Accelerate
What is Accelerate?
Accelerate is Open City's free, pioneering, built environment education programme for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.
Through a series of skills development workshops and professional mentoring, the programme supports young people aged 16-18 to explore careers in architecture, landscape, planning, engineering, and related fields, equipping them with the skills, portfolios, networks, and confidence to make informed progression choices.
What does it include?
Skills development workshops
The course includes a series of skills development workshops on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.
Mentoring sessions with a built environment professional
Students are put in groups and allocated to a built environment professional practice for a series of mentoring sessions. Your mentor could be an architect, engineer, landscape architects, or a specialist of another kind. This experience is designed to give you first-hand experience of the range of jobs and roles available across the built environment sector.
What skills will you develop?
Sketching and drawing
Model making with a range of media
Casting
Site observation and surveying
Public speaking
“ I really enjoyed the Accelerate programme due to its creative and friendly atmosphere which I found myself easily immersed in. Over the course of the10 workshops, I learnt valuable skills such as quick sketching, making models to scale and experimenting with materials. This helped me to develop the mindset of an architect which I can use in the workplace further down the line. ”
Levi,
Accelerate Student 2024/25
What does Accelerate include?
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Creative Workshops
Each workshop includes a set of activities designed to help young people build their arts based portfolio. Over the course of the workshop series students engage in craft exercises including cardboard model making, plaster casting and printing. If you have never done it before, this is the perfect opportunity to learn!
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Site Visits
Workshops will take place at special locations across London and aim to provide young people with design skills they can utilise in their further education, setting them up with opportunities for their future careers.
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University Visits
Workshops include visits to the campuses of our university partners, where you will learn about the courses they offer and the experiences of the students currently studying there. These days will also include a campus tour and the opportunity to ask questions throughout the day.
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Professional Mentoring
During the February half-term, we match our Accelerate students with practices across London to partake in three days of work experience where they learn design skills, understand industry networks and gain the confidence to make informed career choices.
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Accelerate Summer Exhibition
The Summer exhibition takes place at the end of your time with, in the first or second week of July, and is a fantastic celebration of the hard work you have dedicated to the course throughout the year.
Each student curates their own work and will have a dedicated space in which to exhibit it for friends and family to see. It’s an opportunity to meet the other students on the course from other campuses and across London; to network with people in the industry and take a step back and reflect on the experience brought to you by the programme.
Become a mentor practice
Mentoring and work experience is a core part of Accelerate, and crucial for young people with ambitions to enter the built environment sector.
We welcome mentors from professions across the sector to help us signpost students to a career that matches their interests.
If you would like to have more information or have any questions or would like to know more please contact education@open-city.org.uk.
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Your practice will be delegated 3-6 students and will deliver 2 or 3 days of work experience on weekdays during the February half term.
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Each practice will create a lesson plan for these sessions in advance with the support of the Accelerate team.
While in your company each of your students will make a model and a drawing.
You might also want to include site visits, a tour of your office and group presentations of their work.
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Accelerate survives each year entirely from external funding and the generosity of those who support us.
We ask each participating practice to make a contribution of between £1000 and £3000 to the course.
The amount you decide to pledge will not affect your exposure to the course. Each practice will get the same amount of time and access to students and training.
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Open City provides two midweek evening sessions to guide and support mentors. Each session is approx 2 hours long, usually at 6pm-8pm.
Session 1 gives an introduction to the course, safeguarding, working with young people.
Session 2 covers a lesson plan review and covers mentor skills preparation.
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Early November - Deadline for mentor practice applications
Mid-November - Training session 1
January - Training session 2
February half term - Mentor and work experience sessions
“For us, it is great to meet students who ask interesting questions about the way that we do architecture and prompt us to reflect on both our practice and education.
Crucially though, Accelerate provides a really supportive and fun way for young people to get a glimpse into potential careers, ask questions, learn, and feed their growing interests.”
Alice Kerry
Mentor from Cullinan Studios
Our Mission
To provide young people from under-represented backgrounds with the opportunity to explore professions in the built environment sector, so they can develop the skills and knowledge to participate and make informed and supported future choices.
Gallery
Past Accelerate Summer Exhibitions
Our Sponsors
Host Universities
Our Mentors
