Architecture has been a passion of Callum’s since childhood, and from a young age he made it his mission to become a qualified professional in this field, and to work for one of the biggest firms in the industry – Foster & Partners.

Fast forward just a few years and Callum has already achieved one of those goals by securing a coveted work placement at Foster & Partners, after winning a competition through the Stephen Lawrence Trust, even before he graduated, due to his stellar body of work.

He also managed to secure the internship in his second year, rather than his third, which is when many students gain their placements for his course. And even after he completed his initial placement, the company was so impressed with his performance, it invited him to come back for his third year, for an additional 12 months.

“It’s amazing to be part of one of the biggest, most well-received firms in the world,” he says.

Since starting his course at Manchester, Callum says his design skills have “flourished”.

This was further emphasised in November 2018 when he was voted as one of the ‘Next Generation of Influential Black British Architects’ by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) after a colleague at Foster & Partners mentioned the competition and he applied with his portfolio.

He was the youngest and least experienced person to be chosen.

The honour meant his name was printed on the wall of RIBA HQ in London, an extremely proud moment for him.

“I would walk into central London and just see it and would think: ‘This is crazy!’” he says.

His work continues to garner acclaim and he has picked up a slew of awards, including Best Visual Communication, Best Technologies Coursework and The Ian CS Crowcroft Award for studio projects.

He is also currently project-managing a huge end-of-degree architecture exhibition at the university, overseeing a team of 22 and co-ordinating everything from set-up to promotion.

After his year at Foster & Partners, Callum hopes to go to the Bartlett School of Architecture to complete his studies.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

On the path to setting up my own practice, which I’ve always wanted to do. I want to take time to grow my reputation.