68 Architects receive licences

Some 68 new Architects have been inducted by the Architects Registration Council (ARC) onto the standing register of the council at its 22nd induction ceremony.

This comes after they successfully undertook the Professional Practice Examination.

The event was under the theme: “Emerging concepts, the built environment and sustainability, the infinite role of the architect”.

The induction ceremony climaxes six years of academic qualification at the university, a minimum of two years of post-qualification coaching and internship under a qualified senior architect, structured seminars and tutorials, and finally professional examination, with a minimum pass mark of 60 per cent to gain state licence to practice in the country.

Event

The colorful event brought together senior architects, professional bodies and the academia.

Notable persons at the event included the Ga Mantse and President of the Ga Traditional Council, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye.

The inductees were sworn in by both the Registrar of the ARC, Dr Emmanuel Eyiah-Botwe, and the President of the Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA), Forster Osae Akonnor.

The Overall Best Student was Sandra Deladem Woanyah.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Asenso-Boakye, received the newly admitted architects, and presented them to the State on behalf of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Technology

In his welcome address, Dr Eyiah-Botwe congratulated the newly inducted architects for working towards achieving their dreams of becoming certified Architects.

He charged them to endeavor to use technology to achieve efficient and economical use of resources for user safety, and to make a conscious effort to reduce energy and water usage.

“Today we are looking at green, smart, intelligent buildings and sustainable designs,” he added.

Dr Eyiah-Botwe particularly charged the new architects to refrain from being all-knowing professionals, but rather work with other professionals such as the quantity surveyors, planners and engineers to reduce their risks as professionals.

He informed the congregation that the ARC, in support of the Governing Board and the Ministry of Works and Housing, was embarking on a revision of the Architects Act.

That, he said, was to make sure that only qualified architects practised in Ghana and to ensure that metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies only considered building designs that had been submitted by architects in good standings, both with the ARC and the GIA, in a bid to promote the highest standard in the architectural profession.

High performance, research

In a solidarity message, Mr Akonnor urged the inductees to ensure that the high performance they exhibited during the exams reflected in their future role as qualified architects.

“As architects you must always look beyond what immediately surround you and see the future that others have not seen. With such a changed mindset, you will be able to contribute immensely towards the development of Ghana,” he said.