14 VIEWS
without being prepared to invest time and energy in keeping in touch, and putting people in touch with each other. One by-product (paradoxically, it seems so long as it is not what you set out to do), is that new opportunities arise serendipitously that otherwise would not have.
HOW HAVE YOU ADJUSTED TO NEW WAYS OF WORKING SINCE THE PANDEMIC?
As one of the lucky ones with a spare room to use as my home office, it has been pretty easy really, although like everyone I’ve missed the company of colleagues. Working from home has been a catalyst for using technology to communicate and it has no doubt changed the way we work forever. We are starting to go back to the office but only part-time, and this looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The workplace is now focused on collaboration, with task-based activities taking place remotely. There are advantages and disadvantages, but the pandemic has no doubt brought about change more quickly. We may well have arrived at this place without Covid-19, but it would have taken much longer. The greatest changes in society happen as a result of turmoil of one sort or another, and this is one outcome of prolonged lockdown.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF CHAIRING THE RIBA CLIENT LIAISON GROUP?
I set up the Group seven years ago with a view to making the institute more outward facing, and to hear the views of clients on what our profession does well and where we need to improve. We’ve published some
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interesting reports over the years, but the biggest challenge is persuading members to follow the very clear messages clients are sending out. The fact is architects (and no doubt other professionals) find it difficult to change and to find time to initiate change. We need to step back from the coal face and pause for reflection if we are to achieve the elusive continuous improvement that we see in the manufacturing industry, but not in ours.
WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT? I have written nine books for the RIBA and I’m proud of what they have done to help students and practitioners in a very practical way. But my proudest achievement would be the buildings where I can legitimately lay claim to have been the author. There is a sweet spot in your career where you get to lead while still not being bogged down with practice management, and all those buildings derive from that time.
WHAT SINGLE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION WOULD MAKE THE ARCHITECT’S JOB EASIER? No one became an architect to write schedules and do the more prosaic pieces of work the job entails. Where architects really add value is in the creative design process, so whatever digital technologies take away the mundane and free our time for that are great in my book. This does to some extent mean accepting standardisation, which many architects are afraid of. But technology is essential to our future success. Hawkins\Brown has developed a significant portfolio of digital design tools and plugins and we are now starting to
Architects find it difficult to change and to find time to initiate change – we need to step back from the coal face and pause for reflection
look at software as a service, something I didn’t even know about a year ago. This is where our future lies as a profession and we must embrace it. The next big thing will be ‘servitisation’ (suppliers’ shift in focus from manufacturing to providing services).
WHAT’S YOUR BIG SHORT- TERM GOAL?
I’m pretty passionate about persuading the architectural profession to embrace DfMA and adopt a manufacturing mindset. But these things start small and closer to home, so we are on a journey to broaden our knowledge of modern methods of construction within the practice and the necessary optioneering process that must happen at concept design stage (RIBA Stage 2) and make this ‘business as usual.’
IS ARCHITECTURE SOMETIMES MORE ABOUT BEING A GOOD DIPLOMAT THAN BEING A GREAT DESIGNER? You do learn over time that the best way of achieving your goals is through collaboration. I always try to listen carefully and be prepared to learn from others.
Nigel Ostime is a partner at Hawkins\Brown Architects
ADF JULY 2021
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