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Architype is seeking an architect to join its team in Hereford, UK.

About Architype

Architype offers exceptional opportunities to be involved in design-led, pioneering projects at the cutting edge of zero carbon and true sustainability across a wide variety of sectors.

Architype is widely recognised for our innovative approach including Education Architect of the Year, highly commended AJ100 Practice of the Year, 2022 RIBA London and Sustainability Award and 2022 South of England and South Wales BCO award.

We have an open and collaborative ethos with a common purpose – to deliver fantastic architecture that performs exactly as predicted.  We have steadily grown over the last 40 years and are now a multi-disciplinary team of 100+ collaborating across three studios in Edinburgh, Hereford and London.

Architype has a rich history of pioneering low-carbon design and a clear focus on how elegant buildings work for people and the planet. We masterplan and design a wide range of buildings across the education, university, housing, community, healthcare and cultural sectors. Our consultancy service PERFORM+ enables us to offer insight and cutting-edge technical expertise to clients.

Working culture at Architype is dynamic, creative and caring. We work in a collaborative and supportive way that encourages fresh ideas and career progression, and we support flexible working for all.

Architype is regularly featured in the top 5 of Building’s Employer of the Year. We are 30 per cent owned by the staff through an Employee Benefit Trust and are committed to becoming 100 per cent employee-owned in the future – it is why we call ourselves ‘co-owners’.

Location 

Architype’s Hereford studio is located in a rural location in Herefordshire’s beautiful landscape about five miles from Hereford City and also within easy reach of Bristol, South Wales, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Worcester, Shrewsbury and Birmingham, not to mention stunning landscapes such as the Black Mountains and Malvern Hills.

It’s fair to say that most people who work at Architype do so because of what the practice achieves and what we stand for, we all have a passion and desire to work on projects that are at the cutting edge of sustainability and that enhance people’s lives and this carries through to our studio culture.  The majority of the Hereford studio co-owners have moved to the area for the combination of the passion for what we do, the studio culture and fantastic rural location meaning we have a collection of passionate, innovative, warm and like-minded individuals.  Covering projects across much of England and Wales, we enjoy having some of the most diverse and groundbreaking projects within the company.

Architype currently operates a hybrid working policy allowing co-owners to work flexibly from home and from our studios, we do seriously value our office culture and the value that it brings to achieving great design, continued personal development and building relationships, therefore we are looking for candidates that can work from the studio for a minimum of three days a week. Within this, we still look to accommodate those that need to work flexibly (i.e. we have core hours between 10am to 4pm but beyond that, it’s up to you how your hours are worked as long as project/practice needs are accommodated) and we also operate a TOIL policy so that any overtime that needs to be worked can be taken off at a later time.

Job type

Architype is offering a permanent contract for this role.

We are open to appointing either a junior or a more experienced architect. At Architype these are known as Level One and Level Two positions – see job descriptions below for details.

Hours: Our preference would be for full-time hours (37.5 hours per week) but we would be open to considering part-time hours for the right candidate.

Benefits:

• competitive salary which is aligned to industry standards. Our current salary bandings for this role are broken into two levels: £31,500 – £35,500 for a junior (Level One) architect or £35,500 – £39,500 for a more experienced (Level 2) architect
• 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays)
• 37.5 hour week – flexible/hybrid working possible
• pension benefits of 3 per cent employer contribution
• company health scheme
• cycle to work scheme

To apply

Please take note

Architype is an Equal Opportunities employer. We are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community. From day one we encourage co-owners to bring their whole selves to work, celebrating all that our co-owners can bring to the practice. To support this intention we offer a range of family-friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and co-owner engagement forums, to support co-owners from many different backgrounds.

Please can we ask that you complete our anonymous equality and diversity monitoring form by clicking here.

Visa sponsorship

We welcome applications from all nationalities; however, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for our roles, so before you apply for this post, you must ensure that you have the right to work in the UK. For more details on eligibility to work in the UK, please click here.

If you are an international student who recently graduated, you must have your graduate visa status established before applying.

Making your application

Please send your CV and a brief portfolio (max size 5MB) by clicking the ‘apply for job’ button below, along with a short statement (maximum 400 words), setting out:

• how you meet the criteria in the job specification
• what you feel you would bring to Architype and the Hereford studio culture
• if you have any specific preferences about your hybrid working arrangements

Note: You must state, in the subject line ‘Hereford studio’ and the job role you are interested in (Part 1, Part 2, architect or senior architect). Without this information in the subject heading, we will be unable to sift your application correctly and it will be missed.

This post will be offered as a permanent contract, subject to a probationary period.

The closing date for applications is 9 February 2024. The interviews will be in person at the Hereford studio, in the weeks commencing 19 or 26 February 2024.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of anticipated applications, we are sorry that we cannot respond to all applications, so if you do not hear from us after the interview date above please assume that you have been unsuccessful.

Note that all applications will be treated in accordance with our GDPR policy. For more information, please click here.

Job description

The architect will be a qualified Part 3 architect registered with the ARB. They will have a track record of working on the design and delivery of a variety of project types through all RIBA work stages and managing architectural staff. They will be entrusted with day-to-day contact with their clients and design teams and through their projects will further the strategic direction of the practice, its design ethos and quality management systems. They are expected to be proficient in key CAD programs such as AutoCAD and Revit, and proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and InDesign.

The architect will be expected to set and maintain high standards of design and establish sustainability targets for their projects. In general, the architect will be expected to keep abreast of current legislation and government policies concerning the built environment and contribute to topical professional debate, seminars, internal project reviews and CPDs as appropriate.

Experienced architects may be expected to assume responsibility for a single project of medium or large scale while a more junior architect may assume responsibility for a small number of separate small to medium-scale projects. The architect will be expected to delegate design tasks to appropriate levels of staff in such a manner that every project attains the highest design standard and is delivered profitably. They may also be required to assume responsibility for a particular package or part of a larger-scale project.

Core purpose

The core purpose of an architect is:

• to directly act as a project architect
• to assume responsibility for overseeing a project, or more than one project, under the line management of an associate, senior architect or experienced architect
• to lead and motivate a small team of architectural assistants (more experienced architects might manage a team of junior architects)
• to facilitate day-to-day contact with external clients and project teams

Key responsibilities

Architects have the following key responsibilities:

• assisting and supporting directors and associate directors in their tasks of winning work and managing the finances of the practice
• contribute to delivering staff training and personal development
• assist with the development of client contacts, identification of work opportunities and preparation of submission documents
• assist in the preparation of project quality plans and monitor their implementation
• implement the Quality [ISO 9001] and Environmental [ISO 14001] management system in respect of project work under their control and general aspects for which they may be responsible
• ensure drawn and specification design information adheres to Architype Ltd’s latest BIM protocols and standards

The above-mentioned tasks are a summary of the key responsibilities involved, however, the post holder may be asked to carry out other tasks as directed by Architype’s Senior Management under appropriate instruction (eg. senior manager, associate or line manager).

Job specification:

• Part 3 qualified and ARB registered (essential)
• project running experience (desirable)
• excellent design skills (essential)
• excellent organisational skills (essential)
• proficiency in Revit (essential) Autocad (desirable), Sketchup (desirable), Photoshop (desirable) and InDesign (desirable) Word (essential), Excel (desirable) and PowerPoint (essential)
• a commitment to genuine sustainability (essential)
• commitment to a collaborative style of working and ability to work well in teams (essential)
• understanding of or experience in Passivhaus Design or CEPH qualification (desirable)
• commitment to alignment with Architype’s core values as a creative, ecological, progressive community (essential)

www.architype.co.uk

• Applications have closed.