Aspiring Architecture Student
One of Joseph Chamberlain College’s outstanding students on their High Achievers programme, De-Andrea Cameron, recently underwent work experience with Glancy Nicholls Architects and had an interview to study Architecture at the University of Cambridge.
Joseph Chamberlain College has worked closely with Glancy Nicholls to develop their brand-new modern and sleek building. Various members of staff at the college assisted De-Andrea in gaining some insightful and educational work experience with Glancy Nicholls. De-Andrea stated that “the work experience was really good and very insightful. I began with online work experience, but I wanted to gain a real insight into what Architecture really is with some hands-on experience. The people at Glancy Nicholls were really nice, gave me great advice, and motivated me to continue pursuing Architecture. I did three different projects with the firm, and with the final project, I got to experiment with virtual reality, which was really exciting.” For one of the work experience projects, De-Andrea re-designed the aforementioned brand-new building, which Joseph Chamberlain College will use to teach Business Studies. She created sketches and gave a plan of the building while also designing the classrooms, study areas, and toilets, deciding where they should be located within the building in the process. De-Andrea found inspiration in nature, wanting it to look like an indoor garden filled with trees. She also decided on what materials the building will be built from, concluding that some of the interiors should be made from oak wood, “as it represents community, which I think represents the Business Studies department well.” De-Andrea used software called SketchUp to craft the final design and Enscape to render the building, making it look more realistic and testing it against different elements, such as the weather, lighting, and time of day. She really enjoyed this work experience and was grateful for the opportunity, stating that it “furthered my motivation to study Architecture.”
De-Andrea has worked extremely hard to be given an interview to study Architecture at the University of Cambridge. Throughout her time at Joseph Chamberlain College, she has put in a remarkable amount of effort, inside and outside of college, to achieve her goal of studying Architecture at university. To prepare for the application process, De-Andrea did an incredible amount of external research on Architecture and visited Birmingham City University to look at graduates’ designs to develop her architectural skillset further. She expressed that Rosie, an Assistant Principal at the college, “helped a lot with the application process and gave me excellent advice on the questions. I can’t thank her enough for all of the help she gave me from day one.” She also commented that Patrick, an Assistant Principal at Joseph Chamberlain College, “helped a lot with a mock interview, and I believe that really helped me in the actual interview.” She also thanked her outstanding Art teachers, Deborah, Lisa, and Alex, for helping her build her portfolio. She utilised this portfolio in her application to the University of Cambridge, along with details of her work experience.
De-Andrea has displayed immense motivation to succeed and study Architecture at the University of Cambridge, expressing that the Architecture course at the University of Cambridge is “incredible” and that the university is surrounded by “historic architecture”. She noted the surrounding Cambridge Central Mosque, stating that “it’s a mixture of modern and historic architecture, which I really like.”
Joseph Chamberlain College is incredibly proud of De-Andrea and wishes her the best in her future endeavours.
