Sam Homer

Associate Architect

Sam is currently leading the delivery of Thames Park Secondary School; one of the first schools to be built via the DfE Modern Methods of Construction Framework.

Sam works in the Education sector and has a particular interest in offsite solutions and passive design strategies. This has informed his work developing new, standardised approaches to school building with Tier 1 Contractors to meet the twin challenges of net zero and offsite procurement.

If you weren’t in this career, what would you be?

My grandfather was a toolmaker in the West Midlands, he gave me my first technical drawing set when I was very young. I think the affinity for design in my family stems from him and, if I wasn’t working as an architect, I would love to follow in his footsteps and be involved with manufacturing.

What is the current big trend in your sector?

The Education sector has been at the forefront of the Government’s push to embrace Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). We are currently delivering a number of schools on the DfE’s MMC1 Framework and have learned a great deal about how to design for manufacture. Targets for net zero carbon are also becoming common, and we have been working to adapt offsite systems to achieve increased fabric energy performance.

What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

Buy bitcoin!

Most fun book you’ve read?

‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ by Italo Calvino was an absolute joy to read. It’s a story within a story within a story that fits together like a puzzle.

What is your proudest moment?

I have spent a long time working to assist the delivery of our first MMC secondary school which required many late nights and complicated discussions. Seeing the first panels roll off the production line, with the external finishes pre-installed, and then being assembled on site to form a new school was the moment that made it all worthwhile.

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