Keppie Design close Edinburgh office
November 30 2017
The decision to close Bell’s Brae follows a major restructuring in 2016 during which the practice shed office space in Aberdeen, Perth and Manchester in order to rein in financial losses.
This followed a decision to form a strategic collaboration with Stride Treglown and Todd Architects; known as 431 Architecture, with the intention of furnishing the practice with the scale necessary to compete for work UK-wide.
While confirming the closure the practice has yet to make a formal statement. Its Inverness office will continue to operate as normal.
2 Comments
#1 Posted by A Local Pleb on 30 Nov 2017 at 15:18 PM
I feel sorry for the staff employed there but was surprised it did not shut along with their other offices previously. They definitely appear to be a shadow of their former self!
#2 Posted by MV on 30 Nov 2017 at 22:10 PM
It’s a sad and somewhat worrying indicator of the challenges faced by Scottish based practices, in a continually uncertain economy. It’s hard to get work, it’s harder to push that work over the line and often hard to get paid even when you do.
We need to reposition architecture at the centre of the design, planning and construction world, statutorily and contractually. Enforce the role, not the title. We need to stop screwing each other over, with permanently undercut and pitiful fees, and we need to unite (under a new chapter or RIAS?) and work together to create better opportunities and a better built environment. We probably also need to rethink architectural education and the amount of architectural graduates generated each year, as there are too many of us in my opinion....
Keppie seemed to bi-pass the 2008 mega recession relatively unscathed - so the alarm bells should be ringing for all of us. There are some really talented people in there. Good luck to those affected.
We need to reposition architecture at the centre of the design, planning and construction world, statutorily and contractually. Enforce the role, not the title. We need to stop screwing each other over, with permanently undercut and pitiful fees, and we need to unite (under a new chapter or RIAS?) and work together to create better opportunities and a better built environment. We probably also need to rethink architectural education and the amount of architectural graduates generated each year, as there are too many of us in my opinion....
Keppie seemed to bi-pass the 2008 mega recession relatively unscathed - so the alarm bells should be ringing for all of us. There are some really talented people in there. Good luck to those affected.
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