Helen Su, who joined the practice in October 2021, is the winner of the Innovation Awards 2022 in the ‘Rising Star’ category. The award goes out to young people between 16-25 years old who have demonstrated outstanding innovation within the work environment.
Helen was nominated for the award following her rise within Modece Architects from being in the Kickstart scheme to becoming selected for Cambridge University to complete her architectural studies.
During COVID, Modece Architects noticed the influx of young people contacting them for work. The government launched the Kickstart Scheme to help find such young people placements in firms. Modece joined with a local consortium of museums and arts based businesses to create a consortium to deliver a local kickstart program.
Modece committed to giving placements such as architectural assistants and graphics design to 14 under 24year olds over an 18 month period. During this time Helen applied for a placement as she was unable to find work after finishing her undergraduate. Helen was shy and reserved in her interview, however Modece saw that she had potential from her portfolio and was given a placement for a 6-month period under the Kickstart Scheme. During that time, she outshone the rest of the kickstart team on the scheme and produced valuable work for some of Modece’s projects. Towards the end of her placement, Helen began to consider going back to university to study her masters. Modece, keen to support Helen while also retain her in the practice, offered to employ her as an apprentice within the new Cambridge University architecture apprenticeship programme. Helen was successful at her interview and started her apprenticeship in Cambridge in September 2022 for a 4 year course during which she’ll complete her masters and a diploma to become a fully qualified architect.
