Get Sust! Issue 34

From Leeds to Pennsylvanie and back — Anna Matthews rises to the challenge at Buro Happold

Q: What’s the link between New York and a Yak?
A: Anna Matthews (and international multi-disciplinary consultancy Buro Happold).

In this Careers Profile, Anna Matthews tells Get Sust! how she’s gone from Leeds to Pennsylvania via New York and back to Leeds in the six years since she graduated, and on the way developed a talent for cutting edge engineering and sustainable construction projects.

“I was good at sciences at school, but wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do,” says Anna. “I took some taster days at medical school but decided it wasn’t for me. I also spent two weeks with a local architect, but the architecture courses seemed too ‘arty’.

“Then I went to an open day for the Architectural Engineering course at Leeds University, and they made me really welcome.” The idea of combining technical know-how with a high degree of creativity appealed to Anna.

This degree course at Leeds was the first of its kind in the UK, and it has now been running very successfully for over 30 years. The aim is to produce engineers who understand and can take part in the design of buildings from an architectural perspective while having a firm grounding in civil and structural engineering. The third year of the MEng course is spent at the School of Architectural Engineering in Pennsylvania State University in the USA.

“I had a fantastic time at Penn State,” continues Anna. “There were twelve students from Leeds. We worked hard and played hard, and went on architectural tours to several US cities. The education system was totally different to here in the UK - it was a great opportunity.”

And the opportunities kept on coming. While at Penn State, Anna’s tutors in Leeds contacted her about a scholarship for students interested in building services, offered by the Happold Trust.

The Trust, which was set up by Buro Happold founder Ted Happold in 1995, supports high-flying engineering students in their final years at university. One of the requirements of the scholarship is that the successful student undertakes a ten week (paid) work experience with one of Buro Happold’s Design Groups (or with a similar firm). Some 27 scholarships were awarded in 2006.

Anna successfully passed a rigorous interview in New York, then spent the summer working at Buro Happold’s Leeds office, where she worked on the scheme stage of a project to design a music school in Cork.

“It’s hard to get a real taste of a job in just eight weeks, but this scholarship worked out so well for me, “ says Anna. “I worked on the heating and ventilation strategy for the music school project, which of course had considerable acoustics issues. I had learnt CAD while in the US, and was able to use this during the summer placement. I also got a taster of working on site. Overall it was an excellent experience.”

Having completed her MEng degree, Anna went back to Buro Happold’s Leeds office as a full-timer. Five years on, looking back over the wide range of projects she has been involved in, Anna says her job satisfaction is: “...very high. I love the variety – working on site, in the office, in client meetings. There’s just the right balance between creativity and technical work, and the company have really supported me well.”

“I’ve worked on five or six main projects in the past five years, including an award-winning low-energy office that scored BREEAM Excellent, an innovative primary school with an egg-shaped library called the ‘Acorn of Knowledge’, and I’m still working on the PFI project to rebuild Wakefield Hospital, which is due for completion in 2010.

“The new hospital is being built on the site of the existing one, and that’s stretched our problem-solving and creativity skills in all sorts of directions. For example, we managed to devise a surprisingly simple solution to replace the boilers while keeping the hospital running and clearing the construction site for the new hospital, despite the fact that the new development was virtually on top of the boiler house. Another challenge has been energy efficiency. We’re aiming for high standards, but with the maximum temperature for wards set at 23-degrees, natural ventilation won’t achieve this, so other energy-efficient options have to be considered. Good natural light is a high priority too, because of the health benefits.”

Anna has certainly been able to make her mark on this project – although 30 people or more are involved in the detailed design, at one point in the project she was part of a ‘team’ of just two. But Buro Happold always provides Anna and other younger staff with a mentor to help guide their career development, and ensure that everyone makes the most of opportunities when they arise.

And the yak?

“Leeds City Museum’s new Education and Storage facility – Leeds Discovery Centre – which opened last year, was quite a challenge. There’s a glass atrium, where we needed to ‘hide’ the services, and there are six or seven different environmental control zones, of different temperatures and humidities, to help preserve the specimens. And one of my tasks was to incorporate a deep freezer to fit a yak in a box – to prevent infestation of the store.”

... clearly not an ‘ordinary day at the office’!

	•	Architectural Engineering (BEng and MEng) at Leeds University School of Civil Engineering www.engineering.leeds.ac.uk
	•	Buro Happold is proud of its holistic approach to engineering, which combines different disciplines in one, integrated team, covering the whole gamut of projects, from road schemes, bridges, and harbours, to schools, sports stadia, offices and hospitals. Learn more about its graduate recruitment scheme at www.burohappoldgraduates.com.
	•	Happold Trust scholarships are awarded to final year students. Selection, through interview, is made early in the Spring each year, with the final decision on awards being made in the Autumn term for the following year’s sponsors. See www.burohappold.com or contact Barbara Towers: barbara.towers[at]burohappold.com