FIA Journal
Hello,
I hope you're well. After a few weeks of genuinely impressive heat, it feels like things have finally cooled down a little — and I suspect most of us are quietly relieved about that.
For a lot of people reading this, June will also have marked the end of another academic year — final submissions handed in, crits done, and a strange mix of relief and uncertainty about what comes next.
If that's where you are right now, this month's email is written with you in mind.
What Nobody Tells You About Your First Year in Practice
There's a version of starting out in practice that looks neat from the outside. You've finished your studies, you're in a studio, you're working on real projects. It should feel like things are finally falling into place.
But for a lot of people, that first year feels more unsettling than they expected.
Not because they're not capable. But because so much of what practice actually involves was never really explained. Nobody sat you down and told you that you'd be expected to produce technical drawings with very little guidance, that you'd sometimes feel more confused on site than you did in a studio crit, or that saying "I'll check and come back to you" is not a sign of weakness — it's just how careful people work.
I think a lot of students come into practice believing that the gap between education and the real thing will be smaller than it is. And when it turns out to be quite significant, the instinct is to assume the problem is with them.
It usually isn't.
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Nobody arrives in practice fully formed...
The technical side of architecture takes time to build. Construction knowledge builds slowly, through projects, through questions, through getting things slightly wrong and then correcting them. Nobody arrives in practice fully formed, and the people who seem most confident are often just better at hiding the same uncertainty.
If you're in that first year right now and finding it harder than you expected, that's not unusual. It means you're paying attention. The architects who struggle most in the early years are often the ones who care most about doing the work properly.
Keep going. Keep asking. Keep refining.
WHAT'S NEW AT FIRST IN ARCHITECTURE
Recent Articles
If you're working on building your technical confidence, here's what we've added recently:
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Architectural Section Checklist
Floor plans tend to get most of the attention, but sections are just as important for understanding how a building actually works. This guide looks at what to include in your architectural sections, common mistakes to avoid, and practical ways to make them clearer and more professional. There's a free PDF checklist to download at the end.
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Solar Energy: Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Strategies
A practical guide to understanding active solar design, covering both photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. Useful for anyone working on projects where renewable energy strategies are becoming part of the brief.
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New Details
This month's Detail Library update focuses on corner glazing, with new details covering traditional bay windows and contemporary corner sliding door systems. If glazing junctions are something you're working through on a current project, these are worth a look.
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SOMETHING YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN
In Case It's Useful
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One thing that makes a real difference in that first year in practice — and well beyond it — is having reliable reference material you can return to without second-guessing yourself.
Our Building Regulations Notes Template is a fully editable set of drawing notes for domestic extension, alteration and conversion projects. It's designed to give you a clear, consistent starting point rather than building your notes from scratch each time.
It won't do the thinking for you. But it will save you time and reduce the chance of something slipping through.
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A Quiet Reminder
You're not supposed to know everything yet. Neither did anyone else at this stage.
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Thank you for being here and taking the time to read, we really appreciate your support. Wishing you a great start to the month ahead.
All our best,
Emma & the First in Architecture team
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