Inclusive Architecture – The Key to Designing Cities of the Future
Here at Ackroyd Lowrie, we’re committed to designing cities of the future; sustainable, imaginative, healthy and inspirational places for people to live and work. To achieve this, our industry needs to be more inclusive and build teams of architects and trainees from different backgrounds with different life experiences. The next generation must be encouraged, and we believe this should include a particular focus on those who wouldn’t automatically have thought of architecture as a profession.
We’re proud to partner local authorities, charities and youth organisations supporting careers events as well as offering young people one-to-one guidance, workshops, site visits and opportunities to join our newly launched work placement programme.
Our director, Oli Lowrie comments: “Championing young people from diverse backgrounds is crucial. Without this generation, how can we ensure the cities we design best represent their inhabitants? Through our longstanding work with the Jason Roberts Foundation (JRF), we’re aware that many young people lack any first-hand experience of real-life workplaces and the variety of job roles within them. There’s only so much a classroom can prepare you for which is why we believe it’s important to open up our studio and help the next generation. This has mutual benefits; aspiring architects can understand what might be expected of them in the workplace and our business gains a fresh perspective on modern living and working trends.
“One recent event we supported was the JRF and Brent Council’s Insight Day, which saw 300 young people from across the Borough meet with local businesses. A variety of presentations, workshops and coaching sessions were delivered to highlight the different paths to employment, as well as more general advice on interview techniques, CV writing and how to network effectively. We received more than 20 applicants for work experience following this event so it’s really encouraging to know there’s such an appetite for careers in architecture,” concluded Oli.
In addition to the Insight Day, we’ve also been working closely with the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) as part of their Aspiring Professionals Programme (APP). This pairs professionals from all sectors with a young person who wants to learn more about industry and might otherwise not have the opportunity. Our project designer, Franciska Kriston is currently mentoring 17-year-old, Jannyce Marshall.
“The APP helps students in their last year at school to learn more about their desired career and what working life involves,” explains Franciska. “Professionals commit to a nine-month mentoring programme, including monthly sessions where they impart sector specific knowledge, assist with communication and presentation skills, college or university applications, and, where possible, invite mentees into their place of work.”
Jannyce has just completed her week’s placement during which she shadowed Fran and other AL team members in internal, external and planning meetings, attended a CPD webinar on Addressing Accessibility & Sustainability in the London Plan, made a 3D model in ArchiCAD for a residential scheme capacity study, used VR headsets to view current projects at different design stages and spent time with the management team to understand how the practice operates.
Enquiries about work placement opportunities should be sent to info@ackroydlowrie.com
