Laura Vatteroni joined Hyphen in London in 2015. After moving back to her native Italy during the pandemic, Laura rejoined Hyphen in 2021 and now works primarily with our team in Milan.
Laura is an architect with extensive experience in the retail sector, having worked with some of the world’s most famous brands.
We interviewed Laura to find out more….
What do you enjoy most about working at Hyphen?
I really enjoy the working environment and the people. Since the first meeting with Alan Cheyne, Director of our London office, and Eddie Miles, Hyphen CEO, I found that it was a very welcoming and young working environment.
I like that the company promotes social events, for example going to the pub on Friday. It was a good way to create connections outside the office, and I made some good friends at Hyphen.
One of my favourite memories at Hyphen is when I went to New York with Alan. We met a client and spent a couple of days there – it was an amazing experience.
To celebrate our Berlin office’s 25th anniversary, Hyphen organised a fundraising event to raise money for charity. While some people cycled all the way from London to Berlin, I cycled the last 20 kilometres but it was more than enough for me! There was a big party with people from other offices and it was really good to meet more of our international team. These kind of fundraising events are not very common in Italy, and I felt proud to work for a company that was promoting this culture.
How has Hyphen supported you in your personal and professional development?
The people are what I missed most when I left London to return to Italy. It was great because you felt supported on every aspect. You knew that there was someone you could go to and ask for help, which was great. Whether you needed resources or reassurance when going through a particularly challenging project, there was always support.
Hyphen also supported me by paying for a “Professional Practice and Management in Architecture” course – the course that you need to do to become an architect in the UK. Coming from a different background, it allowed me to get to know more about UK regulation, and it was very helpful.
When I moved back to Italy in 2020, I ended up collaborating with Hyphen as a freelance architect. What was meant to be a short collaboration led to a job offer for a permanent position in our Milan office. When I was given the opportunity to come back and work for Hyphen, I was super happy, of course.
There are a lot of differences between working in London and Milan. Italy can be very bureaucratic with permitting processes, especially regarding fire regulation. It is complicated and strict. So after five and a half years in London, I knew very little about Italian regulation and Giacomo Spinelli, Office Head in Milan has supported me a lot. He is very patient. I asked him so many questions at the beginning, especially, and still do!
What’s next for you?
I would love to keep doing what I’m doing and take on more responsibility as I continue to learn more about the Italian regulations and processes.
