Working for Chapman Taylor in the UK
Chapman Taylor is a global practice of award-winning architects, masterplanners and interior designers, known industry-wide for good design.
Meet some of our employees below who talk about their experience of working at our London, Manchester and Bristol studios…
Catalina talks about how she was attracted to work at Chapman Taylor due to our positive design culture and sense of community that promotes diversity and inclusivity.
Studio Culture
Our culture is based on encouraging creativity, inclusion and diversity, personal development, teamwork and an open exchange of ideas. Across all of our global studios, there is a creative culture that you can be a part of. We create a studio environment that is engaging, vibrant and provides a positive platform for our teams to work creatively and collaboratively.
Talking about design
Design Workshops
One of our core ambitions is to continually improve the quality of our design and to share our ideas and knowledge across the group.
At the start of every project, we hold an ideas session to discuss how we may approach the project, identify the Unique Selling Point (USP) of the scheme and the core skills that we need to inform the design.
Each project will have a regular series of design workshops through all stages of design.
We promote a positive and supportive environment to discuss design and encourage new and innovative thinking at all levels.
Urban Sketching and photography classes
Studio Pin-Ups
We hold regular UK-wide and International pin-ups to give project teams the chance to present and discuss their designs and share knowledge and expertise across the group.
Design Competitions
We regularly enter invited design competitions both in the UK and internationally and many of our successful projects have been secured through this process.
In addition, we hold regular internal design competitions where every studio across the group is invited to take part. These can range from mini design competitions for a site (real or fictional), photography, sketching etc.
Workshops and sporting events
Studio Breakfast Meetings
We hold regular studio breakfast meetings that focus on communicating studio activities and events and skills sharing through ‘in the spotlight’ features. These are also an opportunity for teams to present their projects and discuss ideas with the rest of the studio.
Nathan says, “Being able to see a building, to be able to touch and feel it, gives me a great sense of achievement”.
Collaboration
We work collaboratively across our global studios to bring together our expertise and design ideas. In the UK, we operate across our London, Manchester and Bristol studios as a single UK business. This means we regularly collaborate with our colleagues on a range of projects. Within each studio, we allocate resource to form teams with complementary skills to suit the project’s scale and complexity.
Katherine says, “I feel like I finally fit...there are amazing, strong, female role models in senior positions”.
Training
Personal Development
We will support you in your continued personal development whether it’s your professional skills or personal growth as an employee at Chapman Taylor. We do this via our Employee Review Process.
• This starts with a review meeting after your first 3 months of joining
• We conduct regular informal feedback sessions to identify what’s working well as well as where things can improve
• We will build a personal development plan with you to set targets and goals
Continuous Professional Development
RIBA-accredited continuous professional development (CPD) sessions are scheduled throughout the year, where external speakers are invited to present on relevant subjects.
We also hold regular internal CPD sessions to promote knowledge sharing across the studios, both in the UK and internationally.
Training and site visits
BIM & Revit Training
Whether you are experienced or a total novice, our in-house Digital Design team will prepare a tailored training plan and support to supplement your skills where required.
As part of your onboarding induction process, you will receive a full technical induction to help you understand our systems and protocols. You will also have access to on-demand help through our ‘How-to’ guides on the intranet.
Raaj says, “I absolutely love the design culture in the studio and I love that we have people from all across the world”.
Further Training
If you feel that you need to develop your skills or require some further training of any kind in order to assist you in your work, we will be happy to discuss this with you.
Regular social events throughout the year
If you’re interested in joining our team, why not visit our careers page for further information.