

We have a couple of openings for new and enthusiastic young creatives to join our weekly Architecture Group!

WHEN: Monday evenings during term time, 6 - 7:30pm

WHERE: University of West England’s Frenchay Campus, BS16 1QY

WHAT: Students are given a design brief, from which they will produce drawings and a working design model to scale. They will have the opportunity to present their ideas to practicing architects and will finish the project with friends and family at their own showcase!

WHO: Students aged 13 – 18. We are very happy to support those who are interested in pursuing a career in architecture, but you do not need to have this ambition to join! We are equally as happy to host students who are simply looking for a unique creative outlet and want to learn more about the built environment.

COST: Free trial session, then £10/ class. Free community spaces are available on first come first served basis.

Our founder, Kate Byrne, is a tutor at the University of West England Bristol’s International College, teaching the International Foundation to students progressing on to study Architecture.
UWE has been noted for pushing environmental and social aspects of architectural practice and was praised for ‘forming a new architectural language of generosity and care, all of which is in abundance at the University of the West of England...’ In our sessions, we too place focus on developing social awareness to produce a community of students who are aware of the nature of the relationship between our physical and political environment and the need to center generosity and care in a community driven approach.

To read more/ book a trial session via the registration form, please visit our website: https://www.ourcreativecommunity.co.uk/sessions/architectural-design-group

Or email Kate with any questions: [email protected]

Follow our page: https://www.facebook.com/ourcreativecommunityclasses

30/04/2025

DO YOU KNOW AN ASPIRING ARCHITECT OR CREATIVE AGED 13-18?

We have a couple of openings for new and enthusiastic young creatives to join our weekly Architecture Group!

WHEN: Monday evenings during term time, 6 - 7:30pm

WHERE: University of West England’s Frenchay Campus, BS16 1QY

WHAT: Students are given a brief, from which they will produce drawings and a working design model to scale. They will have the opportunity to present their ideas to practicing architects and will finish the project with friends and family at their own showcase!

WHO: Students aged 13 – 18. We are very happy to support those who are interested in pursuing a career in architecture, but you do not need to have this ambition to join! We are equally as happy to host students who are simply looking for a unique creative outlet and want to learn more about the built environment.

COST: Free trial session, then £10/ class. Free community spaces are available on first come first served basis.

Our founder, Kate Byrne, is a tutor at the University of West England Bristol’s International College, teaching the International Foundation to students progressing on to study Architecture.
UWE has been noted for pushing environmental and social aspects of architectural practice and was praised for ‘forming a new architectural language of generosity and care, all of which is in abundance at the University of the West of England...’ In our sessions, we too place focus on developing social awareness to produce a community of students who are aware of the nature of the relationship between our physical and political environment and the need to center generosity and care in a community driven approach.

To read more/ book a trial session via the registration form, please visit our website: https://www.ourcreativecommunity.co.uk/sessions/architectural-design-group

Or email Kate with any questions: [email protected]

Follow our page: https://www.facebook.com/ourcreativecommunityclasses

Thank you for reading!

28/03/2025

Had such a great session on Wednesday that I forgot to take many photos! Thank you again to for being the group’s inspiration!

27/02/2025

Another fantastic life drawing session last night! This time we were joined by the talented from who held some wonderful poses for our group to draw. Thank you all so much for joining us! ✨✍️

20/02/2025

If one of our students feels architecture is the right path for them, we are delighted to help with university applications, portfolios and anything else involved! It's such a pleasure to see our talented bunch succeed.

Our wonderful Erin will be choosing from her offers soon and, although we will be really sad to see her go, we are looking forward to seeing what she achieves in the next stage!

14/02/2025

Our Ethos at OCC:

01 Inclusive by Design
Our mission is to create more opportunity for young people to be able to participate in our built environment. We constantly try our best to keep our prices affordable and offer free, community spaces in all our classes.

02 Agency for Change
By providing architecture education to children, our future adult citizens will have different expectations of quality regarding their built environments. They would be less likely to perceive architecture as primarily a matter of ‘decoration’, and more likely to take an active role in its development - whether that is as designers or as the conscious recipients and advocates of their own built environment.

03 Collaboration over Competition
By hosting our outreach sessions at the University of the West of England, we provide collaborative opportunities for our UWE volunteers to share their experiences, knowledge and perspectives with our OCC students - and vice versa! This supportive environment helps to build confidence, generate ideas and realise the potential of collaboration over competition.

05/02/2025

Thank you so much to everyone who came by the Architecture building last Wednesday for our FIRST monthly life drawing session at the University of West England's Frenchay Campus! It was a brilliant session filled with enthusiasm and support.

We are especially grateful to our wonderful life model, Sandra, for kicking off these events so brilliantly!

Our sessions are open to everyone, whether or not you are a UWE student! They run on the last Wednesday of each month in room 1R026 from 7 - 8:30pm.

We also have the capacity to welcome young creatives (under 18) aged 13+ to join us. Details on this, and on how to book, are available through this link: https://buff.ly/4hufk3G

20/12/2024

DO YOU KNOW AN ASPIRING ARCHITECT OR CREATIVE AGED 13-18?

We are opening our group to welcome new and enthusiastic young designers to join our Weekly Architecture Group!

WHEN: Monday evenings during term time, 6 - 7:30pm

WHERE: University of West England’s Frenchay Campus, BS16 1QY

WHAT: Students are given a brief, from which they will produce drawings and a working design model to scale. They will have the opportunity to present their ideas to practicing architects and will finish the project with friends and family at their own showcase!

WHO: Students aged 13 – 18. We are very happy to support those who are interested in pursuing a career in architecture, but you do not need to have this ambition to join! We are equally as happy to host students who are simply looking for a unique creative outlet and want to learn more about the built environment.

COST: Free trial session, then £10/ class. Free community spaces are available on first come first served basis.

Welcome to the UK’s only weekly architecture group! Our founder, Kate Byrne, is a tutor at the University of West England Bristol’s International College, teaching the International Foundation to students progressing on to study Architecture.

UWE has been noted for pushing environmental and social aspects of architectural practice and was praised for ‘forming a new architectural language of generosity and care, all of which is in abundance at the University of the West of England...’ In our sessions, we too place focus on developing social awareness to produce a community of students who are aware of the nature of the relationship between our physical and political environment and the need to center generosity and care in a community driven approach.

To read more or book please visit our site (link in bio).

Email Kate with any questions: [email protected]

20/12/2024

DO YOU KNOW AN ASPIRING ARCHITECT OR CREATIVE AGED 13-18?

We are opening our group to welcome new and enthusiastic young designers to join our Weekly Architecture Group!

WHEN: Monday evenings during term time, 6 - 7:30pm

WHERE: University of West England's Frenchay Campus, BS16 1QY

WHAT: Students are given a brief, from which they will produce drawings and a working design model to scale. They will have the opportunity to present their ideas to practicing architects and will finish the project with friends and family at their own showcase!

WHO: Students aged 13 – 18. We are very happy to support those who are interested in pursuing a career in architecture, but you do not need to have this ambition to join! We are equally as happy to host students who are simply looking for a unique creative outlet and want to learn more about the built environment.

COST: Free trial session, then £10/ class. Free community spaces are available on first come first served basis.

Welcome to the UK's only weekly architecture group! Our founder, Kate Byrne, is a tutor at the University of West England Bristol's International College, teaching the International Foundation to students progressing on to study Architecture.

UWE has been noted for pushing environmental and social aspects of architectural practice and was praised for 'forming a new architectural language of generosity and care, all of which is in abundance at the University of the West of England...' In our sessions, we too place focus on developing social awareness to produce a community of students who are aware of the nature of the relationship between our physical and political environment and the need to center generosity and care in a community driven approach.

To read more or book please visit: https://www.ourcreativecommunity.co.uk/sessions/architectural-design-group

Email Kate with any questions: [email protected]

OCC is a socially minded business in Bristol, committed to hosting affordable and funded creative groups in architecture and art to students 12 - 18 years. Our founder, Kate Byrne, is also a tutor at the University of West England Bristol's International College, teaching the International Foundatio...

20/12/2024

What a brilliant end to the year with our talented Architectural Design Group! In their final session they presented their projects to some wonderful volunteers from a local practice, HTA, before celebrating at a showcase with friends and family. We are so proud of all their hard work and thoughtful and considered outcomes!

The brief was to use the ancient art form of origami to inspire dynamic, transformative spaces that are quickly deployable. They were encouraged to create their own themes, so we have several different reactions to the brief - from designing emergency shelters to pop up theatre/performance spaces!

14/03/2024

* NEW SPACES AVAILABLE FOR OUR WEEKLY ARCHITECTURE GROUPS!* Free trial session available.

Welcome to the UK's only weekly architecture group! Sessions will include an introduction to scale, technical and representational drawing and model making - all based around exciting project briefs.

The classes are taken by Kate, who teaches Creative Practice and Portfolio to the International Foundation students studying Architecture at the University of West England.

The awareness of the importance of an architectural education for our young people has been steadily growing as the value of their spatial and cultural knowledge becomes apparent. Education is one of the most important ways of protecting the cultural landscape and maintaining sustainable architectural development - including its including aesthetic, cultural and creative quality.

We celebrate our students' work via a biannual showcase at the Royal Photographic Society with their friends and family, to give everyone an opportunity to see what they have been up to!

Timetable:

Mondays
16:30 - 18:00 (ages 12 - 15) /
18:00 - 19:30 (ages 12 - 15)

Fridays
17:00 - 18:30 (ages 7 - 12) /
18:30 - 20:00 (ages 15 - 18)

Price: £10/ 90 min class
Location: Studio C, Urban Design Studios, 14 Backfields Lane, BS2 8QW

To Book/Enquire: https://www.ourcreativecommunity.co.uk/sessions/architectural-design-group

06/08/2023

* NEW SPACES AVAILABLE FOR OUR WEEKLY ARCHITECTURE GROUP, September start!*

Welcome to the UK's only weekly architecture group! Sessions will include an introduction to scale, technical and representational drawing and model making - all based around exciting project briefs.

We run a biannual showcase of the students' work at the Royal Photographic Society to celebrate the students' achievements with all their friends and family!

The awareness of the importance of an architectural education for children has been steadily growing as the value of their spatial and cultural knowledge becomes apparent. Education, from an early age, is one of the most important ways of protecting the cultural landscape and maintaining sustainable architectural development - including its including aesthetic, cultural and creative quality.

The sessions will be taken by Kate, who has nearly a decade of teaching experience, an honours degree in architecture and industry experience from her time working in practice.

Additional Info:
Mondays
16:30 - 18:00 (ages 12 - 15) /
18:00 - 19:30 (ages 12 - 15)

Fridays
17:00 - 18:30 (ages 7 - 12) /
18:30 - 20:00 (ages 15 - 18)

Price: £10/ 90 min class

Location: Studio C, Urban Design Studios, 14 Backfields Lane, BS2 8QW

To Book/Inquire: https://www.ourcreativecommunity.co.uk/sessions/architectural-design-group