BCO London: There will be opportunities from leaving the EU, architect predicts

Norman Foster has said architects need to put Brexit behind them and move on.

The founder of Foster & Partners told 好色先生TV at the BCO conference in London that firms had to turn the UK鈥檚 impending withdrawal from the EU into an opportunity 鈥� rather than 鈥渞egret鈥� the decision to leave.

Foster, who said he was in the Remain camp, added: 鈥淚 think the bigger picture of change is one of cycles and once a political decision like that is made in a democratic society one may agree or disagree or welcome it or regret it 鈥� I鈥檓 in the camp that regrets it 鈥� but on the other hand if that鈥檚 the democratic decision then you get on with it and you optimise on that.鈥�

The firm employs 1,250 staff from more than 70 countries at its London studio in Battersea with the make-up split around a third each between the UK, EU and the rest of the world.

Now the UK has triggered Article 50 鈥� the mechanism for a country to leave the EU 鈥� Foster said Brexit would be seen by historians as 鈥渁nother ripple of change鈥� 鈥� but one the UK will cope with.

He added: 鈥淚f as an architect I鈥檓 an optimist, I would like to think that, given the perspective of time, if you turn every circumstance into an opportunity then I don鈥檛 see any reason why it just doesn鈥檛 become another blip in evolution.

鈥淚 think a lot of these things at the time when they鈥檙e happening are given the passage of time they recede, they become another ripple of change and I think we have to see this not as an end but a new beginning.鈥�

Last month Foster鈥檚 said it had laid off a number of staff 鈥� thought to be less than 100 鈥� from its London office but Foster said Brexit was not responsible.

鈥淚t鈥檚 in the nature, regrettably, of architectural practises that you鈥檙e inevitably at the receiving end of tendencies which ripple around the world,鈥� Foster said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the last thing ever that you want to see happen, but the reality is that you are subject to those economic changes and you see projects which go on hold鈥 would say that it鈥檚 not Brexit, it鈥檚 much wider, but then in a connected world where everything鈥檚 connected you can鈥檛 really say what triggers what.鈥�

He added: 鈥淭he good news is that we鈥檙e fortunately diversified in so many different locations so the impact is minimised in our terms.鈥�

Less than 10% of the firm鈥檚 拢250 million-plus workload comes from the UK, according to its latest report and accounts.

 

Foster on tall buildings

Norman Foster has said a lack of a coherent planning strategy has led to London鈥檚 tower boom.

The latest report by New London Architecture on the number of buildings over 20 storeys planned for the capital rose to 455 last year from the previous year鈥檚 436.

Foster said he was a fan of towers but added: 鈥淭here鈥檚 now pretty much a total absence of planning, so you have individual boroughs that act in isolation from other boroughs and therefore an absence of an overall strategy is one of the manifestations of seeing towers where you would expect to see them and also perhaps seeing towers which are less predictable.鈥�

Towers, he said, were 鈥渁 barometer of an economic reality 鈥� it鈥檚 the manifestation of it - and in that sense it鈥檚 the constant of change鈥�.

He added: 鈥淭he reality is that for many people the tower is liberating, it offers them a view, it offers them a contact with the world that they would not otherwise have in another kind of building.鈥�

But he admitted the quality of towers often varied. 鈥淚f you analyse the cross section of any city you are going to find some outstanding buildings you鈥檙e going to find some which are very average and you鈥檙e going to find some which may eventually be overtaken by events and replaced.鈥�

 

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