The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
Chosen from a wonderfully strong and diverse group of nominees, Posey particularly impressed with the judges with her promotion of external mentoring through a partnership with charity Blueprint for All, in particular her success in embedding a culture of mentoring at Eric Parry Architects itself.
Building on an existing, informal system of mentoring that focused on architectural assistants and Part 3 students, she developed a far more wide-reaching and generous system open to all EPA staff, which now involves around half of the roughly 100 employees.
Posey – a member of the practice’s EDI working group – also championed and significantly improved the practice’s participation in Blueprint for All’s mentoring scheme – as well as mentoring an RIBA Part 1 student through a year of studies and career progression herself.
She also supported Part 3 students in the office with exam preparation and provided one-on-one support to her project mentee, who recently qualified as an architect. The AJ100 judges said her determination and hard graft stood out, pointing out what an achievement it is to play an instrumental role in changing the office culture of a large practice such as EPA.
‘I was so impressed by her tenacity. What she’s achieved is really impressive,’ one judge said. ‘She clearly knows what she is doing and, the longer she keeps doing it, the more of an impact she will have.’
Another remarked: ‘She created a real programme for EPA and I found that very inspiring.’
Judges voiced admiration for the high calibre of the shortlist, with particular praise for young candidates Alice Farmer of dMFK Architects and Jeevan Chahal of JTP.
Shortlisted
- Jeevan Chahal, architectural assistant at JTP
- Gabi Code, London Studio Lead - Technical Director and Regional Manager (Architecture + Masterplanning) at AtkinsRéalis
- Alice Farmer, architect and social value champion at dMFK
- Etain Fitzpatrick, director at JRA
- Peter Garstecki, associate partner at Foster + Partners
- Katia Polidoro, principal director at tp bennett
Judges
- Shaun Ihejetoh, co-founder/director, West Port Architects
- Teri Okoro, director, Toca
- Shankari Raj, architect, Nudge Group
