Smout Allen, working with Geoff Manaugh (BLDGBLOG), were one of 10 teams selected to contribute research and exhibition material for the Venice Takeaway show in the British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, 2012. The project applies research techniques derived from the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) in Los Angeles to develop an architectural analysis, documentation and curation of British land use. The Venice exhibit was the first iteration of an ongoing research project to establish the British Exploratory Land Archive (BELA) as a UCL resource.

BELA focuses on architectural field study and instrument design as a kind of expeditionary archival process, documenting unusual and familiar, but overlooked, UK landscapes to provide a robust interpretive framework through which to understand and appreciate exceptional cases of land use in the UK.