Old friends, new friends, and the quiet pleasure of discovering that some conversations simply pick up where they left off, some after years, some after decades. Others began tentatively, then gathered pace, turning into collaborations and shared journeys. Architecture, like photography, is always a collective act. Nothing meaningful happens alone. Collaboration, always, is the key.
The work stretched across scales and geographies: from the intimate and domestic to the unapologetically large; from rural calm to the energy of the city; from careful repair and reuse to confident new beginnings. Old buildings treated as assets, not obstacles. New ones finding their footing in complex, layered places. Each project its own negotiation between memory and ambition, restraint and exuberance, replacement and renewal.
There were awards along the way. Moments of recognition that matter not for the trophies themselves, but for what they acknowledge: patience, care, persistence, belief. Proof that architecture can be ethical without being timid. Successes worth celebrating because they belong to teams, not individuals, to architects who keep going when it would be easier to compromise, to clients brave enough to back ideas, to engineers, makers, builders and thinkers who bring intelligence to every junction.
Most of all, there were people. Miles travelled. Meals shared. Long days, early mornings. Some laughter, some deep conversation, a great deal of learning; new tricks for an old dog.
The restless energy creative people carry with them, and the irrepressible commitment architects bring to making the world a little more thoughtful, more humane, more durable, more resilient than they found it.
I end the year with optimism. Not the naïve kind, but the hard-earned optimism that comes from seeing good people do serious work with integrity. The year ahead has every reason to be hopeful.
After four decades, I’m still here and ready for whatever 2026 brings.
Thank you to everyone who made 2025 what it was.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris | Astleyestate | Fortnum & Mason | Martin Williams | KPF | AOC Architecture Ltd | In Opera Group | Collective Architecture | BDG Architects | Barr Gazetas | Orms | Piercy&Company | Mæ Architects
