Student Advice: How to succeed as a built-environment professional

Student Advice:

How to succeed as a Built-Environment Professional

Members offer their advice to students

Building Designers:

“You need to develop your passion for all things design and never stop looking at the world around you for inspiration. I was lucky as a young architectural graduate to be given a lot of design responsibility at a larger firm, but if you want a good, all-round learning experience, a small- to medium-sized practice may offer greater opportunities. You need to keep evolving in this profession and it is a life-long learning experience in which confidence and competence comes with time spent working on projects.”

John Damant, Director, Arcologic, WA.

“If you love doing this, it will be worth everything you put into it. (In other words, it’s up to you!) It’s not an easy road, but nothing worthwhile ever is… It’s a bit of a cliché, but (like most clichés), it’s true.”

Ingrid Hornung, Owner, Designs for You & President, Design Matters National, Alphington, Vic.

“If you want to be a building designer, be prepared to study hard at university and equally at home, completing assignments and conducting research. You will need to be driven and willing to work. If you lift the foot off the gas and think you can cruise through, this is the wrong field for you. I felt that studying at Federation University Ballarat provided a fantastic learning environment, as you were treated like employees by some lecturers working in their design studio and expected to perform at the top level by others.” “My biggest piece of advice would be spending the time – and I really believe if you’re interested in design, or construction in general – to want to learn hands-on skills. Most can learn the skills taught to them during the course but when you simplify the whole part, having an understanding of just how a house is constructed and works makes the role enjoyable and gives you the confidence to design.”

Jad Newman, BIM Documenter, Rhodes Framing Solutions, Vic.

“The thing I try and instil in my students is to keep your eyes open to the buildings we see every day, try to look at how something might have been detailed, and to absorb as much information as you can about various ways of tackling design solutions as there are normally several ways you can design something and there aren’t usually any specific rights or wrongs, however If you know what your options are and you have a number of them then you can make an informed decision on which direction to take. In design there really aren’t any limits beyond your own personal ones so the only way to advance is to keep expanding your limits. There is usually nothing wrong with making an error as long as you learn from it and don’t repeat the error.”

John Armsby, Architect, Armsby Architects, Vic. & Member, DMN Committee of Management

“Love what you do and listen to those with industry experience.”

Darron Lyons, Owner, The Red Shed, & Member, DMN Committee of Management, NT.

Stephen Schenk, Unicorn Architecture, Vic.

Design involves a real understanding of nature which we work with every day in all of its forms: sun, wind and rain...

Belinda Stewart, Owner, 3875 design & drafting, Vic.

“More than in any other industry, in building design you must have a passion, an obsession for what you’re doing in order to succeed. Design involves a real understanding of nature which we work with every day in all of its forms: sun, wind and rain. Wind is the most important consideration for country and coastal properties, specifically to design the building for protection of outdoor living spaces. It helps to also have an understanding of the colours of nature. The colours we use in building design are all in the backyard. Nature gives you the answers in terms of the aesthetics, patterns, details and connections of structures, so it’s really important to have an appreciation and understanding of nature. I’d also tell students to look at buildings and get an understanding of how people live within a building. Students should also get a good understanding of CAD packages. And they need to go out on to site and speak to the builders regularly and follow their designs through, and speak to the trades.”

Peter Jackson, Director, Peter Jackson Design, Vic.

TPAs:

“Make sure you become qualified as an assessor (e.g., Cert IV). This will increase your credibility and enable you to provide better service to your clients. A good understanding of materials and design and some time working in the design or construction industry would help with better understanding of how to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.”

Andrew Barrett, Director/Sustainability Consultant, Green at Heart, QLD.

“If I was to share any of my wisdom with students looking to enter our profession, it would be to ‘Take Off The Blinkers’. We need to look outside of NatHERS; we are not NatHERS assessors; we are Thermal Building Assessors. With the ever-changing market, we need be more knowledgeable in other tools; i.e., Green Star, NABERS, Design Builder… just to name a few. Look to also increase your knowledge of building and construction, together with some sales and marketing skills. To run a successful business, you need to have the knowledge to gain the confidence of your clients and also know how to retain them though quality customer service.” “Learn, read, then learn and read some more. Once you get any qualification that should never be the end of your learning. CPD is so important to further your knowledge and professionalism but don’t just do learning for the sake of gathering CPD points: learn to better yourself and your business professionally. Why not join a committee, attend meetings, read papers of relevance; all this will lead to better knowledge and your future development. Which leads me to my next words of wisdom: it is not our job to make projects achieve six stars. We assess the project on the data provided, within the rules of the NatHERS technical notes, and if the minimum required star rating is achieved then all is good. But if it doesn’t, work with all concerned to achieve the end goal. Never compromise your ethical standards or be bullied into making wrong choices.”

Allen Roberts, Owner, APR Building Services, Vic.

Town Planners:

“It’s a great profession and provides a wide and diverse range of opportunities across numerous industries. The majority of town planners that permit applicants deal with are either strategic or statutory planners. I am not sure how wise the words are, but for students contemplating entering the planning profession, I would say: please remember, the primary purpose of town planning is ‘managing change’. Do not enter the profession with ambitions of ‘protecting the status quo’. There is scope for ‘protecting’ important places under the planning regime however, the fundamental imperative is to provide a better place for people to live, work and communities to grow. Planners need to be agents of change.”

Ashley Thompson, Director and Chief Purveyor of Good News, Clause 1 Planning Consultants, Vic.