2024: Celebrating women in Architecture
On the lead up to International Women’s Day, we are highlighting some of the wonderful women in our practice and the positive impact they are making on the architecture industry. Demonstrating the value of diverse perspectives and why our industry must continue to strive towards a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable future.
Albena is both a talented architect and an energetic advocate for positive change within practice, architecture education, and across the wider industry. She recently spoke about the importance of diversifying skills and perspectives in improving the built environment in a new book titled ‘Thrive: A field guide for women in architecture’ which explores the history of women in architecture and how the profession can better serve women in future.
“Finding common ground and celebrating diversity allows us to create something extraordinary: to foster different perspectives, change attitudes, improve the built environment, and, ultimately, create a better world one project at a time.”
Find out more via RIBA Publishing here.
Alison Carveley
Continuing our spotlight on the great women in our practice, meet Alison, our Head of Studio Support. Alison is the glue that ensures the smooth running of our studios. With organisation skills second to none, Ali works tirelessly to ensure the practice is fully supported, that every one of our studios run like clockwork, and co-ordinates the many staff wellbeing events that take place throughout the year.
Neva Beskonakli
A dedicated advocate for people and planet, Neva works closely with our Head of Sustainability to champion sustainable strategies across the entire practice. Helping to embed sustainable thinking into our projects, working with teams to research sustainable innovation, and with our Head of Studios to improve operational practices across each of our studios. Using her great communication and creative problem-solving skills to help influence decisions for the better.
"Empowering others to engage in sustainable design and embrace innovation is rewarding, as it allows me to contribute to a more environmentally conscious built environment."
Ana is our in-house expert on all things to do with digital design and technology. Passionate about the power of collaboration and knowledge share, Ana is a contributor to UK BIM Framework, active member of the International Women in BIM organisation, and a dedicated mentor. She is a seasoned speaker at key industry events, actively promoting the adoption of tools such as BIM and Digital Twins as a means to improve design safety and innovation across the industry.
Vivien Leong
Vivien heads up our studio in Singapore and has had an impressive career in architecture. Over the past 20 years she has successfully secured and led complex projects, has spoken at international conferences, and been a guest speaker and critic at several design institutions in Singapore. She was named one of Singapore’s 15 Great Engineers and Architects Aged 40 & Under, and winner in the Design and Style category of Singapore Women’s Weekly Great Women of our Time, recognised for her outstanding career achievements and contributions to society in her field. Vivien is a registered architect in Singapore and the UK.
A force to be admired, Rachel is a passionate architect with over 25 years’ experience designing and delivering projects across a wide range of sectors. She champions retrofit first and is a go-to for heritage and conservation advice across the practice. A key member of our business space team, Rachel is currently applying these specialist skills to lead the complex refurbishment of the Grade II Listed Adelaide House on London Bridge – London’s first steel framed building and skyscraper!
Ilze is the driving force behind finances at Scott Brownrigg and plays a crucial role in the success of the business. As Chief Financial Officer, and a member of both the Strategic Board and Employee Ownership Trust Board, she is passionate about working closely with others to strengthen our foundations for further growth and development. Ensuring we can continue to invest in the future of our business, and in our people.
“As a leader and colleague, I am passionate about driving change and making a positive impact on the business and, most importantly, the people behind the great work we do.”
Fiona Grieve
As we continue to highlight the extraordinary women in our practice, we shift our focus to Fiona who, on top of her role as an architect, plays a key role in advocating for social value within the practice. Fiona's dissertation, titled 'The Reception of Refugees in the UK,' received national recognition, earning her a commendation from the RIBA Presidents Medal. Her commitment to equity and social justice extends beyond her research, as she in co-led-lead the development and launch of our Community Involvement Programme – an initiative put in place to support and enable employees to give time to community outreach and voluntary projects.
Full of energy and design flair, Flic is a key member of our life sciences sector team and has worked on a range of high-profile projects across the Ox-Cam Arc. A great advocate for improving access to STEM subjects, she recently joined Future Cities Forum for a roundtable talk on 'Science Cities' at Newham College in Cambridge where she discussed how Life Science campuses can be designed to help encourage more young people and women pursue a career in STEM.
“Putting science on show to encourage curiosity and inspire the next generation of young women into STEM subjects is so important. So many of our lab buildings are inward facing. We need to flip this on its head so girls can see women working in the labs and change this perception.”
Marian is a driven designer and continuously leads and wins new work for the Singapore studio. Over the years she has led and developed large projects across a wide range of sectors across Southeast Asia, which include two new hotels in Vietnam and two new supermalls in the Philippines for client SM Prime and is a key member of our Advanced Tech team.
Find out more here.
