Whilst “Conran” represents the ethos of the practice, the “partners” are the human manifestation of that ethos. Architecture and interior design are inherently collaborative disciplines, and the partners therefore spend much of their time meeting with their design teams, clients, and colleagues in the industry, generating discussion and mentoring or workshopping the complex creative and delivery processes involved in making spaces and buildings. Often this is done through sketch books, butter-paper rolls and 2B pencils, and involves fluidity of thought and communication… which is so vital in ensuring the central spirit of a project is not lost in the complexity of the details or different layers of the brief.
Jonathan Meades called Seifert ‘the most wrongly reviled architect of the half century’ and I would agree with that. There was a lot of negative press around Seifert and his work even when he was at the height of his powers and success. It’s taken time, or history, to see a very gradual reassessment of the work, the architect and his practice. The key buildings are gradually being listed and many are finding a new lease of life. It’s really interesting that other architects tend to be the most positive about Seifert’s work, while other commentators get too caught up with who commissioned a particular building and how it was used.