Winners of Future Vision not only get some great cash prizes, they also get the
opportunity to go on some amazing work placements. Read the following diaries to
find out more about life as a Future Vision winner.
If you want a job that has a positive impact on other people’s lives and the communities
they live in, visit www.askwhatif.co.uk
for a list of courses and careers.
Giles Hopgood,
'Future Space' winner, 2008
Well it’s over! I can’t quite believe how quickly the four weeks at Hemingway Design went, it has been so much fun (as well as very good work experience).
To be honest before starting the work placement I was very unsure what I would actually be doing on a day-to-day basis. I checked out the website (www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk) which gives an explosion of information on the types of projects and work the company does – the variety of projects is quite staggering! However this only made it harder to work out what I would be involved with. Also it appeared to be a much larger company than it actually is.
Arriving on day one I was greeted by Wayne and shown around the small office. I was stunned to see a huge bookcase entitled Landscape Architecture with another on housing. I was set work directly from Wayne and Gerardine and made very welcome in the company. The resources for inspiration were endless, from a library of new books to back-catalogues of design journals and a huge image library online. I guess this is what you need to be renowned British Designers.
I couldn’t believe it but they gave me two projects to run myself (with some guidance). They were landscape works too, one being a Garden Design for Chelsea and the other a Social Housing Scheme. I’ve been fortunate to have had a year’s experience in a Landscape Office but the work was far from this in terms of creativity – here I was able to let my imagination run!
The first two priorities were function and design, with budget a definite third – which makes a nice change. I was also able to dabble in other design work including some shed designs! Somewhat different from landscapes but it made me realise that I shouldn’t limit myself to landscape design in the future.
I feel this experience has given me a new design philosophy and has really inspired myself in design terms which I hope I can maintain into a job wherever that maybe. Living in London for the placement was also another great experience and has firmed up my decision to move there soon. Entering the competition has certainly changed my outlook on Landscape Architecture and the Design world. I now hope to explore a more design based career, and with this placement on my CV I think that can only help!
I fully recommend entering this competition to all students as it’s very easy and doesn’t involve any work on top of your studies – I just submitted my main project! It has given me the opportunity to work for a company I could only have dreamt to work for, and hopefully, in the future, others will benefit like I have.
I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway and Future Vision for giving me this amazing opportunity.
Kate Frankova,
‘Future Streets’ winner, 2008
I started my placement with international consultancy firm Arup on Tuesday 29 July 2008.
From the first day I was accepted well in the Planning, Policy and Economics team at one of Arup’s Leeds offices. I was shown around the office and given the Health and Safety briefing on the first day. The team had a list of tasks ready for me. For my placement I was to assist with three different projects to get an idea of Arup’s varied work.
During my first week I worked on part of the River Soar and Grand Union Canal Development Strategy and Plan (in Leicestershire) that Arup is to produce. I was asked to find the tourist attractions and points of interest close to the stretch of the canal between Loughborough and Kilby Lock and look for case studies that could be used as good practice examples regarding restoration and use of inland waterways.
The attractions I researched suggest there are many interesting places along the stretch of the canal that could be attractive to visitors, they just need to be promoted better.
One of Arup’s aims is to create an identity for the canal that users could associate with. Arup will develop a logo for the project and I came up with ideas that were very welcomed and might get used.
Apart from working independently and, from time to time, asking my colleagues how they apply for bids; what criteria they use when choosing the projects they would be involved in; how they obtain documentation; and what sustainability appraisals are, I also joined them on an informal party at a Leeds bar. It was a perfect opportunity to meet other people from the office and I had a great time.
During my second week I completed work on the River Soar and Grand Union Canal project. I created a spreadsheet of the attractions and their postcodes, so that the GIS team can map them, and I was asked to attend a meeting with the GIS team. I summarised the case studies, emphasising the main points in a table.
My second piece of work was to gather economic data to show how employment has changed spatially in the last ten fifteen years within the Leeds City Region. This was a straight forward task, since I had done something similar at a previous placement. I worked on this with the project leader and it was heavily based on discussion, since the data was often not available in comparable formats so we had to adjust the criteria along the way.
I attended Safety at Sites training that focused on health and safety and risk assessments. Though I did not really use this during my stay with Arup, it was very interesting and raised important issues regarding personal safety.
I was asked to help with another project relating to planning for railway services on a specific route. Evidence regarding the use of the railway line and its potential for growth needed to be examined. I searched for interesting tourist attractions along the route, ticket prices, parking charges and of two railway stations, suggested which is more likely to be used more than the other.
I used this data to create a fictional case study of travelling from point A to B using the two railway lines. The time involved was almost the same both ways, however there was quite a significant price difference.
An interesting experience was attending two meetings in Bradford related to transport planning.
Probably the most useful exercise was looking at the agenda of the Conservative Party. If the Conservatives win the next election, this could have major consequences for the different levels of government in the UK, and for consultancy firms, who usually work with regional agencies, that would be abolished under the Conservatives’ proposals. Politics is one area that I had no prior knowledge of and therefore was the most beneficial to me.
I went to Sheffield to look at successful regeneration projects, especially the Winter Garden, Peace Gardens and the Gold Route. My boss encouraged me to have a look around the area while I had the opportunity to.
As a thank you for my work I was taken for lunch near the Corn Exchange. It was another opportunity to get to know the colleagues better.
My placement at ARUP was very interesting and I got the opportunity to learn about the private sectors’ approach to work, its advantages and disadvantages, and what kind of work ARUP is involved in. I also began contemplating a Masters degree, either after finishing my undergraduate studies, or later on, while I am working.
Gethin Owens,
overall winner and Future Building winner, 2007
Gethin Owens, The 10.50 train pulls into the station and I am on my way. Leaving the place
that gave me the inspiration for my future vision I was on my way to begin
my placement working within the Thames Gateway Executive at
Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in London.
From what I had found out about the projects at DCLG, the Thames
Gateway development was the most energetic and driven projects in recent
times, with aims to deliver over 200,000 new homes and hopes of
potentially creating a new national park within the gateway.
Underlying the project was to use it as a benchmark for sustainable design,
be it in housing, landscape or ecology. This boded well for me to develop
my understanding of sustainability, which to date has foremost been biased
towards 'sustain' and regeneration, as opposed to situations where there is
the potential to implement new and innovative sustainable design.
Francisco Rodriguez ,
'Future People' winner, 2008
The first contact I had with the Landscape Architecture practice based in London, Farrer Huxley Associates (www.fha.co.uk), was a relaxed meeting with Noel Farrer, the founding member and Beth Cromer ,Senior Landscape Architect, as well as a quick tour around the studios (with tennis table area included!)
On my first day of work and after the weekly group meeting, where every member of staff explains their progress on each of the projects being undertaken by the practice, I was asked to make a simple, yet exciting planting and soft material selection for one of the projects, a small community park. The design concept was very interesting; a meteorite had crashed in the park and all kinds of alien vegetation had developed along the park site. I focused on a dramatic planting scheme, rich in strange looking plants, in terms of colour, shape and scale. We had considered the possibility of designing an edible shrub edge and I had a good time designing the wild berries farm-like edge. This meant the possibility of edible street spaces, as I had envisioned in my Future Vision Idea, becoming real somehow.
As soon as I started getting to know the people in the office, I realized how creative, productive, fun and down to earth they were. They seemed to have real enthusiasm for their work and it was catching.
I spent the following days between the office and site visits, getting in contact with real environments and the social perspective changed from one project to another, making this job even more fascinating.
From public spaces and school grounds to housing regeneration projects, I was being immersed in a whole range of different projects with totally different needs and possibilities.
The following weeks, I worked producing views and sketches for some of the projects, as well as brainstorming some design concepts. This included sketches for the Southwark Cathedral Square
Best of all, is that some of the work I have done with them will eventually become real and the greatest thing about this profession is the possibility of improving people’s quality of life, whilst improving and respecting the environment. But it is not only about sustainability, I consider that is no longer enough, it is something deeper than that, it is about bringing back that spiritual connection with mother nature. It is not about the future, it is about designing a new, better world…a new world already happening… and we are the entrepreneurs.
Stephen Ferguson,
'Future Building' Winner, 2008
Back in 2007 when I was first given the opportunity to go on a HCA Academy (then ASC) sponsored work placement, I had never set foot in an architectural practice, and had had no previous experience. The placement was an invaluable experience that allowed me to gain an insight into how a practice works, the people involved and the approach taken to developing ideas to reality.
It was due to my time with Bellway that I successfully gained full-time employment the following month, on a vocational gap year with NJSR Chartered Architects, Southport, as a part of my degree studies as an Architectural Technologist. The knowledge I had gained from my placement aided me in fitting into the design team incredibly quick and without it I would not have managed to take on such big responsibilities as to working on planning applications and dealing with clients on a 1-2-1 basis.
Whilst on my university placement, I received notification of the 2008 awards, and whilst I was still eligible to enter, considered applying with a new idea. I had little faith in winning a national award for a consecutive year, so when I received news of being shortlisted again, I was ecstatic! Experiencing the awards ceremony for a second time was brilliant, and seeing more fresh ideas from other winners was really interesting.
The opportunity arose for me to work with Gentoo Living, in Sunderland, and once my current contract had come to an end, went up to the North East to start. It was my first time in the region, and I am most grateful to Gentoo and the colleagues involved with organising my time there. They were well aware of what experience I already had, and so worked tirelessly to ensure I took a new perspective of how their company worked.
I started my placement with an induction into the company, its role within the community and the work that it has, and is continuing to do in the Sunderland area. I was shown around the city to see the several stages of mass social housing regeneration by two colleagues, Peter Harrison and Jill Haley, who explained how they were doing more than building properties, but investing in the community by means of social incentives, local jobs and trades work for their residents and combating the issues which affected the community, such as vandalism.
From here, I was introduced to the design team and shown the work they were currently doing, including the designs for the ‘passive homes’ scheme, housing which required virtually no heating as they were so efficiently insulated. Along with working on alternatives for the house elevations and room layouts, I was also given the chance to shadow key meetings with various bodies and listen to the various methods of sustainable materials and energy sources which may one day be used in all homes.
During my first two weeks, I was taken to housing schemes in Durham and Newcastle to see the variety of housing stock Gentoo own, as not all their properties were designed by their own design team. Also, I was given opportunities to see the local attractions, such as Durham Cathedral and at Newcastle, the Sage and the Baltic, which were places I’ve always wanted but never have had the chance to visit beforehand.
The latter half of my placement was to work with the social aspects of the company, to allow me to achieve an overall view of how involved Gentoo is with the area. Each day I was based in a new office with a new team which let me meet many employees, all of which were really friendly and helpful.
At the beginning of the third week, I was based in Hetton, working with the department who aid new tenants and assess their properties for any initial problems that may have been unresolved during the property’s handover. This also tied in with communal areas, in which craved pavements, bad thoroughfares and other issues were addressed and reported to the department who deals with them. This was my first chance to shadow appointments with some of Gentoo’s tenants and to hear firsthand what they think of the service provided.
The following day I was in Houghton-Le-Spring, dealing with the social support that helps both the senior tenants and also the youngest, with help for childcare and any financial support that may be able, again this was similar to the previous days where I shadowed Gentoo staff on their appointments around the area. I also visited the property Gentoo has to help homeless youngsters in the area, and aid them secure a job and basic financial help to hopefully one day allow them to further themselves and not worry about living on the streets. It was a prime example of how the company is more than just a house builder, and how they genuinely aim to make a difference to the social well being of hard hit neighbourhoods.
Other visits also included victim supports, who review the details of some tenants along with police reports to see if any abuse is occurring but not being reported, and to help rid disturbances from troublesome areas by evicting tenants who persistently cause problems. However, the company also offers support of a different kind, for business venture incentives. The service was for anyone, and not just Gentoo tenants, who wanted to start their own business and needed advice and financial support to get up and running.
On the Friday I was taken on a trip to the new schools being built in the Sunderland area and the massive investment in the youth care facilities to allow children to have a high standard of education. The week was ended with a trip to the Riverside Stadium, in Sunderland, for a guided tour of the grounds and to see how football and the stadium are also used for youth projects sponsored by Gentoo to allow children to use state of the art facilities that a school would not be able to budget for, such as wireless touch button pads to interact with the tutors white board and to answer questions electronically in class, or do polls to view opinions.
It was a hectic week travelling around to all the different departments, yet it was the only way to fully acknowledge the size of the company. Yet what was most surprising, is that despite the size of the company, almost all the staff knew each other, and despite only meeting me once or twice, remembered my name and knew why I was on placement, showing the close community formed within the company.
After a week of working with the staff who deal with the tenants in person, I spent my final week with the departments behind the scenes, mainly the telecommunications departments who organise all the appointments for staff visits, report maintenance issues and deal with tenant enquiries. I started by shadowing staff in the call centre, who deal with a monumental amount of phone calls, reaching 500 calls within time I spent with them, with enquiries ranging from blocked drains and leaking radiators through to moving properties and changing payment methods.
I then participated in how these enquiries are processed by other departments to organise the tradesmen their appointments and prioritise the workload for how quickly they need to be resolved, or in some cases report incidents which have still not been resolved and re-enter them into the system. From here I then went on to the depot where the tradesmen and their resources are stored and was given a tour of the materials kept and how the department operates, including some brief visits to properties undergoing work.
My final day was with the Public Relations team, in which I shadowed meetings on the branding of the company and other media related discussions, such as the company magazine launch. All these visits and department switches were monitored by Caroline Gitsham, Jill Haley and Peter Harrison, who had organised the placement, and ensured I was reaching the places I needed to be each morning. They were also responsible for finding accommodation during my time with them to ensure I was in a good location for commuting to their different offices and close to local amenities. I was finally shown the accolades Gentoo had one over the previous years with awards for social regeneration, sustainability and other national prizes, and how they organise themselves to apply for future competitions. It was also a chance to discuss further my experiences with Future Vision and how I could work on designs for other competitions.
It brought me around full circle of my tour of Gentoo, in which I had seen all sectors who deal with the residents on different levels. For its size the company is extremely grounded and friendly to newcomers, and I was amazed how quickly I fitted into the departments even if I was only with them for a day or two. The placement allowed me to partake and witness aspects of planning that I would never have a chance to see with the job positions I aim for, such as the social support given. This has given me a valuable spectrum of knowledge and understanding, on top of the construction and sustainability insight, which I imagine will make for impressive attributes in my future career path.
I would like to thank HCA Academy for allowing me to have this opportunity again, and to Gentoo for going out of their way to provide me with an exciting, customised placement and for making me feel at home in a location I was unfamiliar with.