Day 2. We Start the day with a breakfast at the Davis Langdon offices, with an introduction to the management and technical backup they offer. Aside from being a nice bunch of chaps, it was interesting to have insight into a clever business model which is being used by most of the big names in London. It makes you wonder whether or not this is a model that the architectural profession could adopt itself.
Sufficiently caffeinated, we headed to the site of the Rothschild bank building under construction for a site tour with OMA,s site architect, Carol. What a fantastic building and supportive client! But we left with no illusions as to how challenging the project must have been for the team. Design and build is out, construction management is in.
Rogers Stirk harbor and partners provided our first insight into the workings of a
large practice before ARUP provided a broad yet comprehensive survey of their work with the worlds best architects and the business models they use to support this. A special thanks to Simon Anson , an expat Aussie, for setting this up via the blog! Lets hope next years group will have the same opportunity.
The DST crew found that both of these experiences provoked discussion as to the changing face of the way we practice.
Now for drinks with our peers at RIBA.