I’m delighted to be stepping into the Director of RIBA London region role after five years working with a London-based Part 2 architecture school, developing and delivering a practice-integrated and student-driven programme of activity which enhances academic learning with practice interventions.
This work involved engaging with a network of practices to organise work placements, design clinics, mentoring sessions, networking events, and recruitment opportunities whilst encouraging inter-practice collaboration between small and emerging practices and established practices helping to build a more open and connected community of students, practitioners, and industry.
Now at RIBA, the opportunity is bigger and I’m looking forward to continuing and expanding this activity with RIBA London members - a community of 12,500 registered architects, a growing number of student members, 1,300 Chartered practices, and the nine partner universities across London. Helping our members find value in their membership, is something I’m very much looking forward to.
So, alongside an institution-wide review of the relationship between RIBA and our members, across London, I want to encourage more peer-to-peer connections, ensuring members can engage, share knowledge, and support each other. We need to rethink how our members interact, and peer-to-peer relationships will help to create a more resilient, and more inclusive profession.
So, what does that mean? For me, the message from students and practice has been clear. Future architects want to upskill and qualify to make themselves more employable and find opportunities to network with their future employers. Practices want to attract and retain the best and most diverse talent, win work and support their staff in staying ahead of regulatory compliance through access to up-to-date content and knowledge. Overlayed are our collective ambitions around tackling the climate emergency, sector diversification and creating more sustainable and inclusive places and spaces through design.
To deliver this, I will be working closely with our London Region Chair, Damion Burrows, supported by our London Region team (Abu Uddin, Andres Gutierrez, Aurelia Amanitis, and Ashanti Darby) to engage with our volunteer branches (Local Architect Groups). The LAGs will play a key role in driving this agenda, shaping a stronger programme of engagement across London. Elections are taking place as we speak, so please check your inbox for details of how you can vote for those standing. If you’re interested in supporting this activity then you can still join a committee, just reach out and we can discuss getting you more involved.
In the coming months, we will begin work on strengthening our three key networks and explore how each of these could interact more. Our Future Architects Practice Network will focus on helping students become more employable by providing access to skills development and networking opportunities with future employers.
You can expect to see new collaborations with schools of architecture, as we take a fresh look at how we develop initiatives which align with academic study and directly support career progression.
For micro and small practices, we will be strengthening our Incubator and Small and Emerging Practice Network. We’ll make sure that our team are equipped to signpost members to practical support on the issues that keep business owners awake at night, and in lockstep with our CPD and knowledge teams we engage with these practices to input into our growing CPD offering and expand our resources to better support them in staying competitive and sustainable. You can also expect to see more opportunities for this network to connect with larger practices and open doors for collaborations with the wider built environment community.
We also recognise that large practices have different priorities when engaging with RIBA. Our Corporate Membership proposition will continue to develop and seek to deliver real value, whether through policy influence, industry partnerships, or professional development. I’m keen to meet with large practices to discuss how they want to engage on all of these aspects and look forward to those conversations and creating those opportunities.
Finally, I’m also keen to develop more partnerships with existing groups and networks. Rather than working in silos, I want to support the great work that is happening out there already. There are incredible networks already driving change across London, so if you are part of one of London’s many groups or networks and would like to discuss a collaboration then please do reach out.
I want everything to happen in consultation with RIBA London members so please do reach out to me if you’d like to catch up to share your feedback. I heard a lot of thoughts and ideas from many of you outside of my role at RIBA, so hopefully you’ll all still be forthcoming to turn talk into action! Please feel free to contact me at john.nahar@riba.org
