To celebrate International Women’s Day we arranged a mini shoot just outside our Plymouth studio in the glorious Royal William Yard to pay homage to all the inspiring women working in STEM at LHC Design and beyond!
Standing poised, ready to #EmbraceEquity Our dynamic trio, representing the wider female team pictured from left to right Glayne Price – Director, Christina Channing – Senior Architect and Lizzy Dorey – Part 2 Architectural Assistant.
Glayne is passionate about developing women’s potential and seeing more women in senior leadership positions. Today, only 20% of company boards have women as directors, despite the fact diverse boards are more effective. The proof is in, they make better decisions, resulting in better outcomes.
At the beginning of her career as an architectural technologist, she noticed the lack of diversity in the built environment sector, today this is slowly but surely improving although there are still obstacles that get in the way. She believes this needs to be tackled head-on and advocates for the need to reach out and inspire young girls during their formative years at primary school; showing them that a career in STEM – which represents science, technology, engineering and maths, offers limitless potential for those daring enough to explore its possibilities!
Senior architect – Christina Channing says a career in STEM means being prepared to have a world of fun and achieving your goals whilst being challenged and pushed on pretty much a daily basis. Daily tasks are never the same, ranging from designing spaces and buildings to liaising with clients, stakeholders, planning officers, and contractors in order to see a project go from a sketch on paper to a real building on the ground.
“I get to directly influence the environment we live, work and play in – I strive to create better places for all. It is with a good sense of pride that I can say: that building over there? I designed that! Or I was part of the design team that made it happen!”
Architecture allowed Christina to combine her inherent creativity with her aptitude for STEM subjects.
Lizzie, a Part 2 Architectural Assistant says that given we spend so much of our time inside the built environment, working in architecture offers her the opportunity to tangibly improve people’s lives.
She recognises even small ideas that may appear inconsequential, like moving a wall or staircase within a home can have a huge impact on the lifestyles within. Lizzie relishes the challenge of getting the best out of a site or building, maximising its potential to become a place where people enjoy spending time; something that requires both creative thinking and technical knowledge.
“I enjoy working in a company where women are represented at all levels and in (nearly) all teams. It is never comfortable to feel like you are the ‘odd one out’ within a group, be that because of gender, ethnicity or background. I am grateful to those who have gone before us to work towards a profession where the contribution of everyone is recognised.”
Different perspectives bring unique insights that bridge the divide between people and places. A diverse design team allows us to shape spaces and create environments which cater, not only to our differences but also celebrate them in an inclusive way.
Improving diversity within businesses and company leadership is not only beneficial for creating an equitable work environment but also provides tangible results that improve overall performance –- something which we are proud to be part of!