People · Podcast guest
Laurence Richards
NO ENTRY! Exposing The Barriers To Entry Within The Architecture Industry, ft. Laurence Richards and Joe Maguire
Laurence Richards, Part II Architectural Assistant at Ackroyd Lowrie, on the barriers to entry in architecture and widening access to the profession.
- Current role
- Architectural Assistant Part II
- Practice
- Ackroyd Lowrie
- Location
- London
Conversation
The thinking behind the work.
Episode 0161 · Architecture Social
NO ENTRY! Exposing The Barriers To Entry Within The Architecture Industry, ft. Laurence Richards and Joe Maguire
You’re an enthusiastic Architecture Graduate trying to get in the club known as the “Industry”. From the outside, you see all the happy people, however, in front of you is a grumpy bouncer holding the entrance past the rope barrier. “No UK experience?! Back of the queue!” “NEVER used BIM?! Hmmmph, I don’t think this is the right place for you” “Under 3 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE?!… Back of the line!”
Explore episode moments
Use the timestamps below to find each moment in the full episode.
- 05:00 · University access, A Levels and getting started · Audio only
- 10:00 · Imposter syndrome and different routes into architecture · Audio only
- 15:00 · Job hunting, overseas experience and the nightclub analogy · Audio only
- 20:00 · Pay, professional bodies and early-career pressure · Audio only
- 25:00 · Salaries, location and remote working decisions · Audio only
- 30:00 · Why salary conversations have become more open · Audio only
Selected work
Selected work.
Bermondsey, London
Bombay Street
A 24-home mixed-use regeneration that also reworks neighbouring railway arches and adds a community garden.
Explore the project ↗
Chichester, United Kingdom
Boxgrove Lanes
More than 70 homes and 2,000 m² of retail organised around landscaped courtyards and a lake.
Explore the project ↗
Croydon, United Kingdom
Innova (Impact House) Croydon
A 220-home micro-living proposal with co-working, lounges, reception space and a rooftop cinema.
Explore the project ↗Other public work
Lea Bridge Road ↗
Twenty-six affordable micro-homes for first-time buyers registered as key workers, designed around off-site volumetric construction.
Harold Road ↗
Thirty-one homes and a replacement nursery on a redeveloped education site in Newham.
About
The story so far.
The person behind the work.
Laurence Richards is a Part II Architectural Assistant at Ackroyd Lowrie, the East London architecture practice. He studied at UWE Bristol and the Manchester School of Architecture, and speaks openly about the time, cost and routes involved in qualifying as an architect.
At Ackroyd Lowrie he helps run the practice's work-experience and outreach programme, offering week-long placements built around a realistic brief, along with portfolio reviews, interview practice and mentoring, with a focus on reaching people who do not have family connections in the industry.
He joined Stephen Drew on the Architecture Social Podcast to discuss the barriers to entering architecture and how to widen access to the profession.
Watch or listen to the full conversation in the Architecture Social CPD: Barriers to Entry in Architecture: Routes In With Ackroyd Lowrie.
The practice
Ackroyd Lowrie
Founded in 2014, working across urban regeneration, masterplanning and education.
Architecture practice · East London
Expertise
What I bring.
- Current role
- Architectural Assistant Part II
- Practice
- Ackroyd Lowrie
- Location
- London
- On the podcast
- 1 episode · 2023
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