Building the Architect Map Website

I began my career in Davis Langdon as a Web programmer. Not the most conventional of starts and not one that most of you would expect of someone in the Davis Langdon world, but nonetheless this is how I began 10 years ago. Quite how I went from web programmer to leading our Design Management and Specification Consultancy business in the Middle East I don’t know.

I have always loved computers, right from the early days of trying to re-program the family computer to make it run faster so that I could play the latest version of Championship Manager.

Through my university years my interest in technology and computers remained and I taught myself how to build basic websites using HTML, and the onto more complex languages such as PHP, JavaScript, C++ and mySQL databases. All of this I learnt through reading books and late nights whilst at the same time going through my final year at University gaining a first class degree in Project Management.

So I went to work at Davis Langdon, originally as a Project Manager but soon moving onto a project building a web-based specification production platform that would support our specification consultancy business, driving efficiencies and consistency through the business. I loved these years of late nights, head scratching, problem solving and building tools through technology that helped people do their jobs better.

Since those days I have been busy developing and building a career in Davis Langdon, but having just gone through the experience of building the #architectmap website from scratch, these great memories came flooding back. Yes, a lot of what I had learnt I had forgotten, but I enjoyed sitting down at a computer and getting stuck into some programming again after so many years.

The website that I built probably reflects my inability to remember much of what I taught myself, but I tried to keep things relatively simple and easy to navigate through. I hope that anyone who has viewed the site likes it and finds it equally easy to navigate, whilst still finding it useful and informative.

I purchased the domain name architectmap.net as the dot com was already taken (but not being used which is a little annoying) so the dot net was the next best thing.

In its first week the website attracted over 500 unique visitors with over 1,000 page views. This has complemented the recent passing of 100,000 views of the Archjtect Map google maps, which is a fantastic milestone to have passed.

Next step? Time to delve into the world of Apps I think and give that a go.

Architect Map – The Evolution to AEC Graduate Map

As you may or may not know, a few weeks ago Su Butcher and I created something called Architect Map. I’m not going to go over old ground on how we have got to this point as it has already been expertly documented on Su’s Just Practising blog, in Studio Em‘s blog, and in the press such as Arch Daily and World Architecture News.

The purpose of this blog piece is to let you know about the recent addition to the map known as  the AEC Graduate Map, which we believe takes Architect Map into an exciting new direction.

The past influencing the present…

10 years ago I left University with my 1st Class Hounours degree in Project Management and embarked upon a career in the AEC Industry. I was fortunate in that I had excellent guidance and knew the practice that I wanted to work for. However, during my time at University I shared a house with six other friends, most of whom were studying Architecture. When it came to networking and trying to find work experience or jobs at the end of the course, it was a real issue for my friends, not just in finding a job, but first even knowing who existed in the marketplace and where they were located.

The benfit of Twitter is the ability to directly connect and engage with others quickly, easily and informally. A key step in making most decisions is knowing who is out in the big wide world to talk to, and then filtering these results down to those that are most suitable, something which was a struggle for my friends at University.

Back to the Present…

Fast forward 10 years and here we are, having created a fairly popular, yet still in its infancy, Architect Map that is growing by the day. Whilst it is currently mapping the AEC industry, from Architects to Manufacturers to Contractors, it struck us that whilst this is great in the professional world, wouldn’t it be fantastic to find out who the up and coming stars of the future are by tapping into the AEC world that exists in Universities and Schools.

Hence, the birth of the AEC Graduate Map, a Google map which allows any student in the AEC field, who uses Twitter, to plot themselves on our map. The Architect Map portal allows students in the AEC field to search around our maps and connect not only with fellow students with similar interests, but also provide them with a knowledgable starting point from which they can make key decisions and engage with professionals in the industry.

The Map is live and in use!

It’s great to see AEC Graduate Map already being populated, and in just a few hours it had racked up nearly 500 views. Our first student was Kirsty Cassels (@koistycassels), who is also mapped on the Architect Map, is studying at the Glasgow School of Art (@gsofa) and working part time at LMA Architects (@lmaarchitects).

Then we have Matthew Westley (@theArchtist) and Joe Morizzo (@joemorizzo) also early adopters of the platform. With comments and enthusiasm from people such as Matthew, who knows where together we may be able to take this.

Using your Bio to say who you are…

Taking this one step further, with the use of the Google Map Placeholder, a Student is able to update their Bio to include a whole range of information, from how to connect with them on Social Media platforms to providing their CV and Portfolio for potential employers to see. The boundaries really are only limited by creativity and innovative thinking. Take a look at Joe’s bio created last night. You can begin to see how your Bio can become a central point holding key information about yourself for others to see.

I think back to my friends at University who spent countless hours searching the internet for information on who they could approach, who was nearby, and who to contact and think that wouldn’t this have been a great tool for them to use as a starting point. With the Architect Map, we are starting to build a knowledge base from which a lot of this can be achieved.

I think this is all powerful and exciting stuff, and I look forward to seeing how this new extension to Architect Map aids the next generation of the AEC industry.

For anyone wishing to join in the conversations on Twitter, then please use the #ArchitectMap or #AECGraduateMap hashtags. We would welcome your input!