EMMA WRIGHT iS YOUNG ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR 2019

08 January 2020

Queen’s double graduate Emma Wright, an architect at the award-winning Belfast-based White Ink Architects, is the winner of the Belfast Telegraph Property Awards – Young Architect of the Year 2019.

From County Antrim, Emma graduated with a BSc Hons Architecture in 2009 and a MArch Architecture in 2012.

White Ink Architects Associate Áine Glackin is thrilled that Emma’s hard work has been recognised. “Since joining White Ink 6 years ago Emma has shown exceptional promise. Her innovative problem-solving skills and technical ability have allowed her to progress through the company – evident in the increased responsibility she has undertaken and the internal steering groups she has initiated and leads,” said Áine.

“Since qualifying, Emma has grown, developed and matured both as an architect and personally. Her enthusiasm and dedication to practice, the architectural profession, education and the construction industry is unparalleled for someone so young.”

Run in partnership with Electric Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph awards celebrate excellence within the property sector in Northern Ireland. The Young Architect of the Year award, supported by RTU, recognises the excellence of young professionals who make a valuable contribution to the companies they work for and show considerable promise as future leaders of the industry.   

“I’m delighted to have been awarded this accolade,” said Emma. “The management at White Ink Architects have supported and guided my professional development and given me opportunities to lead and I am continually encouraged to become the best architect I can be.

“My project work has continued to flourish, providing me with invaluable experience that has equipped me with advanced skills and knowledge, and instilled confidence to manage teams to deliver multi-million-pound projects – including the delivery of a £57m Holiday Inn & Staybridge Suites 632-bed Hotel at Heathrow and the implementation of BIM  (Building Information Modelling) in one of the first collaborative BIM Level 2 projects in Northern Ireland – Queen’s School of Biological Sciences Building,” she added.

Established in 2001, White Ink Architects is led by founders and Directors Claude Maguire, Joan McCoy (current RSUA President) and Sean Tunney, and Associates Áine Glackin, Martin Ellis and Sarah McGonigle.

The practice provides architectural, interior design and technical consultancy services to private and public sector clients, developers and contractors throughout the UK, Ireland and further afield across multiple sectors including Hotel and Leisure, Apartment Living, Office, Health, Education, Science and Industry.

“Emma has a genuine passion for design and construction and has enjoyed a highly successful, impressive career trajectory,” said Áine.

 

“She has embraced the White Ink ethos of teaching and continual learning, not only in developing her own professional knowledge but also as student mentor, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Ambassador, and through her dedication to the RSUA CPD committee. Her warm personality and caring attitude is evident in her recent trip to Ethiopia with EMI where she volunteered her professional skills, knowledge and time to the design and development of an agricultural college.

“Emma is a natural leader, an excellent ambassador for the practice, the profession and future generations of architects an exemplary role model for young people, particularly young women hoping to pursue a career in architecture – and is an industry name to watch,” concluded Áine.

White Ink Architects was shortlisted in the Belfast Telegraph Property Awards ‘Architectural Practice of the Year’ Award (Commercial) 2019 and is a previous winner of the award in 2017.

For more information on White Ink Architects or Emma Wright, please contact: Moya Fitzpatrick, telephone: +44 (0)28 9031 9526.

For general enquiries about this story or to submit graduate news items, please contact Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) at Queen’s University Belfast, telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.

 

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