Meet the team: Nathalia

Having been with us since 2015, Nathalia is a much loved member of the spacelab_ crew. Whether through her work with clients, here within the lab_, or the wider community in general, she’s always looking for a better way of doing things - to connect people, to inspire, and to bring communities together. Always honest and always there for you no matter what, her kindness is truly infectious, and it’s impossible not to be a better person because of it. She really is the true embodiment of everything we strive to be and stand for here at the lab_, and for that, and so much more, we’re forever grateful.

We asked Nathalia a few questions to help you all get to know her better.

What inspires you?

People who work with what they love and are passionate about it.

What have been the most rewarding project moments during your time at spacelab_’?

I can think of some memorable moments during projects:

Once, I finished presenting a design proposal for the personal home of one of our corporate clients, she was on VR and when she removed the goggles she had tears in her eyes. How lucky we are as architects and designers to actually materialise people's dreams.

Another time, I was working on the M&S project for 6 months and every week I was signing up in the reception with the receptionists, they were polite but never really engaged with me. The last phase of the project involved redesigning the reception area and that's when we actually engage with the receptionists to understand their needs. After that, every time I'd go there, they would always be so happy to see me and talk about the project and how excited they were. It's so important to take the final users along the journey, being able to feel the impact of our work on people's daily life is amazing and rewarding.

What would your ideal project be?

A public space to bring the local community together and help improve everyone’s lives, with a completely participatory design approach where the final users are heavily engaged in the whole process.

If you could change one thing within your industry what would it be?

Prioritise project quality over fees. As architects and designers, we always thrive to deliver the very best quality design, which takes time to develop and continuously improve. But the current industry practice often doesn't promote the value that this well-considered design development can bring.

What is your favourite thing at the lab_?

Definitely the team.

If you could know that one thing would be changed in the world in 5 years time, what would it be?

Humans working together towards the same goal - looking after our planet and respecting each other.