Woman Architect of the Year shortlist: Kirsten Lees

Kirsten Lees became a partner at Grimshaw in 2010, having joined the practice in 1997. Lees is currently developing the design of a new international contemporary art gallery in Istanbul for the Vehbi Koç Foundation, a project which Grimshaw won in an international competition against some of the world’s leading architecture firms. She leads much of Grimshaw’s work in the sports sector and during the past two years has been developing a Wimbledon masterplan for the All England Lawn Tennis Association.

Why did you choose architecture?From a young age I enjoyed art and design, so you could say I was drawn from the beginning. Then when I was living in Barcelona between school and university, I fell in love with the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion.

What is your design ethos? I believe the best buildings and designs have many layers that provide a richness of experience and are uplifting to be in; pragmatic, poetic and site-specific.

Which architects inspire you? Carme Pigem of RCR in Spain, and Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA.

What is your advice to aspiring female architects? Believe in yourself and your ideas. Go with your instinct. Have a clear vision of what you want and work hard to achieve it.

Why do women leave the profession? Architecture is tough, whether you’re male or female. It requires dedication and a commitment to working long and often unsociable hours. It is highly demanding and stressful, and the financial return is not commensurate with the time and dedication invested. Balancing the above with children, when childcare is still perceived as primarily the mother’s responsibility, makes achieving an acceptable work/life balance even more difficult for women.

What is the biggest challenge facing women in architecture? We still need a step change within the profession and construction as a whole. The number of women attaining senior positions is still woefully low. Also the culture of punishingly long hours, competitive and low-fee bids to win work, and lack of recognition of women’s contribution make remaining in architecture a tough choice.

https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/campaigns/women-in-architecture/woman-architect-of-the-year-shortlist-kirsten-lees/8657301.article

Kirsten joined Grimshaw in 1997. She is a passionate designer with a wide range of skills and experience developed since graduating first class honours from the Mackintosh School of Architecture. Appointed Partner in 2010, Kirsten is responsible for leading and promoting the company’s Arts, Heritage and Culture sector. She has extensive international experience in this arena, delivering unique buildings, tailored to client and geographical constraints. Kirsten was the Project Architect for the award-winning Caixa Galicia Art Foundation in Coruna from its inception to completion.

Kirsten is committed to environmentally conscious design and is currently leading Grimshaw’s masterplan for a sustainable town extension in North Harlow in Essex, a highly sensitive and complex setting. She has specific interests and skills in physical planning and urban regeneration, with a strong focus on the role of the public realm in shaping solutions.  Building on this she has developed a portfolio of energy-from-waste facilities in landscape settings. Similarly, her work on Bangor Arts and Innovation Centre offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a wider urban strategy in the historic city center.

http://www.auraltda.cl/person/lees-kirsten/index.html

Kirsten is a highly experienced architect with over 25 years’ experience in architecture, strategic planning, urban design and regeneration in sensitive environments within the arts, sports and master planning sectors. She brings insight and creativity to the development of strategic projects, and she demonstrates strong conceptual judgment when integrating buildings into sensitive settings, both urban and rural.

Genuine innovation and architectural distinction distinguish Kirsten’s projects, which are founded on the insightful translation of client and stakeholder objectives. Her work has been acknowledged for its subtle response to place, the pre-eminence of the cultural agenda and its unique expressive and material qualities. She was shortlisted for the AJ Woman Architect of the Year award in 2014.

http://www.auraltda.cl/person/lees-kirsten/index.html

She is currently developing the Koç Contemporary Art Museum in Istanbul, and a new grandstand for Curragh Racecourse.

Kirsten is a creative and collaborative design leader who is capable of inspiring her teams and collaborating with engineering, construction and client teams to achieve optimum solutions. She has significant experience in managing complex stakeholder environments, and she is skilled at thoroughly understanding the impact of strategic, regional and political drivers.

Her work demonstrates a clear understanding that commercial viability must be balanced with the demands of local plans and the requirements of the local community to deliver tangible legacy benefits. Project examples include the Mönchengladbach urban regeneration strategy,

the Wimbledon Master Plan, the Gilston Park Estate Master Plan ,

Didcot Garden Town

and the regeneration programme for Hammersmith Town Center.

https://grimshaw.global/practice/people/partners/kirsten-lees/

Kirsten has been instrumental in bringing an increasingly diverse range of important projects to the practice. This includes highly sustainable urban developments, such as the Gilston Park Estate master plan, through to city-changing cultural and sporting venues.

Kirsten is a passionate designer whose projects have gained recognition for their insightful translation of client and stakeholder objectives, subtle response to place, genuine innovation and architectural distinction.

Recent projects include the foundation in Coruna, the SUEZ energy-from-waste facility in Suffolk above, and the now-completed Pontio Arts Centre at Bangor University below.

Kirsten is an inspiration within the practice and beyond due to her unparalleled vision and commitment to high-quality architecture and belief that architecture can transform people’s lives. She has led a number of charitable initiatives within the office including a major construction project in Rwanda with Bridges to Prosperity and her Pro Bono work with Passmores Academy and Places for People developing a new skills center in Harlow.

Embracing her position as a senior female architect, Kirsten has taken a pivotal role in Grimshaw’s Women in Architecture programme, mentoring and inspiring younger architects. Her membership in the Equilibrium group extends her influence to the wider industry.

https://equilibrium-network.com/the-steering-group/kirsten-lees/

The last building is Adams Center. Set up like the Sheraton, it has a first floor that connects four different towers. I’m an RA in this building, so I’ve seen just about every part of it. It has basements in all four towers, and there’s a pretty good sized room just across from the elevators for each tower. Each room is something different, which speaks to just how different this entire building is building is different from the rest of campus. No building is as complex a Sarkeys, however Adams Center is definitely the most complicated building on the south side of campus. This is the building where I learned how to handle conflict, be a resource for confused freshman or even upperclassman, or people that aren’t students. I’ve learned so much in my short time at Adams Center and I have loved just about every moment of it. There have been good times and bad, but the good FAR outweigh any annoying 4 AM call about being locked out or disrespectful resident that doesn’t want a citation.

This odd looking building is POPS. It is located in Arcadia, Oklahoma. I’ve only been here twice, both after attending Breakaway in Sparks, Oklahoma. It is a Chi Alpha tradition to stop by here on the way back from Breakaway weekend. Its odd architecture design is what made me choose this building. It doesn’t have a sign that says Pops anywhere, only a white stick-art like pop bottle sitting out front that lights up at night. Everything in this building is slanted—the walls, the supports, the supports holding up the gas pump coverage, there are two triangle shaped walls that jut out of the back, and there are lines of shelves all inside the building. This place has many different soda pop flavors, including Zombie Snot, Bacon, and even Cat Fizz. I may have only been here twice, but both times I was surrounded with people that loved me and that I just finished worshiping Jesus with. It’s a great place to go and relax at.

Sam Noble Museum of Natural history. This was the first building at OU that I ever stepped into. It was on a field trip for biology class my sophomore year of high school, and I hated nearly every minute about it. Three years later, this is also the building that I attended my first Film Festival in. Being an Film and Media Studies major, film festivals are always fun to go to, and are frequently held here. I also attended this film festival by myself, which is something I have a lot of trouble doing, and I saw a film that I wouldn’t normally see. It was a great experience.

The Sheraton hotel, located in Dallas right off the Interstate, was also a place I felt part of the Chi Alpha family. Set up like our very own Adams Center, it has a first floor common area and four separate towers filled with rooms for the guests. There is also a sky-bridge connecting the hotel to a mall food court. It was here that I began to really connect with God. I went to break out sessions by myself, instead of just following around my friends and doing what they did. This was also the first time I drove out of the state without my mom or other family members with me. I’ve grown the most as an adult and woman of Christ in this building.