Bill Webb

is the Co-Founder of Able Partners

Tell us about your career journey. How did you get started in the field of architecture?

It always seems to start in a fantastic school art department, doesn’t it? Developing photographs, screen printing, casting plaster and Jesmonite models, and learning about the history of art.

I had a place to study fine art but spent the summer before university as an assistant to an Architect called Anthony Blee. As we travelled to planning enquiries and construction sites, Anthony would tell stories about the characters and gossip behind projects, and I saw architecture in a new way. Cities were about people, and it took collaboration, hard work and tenacity to create them. Architecture has an important social function, and I wanted to be part of that. I changed my degree last minute and am delighted that I did!

Were there any pivotal moments or experiences that solidified your decision to pursue a career in architecture and design?

My first job out of university was in Hong Kong. Fast, dense, intense, filled with modern architecture and incredibly fun. I was 22, working hard by day and exploring the city at night. This is probably where I became a skyscraper geek, eating my lunch in the shadow of Fosters’ HSBC and I.M. Pei’s Bank of China and getting the ferry home to Tsim Sha Tsui, where I could see the whole skyline.

If you hadn’t followed your passion for being an architect, what other career path would you have pursued?

I’m optimistic about cities and their role in addressing climate change, inequality, longevity and other big challenges we face. At Able Partners, we conceive and deliver ideas that improve cities and the experience of being in them. If I wasn’t doing this as an architect, I would have liked to do it in Government.

Who has been your greatest influence and source of inspiration?

Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. In my art-obsessed adolescence, ‘high tech’ was in full flow. Rogers was the unofficial city architect of London under Ken Livingston, and big ideas were being delivered in the can-do attitude of the 1990s. The Lloyds building, Millennium Dome, Terminal 5, Channel 4, The Gherkin, City Hall, Millennium Bridge – their designs are the backdrop to the London I grew up in.

What’s been the most memorable project you’ve worked on?

I spent 10 years at Make Architects, a great London practice designing large buildings. In my first four years, I worked on 5 Broadgate, a vast Swiss bank located next to Broadgate Circle. It was controversial, mainly because it was the first time a major office building was not clad in glass. It looked somewhat alien to its surroundings, but advanced in performance and sustainability. To work with a world-class team on something ahead of its time and weather the ensuing storm was good preparation for my career.

Can you share a personal anecdote or experience that taught you a valuable lesson about being an architect?

When I finished my Part 2, there weren’t many jobs available, and I managed to get a role at a small London practice. Most friends had gone to impressive firms, but I learned a lot about managing clients, basic accounting and project management.

When I co-founded Able Partners after working in a big practice, I quickly realised what valuable insight that job gave me, so my lesson was that all experience has meaning – no matter how irrelevant it may feel at the time.

Could you walk us through a typical workday in your current role?

Our studio is in Fitzrovia, a wonderful corner of London, full of creative industries and interesting people. Once I’ve cycled in from Hackney, I might meet a client or partner for breakfast. We’re currently growing and interviewing new team members, so I like to do this first thing when I’m feeling bright.

We’re currently working on three large office refurbishment projects in central London, all within a 15-minute walk of the office, so may have workshops on site with various project teams. My Co-Founder, Ben Stuart, and I try to have lunch to discuss our current ideas. We have similar design tastes and passions but different skills, so we like to stress test our solutions against each other.

In the afternoon, we work with colleagues on the project of the day; be that project bids, competitions, concept designs, reviewing Stage 4 delivery information or technical co-ordination.

We’re a RIBA chartered practice and are members of the British Council of Offices along with several other bodies, so we are often networking or at talks in the evenings.

What is your favourite building and why?

The Leadenhall Building by Roger Stirk Harbour Partners. Buildings in central London are subject to the London View Management Framework and are often left with awkward ‘jelly mould’ spaces within which they can build. The same constraints were true for this building, whose tapered shape avoids clashing with the critical views of St Paul’s, but Rogers then produced the perfect diagram of a tall building. The side core leaves a wide open floorplate with incredible views, reducing in size as it reaches into the sky. The structure nodes out flawlessly, and the ground plane sets a new standard for how skyscrapers should terminate on the ground and integrate into the city.

In your opinion, who is the greatest architectural mastermind of our time?

Sir Norman Foster. To be on the avant-garde of office design for so long is unparalleled. He has continued to outperform his industry for 30 years, which is incredible. There is no architectural field to which he hasn’t made a meaningful contribution.

If you were hosting a dinner party to discuss architecture and design, and you could invite three individuals, either from the past or the present, who would you choose to join your conversation?

Rem Koolhaas. He was the ultimate big thinker who felt architects should not be afraid to take on large, ambitious projects to meet the needs of modern society. I lived opposite his CCTV building in Beijing for years and thought of him when looking out the window. Ricardo Bofill. He is incredibly brave in the way he mixes classical and surreal elements to create work unlike anyone else.

Zaha Hadid. She changed the conversation about architecture for the whole world. The rise of parametricism and what could physically be done with buildings will inspire people for years to come.

Looking ahead, what exciting projects or initiatives can we anticipate from you in the coming year?

We spent the first half of our careers building new, sustainable megabuildings and it seems the second half will be spent reimagining existing buildings.

We’re working internationally on Hangar 21 in Trieste, having won an open ideas competition to transform a 100 x 30m three-storey grain store into a major innovation hub on the city’s port. We work with incredible stakeholders there and look forward to seeing the project come to fruition.

In the immediate future, we’ve been shortlisted by the LFA’s Reimagine London competition and hope to become finalists for our Attenborough Line entry this September. Our idea involves reimagining London’s transport priorities by lifting mass transit off the ground, with cable cars running above green space and a pedestrian superhighway to modernise infrastructure. If you’d like to vote for us, please do so here.