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We often forget that the origins of many successful architectural practices lie in happenstance 鈥� a fortunate coincidence or shared formative experience. For Simon Henley and Gavin Hale-Brown, founding principals of award-winning Henley Halebrown, who have been working together for almost three decades, this moment was their meeting at Liverpool School of Architecture in the mid-1980s. 

It was a time when Liverpool was on its knees, but full of latent opportunity, and exciting architectural horizons seemed to be opening up, especially internationally.

The pair met in their first year at the University of Liverpool in 1986, where they both studied for their Parts 1 and 2. This was a time when the west coast of America and Japan were attracting particular attention.

For Henley, the draw of the US was not so much the emerging LA scene of Eric Owen Moss and Morphosis, but the mid-century modernism and Californian work of Louis Kahn. Meanwhile, Hale-Brown鈥檚 gaze was focused eastwards, towards the unique blend of modernism and traditional craftsmanship that had evolved in Japan.

Liverpool

But before the travelling came the fundamentals of a rigorous grounding in building and architectural history, all experienced amid the faded grandeur and chronic decay of 1980s Liverpool. Henley Halebrown is now among the most-respected London-based practices, but both men still speak fondly and animatedly about their formative experiences in the great Merseyside port city, sharing references to old tutors, and the lessons they learnt together.

鈥淚t was almost post-apocalyptic,鈥� says Henley of Liverpool at that time. 鈥淚t was just after the riots,鈥� adds Hale-Brown, 鈥渁nd the rate of population decline was so rapid that the predictions were that the last person would leave Liverpool in 2020-21.

鈥淏ut we had some really good teachers,鈥� he adds, singling out Peter Richardson for his lectures on construction and the commonplace flaws young architects could expect to encounter in their careers. 鈥淓very single building has a flaw, and each of his lectures focused on a single building and on the things that went wrong.

鈥淭hese were the best lectures you ever had. And we can still remember all of them 鈥� all the potential mishaps that he made us aware of.鈥�

They both also fondly recall Quentin Hughes, a long-serving member of the architecture faculty, who had been a member of the SAS during the Second World War and would later help to secure Liverpool鈥檚 (now rescinded) UNESCO world heritage site status. 鈥淗e was an amazing man,鈥� says Hale-Brown of the respected academic.

It had this legacy of all this extraordinary stuff, most of which people didn鈥檛 know what the hell to do with. So it all just sat there. It was an extraordinary city, but it was completely on its knees

Simon Henley on Liverpool in the 1980s

鈥淗e had been blown up during a night-time raid on a German airfield, had one eye and limped.鈥�

And, in their third year, they were taught postwar British architecture by David Thistlewood, covering the emergence of the Independent Group, as well as the relationship to Team Ten and parallel traditions on the continent.

They also clearly gained a huge amount from soaking up their context. Henley refers to the imposing commercial office buildings and the industrial architecture 鈥� much of it now demolished 鈥� of the port, while Hale-Brown points out the way in which Liverpool鈥檚 late 19th and early 20th-century architecture had a powerful influence on the emergence of modernism, in Chicago in particular.

鈥淚t had this legacy of all this extraordinary stuff, most of which people didn鈥檛 know what the hell to do with. So it all just sat there. It was an extraordinary city, but it was completely on its knees,鈥� Henley explains.

鈥淭here were great swathes of Toxteth that were just abandoned, burnt out. They had flattened lots of urban blocks, so you literally saw streets just going through an empty landscape.鈥�

鈥淚t was quite incredible,鈥� says Hale-Brown, 鈥渂ut that left us with Georgian houses to live in 鈥� just ludicrous five-storey houses which had nightclubs. It was absolutely fascinating. And, at the dockside, we used to have parties in what are now grade I listed buildings, because you could.鈥�

鈥淭hat heritage of dock buildings was fantastic,鈥� Henley says, 鈥渂ut what we tragically saw was the silos 鈥� these fantastic industrial cathedrals 鈥� being taken down, which was shocking.鈥�

As they both note, the city has mounted a formidable recovery in recent years, although it still faces significant challenges. A key turning point, as so often in the regeneration of struggling cities, was the decision to start celebrating Liverpool鈥檚 architectural heritage, rather than demolish it. Henley identifies the opening of Stirling鈥檚 Tate Liverpool in the Albert Dock in 1988 as a pivotal moment.

It is clear that the lessons they learnt during this period 鈥� both formally and informally 鈥� have been critical to their development as architects who value both the technical process of building, and the wider cultural significance of architectural practice. The re-use of existing buildings has also fed into their own practice. 

Returning to Liverpool鈥檚 architectural influence, Henley points out: 鈥淭here was this very strong connection to America because, although it wasn鈥檛 an industrial city, it was a port. It had a really strong insurance and assurance business. I think it historically had the biggest financial district outside of London 鈥� there were these two great legacies of the dock and the financial services that sat alongside them.鈥�

鈥淭here were all sorts of good buildings but there was one architect called Peter Ellis who produced two amazing office buildings, one of which was called the Oriel Chambers,鈥� explains Henley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 basically a facade of glass oriel windows. That鈥檚 pretty amazing.

鈥淵ou could see how this architecture was heading out towards the rest of the world. One assumes that the architecture of the US grew out of North America, but there is this strong heritage connection with Liverpool.鈥�

A budding partnership

After completing their Part 1 studies in Liverpool, they headed south for their year-out work placements. 鈥淲e both came down to London together,鈥� explains Henley. 鈥淲e did our year-outs down here and actually started doing competitions together then.鈥�

鈥淲e have been working together since we were 19,鈥� Hale-Brown adds. 鈥淲e did the competitions while working at two offices in London. We would be up until two o鈥檆lock in the morning, printing stuff out and driving around the city in a Fiat 500.

鈥淲e presented competitions and got my girlfriend 鈥� who鈥檚 now my wife 鈥� to judge them,鈥� Hale-Brown continues. Did they win any of those early competitions?

鈥淥f course, not!鈥� says Henley. But the experience was clearly foundational in cementing their professional relationship.

At the time, Henley was working at CZWG. He attributes his getting a job there to a particular student project that he presented at his interview with Piers Gough.

鈥淧robably part of the reason Piers and I got on was I designed a corset carpark to sit on Liverpool docks,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚f you imagine a split-level multistorey carpark and you imagine a corset, and you pull the floors apart and tie them back together again with the ramps, which act like the laces 鈥� that is what I showed to Piers.鈥�

鈥淥bviously I thought CZWG was one of the places that I wanted to work, and of course I got my portfolio out and he was like, 鈥榯hat鈥檚 good, you can have a job鈥�!鈥�

Henley enjoyed his first six months but then increasingly found aspects of the work frustrating. 鈥淏ut, with 30 years of hindsight, you realise they were just dealing with many of the same challenges that we have to deal with.鈥�

Hale-Brown spent his year out at Alan Power Architects, a small west London practice. 鈥淚n my year-out I was getting to do everything,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e had quite different experiences.鈥�

The United States and Japan

After his year-out in practice, Henley took advantage of the opportunity to spend the first year of his Part 2 in the US, studying in Eugene, Oregon. At the end of the year, he set off on a 13,500-mile road trip, criss-crossing the country, taking in Louis Kahn buildings and much else.

鈥淥ne of the things which has been a great inspiration has been all the places we went to early on,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here are so many things that influence what we鈥檝e done in practice.

鈥淧erhaps naively, but also perhaps because of the zeitgeist, I was fortunate to be very close to LA. My view of architecture has been hugely influenced by mid-20th century American architecture, but also the landscapes, and the Anasazi American Indian settlement structures in certain places like Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde.

鈥淭丑辞蝉别 Anasazi sites teach you really key environmental ideas,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey farmed the mesa top because it was closer to the sky, because that鈥檚 where the precipitation was, due to the microclimate. And they would climb down ladders from the mesa top where the cliff overhangs and build a village. During winter, the low-angle sun would hit the village and warm it up, while during summer the overhang would shade it 鈥� utter genius.鈥�

Meanwhile, Hale-Brown had decided to remain in Liverpool, delaying his travels until after finishing his Part 2. 鈥淕oing from Liverpool to Japan was fascinating,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here was a bubble economy there at the time. Everything was getting built and demolished, built and demolished. I worked right out in the sticks in a place called Yonago.鈥�

The whole construction industry is set up to deliver the building the architect designs. They just want to build what you鈥檝e designed and find a way of building it, which is just a breath of fresh air

Gavin Hale-Brown on the benefits of working in Japan

He worked for the town鈥檚 local architect, called Kinemura & Associates. 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 find him anywhere 鈥� just the local architect. Everything was focused on detail. I built traditional houses, working in timber.

鈥淵ou would work on a house and map it out on the basis of a tatami mat, and then you鈥檇 go to the joiner, who would turn up on site with everything already cut.

鈥淭hey would have cast the foundation and then the frame gets dropped in. It鈥檚 just logs and beams and it smells wonderful. And the joiners have two-toed soft shoes so they can climb up the frame, and they just knock it all together. By the end of the day, you鈥檝e got a two or three-storey house.

鈥淭his was all cut off-site and it was all pre computers. Everything was drawn by hand and cut by hand and they just knocked it together with big mallets. There were no mechanical joints. And every time it just worked.鈥�

Hale-Brown still clearly marvels at the precision of the work that he witnessed. 鈥淭he Japanese work with incredible contractors that we do lack here in the UK, although we鈥檙e probably getting to work with better contractors now.

鈥淭here the whole construction industry is set up to deliver the building the architect designs,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey just want to build what you鈥檝e designed and find a way of building it, which is just a breath of fresh air.鈥�

Practice

It was on Hale-Brown鈥檚 return to the UK that they set up the practice, which was founded in 1995. Looking back to the early years of collaborating on competition entries, Hale-Brown observes: 鈥淲e still work in the same fashion, although we lead on different things, but we don鈥檛 silo the practice.鈥�

鈥淲e work on everything together, pretty much,鈥� says Henley, 鈥渁lthough Gav does know his way round a contract better than me.鈥�

There have been other directors, including Ralph Buschow and Ken Rorrison, both of who played key roles in the early development of the practice, but who have since moved on.

To help ensure the smooth day to day operation of the practice, Henley Halebrown has now had an office manager for 16 years, but it has never grown larger than around 35 people. 鈥淲e鈥檝e hovered around 25-30 for 20 years鈥�, says Henley.

鈥淗aving done this now for 29 years, and occasionally got up to 35 and occasionally got down to a dozen, I don鈥檛 think either of us can pretend that we鈥檙e growing this business to be enormous,鈥欌�� says Henley. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e never wanted to,鈥� Hale-Brown adds.

Maintaining a manageable size where they can both remain meaningfully engaged in projects remains key to the practice鈥檚 approach. 鈥淚 think part of it is that you can maintain a level of curiosity if you鈥檙e hands on,鈥� says Henley. 鈥淎s a practice we also teach and write, and we think all these things are inter-related.

鈥淲e are acutely aware of the cultural side of practice. While we are a business, we鈥檙e really interested in each project. The benefit of not doing too many is that you can still have an ambition for that project that you can discern from the next.鈥�

If you look at our work, you鈥檇 see a lot of care in how you plan, detail and build a building. But what underpins all of the work is the social logic. In a way it is social work

Hale-Brown on the pair鈥檚 philosophy 

Henley also believes that one of their key strengths as a practice is their understanding of work environments, with each project and client informing their approach to the next commission. 鈥淲hat we learnt from working for a client like WPP [the advertising agency], with their 600 staff, influenced how we worked with healthcare clients, and understanding how their organisation worked. And then you do a school and actually learn how a school works together.

鈥淲hat we find is that, by doing a mixture of types, they all inform each other. And, if you look at our portfolio, we鈥檙e not one-dimensional. We鈥檙e not housing architects, we鈥檙e not healthcare architects, although we鈥檝e done a lot of both. We produce a lot of work environments, eschewing fashion and trying to understand how people work together.鈥�

鈥淚 think, if you look at our work you鈥檇 see a lot of care in how you plan, detail and build a building,鈥� says Hale-Brown. 鈥淏ut what underpins all of the work is the social logic.

鈥淚n a way it is social work. We are genuinely interested in how people use buildings.鈥�

Henley describes the approach as being about 鈥渂eneficial building鈥� 鈥� a concept that he has been advocating at Kingston University, where he teaches. 鈥淭hat could be taken to be very prosaic but, if you think of what you really mean by something being 鈥榖eneficial鈥� 鈥� the experience, the quality of light, the pleasure, happiness, dignity 鈥� those are the kind of things you bring to people as an architect.鈥�

Henley sees the practice鈥檚 emphasis on workplaces, social organisation and sustainability as recurring themes that have preoccupied them for the past three decades. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e always dealing with real people and real communities and people who don鈥檛 choose to use the building 鈥� they have to use it. It鈥檚 about having respect for all of those people.鈥�

Many motifs and concepts reappear in their projects, including courtyards and external workspaces, and a preoccupation with natural ventilation and how people interact. 鈥淎ll those soft things that, 20 years ago, people weren鈥檛 talking about, the market is now demanding,鈥� he points out.

Hale-Brown points to how these ideas have fed through to more recent projects such as Hackney New Primary School. 鈥淚t鈥檚 got external decks, natural ventilation and a focus on people interacting.

鈥淚t didn鈥檛 overheat during the summer of 2022. When it was 40C outside, that school kept going. And the teachers could explain to the children why this was a good building from an environmental perspective because they could literally physically experience sustainability, as something that has something to do with comfort and life.鈥�

鈥淎nd that comes from starting the building with how people are going to use it, where the kids are going to sit,鈥� adds Hale-Brown. 鈥淎t the school, they鈥檝e got deep decks so you can work outside on them. At Talkback it was the same, you can work outside.鈥�

The importance of narrative

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important that what underpins a lot of these projects is a narrative鈥�, says Henley. 鈥淪o, for example with Talkback [the TV production company based in central London], we talked about it being collegiate - almost a medieval cloister, and so that analogy was something that you could very literally use to evoke this image of a place.鈥�

鈥淲hat was also really striking with Talkback was that their activities mapped very closely onto that of an academic environment. They do a lot of research, and so you鈥檝e got this core group of very idiosyncratic and very talented older people. And then they had this through-put of very young people working in the production teams, who would work typically for six months.

鈥淵ou could see this parallel with university culture of postgraduate researcher, and academics, and this sort of undergraduate force that flowed through the building. So we described it like that, and we described this place that, although it was only 100m away from Oxford Street, was kind of about a community of people thinking about things and making things. And we responded by giving them a social, intimate workspace, that could also take a party of a thousand people.鈥�

鈥淭he building was designed to be flexible, which now is just an obvious thing to do,鈥� says Hale-Brown. 鈥淭he four corners could be sublet, and the whole building could be divided up into five parts. We even put a residential unit at the top, which they could hive off to fund the rest of the building. That flexibility was built in.鈥�

Talkback鈥檚 offices were recently converted into a hotel, with minimal changes, and much of Henley Halebrown鈥檚 fabric retained 鈥� testament to the design鈥檚 flexibility and robustness.

鈥淎 lot of principles that you could trace back to Talkback keep recurring,鈥� explains Henley. 鈥淚f you look at Copper Lane [London鈥檚 first co-housing scheme], and then Hackney New Primary School, more often than not we have been trying to plan a building through its relationship to outside space and certainly its relationship to a primary space.鈥�

Future of the profession

Both men believe strongly in contributing back to the profession, and helping to deliver outreach and mentoring to young people. Creating a profession that is diverse and open to all is a key priority.

They are intrigued by ARB鈥檚 proposed reforms to the education system, which ARB says are partly intended to help improve access to the profession, but not entirely convinced that the regulator has yet settled on the right model.

鈥淭here has to be some way of enabling more people to study architecture,鈥� says Hale-Brown, 鈥渂ut whether ARB鈥檚 reforms are the right approach is still an open question.鈥�

Pointing out that the current tripartite education system dates from 1958, Halebrown observes that 鈥渓ots of good architects who qualified before 1958 didn鈥檛 go through a university education, so there鈥檚 nothing wrong with changing the model.鈥�

On ARB鈥檚 proposal to stop accrediting Part 1, Henley is sanguine, partly because he was taught within the US system, where an undergraduate degree is not a requirement to qualify as an architect. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 really seem to deprive anybody of anything because you can still do an undergraduate degree in architecture,鈥� he says.

鈥淲hen I was studying in the States, there were people who were doing an undergraduate degree in English and then they would come and do a master鈥檚 in architecture.鈥�

Hale-Brown does express concern about the number of competencies ARB will require schools of architecture to deliver. 鈥淭he idea they鈥檝e got 49 specific areas of competency, that seems a lot.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like when we have a scope of services and someone tries to list everything that an architect does 鈥� that鈥檚 not what you want to do with a scope of services. Because how do you measure those things? I do worry that it鈥檚 easier to tick something off on a list rather than really challenge the students.鈥�

He also worries that students going into an architecture masters degrees without an architectural undergraduate degree may be in for a shock. 鈥淚 do think there鈥檚 a danger you end up going into a masters not understanding what an architect does.鈥�

To help a younger and more diverse group enter the profession, the practice does a lot of work on outreach and mentoring. 鈥淲e go into primary schools and we build domes with them, and we spend a day talking to them and helping them understand what an architect does,鈥� says Hale-Brown, whose wife is a school teacher.

鈥淲e鈥檝e done that with years 4, 5 and 6 [eight to 11-year-olds]. And it鈥檚 really interesting because kids really don鈥檛 understand what an architect does. But by the end of the day a lot of them want to be architects,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat might be good or it might be bad, but a lot of them do.

鈥淎nd the thing where I see a real danger with ARB鈥檚 reforms is people having done an English or history degree and thinking, actually, that architecture is really interesting, and then start doing a masters in a subject that they don鈥檛 necessarily understand where it really takes you.

鈥淧art 1 allowed you to feel your way around it. Lots of people drop out after Part 1 because they realise it鈥檚 actually quite a hard thing to do. To be an architect is really not a straightforward thing, it鈥檚 not like on the TV or films.鈥�

Bringing in people from local schools to help them actually understand what an architect does is fundamental. You have to start right there if you want a diverse profession and to encourage people to join

Hale-Brown

For the practice, a bigger issue than education reform is the challenges their EU staff face in getting their qualifications accredited since Brexit. 鈥淲e are funding some people to get codified,鈥� says Henley, 鈥渂ut it is a vast amount of money that ARB are charging to do that process.鈥�

Of a mutual recognition agreement with the EU, Hale-Brown adds: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an obvious thing to do and, from my point of view, ARB should do that first.鈥�

鈥淭here are a whole series of people for whom different things matter,鈥� observes Henley. 鈥淐learly there鈥檚 a diverse population of people who might want to be architects who might be disadvantaged, and presumably the ARB move is to address that.

鈥淭hen, equally, in the context of diversity, actually having a studio that has a really rich mix of people 鈥� whether they鈥檙e from Europe or further afield 鈥� that鈥檚 something which again, politically, within the profession, is equally important.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we also focus on 16-18 year olds,鈥� explains Hale-Brown. 鈥淢entoring through school, bringing them in here so they understand. There is no doubt that there鈥檚 nepotism in architecture. And there is no doubt that, if you鈥檝e never met an architect, you鈥檝e got no idea what they do.

鈥淪o bringing in people from local schools to help them actually understand what an architect actually does is fundamental. You kind of have to start right there if you want a diverse profession and to encourage people to join.鈥�

He also welcomes new course models being developed by schools such as the London School of Architecture, and the wave of new apprenticeships. 鈥淚 think the model of apprenticeship is much more beneficial to young people,鈥� he argues. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 get such big debts. They get much better real experience.

鈥淢entoring people through A level is another really key thing for architects to do, which isn鈥檛 talked about enough. We鈥檝e done invited competitions in London boroughs where part of the bid has to be us funding a student from 18 to Part 3,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the contribution they want.

鈥淭hat means one person gets a golden ticket. That鈥檚 not going to create diversity. It鈥檚 got to be something that addresses the systemic issue.鈥�

As the practice contemplates its approaching 30th anniversary, it is clear that Henley Halebrown remains as committed to architecture鈥檚 wider social purpose as ever. And its founders, whose shared vision of practice was formed through early experiences in Liverpool and overseas, are focused on passing on their passion 鈥� and knowledge 鈥� so that a new generation can thrive. 

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