We believe that to achieve genuine and lasting change in the industry, we need more young people from under-represented groups and minority backgrounds to start studying architecture, and for them to have the freedom to give it their all, without the stress of having to work to pay the bills, buy materials and fund study trips.
The LNS provides the opportunity for everyone in London’s built environment industry to support young people through their studies, making a tangible impact on their lives and career opportunities.
London
The LNS makes it easy for London’s built environment community to support local young people and build a more diverse industry. Each organisation can make a tangible difference by investing in architectural education and providing mentoring and work experience to LNS scholars.
Neighbourhood
Project teams working across London’s neighbourhoods can work with the LNS to deliver tangible social value and benefits to the local communities impacted by regeneration and change. Many organisations have said to us that they have wanted to sponsor students but didn’t know how to get started. The LNS has done the legwork and is here to help.
Scholarship
LNS funding and mentoring support changes the lives of the scholarship recipients, creating a level playing field for them to perform alongside their peers and giving them the opportunity to get the best out of their degree with the tools to make confident next steps in their career.
What we do
Financial support
The London Neighbourhood Scholarship provides funding to students living in London and enrolled in a RIBA Part 1 course at a London school of architecture. The scholarship is awarded to young people with the highest financial need and best potential to succeed on the course. Applications from under-represented groups are actively encouraged.
Mentorship
The charity assigns mentors from our network to support every scholar. The mentors are available to provide regular advice and hands-on support throughout the student’s degree course.
Work experience
Each scholar is offered a week’s work experience per year with an architecture practice in the LNS network.
Industry networking
Scholars are given opportunities to attend lectures and events and build their own personal profile and networks within the industry.
Meet the trustees
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Sally Lewis, Chair
An architect and urban designer, Sally started Stitch in 2012. The scale of the studio’s regeneration projects means her team has been able to shape and transform whole neighbourhoods, working closely with local people. The ‘on the ground’ impact of Sally’s work has been to positively change the attitudes of many local communities towards regeneration.
Sally takes great pleasure in her role providing mentorship for young architects in the early stages of their careers, giving them the opportunity to lead complex regeneration projects under her guidance.
Sally is a member of the Redbridge Design Review panel and an external examiner at Oxford Brookes University. She was a finalist for the BD Architectural Leader of the Year Award in 2020 and has recently been appointed onto the LFA’s Festival Committee.
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Jas Bhalla
Jas is a qualified Architect, Town Planner and Urban Designer with over 13 years of experience in masterplanning, strategic urbanism, and architectural design at all scales. His practice is currently undertaking a range of projects, including domestic extensions, infill housing schemes and large scale urban extensions. In 2020 he was recognised as one of the Architect Journal’s “40 under 40”.
Jas Bhalla Architects have a growing reputation for affordable housing design and policy, having won the William Sutton Prize in 2019 and the Housing for a Better World competition established by Brick by Brick and the Stephan Lawrence Trust in 2020.
Jas is a member of design review panels for Essex, Hounslow and Redbridge. He studied at the Bartlett School of Planning before completing his architectural education at Yale University as the recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship.
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Louise Billingham
Louise is a qualified architect with experience in leading the design of a series of large-scale regeneration projects across London.
Louise works for Hyde Group Housing Association within the Portfolio Management Team using her experience from architectural practice to maximise opportunities for new homes and investment in the communities that Hyde serves across London and the South East.
Having studied for her Part 2 and Part 3 qualifications at a Westminster University she knows studying in London is a vibrant and exciting grounding for a career in architecture.
She is a strong advocate for supporting the next generation of architects, believing that making the profession more accessible and nurturing talent early is key to making successful neighbourhoods that can respond to the evolving challenges of designing for the built environment.
Louise is a mentor with the RIBA supporting undergraduate students with understanding life in practice and helping shape career ambitions.
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Amandeep Singh
Amandeep is an Architect and Urban designer. He is an Associate at Be First, working at the intersection of public and private practice for Barking & Dagenham. He leads a team on strategic visions, brief writing, research, design, and procurement whilst bringing all these ideas to the table in conversations with residents, planners, policy makers, developers and politicians. Amandeep grew up in council housing where his inquisitive spark for delivering good social housing was ignited.
He is a co-chair of the Young Trustees at the Architecture Foundation where he continues to champion equality by platforming under-represented voices. He is a Design Council Expert, member of the Southwark, Harrow and Hackney Design Review Panels and was invited to join the Open City Accelerate advisory board. He has served as a guest critic at Kingston, Westminster and Sheffield University and mentors architecture students with the RIBA.
Having experienced the financial barrier to completing an architectural education, he understands the importance a scholarship can play in breaking down barriers that disproportionately affect under-represented voices.