Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has released its strongest set of results yet with both turnover and pre-tax profit up a quarter on last year’s figures, writes Dan Stewart.

However, the practice sounded a note of warning, saying the credit crunch might make the commercial sector far more competitive for architects.

RSH+P turned over £29m in the year to 30 June 2007, a 26% rise from £22.9m the year before.

Pre-tax profit hit £1.61m, a 25% improvement on last year’s best ever figure of £1.29m.

Andrew Morris, commercial director of RSH+P, said the practice had hit a “rich vein of form” in the past year. The practice increased its work abroad, with turnover from projects outside Europe increasing by 218% to £2.9m thanks to the commission of a £700m mixed-use scheme in Seoul, South Korea.

There is a conscious effort to make sure the work is well spread.

Andrew Morris, RSH+P

Activity in the UK worth £18.8m accounted for 65% of the practice’s turnover, but Morris said this would be more like 50-55% in 2008. “There is a conscious effort to make sure the work is well spread – we don’t like having all our eggs in one basket,” said Morris.

But the company also warned in its annual report of an increasingly difficult future for architects working in the commercial sector. It said:

“The external commercial environment is expected to become more competitive in 2008, as a consequence of the sub-prime lending crisis reducing the amount of loan financing available for property developments.”

Morris, however, played down the credit crunch: “One has to be conscious of the environment we’re in. But there are no major calamities on the horizon. It would have to be a catastrophe for us to catch a cold.”