Dhruv Gulabchande, qualifies as Architect ARB

Huge congratulations to Dhruv who has cleared the final hurdle to become a fully qualified Architect.

Dhruv completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Westminster, followed by Masters studies at the University of Greenwich. He returned to Westminster to undertake the Part 3 course which comprises written exams in Law and Practice Management, a case study based on a live project (Next, The Oracle) and then the sometimes daunting oral exam where he was cross-examined by two experience practitioners.

Dhruv first came to HFM on a workplace experience week during his third year at university; we saw his enthusiasm and willingness to learn and so we were happy to offer him a year-out placement, which became 3 years before he was itching to get back to academia.

He continued to work with us part-time during his Masters, so one moment he was detailing ceilings and bulkheads for a shopping centre and the next he was challenging static narrative constructs within architecture conceptualising the journey his father took on his travels from Moçambique to Yorkshire.

Over the 7 years Dhruv has been a part of HFM, he has made a huge contribution to both the design and delivery of some of our most important projects:

• The redesign of the Malls at The Oracle Shopping Centre, Reading

• Project Jenga at The Oracle, which saw major structural alterations to form a two storey unit for Next

• New Street Mall at Grand Central, Birmingham which will be complete this month

• ...and many others.