AECOM and BIG's design concept for the Navy Pier competition has been released on YouTube. We were part of the presenting team to the jury and at the public debate in Chicago - you can view the full presentation here.
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Drawings of the City of London by 100 prominent architects, including our own Mark Major, will be auctioned for disaster relief charity Article 25 on 1st December.
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Congratulations to Andrew Howis who has been promoted to Associate Director of Speirs + Major. In his new role, he will assist the Directors, Mark Major and Keith Bradshaw, in the running of the practice.

On November 16, Keith Bradshaw will be speaking at Lighting Days in Copenhagen, an event organised by The Danish Lighting Centre. The theme of the conference is 'Light and Atmosphere'. Keith has tapped into this theme with his talk entitled 'To be (seen) or not to be (seen)':

"Should good light be imperceptible? Designing light into the physical and conceptual fabric of space is not easy and demands a deep comprehension of the core values of the project and how best to translate these into light. Developing the most appropriate manner in which to deliver the light requires a broad range of skills, experience and charm! Using examples from our design and delivery process, this presentation will give insights into our approach and attempts to realise projects based on simple, core ideas unique to each project."

The triangulated lifting leaves of Twin Sails Bridge in Poole have been raised this week creating a miraculous site unlike any other.

A video of the lifting can be seen on the BBC and further details found on the Bournemouth Daily Echo.

The project commenced in 2003 with Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Giffords and is due to open in early 2012.

Iain will be speaking at Professional Lighting Design Convention 2011 in Madrid, on the topic of "The Meaning of Light ". (Saturday 22nd October)

Arguing that light functions as language and that we need a new language to discuss light, I'll be roaming philosophical, theoretical and linguistic territory in search of ways to communicate with and about light.
I'm not often nervous about conference presentations, but this is pure intellectual exploration... pushing way out beyond projects, practice and technology. Anyone who is attending PLDC, please come along, help me out, and join the debate... I may regret saying this, but lighting journalists particularly welcome?

A 'comedy carpet' is being unveiled in Blackpool, as part of LDA Design's Tower Festival Headland which Speirs + Major are developing a lighting scheme for. The carpet - made of granite and concrete - has been designed by artist Gordon Young and features quotes and catchphrases from over 1000 comedians. For more information and images of the carpet, visit the BBC website.

Keith Bradshaw will be speaking at the London leg of the Society for Environmental Graphic Designer's (SEGD) European Tour.

Held at Somerset House on October 13th, Keith will be describing and explaining the works of Speirs + Major to the graphic design community. SEGD's representatives Alex Wood (principal at Holmes Wood, London) and David Gibson (managing director of Two Twelve, New York) will also be speaking to raise awareness of the discipline of environmental graphical design, as well as encouraging dialogue between themselves and local design communities.

Keith hopes this coming together of Speirs + Major and SEGD, along with the numerous other design firms represented by the attendees, will continue to build mutual respect and collaboration between the two disciplines.

The weekend of 11 - 12 September saw 50+ people converge on Mark’s house in deepest, darkest Norfolk to fill the quiet country air with the banter of competitive sports, the crackle of fires in barrels and the clinking of wine bottles for 24 hours.

The Edinburgh office and their families were up at the crack of dawn on the 11th in order to catch their flight to Norwich. Once they found their way through the narrow, tree-lined lanes to Mark’s ‘rural idyll’ they set up their tents and got to work on assembling the croquet and starting into the 72 pints of ‘Wherry'. The majority of the London office arrived mid-afternoon, after some commendable driving by Philip and shadowing by Benz, and despite some confusion over (missing) directions.

After some speedy tent erecting (though it was noted that Mark’s tent ended up alone in the middle of the field) there was much hand shaking and imbibing. Some braved the zip line, trampoline and bouncy castle whilst others devised ways to lose their kids in the crèche for the rest of the afternoon.
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Jonathan Speirs has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Heriot-Watt University in recognition of his contribution to architecture and outstanding achievements in the field of architectural lighting design.
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