"An architect’s gestation is long," points out Benedict Zucchi, Principal at BDP. "In some ways, it takes 15 to 20 years of gradual development to fully mature as an architect."
Given the fact that architecture is a gradual learning process, it is important to stay motivated. While there will always be aspects of a job (or project) that are mundane, it is hard to progress your career if your heart is not in your current job.
Following your interests, discovering new possibilities and remaining passionate about your work can fuel the advancement of your career.
A young architect's motivations
"A strong public spirit has always motivated me," reveals Zucchi. "As a teenager, growing up near the Royal Free hospital in London, I would often ask myself how a building provided for people at their most vulnerable could look so awful. I was thinking about placemaking, although I didn't realise it at the time."
Looking back, Zucchi realises that an interest in user engagement and public projects has always been a hallmark of his career. He has always felt at home at BDP, the practice he joined within a few years of qualifying. A large part of their work lay in schools and universities, which struck a chord with Zucchi and deepened his interests in architecture for public services. He became an Associate at BDP within three years.
"I have always been interested in history, and read widely about 20th century architecture," Zucchi remembers. "I was curious as to how some architects could have built so much that has suffered so badly, creating such poor places for those most in need of a better environment."
Leading on bids for hospitals became part of his job in around 2001, including children's hospitals in Brighton. This brought him full circle with his teenage musings: he pinpoints this period as when he found his true vocation. Winning and delivering a successful project in this area earned him and his practice a good reputation in this sector, establishing them as 'go to' agents.
The best project outcome, not the best design
While Zucchi has derived career satisfaction from "unpicking the problems", as he puts it, this has always been as a happy consequence of the professional imperatives of meeting the client's brief.
“A lifelong commitment to learning how to do a better job for clients” is what Valerie Evans, Director of Architecture at Atkins, points to as the biggest factor behind her career progress.
She has headed up numerous huge schemes, and has led international design teams with the specific brief to deliver ‘iconic projects’ for governments and cities: buildings designed to firmly put a place on the map.
Yet she reveals that, across her career, her enduring motivation has been less the realisation of amazing buildings but the satisfaction of delivering the best possible service for clients.
“It is about how, through construction knowledge and experience rather than architecture in its purest form, I can serve clients better,” she explains. “We can produce the best architectural design possible and know we have done a good job. But the project needs to be high quality, delivered on time and within budget.”
Continually challenge yourself
On one level this is simply taking great personal satisfaction in a job well done. However, Evans’ promotion to senior level came was also the result of a continued self questioning and improvement.
She reflects that, over the course of her career, she has always asked herself how she can keep challenging herself and learning new lessons in her professional life.
It is this that has been her professional signature: while she has certainly worked in specialist sectors (such as retail buildings and defence), sticking to a specific typology has never been a be all and end all.
To gain experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team, she moved from a large to a small practice fairly early in her career. This opened her eyes to the instantaneous feedback and input from other disciplines in a team: she learned a great deal from her structural and building services engineer colleagues.
Zucchi admits that he has "always enjoyed large, complicated projects". Working for BDP gave him educational work of varying scales, from schools to university masterplanning, which then led organically up into urban design work on small towns. While he acknowledges it may be difficult, he urges young architects to try to get as much varied, horizon broadening project work as they can.
"You have to try your hand at lots of different things, paying your dues, and be reasonably philosophical about this," he counsels. "At the same time, acknowledge that there comes a point where you need to do more than designing another multi-storey carpark, or another small residential building."
Engage with like minded people
Nurturing one’s curiosity can evidently pay off. But such dedication is of little use if it is not recognised. Accordingly, Evans’ advice to architects is that you try to maintain good relations with senior figures at your workplace: make sure you are acknowledged as being someone that should be supported and promoted.
Evans urges early career architects to identify those whose philosophy and values align with theirs in some way. She is a great believer that passion and commitment will be noticed and that, to an extent, success breeds success.
Her latter day career progressions have happened organically. She was able to move from a spell working on large retail buildings for clients such as Sainsburys to leading multi-disciplinary teams for AMEC on defence and infrastructure projects.
This came her way due to AMEC being a contractor she had worked with on many projects: a good example of becoming known to an employer in an entirely organic, unforced way by having established a good working relationship with them in other contexts over the years.
Work hard, but do not be a martyr
Evans concedes that there is a fine line between throwing oneself wholeheartedly into a lifelong commitment to architecture; and merely working far too hard.
“As a profession, we are generally highly committed to our jobs and to design. In architecture, you can keep on improving constantly: there is no clear start or finish line.”
This can lead to burnout and Evans admits she has often been guilty of being "the last to leave the office". However, she is encouraged by the growing awareness in the profession that a long hours culture is unsustainable.
She appreciates the necessary steps that forward thinking practices are now taking to ensure that architects’ commitment to their vocation remains fulfilling and stimulating — but also healthy and balanced.
Thanks to Valerie Evans, Director, Atkins; and Benedict Zucchi, Principal, BDP.
This feature is one of a series that supports architects in building career resilience. The series helps architects at all professional levels with advice on career progression, advancement, promotion and learning.
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