Architects as developers: The new wave of practices building their own projects – Architect’s Journal

As architects grapple with low fees, fluctuating workloads and lengthy procurement procedures, a new wave is going it alone: putting their money where their design ethos is and developing their own buildings.

Its not easy. There are multiple challenges involved in acquiring land, raising finance, building and selling for a profit. It requires knowledge and keen business skills which famously are not often taught at architecture school. And, meanwhile, DIY architects have to juggle their work for existing clients. But architects who take the plunge find developing can benefit their practice in a range of ways, potentially including if they get it right making some proper money.

Because its so difficult to make money from architecture, architects are looking around at the other kind of things they can do, says Amanda Baillieu, co-founder of Developers Collective, which helps designers become developers. But, she adds, in contrast with most developers, profit is not always the only motivation: Architects want to build something that showcases what they are capable of.

Suzi Winstanley, director at Turner Works, says her practice has benefited enormously from taking on a public tender to design and build Pop Brixton, a temporary space in south London which supports independent businesses. We used it as a way to expand our portfolio, and it has shifted the practice into doing public works, she says. The practice went on to win projects including Peckham Levels and a temporary building by Hackney Bridge.

Winstanley adds that development projects help balance workloads, as a major problem for architecture practices can be peaks and troughs. Working as your own client allows more flexibility, as there are fewer deadlines outside your control that you have to meet.

Architects who develop also learn a clients language and get an insight into their perspective skills which can help them win work and work more smoothly with clients.

The main niche for architect-developers is small and complex sites which larger developers are less interested in, according to Baillieu. Planning is a major risk for a developer, but thats where architects have an advantage they understand that risk, she says.

There are several approaches to finding sites, including working with estate agents and land promoters and keeping a lookout for auctions but these options come with a danger of overpaying. Finding derelict plots in the neighbourhood where you live and work, and then approaching the landowner directly, can be a better bet. Small, leftover sites are good which nobody else is going to develop because they cant be bothered, says Baillieu.

Raising capital is also a problem, especially for a first-time developer without cash to invest from previous projects. One place to start is grants from Homes England or the government, for instance, that are keen to promote small developers and regenerate brownfield sites and high streets. Another option is to speak to a variety of investors, including potential buyers. Once the planning stage has been completed, it also becomes easier to borrow from high street banks, although this is still expensive.

Despite the global pandemic and Brexit and material prices which swing wildly by the day Baillieu says it is nevertheless a good time for architects to get involved. There is so much uncertainty in the market its a good time to buy sites, she says.

There is also the political will for more design-led development of small sites and homes in particular. Housing secretary Michael Gove said last month that there are all sorts of unhappy consequences of the cartel of volume housebuilders who operate in a particular way. If that sentiment led to further financing of small developers and a greater emphasis on selling small sites held by the public sector, it could present a golden opportunity for architects to get involved.

A series of mini-profiles of architect-developers will be published this week, starting with Mae and Pitman Tozer

Architects as developers: The new wave of practices building their own projects

Read more here:
Architects as developers: The new wave of practices building their own projects - Architect's Journal