Career development: Volkan Doda

Current Title:
Head of Design Technologies

Background
BSci in Architecture (design) and BSci Engineering Science (Mechanical), Yale College; MSci in ClimaDesign, Technical University of Munich

Joined Atelier Ten:
2013

What attracted you to join Atelier Ten?
When I was studying at Yale College, Atelier Ten was playing a crucial role in improving the environmental performance of our buildings on campus, renovating some of the existing landmark buildings while supporting the design of some of the new buildings that have since become landmarks. At the same time, Atelier Ten’s founder Patrick Bellew was also teaching a graduate studio at the Yale School of Architecture. It was a great educational opportunity and inspiration for me to both learn and experience the impact of sound environmental design first hand. This all helped me set my eyes on working at Atelier Ten early on.

What are you most proud of achieving at Atelier Ten?
Over the past eleven years, I have learned so much from so many brilliant designers, that I feel very proud whenever I pass on these learnings to our junior engineers or succeed to condense this experience into novel solutions for difficult design challenge. I’ve supported the design of tens of wonderful projects, but one that stands apart is the Sharaan Desert Resort. I am very proud of managing and delivering all aspects of our environmental design work for a development as unique and sophisticated as this.

What advice would you give to graduate engineers who aspire to follow a similar career path and eventually become a senior manager at Atelier Ten? Do you have any job search or career advice?
Focus on your targets but remain curious, flexible and patient. I was very lucky to know that I wanted to work at a company like Atelier Ten before I graduated. At the time, Atelier Ten was not hiring for my position, but I continued doing my homework, preparing, and regularly checking for availabilities. After two years of work at an architecture practice, the opening I was after came up and the stars aligned for me to join Atelier Ten. My curiosity, flexibility and patience were essential for me to land the job and progress over the next decade all the way to upper management.

Can you describe your journey from a Graduate Designer to become the Head of Design Technologies at Atelier Ten? What were the key milestones or projects that helped you grow in your career?
I started as a graduate in our New York office, with a good theoretical foundation but little practical skills or experience in what we do at Atelier Ten. During my first years I had to learn many skills and software through hard work. I dabbled into all the workstreams we delivered to appreciate their interconnectedness. This was not easy at first, but very rewarding in the longer term. I did not mind getting my hands dirty with mundane-looking tasks or difficult challenges and I continued exploring alternative solutions. When I moved to London after few years, I had to readjust my skills and experience which again meant a steep learning curve and a slower progress. But once I passed a critical threshold and started being actively involved in the design of some of our more challenging and ambitious projects, my diverse background and skill set helped me progress quickly.

As a senior manager, you likely have experience mentoring junior engineers. Can you share an example of a time when you mentored someone and helped them grow in their role?
I now directly manage a team of ten technical specialists with very different interests, levels of experience and skills, while I also support the development of our environmental design team in London as a whole. Often junior designers struggle to see the forest from the tree as they slowly master particular aspects of what we do. I like reminding them of the wilderness beyond so that they continue to nurture their inner innovative designers that our burning forest needs for sound and holistic solutions.

In your opinion, what are the most significant challenges that engineers face when transitioning from a graduate to a senior role, and how did you overcome these challenges?
In a professional work environment, everyone has responsibilities to each other, yet the weight of these responsibilities changes as your role becomes more senior. The nature of the support you receive also changes over time. Taking time to lay a robust foundation early on, remaining curious, and not being afraid of mistakes but also quickly learning from those mistakes while the stakes are lower are essential to grow from a person that supports upwards into a person that supports downwards and outwards.

How do you see your role evolving in the future, and what steps are you taking to prepare for those changes?
The world we operate is changing, and changing fast. Standards change, regulations change, technologies change, client demands change. I expect generative AI and the increasing severity, but also awareness of the environmental degradation we are causing to continue accelerating these changes. With these in mind, soon after celebrating our success we must ask how can we do better next time. Design is an endless process, and there is always a better design just around the corner, if you remain curious and keep looking for it.