As part of our Hyphen Around the World series, we catch up with various members of our team to find out more about their international experience. We also ask for some tips – whether it’s about permitting advice, or a must-try local delicacy!
This week, we interviewed Darragh Beggan, an architectural technologist and associate at Hyphen. Typically based in our Ireland office, Darragh has delivered projects for clients across Europe, the Middle East and Latin America…
1. What is a typical day like in your role?
My typical days aren’t all that typical. I tend to do whatever needs to be done on various projects and that changes day-to-day! This week, my days are spent modelling and detailing in Revit. Next week, I could end up on site. It’s nice to have that bit of variety in my work days.
2. What’s the most interesting place that you’ve ever visited for work?
The most interesting place I’ve been to for work would probably be a cathedral in my home town, Monaghan. I had always considered the building to be interesting and that was before I got to examine the original silk sheets that the original designs were hand drawn on and got to climb onto the roof and into the belltower to examine the inner workings. It was a great experience to see how this massive structure was put together.
3. Top local permitting tip?
In Ireland, Fire Certs and Disability Access Certs are usually submitted after planning. This means that something could arise at this stage which may affect the planning permission. For this reason, it is always better to engage early with the Fire and Access design to avoid the need for alterations to planning permission.
4. Best tool for staying in touch with your team?
I like to use Microsoft To-Do with my team. It allows me to set up tasks, assign work to people and even set up steps within a task that can be ticked off. It allows projects to be broken down into manageable steps.
5. What do you like most about working at Hyphen?
There is a nice variance of projects to work on. I’m not always just doing the same things. There’s a healthy balance of projects that keep me interested and engaged.
6. What’s the furthest you’ve ever travelled for a site visit?
Probably not too far, but I have travelled as far as Copenhagen, Denmark, when I designed a one-off house for a friend of mine.
7. Favourite local delicacy?
I’m fairly partial to an Irish breakfast. I think the fact that it’s called ‘breakfast’ is the only thing that stops me having it for lunch or dinner.
8. What do you consider a must have carry-on essential?
Recently, I’ve found myself taking my drone to more and more places. As long as you comply with local regulations regarding drones, they can be a fantastic photography tool for travel. In our line of work, I have found them great for conducting birds eye snagging and even topographical surveys. If used correctly, they can even be used to 3D scan a building at various stages for record keeping.
9. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I have a young daughter so, outside of work, my life is heavily dictated by her needs! When I do get free time to myself, I enjoy taking on 3D printing projects and engineering out solutions to problems that didn’t really need fixing.
10. If you could deliver a project anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’d love to work on a project in Norway. I’ve been to the country a couple of times and really enjoy the atmosphere and the people there. Having said that, if Disneyland Paris needs an on-site architectural presence, It would be hard to pass that up!
#HyphenAroundTheWorld