When Squire & Partners' late founder, Michael Squire passed away after a short illness in May 2023, it was a tragic loss for the architecture industry. In time, it also posed questions about the future of his near-50-year-old London studio, not least to his son and senior partner at the firm, Henry Squire. It took over a year of research and investigations for Squire & Partners to find the best way forward. Now, the firm announces a radical restructuring, which aims to carve a new path for its 130-strong staff - while maintaining its strong reputation, projects and industry relationships.
Squire & Partners restructure: explained
Squire & Partners' bold move will now see a group of ten partners forming a new leadership team for the multidisciplinary practice. These are not just architects; made up of designers, developers, communicators, innovators, place-makers and crafters, the studio (which was originally founded in 1976) is keen to flag its diverse talent and signal a democratic approach that allows a rich and varied group of professionals into its fold - in particular in senior positions.
Henry Squire, whom we interviewed about this announcement, highlighted this desire for evolution and for celebrating the rich variety of voices and talent within the practice, adding that 'a rolling stone gathers no moss.' (scroll down for the full interview)
As a result of this restructure, the top team at Squire & Partners now comprises three senior partners (Squire, as well as architects Murray Levinson and Tim Gledstone); alongside seven new partner roles for architect Bettina Brehler, head of interior design Maria Cheung, architects Olga Gomez, Sophie Steed, Alessandro Mangiavacchi, and Michael Poots, and finance director Clelia Filipe.
Together they aim to continue the energetic studio's legacy and grow, leading it into the future by building on widely acclaimed past projects, such as Brixton's The Department Store (which also includes the studio's own headquarters and has become an important local community hub), the Chelsea Barracks masterplan, Clarges Mayfair, Bulgari Hotel London, the Abu Dhabi masterplan, Howick Place (including Philips de Pury auction house), and Space House, the reimagined Grade II listed brutalist architecture masterpiece that launches later this year.
Squire & Partners: Henry Squire talks about the restructure
W*: When did this process start for you?
Henry Squire: It wasn't like we'd never thought about what might happen in the future before my father died. We've been thinking about it for a long time and we had discussed it with him. We knew that we had to change and evolve. [Michael's passing] possibly just forced our hand and accelerated the process. So, we're trying to build a firm that is not so focused on any particular individual. The problem with the design world is that in some ways it is focused around individuals - the 'single leader culture''. You want to be beyond that.
W*: Do you see the practice's core approach changing with the change in leadership?
HS: No. I think that we are slightly different anyway. For our projects, you would not know unless you knew that that was all done by the same architect, because I think we're not wedded to an architectural stylistic philosophy. They are all highly contextual. This is the essence of a Squire & Partners project and I hope it will remain forever.
W*: Was the way the practice had to evolve immediately apparent to you when you went into the process of restructuring? Was it easy?
HS: It definitely wasn't easy. There are always things that, probably intuitively, you kind of have an idea of what you want to do with, but then you have to fight against what your intuition is and just test everything. Also in terms of what people want to do and what people are good at, there's a nuance there to look at and work with.
W*: So, please tell us about the structure.
HS: There are ten partners in total - three senior ones among them. The division of work is not around project typology, but all partners have different roles within the practice. So there are two, for example, leading the practice management side, and another leading sustainability specifically, an interior design partner and a finance leader.
It was important for us to open up the partnership by increasing the different skill sets required to make partner. You might be good at meetings, or an incredible detailer or you might be incredibly charismatic in bringing new work; we wanted to signal that there are a lot of different ways up the firm to partnership.
W*: Did you consider changing the practice's name?
HS: We talked a lot about it, as obviously I am a Squire and does this make it unfair to others? In the end we decided against it. It is a strong brand and this is about brand creation, and does it matter that Chanel's called Chanel? It's only a word - a recognisable word.
W*: So is this it; are you done with change, are things crystallised and fixed now?
HS: Not quite. A practice needs to constantly evolve. For example, we are looking into perhaps creating a delivery arm within our studio. We are always looking to evolve with the changing landscape of architecture. Evolution is growing.
W*: Any closing words?
HS: I think, we've always been a quiet practice. We are also humanists and we deeply love what we do. There's a quote from Shakespeare that says 'Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing.'
