Small Visitors, Big Questions

Earlier this week, the SPACE Architects studio welcomed a group of very special visitors. Seventeen four- and five-year-old girls arrived at Spaceworks for a morning spent learning about architecture and asking important questions.

The visit was organised for Isabella’s class, with Isabella being CEO Rob Charlton’s granddaughter, and formed part of a wider programme of school-led career visits. In recent weeks, the class had met a surgeon, a dentist and a GP. This time, the focus shifted to architecture. What does an architect do? How do buildings begin? And how do ideas move from imagination to something you can walk into?

On arrival, the group were welcomed with pink SPACE-branded high-vis jackets and hard hats, stepping confidently into their roles as architects for the day. The distinctive pink, a colour woven through SPACE’s history, quickly caught the eye around the studio and sparked interest from team members keen to see it feature on future site visits.

Following a short introduction and tour of the studio, the session moved into a practical workshop. Using paper, glue and pencils, the girls designed and built their own houses, with Lego close at hand. Throughout the session, the level of engagement was clear. By the end of the discussion, when asked who wanted to be an architect, every hand was raised.

After a short post about the visit was shared on LinkedIn, the response was immediate and far-reaching. What began as a small, informal session quickly resonated with a much wider audience, prompting reflection on access, representation and early influence for women across the built environment.

Architecture remains a sector where women are underrepresented, particularly at senior levels. Encouraging interest early matters, but so does creating environments where women already in practice feel confident and visible.

For SPACE, initiatives like this are about more than outreach. They sit alongside a broader commitment to supporting women across the practice, creating space to grow, lead and develop fulfilling careers in architecture. Sometimes that begins with mentoring, sometimes with leadership pathways, and sometimes with seventeen small pink jackets gathered around a table, designing their first houses.

For Rob, the experience carried a personal echo. His own first awareness of architecture came at the age of four, standing on site at Montagu Court, where his grandfather was the site agent. Reflecting afterwards, Rob said, “By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but it was immensely rewarding.”