Following six years of study, IMA director Joe Travers has graduated from the RIBA Studio course run via Oxford Brookes School of Architecture and qualified as an ARB & RIBA architect.
Joe has graduated with a Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Diploma in Architecture, while simultaneously completing RIBA’s own Part 3 qualification – the Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice in Architecture.
Already a qualified chartered architectural technologist, Joe began the RIBA course in 2019 while an associate at IMA after exploring professional development options and being recommended the RIBA course by a company peer.
Over the last six years he has studied full time alongside his demanding day job through a self-directed distance learning course which combined online lectures, in person exams and production of a portfolio of work, with guidance from a range of personal tutors and Oxford Brookes University examiners.
During the last six months of study, Joe also completed and passed both the RIBA Studio Diploma in Architecture and the RIBA Part 3, one of the final steps enabling individuals to qualify as an architect. Joe is now registered as a fully qualified architect with the Architect’s Registration Board (ARB) in the UK and registered as a chartered architect with the RIBA.
Talking about his achievements Joe said: “It has been so full on for a long time, working full time, becoming a director at IMA, studying a full-time degree and bringing up a family, but absolutely worth it personally, professionally and ultimately for the benefit of IMA’s clients.
“It’s been a really fulfilling process. I’ve worked on some different projects outside of the industrial and commercial sectors we specialise in at IMA, so all good learning to be able to contribute to the ideas and design philosophies within our practice. I’ve also met some great people who I hope to stay in touch with for a long time to come.”
Joe worked on a variety of schemes as part of his portfolio. His end of certificate project centred on an Astronomy Visitor Centre in Derbyshire with the final design being informed by the constellations of the night sky. It involved reclaiming a quarry and the building forms cascade into the quarry to reveal views of the various constellations and celestial bodies on the journey through the building.
Another project of note included a community cultural building that aimed to bring together popular activities relating to food, dance, arts and craft to connect three neighbouring but socially isolated communities. Its intention was to create cohesion, empathy and understanding between these traditionally disparate communities in Leicester. Its modular design, with open plan layout and extensive glazing, made it flexible to host multiple activities, enabling people to participate together, be curious and learn from each other to encourage integration.
His final dissertation project focussed on the use of Brutalist Architecture in Science Fiction films to denote dystopic themes. It explored whether this resulted in the viewer being negatively persuaded against Brutalist architecture in the real world, due to the association with dystopian settings in films. As a result, Joe was invited to present at the launch night of 2024 film ‘The Brutalist’ featuring Adrien Brody at the Phoenix Arts Cinema.
IMA’s co-founder Ian McCann said: “This is a fantastic personal achievement for Joe and a great outcome for the business. We’re pleased to have been able to support Joe with his professional development ambitions and look forward to taking projects from design concept through to completion with him.”
Now that Joe has completed a seven-year stint studying he is looking forward to having some more free time with his family without stressing about deadlines and applying what he has learnt to IMA’s clients to be involved in the wider design process from an earlier stage.
