In the spring of 2022, we hosted Alexa for a week placement at Erect Architecture. Our aim was to give a taster of the design profession from our vantage point as architects and provide a chance for Alexa to see if pursuing a design career might be the right fit for her. For many students soon to take exams and considering their options after school, understanding what it is that architects do and how they got there can be a mystery to say the least.

Working with young people living and going to school near our office in Hackney, as well as in the local areas where we work, we have the opportunity to offer placements and workshops to promote the role that design and the arts plays in shaping the world around us, and go some way to opening up the profession to young people curious to find out more.

Coming with a passion for drawing and painting, Alexa joined a team developing a strategy and concept design for the external spaces of an all-girls secondary school in South London. Alexa was able to draw on her own experiences to offer a unique perspective on the proposals. We used research from the Make Space for Girls initiative as a talking point throughout the week, with Alexa giving a presentation to the office summarising the key ideas of this project. Alexa’s final output were two drawings for the project, both of which are boldly rendered and atmospheric.

Alexa’s contribution was highly valued by us, as well as the client for the project. We believe that bringing young people into the design process in this way can add real value to the projects we do. Since Alexa’s placement we’ve been trying to develop these partnerships with young people further and embed local voices and ideas at the centre of our design team. More on this soon!