Title: Board director/architect at Whittam Cox Architects, and a trustee MOBIE (Ministry of Building Innovation and Education)
What I do: Managing/leading our practice and working with great clients to design and deliver ‘urban living’ projects all over the UK.
Why I got into architecture: It was either car design or architecture from the age of 14/15.
How I did it: I left school after completing my GCSEs and signed up for a BTEC college course under an apprenticeship style work and learn model. I had one interview and was offered a job as office junior at a brilliant practice called Morrison Design in Derby and that’s where it all started, on £30 a week!
My first big break: I’d say my first ‘big’ break was in the mid-2000s when I was an associate at Lewis and Hickey. We acquired a practice in Manchester and I loved working up there. I took the lead on all our student living projects with Opal Property Group. I was soon presenting to the owner, Stuart Wall, and delivering some exciting and big student living schemes around the UK when PBSA was pretty new.
The biggest challenge I’ve encountered to date: Nothing stands out in terms of clients/projects, although there’s definitely been lots of challenges. My biggest challenge was probably more associated with managing/leading part of a practice in the 2008 recession. I was a young director and had only experienced positive growth for a decade. Scaling a business down quickly to survive that period was hugely challenging and an important learning curve. It made me understand the importance of relationships, especially with clients!
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: Completing Béton House at Park Hill in Sheffield – it’s part of the largest listed building in Europe! It brought together lots of personal interests in terms of where its located, its architectural history, bringing student living to the estate, designing a unique student house typology, and working with all the key people involved. It took a huge amount of time and effort to see it through and I’m really proud to have been there at the start of it all which was a conversation I had with Tom Bloxham at Mipim.
My biggest screw-up: Can’t think of anything specific, but no doubt many regular small-medium screw ups! There’s always a solution though.
The biggest misconception people have about the architecture industry: That good design is simple.
My biggest bugbear about the industry/the one thing I would change about the industry: There are a few things. I’ve always been passionate about modern methods of construction (MMC). We’ve seen great progress here, mainly due to necessity in recent years, but there is still inertia and I feel a lot of that is down to people having fixed mindsets. I get really frustrated when people immediately associate MMC as simply being modular/volumetric construction. Its so much more than that. Ultimately, we need to massively improve the efficiency of building processes, for a wide range of important reasons. Some of the things we still do today are archaic, especially when compared to other industries.
Favourite architect: Richard Rogers.
Favourite building: My home, a modest 200-year-old cottage in the Derbyshire Dales. I think it’s beautiful, but aesthetic is only one part of architecture. It’s about the human experience of a place that matters, and my home is the most important piece of architecture in mine and my family’s lives, especially my two children.
My view on refurbishment versus demolition: Retention, re-use and re-purposing of buildings/structures should always be properly considered at the outset. Park Hill is a great example of getting it right, but it’s worth noting that the building was originally designed for homes. Converting other buildings for different uses can present huge design, cost and viability challenges. Whilst of course there could be a substantial embodied carbon savings in retaining a building, you have to consider whether the solution really is fit for its intended use and the future. There are some really interesting solutions and technologies emerging for new-build low carbon buildings now. Refurb or demo should be assessed on merit, every location and building is different.
Why I’m so passionate about DE&I: Twenty-six years ago, I was young person in an industry I didn’t have a natural route into. From my experience, the industry felt old school culturally in the beginning, and I spent my formative years working relentlessly hard to prove myself. I’ve seen great progress over the years in all aspects of DE&I, but I know there is so much more to do. I’m totally invested in wanting to do my best to listen, learn, understand, and work with everyone in a genuinely fair and balanced way. I am passionate about ensuring we create the right environment/culture in all we do. Being honest, talking about DE&I can feel difficult at times; I worry it can be a minefield of so many different perspectives and I desperately don’t want to put a foot wrong or offend anyone. I live in hope for an equal future for everyone and will do all I can to achieve that.
Where I’d like to be in five years’ time career-wise: More of the same, but as a continually better version of myself in everything I do.
My main career goals right now: To keep learning and challenging myself, and to help others more on their journey.
What I do in my downtime: Simple things – family time, being at home and enjoying the countryside, playing with cars, having adventures with my kids.
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: Something with cars, ideally racing them!
My advice for someone just starting out: Do what you love and, to quote my friend Alex Notay “Find your cheerleaders.” Talk lots but listen more and don’t get ahead of yourself.
My motto/mantra: If you’re not enjoying it, do something about it.
