











Dear Colleagues and Friends.
A New Year beckons, so it is a great time to share our vision for your Society and upcoming activities for 2022.
The past two years have been tumultuous and difficult, causing a decrease in face-to-face events, but we were delighted at the enthusiasm and high attendance for the Awards, lectures and Barbecue and we really appreciate your support. We know there is a desire for friends and colleagues to meet, share stories and enjoy each other’s company and we intend to fulfil that desire wherever possible, be it digitally or physically.
We will be focusing on creating more and better activities that our members can enjoy. In fact, our theme for 2022 is all about growth.
Growth in membership, growth in engagement with our members, growth in the range and variety of activities that we offer, growth in celebration of our members’ achievements as individuals and practices. Growth in knowledge to meet the challenges that face our profession in times to come. Growth in inspiring lectures by leaders in their fields and emerging stars, coupled with hands-on experience for our members joining the profession.
And last but not least, growth in fun and enjoyment.
Our mission is:
‘To champion and nurture the present and future architects of Manchester’
To help us achieve this goal, we need:
Enthusiastic and engaged members of our council – if you have a passion to get involved and help our members, join us.
Members who are willing to share with people who don’t know our work. Help spread the word.
Ideas to improve our work and activity, tell us the kind of things you’d like to see.
Help us by supporting our sponsors – host a practice CPD or check out the useful content on our Knowledge Hub.
Please get in touch with us and help us to help you!
Email: admin@the-msa.co.uk
Happy New Year! And watch this space for further exciting news!
Rob McGinnes,
MSA President & Founder of Hive Architects
2021 was the not the year we expected but we managed to host some incredible online lectures by some incredible architects from around the globe. Here are the highlights.
The sigh of relief felt across the Manchester Albert Hall was almost palpable on the night as the room started to fill to over 500 attendees.
This year’s awards was like no other, with two years worth of projects all vying for top spot – you certainly made it hard for this year’s judge. The last couple of years have been difficult, but as a society and a community, you’ve been resilient and adaptable. You’ve kept going and produced work of the highest calibre. The number and quality of entries this year was astonishing and testament to that strength of character.
That said, our achievements as architects are allied to a wider team of other professionals, contractors, manufacturers and suppliers. And, of course, every great building needs a great client so it was a pleasure to welcome wider members of the construction value chain to come along and take part in the celebration.
The awards were judged by immediate Past President of the RIBA President, Professor Alan Jones.
For the last two years as President of the Royal institute of British Architects, he’s championed social mobility and led a reorientation of current and future architects and the RIBA itself. He has judged for the RIAS, RIBA, Civic Trust Awards and chaired the 2020 and 2021 Royal Gold Medal and the 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize so we were honoured to have him judge our awards.
A huge thank you should go to all the entrants for their efforts, to the runners up who were all of the highest quality and of course, congratulations to the worthy winners.
Finally – a very special thank you to the Award sponsors, Wienerberger, AluK, Beplas, Concept Cubicle Systems, and George Barnsdale windows for their generous support. Without whom, we simply couldn’t put on the level of event that we did.
We intend to be back to our normal June slot for the awards in 2022. We can’t wait to see you all then and another selection of amazing projects.
View the highlights of the event here:
For those who missed our fourth MSA Q&A of the series, you can watch them back again here. Nick Moss, MSA President hosts Tom Bloxham MBE, Founder of Urban Splash
Following on the theme, they discuss life under lockdown and what the future holds for architects, property and development.
For those who missed our third MSA Q&A of the series, you can watch them back again here. Nick Moss, MSA President hosts Steve Slater, CEO of Real Estate Investment Partnerships.
Following on the theme, they discuss life under lockdown and what the future holds for architects, property and development.
For those who missed our second MSA Q&A of the series, you can watch them back again here. Nick Moss, MSA President hosts Tim Heatley, Co-Founder of Capital & Centric.
Following on the theme, they discuss life under lockdown and what the future holds for architects, property and development.
For those who missed any our recent MSA Q&A of the series, you can watch them back again here. Nick Moss, MSA President first hosts Gary Jackson, Founder and CEO of leading property developer DeTrafford.
They discuss life under lockdown and what the future holds for architects, property and development.
The awards event will be back in June 2021. There will be 14 unique award categories, ranging from commercial and community to built and unbuilt. This exact details will be confirmed in due course.
In 2019, we were honoured to have Lord Norman Foster judge our awards and accept the MSA Lifetime Achievement Award, probably the only award he’d yet to win! Here he is, accepting his award and explaining his personal connection to our great city:
In light of the current crisis, the 2020 awards event will be postponed until the 19th November 2020, where we hope to celebrate the true quality of our community’s work as well as a return to normality. Watch the highlights from our 2019 awards evening and see what to expect:
In the mist of the current COVID-19 crisis, the MSA will be adapting to offer support and guidance to society members and the wider Manchester construction community.
President of the MSA, Nick Moss outlines the commitment to our community in these extraordinary times:
If you have concerns or questions then please contact Nick directly at n.moss@sixtwoarchitects.com