What is your role and what does it involve?

I’m currently an Associate Director at Jensen Hunt Design. It’s a newly promoted role for me, so I’m still getting into the swing of it!

I’m still doing engineering, taking projects from concept all the way through to completion across all different RIBA stages. My daily work is very varied and can include anything from preparing fee proposals, undertaking calculations, producing drawings, coordinating below ground drainage or assisting other team members. I often visit site and enjoy seeing our designs getting built from the first excavation to topping out.

I’m also involved in the day-to-day running of the company. In my new role as Associate Director, I’m starting to have more influence on the company’s direction and involvement in work-winning, overseeing younger staff, and even helping out with recruitment. The beauty of it here at Jensen Hunt is that we get to do everything. It’s not just management, not just engineering, not just number-crunching. It’s all aspects of structural engineering and beyond.

Can you describe your career journey so far?

Sure, I graduated with a Master’s in Civil Engineering from Bristol University many years ago. I initially joined Price and Myers in their London office as a graduate engineer, before moving across the city to Building Design Partnership.

My work at BDP included several educational projects and we worked with closely with Laing O’Rourke on their design-for-manufacture-and-assembly (DFMA) process. I was also involved in the design and development of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Secondary School in Islington and worked on the project throughout RIBA Stage 5, taking it to site.

It was whilst working at BDP that I met other members of the JHD team. James was an associate in another team, and Alex and Siun joined shortly after. Small world, right?

After a few years at BDP, I moved on to HTS and spent just over five years there. I worked on the refurbishment of commercial projects including re-coring existing office buildings and adding new stories. 

One project I worked on was 20 St. James’ Street where we refurbished the multi-storey office building, adding an additional storey and NIA and moving the main lift and stair cores. It had its challenges with retained tenants, underground obstructions and tube lines, but we made it work. Another notable project was 77 Shaftesbury Avenue where we removed one storey and added two more in lightweight construction. I was also involved in the early stages of the refurbishment and redevelopment of Koko in Camden. This included all the site investigations and going backstage at the iconic music venue, which was pretty interesting!

After my time at HTS, I joined Alex and James at Jensen Hunt as employee number one, and I’ve been here for about seven years now. I started as an engineer, completed my chartership and got promoted to Associate and now Associate Director. The company has grown and changed a lot since then!

What is your biggest achievement in your career so far?

On a personal level, the one that sticks out is getting my professional chartership with the IStructE. It’s was a challenging process but I was pleased to complete it several years ago whilst at Jensen Hunt.

In terms of projects, one that stands out for me is Orchard View. It was an early project here at Jensen Hunt and we worked closely with Strom Architects. It was a ‘grand designs’ style new build house in North London. I was involved right from the conceptual stages, seeing it through to completion on site. Working on a stunning design with internationally renowned architects was a great experience. There were plenty of challenges, as with any project, but I really enjoyed overcoming them and seeing the project through to the end.

What advice would you give someone taking their first steps into the industry?

I think it’s really important to do some work experience, whether that’s an internship, a summer placement, or even volunteering. I found work experience valuable during my time after A-levels and even before going to university. I did some experience with a local design-and-build company during secondary school, and I really enjoyed the design aspect and seeing the projects in action. That got me hooked, and later, I did more placements during university, which helped me put into practice what I was learning. One of my placements was with Price and Myers, which ultimately led to my graduate position there. It was incredibly valuable to see what we were studying at uni applied to the real world. 

What do you think the biggest challenges are within the industry, and what can we do to change them?

There are a few challenges in the industry. One is getting new people into the profession. I found that when I was at university, there were very few people from my course who actually stayed in engineering with many of them going on to other careers. So, retaining people in the profession is a big challenge.

Another challenge is increasing diversity, especially when it comes to female engineers and ensuring we have a mix of people from different backgrounds. How can we change this? Engaging with younger people is key, whether early on through school activities, university programs or offering work placements. All can help get people involved and show them what we do. We have had people come to JHD for work experience at all stages – during sixth form, during their university studies, or just before they decide what they want to do.

Alongside that, it’s important to help people understand the value of our profession and what structural engineers actually do. Many people don’t realise the importance of structural engineering. For instance, with residential work, our designs often get hidden behind lovely finishes, but we are the ones who ensure the building stands up. I like to think of us designing the skeleton of a building – without us, the building wouldn’t stand!

And, of course, we also need to focus on reducing our environmental impact. This means reducing carbon use, re-using materials, and being more efficient with the designs we put forward. At JHD we try to get involved as early as possible in projects so we can help steer the direction of the design, materials and reduce embodied carbon where possible.

What’s your biggest passion outside of work?

I really enjoy DIY. I love building things and have been working on my own house and garden project. I like getting my hands dirty, so to speak. It’s a way of putting into practice what I do professionally – we design these structures for other people to build, but I really enjoy being creative and using power tools too!

And I’m also a huge Nottingham Forest fan .… enough said!

What’s a surprising fact not many people know about you?

A surprising fact is that I have two albums on Spotify! I’ve been playing the drums for years, and my band has self-recorded two albums over the past decade. We enjoy writing original songs, and we’re hoping to make another album in the near future.

How would you describe yourself in three words or three emojis or a mix of the two?

Hardworking, conscientious and determined.