Tony Berongoy – Senior Architect at Wilmore Iles Architect
Tony is a senior architect with 15 years experience in a wide range of sectors including private homes, social housing, cultural and civic buildings, offices, and leisure. He’s a great believer of collaboration during design processes to achieve best outcomes.
A passionate advocate for diversity in the Architecture profession, he develops relationships with not-for-profit organisations and educators to proactively improve representation, develop best practice to deliver successful social mobility strategies. This involves working with young people and designing creative workshops.
Tony works at Willmore Iles Architects; a 30 person practice based in Hotwells. They design and deliver housing projects; this includes large scale student housing projects. They are also currently working on one of the largest passivhaus student housing schemes ever built in the country.
As a Senior Architect, Tony believes that representation within the industry needs improvement:
There is a lack of ethnic minorities and communities in the profession. Limited voices in design processes is an issue, because it puts a ceiling on the multitude of requirements of a diverse society. This is why I’m setting up a company that looks to improve this by working with young people from more diverse backgrounds to learn about the profession.
Tony is now working in the housing sector, an area that he sees as one of the key issues of our time. He wishes he knew more about the variety of sectors he could work in, when he first started his career. He also believes that having a mentor earlier on in his journey in architecture would have helped him to focus on what he enjoyed, and then build on those passions.
It’s because of such experiences that Tony is now involved in mentoring with Babbasa and supporting its overall mission. He wants to understand the needs of Bristol by hearing as many voices as possible, and collaborating with young people who are at the start of their own careers.
Tony believes that other businesses should also support young people to achieve their dreams and ambitions:
Young people are the future workforce of our country. I’d encourage businesses to connect with Babbasa; there is a lot to gain and learn from an organisation that supports the future generations in an equitable manner that enriches our society. You can be more creative, have more ideas and attract more talent into your workforce.