Top architect firms share knowledge with Ravensbourne students

Thanks to Ravensbourne’s commitment to securing high-profile collaborations with industry partners, architecture students at Ravensbourne benefit from mentoring with some of the top architecture firms in the business.

We are proud that some of the world’s leading architects, who are currently shaping the future of the profession, are mentoring our students. This year, our students have worked with Hollaway, Foster+Partners, BDP, David Chipperfield Architects, MICA Architects, PDP London, PRP Architects, Hasa Architects, MoreySmith, BPR Architects, Arcadis, Thomas de Cruz Architects, Hall McKnight, and Baily Garner.

Blueprint for All, previously known as the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, will be mentoring four of our third-year BAME students this academic year. This is fantastic and we look forward to working with them more in the future.

In addition, we are delighted to report that several students in our class of 2021, who graduated this year, have now gone on to secure internships and job opportunities with prestigious firms.

Our recent BA (Hons) Interior Design Environment Architectures graduate Isobel Clancy has started a post as an Architectural Part 1 Assistant at David Chipperfield Architects, a hugely successful and award-winning British architect firm with offices around the world.

Isobel said: "I am thrilled to be starting a Part 1 yearlong placement at David Chipperfield Architects this September. My time at Ravensbourne has taught me a range of design skills whilst allowing each student space to develop their own personal design style.

"As well as these practical skills I have also grown confidence in my own design decisions which I think will be the key skill to bring forward into the working world."

Another BA (Hons) Interior Design Environment Architectures graduate, Lovely Javier, is undertaking a Part 1 placement with Foster + Partners, a British international studio and the largest architecture firm in the UK.

Lovely said: "Ravensbourne has equipped me with the necessary knowledge and skills required to start my journey in my current Part 1 position. This is thanks to my tutors – most of whom have experienced the industry first hand – and have played a vital role in me being offered an internship, and now full-time position, at Fosters + Partners.

"In particular, Ravensbourne’s Architecture course piqued my curiosity in the industry when I was a student, inviting me to challenge my early views of the industry, and has inspired me to continually evolve my ideology as a designer."

Additionally, two of our BA (Hons) Urban Landscape Architecture students won paid placements with ETLA, a renowned urban landscape architecture practice, as part of a new collaboration with Ravensbourne. You can hear more about Aliyah Chaumoo and Gabby Spencer’s experiences on the placement in our news story.

Ravensbourne Architecture Programme Director Alberto Villaneuva said: “We are very excited about the impact that our students are having on the industry and how this is appreciated in real opportunities. We encourage our students to find their own voice and identity, to learn from their lecturers, but not just accept their ideas.

“We encourage them to challenge ideas all the time, to find a way to understand society and not just try to do what the market wants. We encourage our students to understand themselves as cultural practitioners, not just limited to putting a physical building together or a design process, but aware of how things fit in the world we live in.

“Being an architecture student at Ravensbourne is very different to many institutions as our students understand how many disciplines share the same language. The tools that we use are exactly the same as in fashion, product design or engineering. That is what lets our graduates make an impact in the industry with their voices and ideas.”