I first made photographs for Allford Hall Monaghan Morris in 1998, when I photographed their very splendid North Croydon Health Centre. The start of my collaboration with AHMM, very neatly, coincided with the beginning of Isabel Allen’s tenure as Buildings Editor for the AJ.
So here we are, over twenty-five years; a quarter-century; two-and-a-half decades later. Plenty of time for triumphs, mistakes, conversation, maybe a few well-intentioned disasters, and some wonderful successes. Somehow, through it all, we have continued to make things — buildings, stories, photographs, magazines.
AHMM has been making places where people live, learn, work & thrive. They regularly win coveted awards, including an elusive Stirling. Isabel has been writing words and winning her own awards for editing and journalism. Oh, and building hundreds of homes with Kevin McCloud. I’ve been charged with recording it all, and perhaps helping to frame an argument that helps define a direction.
If this were a novel, this would be the part, at twenty five years, where we reflect on what it all means. Instead here’s another collaboration, one I’m very happy with, one that celebrates Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’s collaboration with Stanton Williams, DSDHA, Morris+Company, East architecture and British Land. All accompanied by wonderful words from Chris Dyson, conveying his thoughts and feelings that resonate deeply with the spirit of the project.
So here’s to whatever comes next—more words, more pictures, more buildings. All addressing the pressing needs of the profession and our times, lives and living – things that matter.
