Valeria Castrignani

My passion is for crafted architecture, that embodies the spirit of place with a sensible environmental design. My work is inspired by the idea of a contextual and well detailed architecture. Since joining leading executive architecture practice Veretec in 2019, I’ve been contributing to a number of projects in the cultural, residential and commercial workplace sector, including the BAFTA Headquarters in Piccadilly and a conservation-led scheme on a 20th century gap site in Clerkenwell, through a process of careful restoration and extension of industrial buildings within the site. Soon after graduating, I combined my studies working in mid-large restoration projects. This experience provided me every day contact with non-standard practices and building components, working side by side with craftspeople on the field, defining lines of efficient communication among the stakeholders. Here I gained practical awareness on the connection between architecture and its construction, materials and processes. During my MSc in Building Engineering – Architecture I worked in a multi-disciplinary context developing research skills and a proactive approach to project design. Here I worked across the areas of sustainable architecture and historic building conservation, exploring their interrelationships at different scales. I carried out my final research project studying solutions to integrate new passive technologies into energy retrofit practices. During a further post-degree year at the MSc in European Construction Engineering in Denmark, a lecture and research-based course, I worked in a multi-disciplinary and multicultural environment. I trained to design looking at multiple disciplines and intersections, developing an attitude to design rigorous and creative at the same time. My dissertation explored the applications of circular economy in the built environment. I enjoy architecture as a collaborative and creative art, communicating with partners and clients, while responding to the surroundings and being environmentally conscious.