AT chats to Seth Rutt from Studio Multi about dreaming up a new practice during Lockdown and the difference between a pirate ship and a Navy.
What prompted you and your partner Nicola to leave HawkinsBrown and set up your own company?
It was a kitchen table discussion during Covid. We started in 2021 so we’re four years old now. We just felt it was time for a reset. Nicky and I had been working at HawkinsBrown pretty much from the start. We always said we joined a pirate ship and it became a navy. They’ve been phenomenally successful, but really missed the energy of the early days. For me personally, I just feel I have to have an involvement with every project in the office. Plus I’m in my early 50s, and we thought it’s good to be at the start of something and grow something, rather than keep doing. And HawkinsBrown were starting to transition to an EOT, and in a way us doing our own thing cleared some space for younger generations to come through. Roger (Hawkins) and Russell (Brown) have been really supportive. I’m going to see The Sisters of Mercy with Russell in a few weeks time.
What was behind the decision to call yourselves Studio Multi?
We decided we wouldn’t have our names above the door because we wanted the practice to grow, and to be something other people could have ownership of. And we like collaboration and multiple outcomes!
Street view of St Olav’s Court for SoCo, a mixed-used co-living community with workspace and on-site affordable homes in Rotherhithe.
Was it difficult getting a new practice off the ground?
Our first project was a little public realm project in Winchester. There was no architecture; just some signage and lighting and some public realm. We pulled various designers together, and for very little money we created something really special. We’re very proud of that because we did a lot for not a lot and made the client happy. Since then we’ve been working on a number of interesting projects across different sectors, including St Olav’s Court for SoCo, a mixed-used co-living community with workspace and on-site affordable homes in Rotherhithe; a co-living building for Landsec as part of their transformation of Lewisham Shopping Centre; and a collaborative workspace in Stratford, including permanent offices, meeting rooms and a range of touchdown spaces for tenants and occupants of the adjacent residential development. We like big projects. We never set out to do extensions. It’s not an ego thing, it’s just what we’re used to and what we’re good at and where we can make the biggest difference. And we have some set-initiated projects too. Nicola’s very resourceful. If there’s a quiet day in the office she’ll come up with another idea.
What made you come to UKREiiF?
The affordability and the energy. In previous years I’ve done MIPIM and enjoyed it, but it’s not really viable for an SME. I really like the fact that it’s a northern centre. Well we think it’s the north but it’s actually it’s the geographical centre of the UK. I’m from Leeds, so I can stay with friends. Leeds is in a happy place at the moment thanks to football. I’m a Leeds United fan. It was great coming up a couple of weeks ago and seeing the city unified and happy. The energy at UKREiif is great. I’ve been going at this for 30 years, and you realise you’ve made friends. Some people like to compartmentalise work and friendship but for me sitting around a table with people I respect and like is a wonderful thing.
Co-living building for Landsec – part of the transformation of Lewisham Shopping Centre.
What keeps you awake at night?
I do worry about how we’re going to deliver the buildings and infrastructure the country needs. Angela Rayner gave a speech at one of the UKREiiF events where she reiterated the need to get shovels in the ground. The message is build, build, build. Last time we had a Labour government we had Richard Rogers’ and John Prescott’s Taskforce, Building Schools for the Future, and prosperity for 10 years. There was a real sense of the Labour government transforming our nation; acutally building schools and housing people and making better public realm. It would be great to think that could happen again, and I think this government is absolutely genuine in its ambitions, but its inherited a shitshow. Not that it keeps me awake. I’m a night owl. The problem is getting up in the morning.
Source: Architecture Today