Culture at MLA
This year our Culture Club has put it’s focus on three key areas: wellbeing, outreach and community. It’s been a busy start to 2023 and we have set some ambitious goals. We’ve already ticked off a few of them and we are excited to share and celebrate our achievements so far!
Wellbeing
The wellbeing team hosted the first Ignite events, a series of ‘campfire’ talks where people can openly discuss tropics that impact our wellbeing.
We began with a panel discussion on Work-Life Balance – or WLB – featuring insights from four individuals representing different viewpoints within the company.
Whilst everyone acknowledged the importance of work life balance, it was fascinating to hear their diverse experiences throughout their careers and how they dealt with trying to find ‘the balance’. The session provided a platform for people to share candid stories about their own experience in the industry. Topics discussed included the significance of WLB, navigating life as a professional parent, coping with work pressure and maintaining your own identity.
Ignite no.1 served as a conversation starter, hopefully opening minds in the office to the different perspectives on a really important topic and generating more open discussion about what could benefit our work life balance and in turn, our own wellbeing.
Outreach
Our Outreach efforts focus on supporting the future workforce, and our team have been involved in various activities, inspiring from primary age to supporting those finishing their professional qualifications.
- Women in Property – School’s Outreach
Director Hazel Pearson took part in the Women in Property School’s Outreach programme, visiting the P6/P7 class at Queensferry Primary School. The pupils were tasked with designing a luxury home in the park opposite their school, creating a mood board for the design and presenting costs for building.
The students assumed roles such as architect, interior designer, client, engineer, sustainability consultant and project manager / QS. Their scheme involved five floors, a rooftop pool with views of the Firth of Forth, an underground aquarium connected to the Forth(!) and GSHP … all within the £1million budget! Maybe we’ll be seeing some of these young talents in the industry in the future.
- Round table -Dundee University
In collaboration with Dundee University, MLA hosted a series of round tables to support final year Interior & Environmental Design students. Students had the opportunity to present their final project ideas and receive firsthand feedback from industry professionals. The ideas were pitched to Gillian Stewart, director of consultancy, as well as three members of the interiors team and DJCAD alumni, Ragda, Lewis and Lauren.
- APEAS Part 3 Short course
As part of this year’s APEAS Part 3 Short Course at Edinburgh University, Neil Brady-Campbell presented the company’s experience with Design & Build contracts. As a practice we strive to support our Part 2 candidates throughout their studies and this year, our own Jonathan Lowes was even one of the candidates Neil presented to.
Community
Building a strong sense of community at MLA is more important than ever in 2023, with the addition of our third office in Manchester, and we’ve hosted the first couple of events to bring everyone together and have a bit of fun, including Roxy Lanes, bouldering socials, project pin-ups and the MLA Summer BBQ in June, bringing all three (!) offices together the first time.
Keep an eye out for more exciting initiatives from our Culture Club. We would love to hear about the activities taking place in your workplace….