KEY POINTS:
Name: Jeremy Whelan.
Age: 48
Role: Architect and managing director of IGNITE Architects.
Hours: Dawn till dusk.
Average salary: Graduate architect $35-$45K, intermediate $60-$80K, senior $90K+.
Qualifications: Bachelor of Architecture.
Describe what you do.
I am an architect and managing director of IGNITE Architects. We have 88 staff in Auckland, Sydney and Tauranga and I am responsible for the leadership and direction of the business to support the group.
I also take a design and support role in the initiation of many of our projects, particularly those with a retail focus.
Your history?
I'd probably be an exception, having only two jobs in my life. Completing university, I worked for Don Bidwell in Milford for two years and then joined Anderson Street Architects, now IGNITE, in 1987.
Why did you choose this line of work?
I was always interested in building and design. In my early years, I spent a lot of time in the holidays with my grandfather in his fibrous plaster business and later on his property development work. This formalised my interest in architecture.
What training/skills/experience do architects need?
Architecture is a tough profession. You need such a vast array of skills to be successful.
Design experience is the key backhouse skill in architecture but communication skills are also incredibly important. So much of the process now involves not just designing a building, but communicating the vision to clients, councils, urban designers and a vast range of stakeholders. The whole design process is complex with so many parties involved that management of the process is important.
As an architect, one thing that I have learned over the years is that it is equally important to consider not only the building, but the spaces in, around and between the buildings.
Chancery, as a project, was a turning point for a lot of our thinking. Chancery created a vibrant, people-orientated streetscape that works when there are 20 people in it or 100.
The process was about researching and reviewing great street environments that people enjoy locally and from around the world and creating a unique Auckland project.
What are your favourite projects?
Chancery: for the urban environment that it created. And the redevelopment of 277 Newmarket, which tried to ensure that a major shopping centre didn't have to be introverted and could address the street.
And the most challenging?
All projects are challenging for architects now as we not only have to design, but also provide the technical and financial results for clients within an increasingly hard resource consent environment. Plus we have to ensure that we can manage the talent development of our staff and create opportunities for them to grow in a tight and competitive labour market.
You work in NZ and Australia, Asia and United Arab Emirates. How do you keep up with the different requirements and building codes of different countries?
Australia is much like New Zealand with similar rules; plus we have an Australian office with local staff. Work in the UAE is not too dissimilar and the work we complete there has been in an alliance with a local firm with the relevant knowledge to assist in delivery of the project. We are working the same way in Croatia.
How much time do you spend in each country?
Generally a week or two of meeting time and then back to NZ with the brief for the project and the start of the design phase. I usually return six to eight weeks later for a client or stakeholder presentation.
How does architecture in New Zealand compare with the other countries you deal with?
New Zealand and Australia are similar although Australia is a tough competitive environment. Architecture in New Zealand is developing at an incredible rate with many new quality buildings and our own typology based around our unique environmentally sustainable design (ESD) requirements.
What changes would you like to see to building designs in this country?
Simply, less restrictive planning environments.
If clients and projects drive great architecture and push the boundaries and create Auckland as a great place, then there should be benefits for the clients to achieve the vision. This could mean an increased floor area and, therefore, greater returns.
Why is your job important?
We are measured by the projects we leave behind and you hope you can leave the built environment in a better place and make a positive contribution to the city and the many people who enjoy and use it.
Most rewarding part of the job?
First, it is in the conceptual idea and winning the project. Secondly, developing the talent pool within the business.
Advice to someone wanting to do the same thing?
Architecture is an amazing and rewarding profession, but highly demanding and understated. Architecture is becoming more technical every day in the way buildings and environments come together.
Specialisations in a discipline within architecture will be required - whether it be 3D design, ESD or urban design - the day of the generalist architect is gone.
* www.donna.mcintyre@xtra.co.nz
