Joan McCoy, Founding Director of White Ink Architects

The combination of artistic and practical elements within architecture has always appealed to me.

Friday 1 October 2021

Joan McCoy, Founding Director of White Ink Architects

The combination of artistic and practical elements within architecture has always appealed to me.

I grew up with a keen interest in buildings. My family was heavily involved in the construction industry, with many of them running their own independent sub-contracting businesses. As a result, looking at plans and drawing became second nature and something I enjoyed, so the choice to study Architecture seemed like an obvious one.

I graduated from Belfast’s Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 1990.

Relatively early on in my career I had the opportunity to work on Odyssey as the lead Architect. Looking back, I can say that the experience absolutely shaped the Architect I am today.

The client for W5 at Odyssey was Dr Sally Montgomery. Sally’s ambition for the science centre was world-class, and her openness to new ideas, as well as her challenges to my design ideas was inspirational. She taught me that good architecture needs a good client who isn’t afraid to challenge you.

In 2001, myself and two colleagues made the leap to starting up our own practice, White Ink Architects. Sean Tunney, Claude Maguire and I have developed a strong ethos of putting our people at the centre of everything we do. Our aim is to help everybody become the best they can be. We do this through a culture of mentoring, training and encouragement.

We have a trend for high staff retention rates at the practice which is something I’m immensely proud of. Even more to celebrate is our practice’s higher-than-average gender diversity for the profession, with a 40% female workforce.

Architecture is an incredibly rewarding career for anyone to work in. It has a far-reaching impact on how people live their lives, not only today but in the future.

I have been fortunate in my career to have held positions that can help shape society for the better, and influence and encourage others into the industry.

I’m a Past President of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA), a member of the Queen’s University School of Architecture’s Professional Liaison Committee, a Sentinus Construction and STEM Ambassador, and a member of the Northern Ireland Building Regulatory Committee (NIBRAC), responsible for reviewing changes to the NI Building Regulations.

In 2015, I was awarded ‘Best Woman Architect’ in the European Women in Construction (WICE) Awards. To have your contributions to architecture recognised is an amazing honour to receive.

White Ink Architects is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year. The milestone has also marked the beginning of a vibrant new chapter. We’ve placed the future of White Ink Architects into the hands of our employees through an employee ownership trust. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to protect the legacy of the company we’ve built by recognising the contribution of our team to its success.

Learn more on the White Ink Architects website

Friday 1 October 2021