VATRAA is hiring an architect or an experienced Part 2 architectural assistant to join its team in London.
VATRAA is an architecture and interior design practice based in London and Bucharest, working on a small number of projects across the UK, Romania and beyond. We’re drawn to commissions where architecture can do meaningful work — dwellings rooted in their setting, quiet spaces that turn attention inward and cultural buildings that defer to what they hold. We design across the full picture: architecture, interiors, some landscape and detailed bespoke furniture and we stay closely involved on site so our vision is built faithfully. Recent recognition includes a 2024 RIBA London Award and a Stephen Lawrence Prize shortlisting; we’ve been featured in Fast Company and named among Dezeen’s Emerging Architects of the Year in 2021. Our project values are continually growing and while we’re best known for residential work, we’re expanding into cultural and commercial work.
We need someone to carry projects from inception to completion (concept, planning, technical detailing, delivery and site) and to take real ownership of the technical and construction side in particular, so we can stay focused on design. You’d have your own projects; in the early design stages and client meetings we’d lead alongside you, stepping back as trust builds. Over time you’d become our technical anchor, the person we turn to with a technical question, with real room to grow into a senior, leadership-level role.
A qualified architect (approximately three to five years post Part 3) or an experienced Part 2 (approximately five to eight years). We care about your experience and ability, not whether you hold the architect title. You’ll have strong technical design and construction detailing skills (ideally a little geeky about it), real on‑site experience, a good eye and genuine care for design, plus ownership, a strong work ethic and an organised mind, someone keen to set up templates and use AI tools to help the studio work smarter.
Strongly valued: NBS, JCT contracts and contract administration. Experience in a design‑led practice is a strong plus. Primarily ArchiCAD. UK‑based and eligible to work here.
We’re a small, flexible and genuinely positive team, curious about the world and passionate about architecture and we’re looking for someone who shares that outlook.
full‑time, permanent
competitive, based on experience
Hackney, London (close to London Fields Overground)