Aline Knowles has discovered that initiating her own projects and acting as her own client gives her a level of freedom, satisfaction and self-confidence that eluded her in practice.
I always wanted to believe that architecture could work for me, but there are so many obstacles that make it difficult for women to be fully integrated and respected. I felt that the workplace didn’t seem to support women who want to have a family or make allowances for a modern woman. I worked in a small London practice and decided that the work was too stressful and not progressive or sustainable enough for me. It took me ten years to get my Part 3, but I didn’t’ give up. I was painfully aware of the high percentage of women who ‘disappear’ from architecture before qualifying, and felt it was a point of honour to stick it out.
Once I qualified, I went travelling to Australia, where I met my fiancé. Having broken loose from architecture I wanted to do something so decided to become my own client when I returned to the UK. I put my own creative input into transforming my own home – a 1960s passive house project – into a carbon-neutral building, and bought a pub and flats in Peckham. I balanced two jobs in tandem: calling all the shots on my passive house and re-designing the pub. For both projects, I worked closely with RDA, who produced the technical drawings. It worked well for me to have somebody to bounce ideas off but nobody to answer to.
I dream of developing the Peckham pub into a space for discos and parties. As you can see from the disco ball in my living room, I love to inject spaces with playfulness and fun. The great thing is, it’s up to me to make it happen. The shift from employee/architect to architect/client has brought new responsibilities, but enormous rewards. Having the freedom to make my own decisions and take control of my own projects has bolstered my self-confidence and made me hungry for more.
Aline Knowles
London SW2
Source: Architecture Today
