The Irish Examiner

Ireland's commitment to developing a cleaner, greener, more sustainable environment offers architects a world of opportunities and exciting design challenges, according to a leading academic. Despite ongoing uncertainty in the construction sector, the future for architectural graduates has never looked brighter, says Sharon O’Brien, the acting head of the department of architecture at Waterford Institute of Technology. The majority of architectural graduates have traditionally entered architectural design offices upon graduation. This trend is changing and today an architectural education opens up many possibilities for employment, she said. "Architects are now sought in the public sector as advisors and designers on the build environment in the areas of urban and rural planning and in the conservation of the historic fabric of our cities, towns and villages. With the pressing need to address sustainability more will become advisors and design specialists in greener design," said Ms O’Brien. The new department of architecture at Waterford Institute of Technology provides a "learning through doing" environment for the education of architects, architectural technicians and architectural technologists where the studio becomes the workshop, where ideas and practice are tested in model and drawing form, said the acting head of department.