Escape2Make Architecture Group

Escape2Make (E2M) is a charity for 11-18 year olds in the Lancaster and Morecambe area, with a goal to help teens escape from boredom, social media, loneliness and any school or home pressure, through a variety of workshops and courses.

HPA have been working with Escape2Make to create an Architecture Youth Group, providing workshops designed to help young people make things, make friends, and make a difference in their community. The vision of this group is to engage teens with architecture and the environment around them, as well as raising awareness of the different skills and professions related to construction.

HPA have been involved with the charity since its inception and have hosted workshops for the last three years. Director Zoe Hooton, who grew up in the city, comments:

“As a teenager in Lancaster, becoming an Architect and having dreams about a career in design felt unattainable unless you knew the right people. The creation of our Architecture Group with E2M is about having some fun but making sure that careers in design are available to all, demystifying this career path.”

– Zoe Hooton, HPA Director

Away Day Workshop

Currently, the charity doesn’t have a physical ‘base’ but have a dream to create a building in Lancaster for young people to visit when they’re not at school. HPA have been working with E2M over the last three years, generating ideas and helping teens imagine what the space could be. This led to an away day workshop at Lancaster Castle, which was jointly organised by HPA and the Museum of Architecture.

The attendees were tasked with working collaboratively and presenting their ideas and mood boards for a new building to fellow E2M members, as well as stakeholders, sponsors and local council representatives. This was also an important chance to engage with potential partners and produce funding opportunities for the charity. The workshop was a great success, with architects from the Eden Project now taking these designs forward for new concept proposals.

Mentorship

These sessions allow our architects to take on mentorship roles, having successfully assisted three teens attendance at university, five students with current applications, and a work experience placement arranged. This is an important part of the work we do at Escape2Make, driving accessible architecture for all.

We have plans to continue our architecture workshops in April, creating a series of mini projects and design groups that centre around a new theme or topic each month. We will continue raising funds for E2M and are looking forward to supporting this charity’s growth in the future!

To read more about Escape2Make, click here.