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Hopkins Architects co-founder Patty Hopkins recalls luck, confident clients, great partners and the joy of doing real things
Patty Hopkins co-founded Hopkins Architects in 1976 with the late Michael Hopkins and in 1994 He jointly received the RIBA Gold Medal.
You started working in construction on a “chance”. How did this happen?
I was in a boarding school where there were lectures on Tuesday evenings. What was unusual on this particular evening was that there were slides and the lecturer, a Dutch art historian, showed lovely, stunning images of buildings and Rembrandt paintings – I couldn’t understand how he combined They are interconnected. I remember all my friends thought it was boring, but I thought it was brilliant and decided I wanted to be an architect. Before that, I was studying science, which I wasn’t that keen on, but the school had to fill new science labs, so I was steered into that. Obviously I said before that I wanted to be a veterinarian.
Sixty years later, do you think you made the right decision?
This is definitely the right decision. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
You studied at the Architectural Association in the 1960s. What do you think of that experience?
I went there so young, 17, and very overwhelmed. I sat my AA entrance exams while studying for A Levels and thought “good, I can stop doing this now and go there”, so I stopped. In 1959, I came to London for the first time, confused and excited, with many distractions. I did enjoy AA, but I wasn’t a very good student at first, and it was when I met Michael and moved into the house he shared that I really started to focus. Everyone else who lived there was working hard, so I was too, and I kept going and got through it. I enjoyed it, but I don’t think I knew enough to take full advantage of AA – I thought it would be better for me as a graduate program.
What types of architecture inspired you as a student and young architect?
The AA’s focus at that time was still thinking about rebuilding the city after the war – the overall picture of reconstruction. Later we looked to American architects such as Louis Kahn, the Eames and Mies.
You met Michael Hopkins in AA but didn’t start practicing together until 1976. How did this happen?
We always thought we would work together because we met at AA. Michael worked in various practices before joining Norman Foster, while I continued working for family and friends while raising three children.we finished the house [Hopkins House in Hampstead] and decided to start our practice upstairs while the family lived downstairs – which made taking care of the kids so much easier.
Our practice expanded to a second studio up the road before finding a site in Marylebone where we built our own office using the Patera steel system we designed. We ended up buying Patra Factory – I ran it remotely while we built the studio. I love that – I love doing practical things. I also organized all the work as contractor for the house.
What kind of job did you hope to have when you started? What was the biggest obstacle to overcome along the way?
We don’t really think about “we want to do this or that.”We were lucky at first, and gradually we grew. We started the practice during a very frustrating period and that’s how we found the site for the house. Public sector commissions were declining at that time and in the 1980s private clients were only confident in building and we had a good range of commissions. There was a time when work seemed a little slow, but since we were never that big, we never had to lay off employees.One year we played about nine games and didn’t make it, then won ten gamesth One of them was for Glyndebourne Opera House, just when we were starting to worry. Not everything is through competition – we do get some projects through interviews, which is pretty amazing. You can’t imagine this happening now.
The practice’s first project – 1976’s Hopkins House – is now Grade II* listed. How important is the house to practice?
It was very important, winning awards and giving us a bit of fame. We also hold a lot of client meetings here. The design of the house isn’t for everyone, but it worked for us. It can accommodate us when we practice here (which was not the original plan) and when we are able to expand to the entire house as a family. Then when the kids got older and left home, it was a really nice pad for the two of us. Recently, Michael and I were able to live upstairs when Michael couldn’t climb the stairs. I think of it as an apartment rather than a house because when you come in you can see exactly where everything is. It’s legible, and I think that’s how we’ve always designed buildings.
What do you consider to be the practice’s breakthrough project?
Schlumberger Cambridge Research Center (1992) and then the Glyndebourne Center (1994). The Mound Stand at Lords (1987) is another very important and useful place.
Looking back over the past few decades, what building are you most proud of?
Fern House (1992) is very interesting. The Japanese client couldn’t get permission to completely redevelop the site and wanted us to see what we could do with what was there. We replaced the middle section and used sandstone for the base to tie in with the original listed Alfred Richardson architecture on either side. This is a definite transition towards using sturdier materials. Then there’s the rather lovely David Mellor cutlery factory (1989) and a small museum dedicated to them in 2006. We have a lot of our buildings listed now, which is nice, although usually this happens because someone wants to do something terrible to them!
Are you and Michael satisfied with the “high-tech” label attached to yourselves?
I never really minded it – I thought it was fine. It’s been abandoned now – everyone who was labeled high-tech at the time started using other materials.
Do you feel like the approach to practice has changed over the years? If so, in what ways?
Yes, because we have bigger projects and have a bigger office. The brief changed and required a different approach – you wouldn’t build a Schlumberger in the City of London. We have great partners who are critical to our expansion and staying power.
What gives you the most satisfaction about working at Hopkins?
I’m excited to be an important part of the office and be able to impact it in some way. I absolutely love the camaraderie here and our office building. I’ve also had the pleasure of being able to do my own thing over the years, serving on various committees and focusing on my family when needed. I’ve never had a 9 to 5 – it was actually longer days. I still go to the Hopkins office quite often—I’m on the board of directors of EOT. I am kept informed, but I am not involved in any current design work.
Is there anything you wish you had done differently along the way? Or maybe there is an “escape project”?
Not suitable for me personally. I don’t think there is any problem.
Michael once described you as the “glue and oil” of Hopkins Architects. Together you were awarded the RIBA Gold Medal, but do you feel that your contribution is not always recognized by those outside the industry, especially as you work with Michael, Norman Foster, Nicholas Grimshaw, Richard Rogers and Terry Farrell ?
That’s nice of Michael to say that, even if it’s a bit of a contradiction. You can’t really be glue and oil! I never worried about what others thought of my role – I was always useful and happy to do so. I’m not worried about that stupid photo bullshit at all. There is no doubt that without Michael, none of this would have happened – I know that very well. I’m happy to be a central part of that.
Do you think the last 50 years of your practice have been a good time for architects?
I think we were very lucky with our timing. In the 1980s we were fortunate to have confident private clients. Then we hit the millennium and we were just big enough to take on some of the Millennium Commission lottery projects, such as the Forum in Norwich. I was on the Arts Council Lottery Committee and was heavily involved in all of that – it was a great time. Our business has expanded internationally and Michael and I have had the pleasure of traveling to meet clients in Dubai (where we have an office) as well as Japan, China, Athens, India and the United States, and we have been fortunate enough to work at four different universities with our names on them Passed down by subsequent customers.
There’s something hard about getting things done – and it makes a big difference if you have a good case manager who’s compassionate and likes you. Otherwise there may be confrontation from the start and no good building can be built.
Do you think the industry has taken too long to meet the need for sustainable design?
I think our office would say that we do meet that need, with projects such as the Tax Center in Nottingham (1994), which was the first UK project to achieve the highest score under BREEAM assessment.
What else do you think needs to change about the profession?
I think the key to encouraging more diverse career entry starts in schooling – when there need to be more opportunities for children to continue studying architecture.
As we all know, architects never really retire. Are you still working on any design projects?
I do have my own projects and provide some office support when needed. I have recently added an annexe to a house in Cornwall which was completed in 2019. I have also carried out extensive extensions to properties in Suffolk. I’m now wondering what my next project will be. As architects, we are truly lucky – our daily lives are surrounded by our main focus – architecture.
What is your most cherished possession?
Now I have lost Michael, this is my family. They’re not really property, but they’re mine. I’m not a very property-conscious person – although I do love my house!
As Pamela Buxton says
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