In the National Saturday Club’s first-ever digital/in-person hybrid Masterclass, members from seven Clubs visited six Arup offices across the country in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Nottingham and Leeds.

Ed Clark, Director of Arup, introduced the design firm as a world-class enterprise of designers, planners, engineers, architects, consultants and technical specialists. To connect all of the Clubs across Arup’s locations, Ed launched a ‘global virtual conference’ – linking all of the Clubs via a group Teams call. After setting a plan for the day with Balduino Del Principe, Associate at Arup, each Club, in their respective offices, explored the UN Sustainability Development Goals in order to develop related architectural sketches.

The UN Sustainability Development Goals include no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; live below water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the goals.

After selecting a site for development and creating a project brief, offices across the six locations responded to each other’s work. Working closely with the Arup team and using a range of materials, each concept transformed into models including community centres, housing for the elderly, flood defence systems, and landscaped gardens.

At the end of the Masterclass, Club member projects were shared on the end of day ‘global conference call’. Throughout the day, members embraced the opportunity to learn more about a client/designer relationship, design development, and how sustainability and future-proofing can be built into urban design and development, with consideration for social needs, health and wellbeing.