Architects in recovery mode: Expect aggressive moves into new sectors

Mark Middleton index

Grimshaw’s Mark Middleton on how practices need to overhaul their business plans in the pursuit of new work

Does anybody know what is work and what is home anymore? The edges have become so blurred that most of us are existing in the liminal space between the two. I find myself feeling more and more that I am living at work, held hostage by Zoom. I crave the studio and all the old interactions, rituals and habits I had pre-covid.

At Grimshaw we have been home working since March and are planning to reopen our studio in mid September. Some staff actively want to return but most are hesitant about the journey not the studio. When we do return it will be unrecognisable. The largest of our studio spaces in London was once a place for 217 people but with covid compliance it can now only accommodate 65. As a result, our staff will be split into three groups who will alternate between our office and home working on a rota until the restrictions are lifted. The studio will cease to be an office as we know it and become a place for focused collaboration.

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