Awards, heirs and the passage of time

Buildings take a long time to create, I was reminded of this when we were recently doing some filming to mark the 10th year of Pavilion Road.  A project that came into the office as a competition in 2009, in other words seven years of work.

I was listening to an interview with Daphne du Maurier who wrote over forty books, she said that she has never re-read one of her published novels. Architecture is similar in the sense that you finish one project and swiftly move on to the next, the difference is that unless you plan your routes carefully it is inevitable that you will come across a past project, and that usually brings back the joy and the pain of the construction process.

In our world the buildings we create often change ownership as assets are traded and clients re-group for the next development. It is different with the Great Estates, such as Cadogan, our client for Pavilion Road. They want to retain property as it forms part of a legacy that spans from generation to generation. Not only does this mean that the buildings are well maintained, but also the quality of retailers and tenants is monitored to ensure that whilst the buildings may be adapted, the original vision is preserved.

Similarly, as Stiff+Trevillion enters the next phase of its 45-year existence, a new generation of leaders are directing the way the practice will evolve. The legacy of past projects will set the template for what is to come.

So, it is fitting and very pleasing that in the last two weeks the practice has won three significant awards. As well as winning an AJ Retrofit and Reuse award, TBC.London won a National BCO award for ESG. This is another of those projects that took many years to deliver, not helped in this case by Covid. The relationship between the design team and the client was exceptionally close and undoubtedly resulted in a building that has been recognised with numerous awards for its commitment to being genuinely sustainable.

TBC.London was described by the AJ Retrofit and Reuse Award judges as,“..pitch perfect… a truly remarkable collective achievement… it would act as a beacon for progressive architecture: ‘It’s exquisite – just brilliantly pitched.”

To win the BD Office Architect of the Year for the third time, as we did last night (7 October), is a particular honour, this is an award that looks at a body of work in the office sector. TBC.London was one of the four submitted buildings along with Woolgate, The Fitzrovia and the yet to be completed New Cavendish Street. The combination of reuse and new build demonstrates the diversity of our work and of the London commercial office market.