By design

Nick Lawrence, architect, winner of the Open Architecture Challenge, Asia

Architecture has become something that informs the way I live my life and the way I perceive the world around me. There were some key moments and decisions that I feel have allowed architecture to rise to such prominence in my life.

My early years were spent in the Middle East growing up in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and attending an English/Dutch primary school for expatriate children. My father was, and is to this day, heavily involved in large infrastructural engineering projects in the region. Upon returning to the UK, I attended a local primary school until my parents, dissatisfied with elements of the English state education system, decided to involve me in the Steiner education system. I spent nine years at Kings Langley Rudolf Steiner School. The emphasis on breadth and a holistic attitude – both key tenets of Steiner education – have stayed with me since then.

Welsh inspiration

After passing my GCSEs I was awarded a scholarship to attend Atlantic College in Wales which strives to 'engage young people from all nations in finding peaceful means to bring together a world divided by political, racial and socio-economic barriers'.

My two years in Wales were truly inspirational. The international element of this period of my education also echoed something of my earliest years with my family in the Middle East.

First partner

After graduating from Atlantic

College and a long trip to India with college friends, I took a year out with the intention of travelling more. This was when I first encountered the professional world of architecture and A&Q Partnership Limited.

To raise money to fund a round-the- world trip, I replied to an advertisement in a local paper for a job as an architect's assistant. The company was A&Q Partnership Ltd and I first joined in 1998. My previous work experience had been limited to office 'temp' work during school and college holidays.

My first year at A&Q Partnership was the first time I had been a member of a professional team and presented me with a sharp learning curve. To some degree the office director taught me many essential skills.

After my round-the-world trip,
I returned to A&Q Partnership, initially with purely financial motives – to fund my first degree course. A deferred place at The University of Bristol had been kept open for me to study mechanical engineering. At this stage in my life I was unsure of what really interested me.

Bristol whipped

While I enjoyed my time at Bristol and took on many extra-curricular activities, I felt very dissatisfied with the academic aspect. Every holiday I returned to A&Q Partnership in order to fund my life in Bristol and develop both my architectural skills and strengthen my personal relationship with the company.

Having a design-based emphasis in my work outside of university, I became more and more frustrated with the approach to design and general attitude within the engineering world.

It was with this disappointment in the lack of recognition that creativity, expression and form are given in the engineering profession that I began to reconsider my career. Architecture, as my professional experience had taught me, has these qualities at its core and yet also requires a high level of technical knowledge.

My engineering degree gave me many skills that I believe are transferable and after I graduated from The University of Bristol I returned to A&Q Partnership as a full-time employee.

London calling

A&Q Partnership offered a deal whereby I would move to the London office to work on larger projects and retrain to qualify as an architect sponsored financially by the company. This was in exchange for my commitment to the practice for a number of years.

I found the adjustment to the academic world of architecture new, interesting, stimulating and a challenge. I was still taking the course full-time and continued to work twice a week during term-time and full-time during the academic holidays.

This proved to be of help in many ways, providing a professional complement to the trials of academia.After graduating from London Metropolitan University I returned to full-time employment.

Competition time

In September 2004 I entered a two-stage open international design competition for the development of new residential accommodation for students studying at Atlantic College, Wales, which, being my old school, is a place very close to my heart.

The competition required concept designs for four new housing blocks to replace the existing accommodation, which has outlived its design lifespan. The competition promoter, Atlantic College, intended that the winner of the competition be appointed to take the project through to completion. I entered in association with A&Q Partnership as a sole practitioner and was pleased to make the shortlist. I was invited to show my work at an exhibition in the RIBA building in Portland Place, London that spring.

This competition was another important step for me as it allowed me to put into practice all the theory and skill that the academic side of architecture had taught me but with a certain amount of creative licence.

London, Prague, Athens

At the end of this year of experience I returned to LMU, accepting an offer to study for my Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture. My financial sponsorship by A&Q Partnership was continued and again I worked two days a week in the office whilst taking the course full-time.

This allowed me to keep up to date with the developments in the office and the progress of the projects I was involved with at the time. Projects I did in London and Prague and a thesis project based in Athens concluded my second year of my diploma and helped me to graduate with distinction.

Building for humanity

The AMD Open Architecture Challenge was another open, international design competition. Its philanthropic aim was to develop solutions for building sustainable, multi-purpose, low-cost technology facilities for those who need them most by enabling families in a remote rural area of Nepal, where there is only one doctor for a population of 250,000, to access healthcare from top physicians and medical professionals all over the world by building a telemedicine centre.

Such benevolent ideals resonated with those of my time at Atlantic College and encouraged me to spend some time and effort in its conclusion. The design, developed with my friends at Max Fordham, was completed and submitted last February and was juried in May.

We were thrilled to be notified that we had won the competition. We're currently organising site visits to Nepal where we will refine our design and aim to start construction early next year.

I am excited about having my first independent design realised and for an organisation whose ethos so strongly resonates with that of my education.

The Nepal project thus far has offered me the opportunity to independently manage my own project and deal with input from other consultants outside the office environment. I found managing the scope of works and a new team rewarding and I am currently negotiating the legal framework to support the procurement in Nepal. Architecture for Humanity, the project organiser, has some experience in overseas projects and will be lending its expertise in this area.

Going professional

Having returned to the office a year after graduating as a full-time employee, I continue to work as a key member of
a small team, on large residential development and regeneration projects.

I am proud of all that I have achieved thus far and excited about what I might achieve in my future career.
For more information about Architecture for Humanity, visit www.architectureforhumanity.org.
The Open Architecture
Network can be found at www.openarchitecturenetwork.org.

– As told to Preethi Janice D'Sa, Abu Dhabi freelance writer