Stepping back from your practice can be the start of an exciting new journey

Recently I wrote about the problem of succession planning - and how it is likely there will be many practices talking about or working through it now. What I didn’t write is that it is currently happening at Allies and Morrison - and then Graham (Morrison) got in touch.

Would anyone be interested in hearing about life for principals who are stepping back from their practices? So we went for coffee.

When we spoke Graham admitted that his was a generation that had been blessed- with free university education and council grants, relatively affordable property, competitions that didn’t have high pre-tender qualifications. In his own words ”I got into Cambridge on average A-levels, I wouldn’t have got in now on the qualifications I got then”. 

The opportunities that were afforded to his generation he noted are less universal now, starting and maintaining a practice now is much harder. In the past Graham has told me that during the early years of the practice, it was only ever a few months from bankruptcy… but it survived and thrived through multiple recessions; benefiting from the increasing development of London and of the area around the studio they built for us at Bankside.

He and Bob met interviewing for a job for Martin Richardson in 1978 when Graham was 27 and Bob 25

Bob Allies and Graham Morrison founded their practice in 1983 with the winning of The Mound competition in Edinburgh, and it has grown to around 300 staff now. He and Bob met interviewing for a job for Martin Richardson in 1978 when Graham was 27 and Bob 25.

Apart from a spell when Bob was a Rome Scholar at the British School at Rome and Graham worked for YRM, they have worked together ever since. They founded their practice with an interest in ‘making good architecture’ and ‘follow[ing] the best idea’. Graham is clear- “it’s the ideas that are important.”

At the beginning of October Graham sent our practice an open letter that began ”I am writing to you as Partner Emeritus”. The ethos of shared responsibility they have tried to foster in the practice has, he said, made it easier to think of the future. The plaudits for the practice’s work had and are spread much more widely than any single individual.

He stated in his letter that ‘for partners, there comes a point when you have to make room for those who are younger… Letting things go is never easy when you enjoy being part of the decision making but, I am very pleased that the group who now have their hands on the helm are brilliant at what they do and I am confident that the leadership of the practice is in exactly the right hands.’

After decades of involved and successful architectural practice going ‘cold turkey’ wouldn’t seem to be an option

His letter is part of a conscious and, I believe, responsible process of succession which the practice has embraced. Graham is still in and around the studios most weeks helping on competitions and seeing the buildings he has worked on through to completion. However, the reins of the practice have been passed on.

So, what comes next? After decades of involved and successful architectural practice going ‘cold turkey’ wouldn’t seem to be an option. However, with the luxury of time Graham is experimenting with projects of a smaller scale.

He is working on a number of one-off houses (not a large part of Allies and Morrison’s portfolio over the last thirty odd years) with an especial focus on a house he has nearly finished building for himself in West Sussex. He has been joined in this endeavour by Rupert Fisher, a skilled joiner, who for many years ran the model shop at Allies and Morrison.

The rooms and rooms of bespoke joinery and furniture that have been designed for these rather special houses has led to the creation of a joinery workshop. Called Fisher Morrison, its work encompasses individual pieces of furniture and interiors.

It’s clear that for Graham a new chapter has started in his journey as an architect

Graham would be the first to admit he is not doing the making himself. But he is enthusiastic about the workshop, the design work, the craftsmanship and the projects which, aside from his own home, now include multiple desks for partners at another large architectural practice and a desk/ journal display cabinet for The Wiener Holocaust Library.

They have grown to a staff of five makers and their portfolio is expanding as word spreads. Frankly their website had me wishing for considerably deeper pockets than I currently have!

It’s clear that for Graham a new chapter has started in his journey as an architect. He is focusing on areas of practice he has particularly enjoyed and now has the luxury of time and leisure to pursue in greater depth.

I don’t know if his story is typical (though I am happy to have coffee with anyone else who wants to speak about handing over!) but I hope he is not the only Partner Emeritus to be channelling his experience and enthusiasm into projects or causes that still feed into the collective wealth of the architectural profession.

We part on a discussion about the place of craft and material knowledge in the creation of good architectural detail as I head into the studios and Graham disappears into the London traffic to pursue the next adventure.