It's a subject close to Alexandra's heart, and one shaped heavily by her own professional experience.

After completing her Master's degree at Liverpool University, Alexandra was determined to secure a placement in practice. Like so many hopeful graduates, she sent out application after application, 120 in total. At the time, most practices weren't hiring, and out of all of those applications, only one opportunity came through: a placement at Skene Catling de la Peña Architects in London.

That single "yes" changed the course of her career. During her time there, she worked on Flint House, a striking home on the Waddesdon Estate that would go on to win the RIBA House of the Year Award in 2015 and feature on Grand Designs. It remains one of the most formative projects of her career, and a powerful reminder of just how much one opportunity can shape a future.

That experience has stayed with her ever since, and it's exactly what she drew on during her lecture at Derby.

Students heard not just about technical preparation for practice, but about resilience, persistence, and the real responsibility practices hold when they choose to take on placement students and graduates. It can shape confidence, spark inspiration, and influence how someone sees their entire future in the profession.

One of the biggest messages Alexandra shared was about the gap between studying architecture and actually practising it. University teaches you to think conceptually, to design freely, and to defend ideas critically, but it rarely prepares you for the realities of client budgets, planning constraints, build costs, or the simple fact that not every idea makes it past first sketch. Her advice to students was to seek out placements that go beyond observing, and instead get them genuinely involved: sitting in on client meetings, visiting live sites, understanding how a design actually gets built rather than just how it's presented on paper. The students who get the most out of a placement are usually the ones brave enough to ask for that kind of hands-on responsibility, rather than waiting to be given it.

It's also a big part of what drives PDC's own approach to placements today. Over the years, the studio has welcomed numerous students and graduates, offering exactly the kind of opportunity, belief, and encouragement that once opened a door for Alexandra herself.

As a small added bonus, the visit gave Alexandra the chance to see Derby University's stunning new building in person, including its striking central staircase, a piece of architecture in its own right.

If even one student left that lecture feeling a little more prepared, or a little more hopeful about their future in architecture, then it was a morning well spent.

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