School of the Built Environment Graduation 2019

Graduation 2019 took place on a cool Monday 17 June. The ceremonies and reception took place back on the main campus in the newly refurbished Kenneth Wheare Hall and the JHB Building. The photos (and video) show the story of the day - photos and videos by the Ed and Daniel Vicars (Real Estate and Construction) and Uzma Khan (Planning and Urban Design)...

Students from courses in Real Estate or Construction graduated in the first ceremony - the staff are getting ready...

Inside the hall and...

...processing out.

(Some of) the prizes for students in Real Estate and Construction - presented by Ramin Keivani (Head of SBE) 

The Graduation Reception for Real Estate and Construction...

...and for students in Planning and Urban Design... 

...who graduated in the second ceremony of the day.

The traditional hat throwing ceremony...

...and the paparazzi.

That's it until the next round of graduation ceremonies at the end of August. If you would like further information about any of our courses, take a look at our website:

School of the Built Environment website

MSc Real Estate: Amsterdam 2019

Each year the students on the MSc Real Estate take part in a study visit to Europe which allows them to find out more about the operation of land and property markets in a different institutional context from that found in the UK. This year (on 19-24 May) the students (and staff) went to Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands and a world city of culture, media, science, canals and cycling as well as being renowned for its nightlife and coffee (cannabis) shops. Amsterdam is also the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe. With a stable economy and a buoyant housing market, Amsterdam is also at the heart of the EU's digital economy.

On the canal boat tour

As part of the study visit, the students were given a project to work on...the aim of which is to integrate a range of core property skills that the students have acquired during the MSc Real Estate in order to address a professional project brief. The students looked at the retail, office and residential markets in and around Amsterdam and were asked to submit and present a group report about their understanding of the real estate market in Amsterdam. During the study visit, the students were able to build on their knowledge through a series of city tours and presentations by local experts. Thanks to Mike Patrick (MSc Real Estate course leader) for the great photos.

Presentation on the development of Amsterdam by the
City of Amsterdam Department of Planning and Sustainability

Visiting the Batavia Stad (fashion outlet mall) for a tour and presentation

The group... 

...presentations

Back to the canal boat trip...

And finally, Mike Patrick (course leader) would like to thank City of Amsterdam, INREV, 
Knight Frank, Hammerson, ViaOutlets, Masterdam.nl and
Adam Najak (at Oxford Brookes) who all helped to organise the trip

For more information on the MSc Real Estate, take a look at our website or the other posts on this blog:

MSc Real Estate
MSc Real Estate on the blog

The Great Estates of London 2019

The first year students on the BSc Real Estate Management went on a field trip to learn more about the Great Estates of London on Friday 8 March 2019. First stop was the recently renovated Regent Street Cinema for a series of talks on the Great Estates of London.

This field trip is part of the Integrative Project which provides a background to the subjects that are taken in the first year. The module addresses the discipline-based and transferable skills that students will need during their time at university and beyond. These skills are explored and developed through a series of activities which involve viewing real estate from a range of perspectives. After the field trip, the students work in teams to prepare a group presentation about the Great Estates of London (the one visited by the team on the field trip) and how they are managed to positively enhance their value.

Back to the field trip itself (click on the red links for more information). The students listened to two presentations:

...the first from Peter Murray (New London Architecture) on The Great Estates of London

...and the second from Nick Bailey (Argent) about the development of King's Cross

The students split into 6 groups for a walking tour and presentation about one of the following Great Estates:

The Grosvenor Estate
The Howard de Walden Estate
The Crown Estate
Covent Garden (CapCo)
Shaftesbury
The Pollen Estate

This year the photos feature the Crown Estate:

Presentation from Sarah Stanley and Ruth Kemp on The Crown Estate -
at their first dedicated co-working and flexible office space at One Heddon Street 

Walking around the back of Regent Street -
the surrounding streets have been greatly improved by The Crown Estate 

The refurbished Quadrant Arcade on Regent Street

The Crown Estate is working with Westminster City Council
to improve the quality of the streets and road markings

Looking towards Piccadilly Circus and the famous advertising boards 

Burlington Arcade

Jermyn Street - a quintessentially British experience

...and home to rather a lot of gentlemen's outfitters

Walking to St James Market past...

...the new building at 2 St James's Market

And into 1 St James's Market - the Head Office of Crown Estates...

...and the first office in Europe to achieve WELL Platinum Certification

The office features lots of plants and these amazing living moss lights

Back onto Regent Street with its distinctive curve

For more information on the BSc Real Estate Management click here.

The Launch of the 2019 OBREMS/OBU Mentoring Scheme

The launch of the 2019 OBREMS/OBU Mentoring Scheme took place on 21 March and was hosted by CBRE at their offices in Henrietta House, London. The launch brought together mentors and students (mentees) for the first time at a fantastic networking event. The Mentoring Scheme (now in its 7th year) is managed jointly by OBREMS (our alumni association) and the School of the Built Environment and is open to second year students on the BSc Real Estate Management and the BA Planning and Property Development as well as students on the MSc Real Estate.

This year, applications to the Mentoring Scheme reached 100 and thanks to the work of OBREMS in promoting the scheme amongst their members, we have been able to allocate a mentor to each student that applied. Once again this year we have seen an increase in the number of younger mentors, some of whom took part in the Mentoring Scheme themselves when they were students which is great news!

David Tudor and the Talent and Learning Team at CBRE

Dan Sames and Rebecca Gee from the School of the Built Environment at Oxford Brookes introduced the Mentoring Scheme and then passed over to David Tudor, Senior Director at CBRE who welcomed everyone to the event. Sigrid Ferguson and Charlie Wesson from the CBRE Talent and Learning Team presented a short session on the importance and effectiveness of mentoring and then Dan introduced...

Harriet Costello (Senior Surveyor at JLL) and Cameron Johnston (Asset Manager at The Office Group) both took part in the Mentoring Scheme when they were students at Oxford Brookes - they talked about their experiences on the Mentoring Scheme as students (in 2013) and subsequently as mentors, offering students and mentors lots of useful advice on how to get the most out of the experience.

Harriet Costello

One of the unique features of our Mentoring Scheme is that all of our mentors are graduates of either Real Estate (BSc or MSc) or Planning and Property Development (BA) at Oxford Brookes (or Oxford Polytechnic as it used to be). This means that mentors and students have an immediate connection. Students had the opportunity to chat with a wide range of mentors during the event before meeting up with their mentor for an individual 'first' meeting. The energy and buzz that filled the room at the launch event is reflected in some of the photos...

The networking continued round the corner at the pub

For more information on our courses and the Mentoring Scheme, take a look here:

BSc Real Estate Management
BA Planning and Property Development
MSc Real Estate
The OBREMS/OBU Mentoring Scheme