On the 17th of September 2018, I officially started my Part II (Masters) at one of the top 5 architecture schools in the UK; Welsh School of Architecture. I was fortunate to also have offers from other universities but I was looking forward to an offer from WSA because it has an unconventional course structure. WSA grants an opportunity to work full time in your first year whilst studying part time under the supervision of your appointed mentor.
As part of this first year of study, we are required to travel to Cardiff for 3 separate weeks (short courses) which comprise of design and research tasks to be completed. As stated above, the first week spanned 17th - 23rd of September, during which we were introduced the course structure and how to access learning materials, but predominantly focused on our 'Design in Practice' module. The aim was to produce a feasibility study for our site located in the city of Llandaff 'A City within a City'. We were split into 10 groups of about 8 students each and appointed roles to be fulfilled throughout the week; Project manager, Urban designer, Heritage consultant, Quantity surveyor, Structural Engineer and I was one of two appointed architects to take on the design responsibility. We were very proud of the outcome, to say the least. All in all, I am very grateful for the opportunities that have been made available for me thus far.
Over the two years, I have worked at 3 very different architectural practices. I worked with the partners Ian Fenn and Rebecca Taylor of JTP architects and master planners where I gained vital knowledge in community planning/collaborations by producing bid documents for complex sites, feasibility studies and Outline Planning Applications for two larger sites.
I also worked with Hamiltons Architects after their financial crisis where I developed a close enough relationship with the director in charge. They had suffered a heavy financial hit during the recession and had lost a few highly paid projects because the clients pulled out. This led to a practice wide redundancy the cause about 80% of their staff (including architectural assistants and other directors) to lose their jobs. A few years later (2017) they still had not been able to recover but were in need of help to submit a two tender packages with a large list of incomplete drawings. I applied to work for Hamilton’s Architects not knowing their history until I started working; it’s always good to ask questions at the interview stage. I agreed to work for a period of three weeks to use my Revit and AutoCAD skills to help them submit all 100 drawings. On one occasion, we had to work until 5am to get the work done. It was a very insightful experience to say the least. It was very obvious that they had relied solely on the income provided by the projects and their clients. I started to wonder if they would have survived the recession if the practice were able to invest in other income yielding assets.
During the three weeks I spent at Hamilton’s, I was applying for other Part 1 AA roles. I finally accepted a role with Wilson Mason LLP where I was designing a research facility and conference centre and a few other office fit-out projects for UCL. I gained a lot of experience whilst working with the appointed project architects, because I quickly realised that I was potentially fulfilling the role of a Part II even though I was employed as an experienced Part I. I was required to organise and lead meetings with sub-consultants on a few occasions, organise and check drawing packages to be sent out. In comparison to both my experience at JTP and Hamilton’s I was giving a lot of responsibility which I didn’t think I was qualified for but absolutely enjoyed; it was encouraging to know that I could be trusted.
It was great working for Wilson Mason, however, I got an offer from BPTW which I couldn’t resist so I had to terminate my employment contract in order to make the move.
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