DKA offer mentoring to second year students at the University of Bath as part of the RIBA Student Mentoring Scheme. The scheme introduces fledgling students to life in an architectural office before their first period on placement.
The process is 1:2 or 1:3 which allows mentors to get to know students and understand their individual interests and, where possible, tailor sessions to suit. For example, when Adeyinka Adebiyi was with DKA she expressed a strong interest in Interior Design and therefore was able to have a conversation with our Senior Designer, Rebecca Furse about Interior Design and Environmental Psychology.
Construction site visits are valuable experience and in 2017/2018 students made visits to the Queen’s Engineering Building at Bristol University in the Higher Education sector and to a £30m project in the Precision Engineering sector.
Back in the DKA studio, Senior Architect, Adrian Abbs talked students through the successfully completed Bridgwater Hospital build with the 2017/2018 mentees to help them understand the real-life processes that lead from project inception to completion. This proved particularly helpful to the students that year because they were in the process of designing a Health Centre as part of their University studies.
At the end of the mentoring period, students are encouraged to put together and deliver a short presentation about their experience. This allows them to reflect and take on-board the new knowledge acquired.
The student mentoring scheme is a rewarding process for both sides and DKA are pleased to help nurture new talent in the industry.
