Bridging Architecture School and Practice with Chris Simmons

In this Architecture Social conversation (about 52 minutes), architect Chris Simmons, founder of Architects Instruction and an associate at Squire and Partners, talks through one of the most awkward moments in an architectural career: the move from school into practice. It is a practical session for students, Part 1 and Part 2 assistants, and the people who hire and mentor them.

Who this is for

Architecture students approaching their first role, Part 1 and Part 2 assistants finding their feet in practice, educators who want their graduates to land well, and studio leads or hiring managers who want early-career people to contribute sooner.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1. Explain why academic work and practice work reward different things, and why that creates a transition gap.
2. Describe a project in practice language by stating the brief, your role, your decisions and what changed after feedback.
3. Present a portfolio that shows judgement and responsibility, not only finished images.
4. Recognise where students commonly undersell their academic work, and correct it.
5. Use drawing as a tool for thinking and communication, not just presentation.
6. Identify what good mentoring looks like, and how to ask for it.

Why the transition feels strange

Academic work can be ambitious, open and speculative. Practice needs clarity, responsibility and decisions that other people can build on. Neither is wrong, but they value different things, so a strong student can still feel lost in their first weeks in a studio. Naming that gap is the first step to closing it.

Where the disconnect usually appears

It tends to show up in a few predictable places: a portfolio that shows ideas but not the candidate's role or judgement; an ability to present a concept without being able to explain responsibility; software skills listed without any sign of how they supported a project; and unclear expectations around communication, deadlines and teamwork. Many graduates also undersell their academic work simply because nobody has shown them how to translate it.

Translating academic work into practice evidence

The fix is not to strip out creativity, it is to make creativity easier for a busy practice to read. Take a single project and describe it the way a studio would: what was the brief, what did you decide, what did you produce, what changed after feedback, and what would you do differently next time. The same project becomes far more persuasive once your role and judgement are visible.

Drawing as a skill, not decoration

Chris makes the case that drawing remains an essential skill, used to think through a problem, test an idea and communicate it to clients and the public. Treated this way, drawing supports community engagement and helps demystify the design and planning process rather than just dressing up a final scheme.

Mentoring and the responsibility of practice

The conversation also looks at the other side of the relationship: how studios treat young architects. Better support, clearer expectations and honest mentoring reduce the risk of early-career people being overworked or undervalued. Architects Instruction exists to address that long-standing disparity between architectural education and practice.

The recruiter's view

From a recruitment perspective, the strongest early-career candidates do not pretend to know everything. They show enough judgement, curiosity and clarity that a practice can see how they will grow. That is more convincing than a portfolio that hides unclear thinking behind beautiful images.

Key terms

• Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3: the stages of UK architectural education and qualification, from undergraduate study through to professional registration.
• Practice language: describing work in terms of brief, role, decisions and outcomes rather than purely conceptual or academic terms.
• Studio culture: the day-to-day expectations of a practice around communication, deadlines, teamwork and responsibility.
• Mentoring: structured support that helps a student or young architect build judgement and confidence during the transition into practice.

Reflective prompts for your CPD record

1. Take one academic project and rewrite its explanation for a practice reader, stating the brief, your role, the decision that moved it forward and the skill it proves.
2. Where in your portfolio is your personal contribution unclear, and how could you make it visible without adding more images?
3. If you support early-career staff, what is one expectation you could make clearer so they can contribute sooner?

About the guest

Chris Simmons is a registered architect who trained at Canterbury School of Architecture and has worked across studios in London and the South East. He spent time at Hawkes Architecture on bespoke low-carbon and Passivhaus homes in the countryside, and several years as an associate at the London practice Squire and Partners on large developer-led residential projects, including a masterplan for the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast. He is a keen educator and mentor, has been a visiting critic at Canterbury School of Architecture and a practice mentor at the London School of Architecture, and founded Architects Instruction to help students and young architects transition into practice. Find out more at architectsinstruction.com.