Meet Your Designer: Nicki Chew
Fun fact: In my year group, I was one of only four women studying for a degree in Architecture
Worked at Arkiplan since?
July 2019
Most challenging project?
It’s a tie between my own house which was converted from a Church Hall (it’s not easy being your own client!), and a unique conversion of a large warehouse to commercial office space for a trucking company.
How long have you been making clients’ lives more beautiful?
Well… when I was studying Architecture, I was one of only 4 women (10% of the intake) studying the subject. It was before Computer Aided Design tools came into use so we were taught how to draw in pen and ink and to create our own perspective drawings. Each time there was an amendment we had to go back to the original pen drawing, scratch out the line with a razor blade and redraw it in the new position, then print out a copy on a large A1 printer. For my final design scheme it took 2 days to draw up a perspective of a spiral staircase. Nowadays that could be generated instantly using 3D software! So, this gives an indication of how long I’ve been doing this!
Why did you get into architectural design?
I became really interested in buildings and design from the moment my parents engaged an Architect to design a small house extension when I was about 11 years old.
Previous work experience?
After graduating with a 2:1 (Hons) in Architecture and Environmental Design in Nottingham University I worked at the Property Services Agency producing design and working drawings for government buildings, followed by many years of office design and space planning in the UK and also in Germany.
After mastering AutoCAD and 3D modelling software Sketchup, I spent nearly a decade working in an architectural practice on residential and commericial developments before joining Arkiplan.