Justyna is a sector lead for the Education team and a Technical Advisor to the Department for Education.
An ARB & M.Sc. qualified architect and urban planner, she is also a sustainability champion for our Bristol studio and a professional mentor for several colleagues.
What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on to date?
From a complexity and innovation point of view, it would probably be the Central Market Redevelopment and retail podium in Abu Dhabi which I worked on in the past when at Foster + Partners. Although it was a vast scheme, it was sympathetically based on the old traditional local Arabian market or ‘souq’ previously destroyed by fire and incorporated local designs and beautiful materials. The scheme implemented green roofs, low-rise shops, shaded internal courtyards, sliding roofs and walls, and had complex M&E strategies to stave off high temperatures based around traditional passive ventilation principles of Middle Eastern wind towers. Interestingly, we now incorporate some of these design principles in our Net Zero Carbon in Operation (NZCiO) school projects.
What are the key challenges that affect your sector, or are likely to in the next five years?
We all talk about climate challenges, and these have been addressed in the Department for Education’s Output Specification, NZCiO policy and planning policies. However, these targets change and develop constantly, and we need to adapt to them quickly when working on our design proposals and new technical solutions with contractors. Alongside new builds, environmentally friendly renovations and re-modelling work to existing schools and retrofit projects could help with embodied carbon issues. We also need to look at how and where the building materials are sourced from when thinking about our carbon footprint, trying to seek them from within the UK and using more recycled materials where possible.
Interesting fact that nobody knows about you?
I studied advanced biology and chemistry prior to my A-Levels in Poland so I could study at a veterinary university, but my love of art was stronger!
Also, I love military and conservation architecture and spent years in trenches and bushes through all weathers, surveying and documenting fortresses and old buildings in different parts of Europe. So I know how to use traditional surveying tools like a water level ‘szlaufwaga’ and a lead weight tied to a piece of string.
Pet hate?
Spiders and cockroaches! Don’t expect to see tarantulas and hissing cockroaches as pets in my house, although my children tried their best to convince me. Not sure how I survived in those bushes though…
If you weren’t in this career, what would you be?
I have always loved performance arts and have done some acting, singing, and dancing in the past — so perhaps performing could be my alternative career?
Industry Bodies
- ARB
- IARP (Izba Architektów RP – The National Chamber of Polish Architects)
Awards
Orsett Heath Academy: Project of the Year (Secondary or higher) @ MMC Awards 2025 – Winner
