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What makes a good architect? While it’s obvious that design skills are required in this in-demand career, there’s another skill which helps an architect succeed: their talent in communicating.

“Excellent communication is a prerequisite of a happy and successful project. Conversely, poor communication often contributes to project disputes and poor relationships,” says Jesse Judd, a director at ARM Architecture.

Jesse Judd, a director at ARM Architecture.

Judd says it is crucial architects can communicate a project vision and the detail it contains clearly and convincingly. Regardless of the tools used – physical models, virtual models, display boards, animations or even just plain old PowerPoint – doing it effectively is extremely important.

“[If not], a project’s outcome can be severely – and unnecessarily – compromised,” he says.

Judd was drawn to architecture early. Even back in his school days he found his mind wandering to thoughts of the future of our cities. Now, he can see his musing turned into reality.

“The beauty of a career in architecture is being able to see the fruits of hard work and creative endeavours come to life,” he says.

For those entering the industry, job choices aren’t limited to residential design roles – architects work on everything from education facilities to heritage properties. While urban design and landscape architecture are obvious specialities, architects can also find work in allied fields like theatre design.

Innovation has always been a part of architecture, but increasingly it’s technology that helps bring an architectural vision to life.

“An innovative use of design software [is not done] for the sake of innovation, but to find the best way to explore a design concept that we want to develop,” says Judd.

According to Jeames Hanley, national design technology manager at architectural practice Gray Puksand, technology is set to shake the architecture industry “to the core”.

He says design firms have traditionally been slow to adopt technology, resulting in an industry ‘brain drain’.

“We’ve seen tech-savvy staff leave traditional firms [for] technology start-ups and companies that are harnessing technology to try and innovate within the industry.

“Some are leaving the industry altogether,” Hanley says. That’s problematic, given the current demand for design-based roles.

“The world’s building stock is expected to double by 2060. That is building a New York City every month for the next 40 odd years. We need designers to join the industry, push design boundaries and how we work to deliver what we deliver,” says Hanley.

Hanley believes automation offers huge opportunities for the architectural industry, and the roles of those within it.

“Making computer coding accessible to the masses via visual scripting means architects can now easily automate tedious tasks that took days and complete them in minutes,” says Hanley, noting artificial intelligence is also emerging as a “watch this space” technology in the field.

According to Hanley, tertiary institutes are behind in the software and technology they are teaching students.

“Students are finding they are not prepared for what is required in real-world day-to-day practice life,” he says.

Architectural practices also have a key role to play by supporting those already in the field adapt to a technology-reliant future.

“Practices must also take care of the existing industry members who need to reskill in order to stay relevant in the industry,” Hanley says.

Despite wishing graduates were entering architecture with stronger technical skills than he typically sees, when Hanley is hiring he is actually looking for something else.

“I hire people for their personalities, not their skills. Technology skills can be taught, but personality, not so much,” he says.

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