At school she was very keen on Art and Design and Craft, Design and Technology and often said she’d like to be an architect. Following her art foundation year, she was due to study Fine Art at Goldsmiths after her gap year. During her travels she soon realised her sketchbook was filled with drawings and photos of buildings. So, upon her return she decided to switch back to her original calling and study at university.
She studied at The University of Nottingham in Architecture and Environmental Design, a combined engineering and Part I architecture qualification, graduating 2007 with a MEng Hons. Following this she gained a distinction in her MArch at Birmingham Institute for Art and Design and qualified as an architect at Westminster University in 2016.
She originally chose Architecture and Environmental Design for its sustainability focus. The combination of Architecture and mechanical engineering skills allows a holistic view of building design to achieve a sustainable outcome. It can also lead to a better user environment. Her work in education particularly brought this home. Visiting schools upon completion and seeing how a well-designed, welcoming space can influence the demeanour of the children and teachers and improve their learning outcomes is very rewarding for her.
Her favourite building is the Weald and Downland Gridshell, which she has a real soft spot for. It is an innovative double curved structure made from a lattice of green oak which she has always found fascinating because it is such large open space with no steel. This was the first time she realised the possibilities of timber in construction and has since worked on several buildings with Glulam and Cross Laminated Timber.
In her spare time, she likes to screen-print, knit and illustrates for a charity music festival each year.
If you would like to have a chat with us about your project or want to learn more about the services we offer, we’d love you to get in touch.
design@ajaltd.co.uk
0115 841 8418