Our ‘signature’ is less evident to us than those who look in from the outside, and who often comment on it. We have always concerned ourselves less with a stylistic consistency in our output than the rigorous research, analysis and conceptual thought that underpins all our projects. This can only come through a thorough understanding of site, brief, client aspiration, budget and programme; generically speaking, the ‘context’.

In order to harness the energy and enthusiasm of our team, and to ensure individual knowledge becomes a collective one, we have deliberately grown a ‘studio’ rather than an ‘office’ culture. Within the studio, we happily mix computers with models, and drawings with samples and full size mock-ups.

We try to commit to study tours for the whole office twice a year. Sometimes, these involve visits abroad, such as the Venice Biennale, but often we stay closer to home and we have enjoyed equally rewarding days out at Accordia and Kettles Yard in Cambridge; Weald & Downland Museum and Pallant House in Sussex; Newhall in Harlow and Roche Court in Wiltshire.

In 2006, we also introduced a new forum called ‘Feedback’, which has become a cornerstone of the practice. Every Friday, in the last hour of the working day, we down tools, gather together with wine and share a particular experience. It is loosely educational, undoubtedly sociable and moulds the culture of the practice.

In a sense, Feedback was born out of the ‘Dialogues’ in our latest publications, DE6 and DE9 (see ‘In Print’ above), where we have been able to articulate themes in our work. Feedback is a discussion, not a presentation, and is distinct from our parallel CPD series, project workshops and Professional Practice study groups. In Feedback, we encourage the experienced to share the platform with the less experienced, and our subject matter ranges in scale and complexity from competition entries to study tours; from graduate theses to detailed façade studies.

Feedback also gives us the opportunity to revisit schemes, whether built or not. There are always lessons to be learnt from these historical projects, and they help fill voids in the knowledge of new staff or returning graduates. The sessions can be considered a ‘celebration of the process’, but this is real life and it is sometimes equally true that we debate the ‘frustration of the process’. Architecture is a complicated business, involving integration and co-ordination of complex technologies, ever changing legislation and a constant interrogation of ‘cost’ against ‘value’ in our care of our clients’ purses. Feedback allows us to debate these issues in a closed environment, where critical debate prevails and a consensus usually results.

Occasionally, the forum changes and we invite visitors to lead the discussion. We are fortunate to work with some of the leading consultants in the UK, all of whom bring their expertise to bear on our projects. Feedback gives us the opportunity to share that expert knowledge from the individual project to the practice as a whole, which in turn feeds consistency across our portfolio. We believe every commission has the potential to be a jewel; however small, however fast, and however demanding the budget. It is important to us that the schemes which take a decade to realise are complemented by others that are completed in shorter timescales. This way, we stay fresh in our thinking and versatile in our service.