Julia Barfield
By Callum Alderton
Southlands High School Chorley Lancashire

Extract:
Did you always want to be an architect even when you were little?
Not really, I never much thought about what I wanted to do until O-Level’s and only decided at A-Level when I found out I could combine arts, science and maths together. Though a friend of the family was an architect and I thought that would be nice as they always made it sound such a great job.
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Julia Barfield

by Callum Alderton

Did you always want to be an architect even when you were little?
Not really, I never much thought about what I wanted to do until O-Level’s and only decided at A-Level when I found out I could combine arts, science and maths together. Though a friend of the family was an architect and I thought that would be nice as they always made it sound such a great job.

What were you like at school were you good or did you bully people or were you quite reserved?
No (laughs) I was never bullied or bullied, I was quite reserved I didn’t like to draw to much attention to my self.

What would you say you need to become an architect?
I’d defiantly say you obviously need a good interest in physics and maths but art can be useful although you do use computers a lot more nowadays. You also need to enjoy solving problems. You can’t be someone who just likes to mess around and let other people do the work as its quite labour intensive working towards deadlines. Also a must is you have to be able to communicate as a team and make sure you all understand each other otherwise your team and work will fall apart.

Do you need an understanding in engineering and technical expertise?
Not a lot at school but you do work along side with engineers so you do pick up the basics after a while. I would say that if you had a good basic knowledge you would get on fine and even if not you can pick it up or learn on the job.

What did you take at A-level? Did you enjoy them?
I took History, English, Art, and Maths at A-Level. I enjoyed my A-levels yes, as I picked ones I found interesting to me and also enjoyable. I would like to say thought to the people who read this that they should not just take what there friends take they should only take what they want and are good at or enjoy.

Where did you go to university?
I went to university at the in London a very good university- for seven years. Five of those years are in collage and two years out working. It’s like a sandwich course. I enjoyed this course mainly because you took two years out on the job and got into the middle of it and got stuck in.

So you must be at a reasonable age before you can start working if you don’t mind me saying?
No, I don’t mind you’re about 27 before you can fully call your self an architect. This is because of the course at university though some people call them selves an architect before that.

After university you went on a year out to South America in the Barriadas of Lima in Peru, why there? What did you do?
I just thought I could give a lot there as it was mainly a shanty town. I felt instead of going somewhere and not doing a lot but stuck in a corner I decided to go somewhere I felt would make a real difference. When I was there I helped build and design housing and a community centre for the local population.

What did you do after you finished your year out?
I worked for Richard Rogers & Partners which was my first real job and then Foster Associates for around nine year. There I learned a lot more then in university because I had real hands on approach then I and David my husband set up Marks Barfield and that was around 13 years ago. The business has boomed since then and we designed the London eye which was a massive booster.

Who would you say were your role models?
I’d say my role models are the people at the company’s I’ve worked for they have given me the expertise and helped me along my way. Also importantly my role models would be family ties as a friend of the family was an architect.

What type of designs do you like to make?
I prefer modern buildings, like the London eye. Of course eco-friendly is a big thing you are more likely to get projects if you have an element of eco-friendly aspects in it. I’ve never been a fan of the old fashioned looks for newer buildings I’ve always liked the newer looking buildings.

How did you start up you own business and what was it like?
I started in 1989 form our house which kept the costs low. In two years with only a few employees and we won a £30 million project which helped us on our way.

So how do you get projects in architecture?
You have to enter kinds of competition where you design something for the company or individual and then they pick the best one out of who ever enters. The problem is that you spend a lot of time and money on developing the design and making the models but in the end you could end up with not winning the project and loosing the money you spent. It’s a very hard business and very competitive.

So you have to spend money to make money?
Yes although if you get the job you make many times your money back. Although it is a risk but if your good it’ll pay off. I think that in the end the better you are the more likely you are to succeeded in the business and also how creative you are.

Can you name some of the projects you have worked on?
Well the London eye is probably my most famous which everyone knows about. I’ve worked on a tree top walkway in Kew which is made for public viewing at Kew. A café in Birmingham called the spiral café (hands us a leaflet). And also some wind collectors for cities, these are very interesting actually because they look more like decorations then wind farms and can be fixed onto buildings to also decorate them while generating electricity.

What is your claim to fame?
Well the London eye is my claim to fame as everybody has heard of it and it has brought a lot of business to London. Hopefully it’s not my last. I hope to create some more buildings and attractions which will be much better.

Have you won many awards?
We won 40 awards in 10 years as it says in your portfolio. We were presented with a MBE from the Queen in 200. In 2003 I won the Queens award. We have also won an enterprise award for starting up the company. In all since we have started we have won many awards form our work to our company.

What else have you done as an architect?
I have been a judge for competitions in architecture. These competitions have been a lot like the competitions I enter but in different fields.

The London eye, could you answer some questions we’ve wanted to know about it? Can it be moved somewhere else?
It is made so it can be dismantled and moved, not like a fair ground ride but for a few years. So if someone in Japan bought it can theoretically be moved there over a few months, unlikely of course because it generates so much wealth for the city as a tourist attraction.

Was it only made to last 5 years?
It was intended to last 5 years in London but then we got further planning permission for another 5 years or so because of the success but it is still as reliable as ever.

Is that your favourite design?
It is for now yes mainly because of the fame of it and everyone knows about it. But as I said earlier I hope it will not stay my favourite as I create much better pieces of work.

How much did the London eye cost?
It cost £50 million to build which is the most expensive project I’ve worked on. It was a massive build form 1995 to 2000.

Thank you for this intriguing interview it was most insightful into the life of an architect I hope our reader will find this useful for there careers.

Further information about Marks Barfield Architects follow this link