Careers at Ackroyd Lowrie: Inside an Ambitious London Practice

In this Architecture Social CPD (approximately 43 minutes), Stephen Drew visits Oliver Lowrie, architect and co-founder of Ackroyd Lowrie, at the practice's East London studio. The conversation is a candid look at what it is really like to build a career inside an ambitious, technology-led practice, from the studio floor and live projects to how the team hires and promotes.

Who this is for

Part 1, Part 2 and newly qualified architects weighing up small and emerging practices, architectural technologists and designers curious about ArchiCAD and VR-led workflows, and anyone trying to judge a studio's culture before they apply.

Learning outcomes

1. You will be able to assess an emerging architecture practice on its values and culture, not only its project images.
2. You will be able to describe how a technology-led studio uses ArchiCAD, Twinmotion and virtual reality across the design process.
3. You will be able to explain how responsibility and progression can be structured around talent rather than job title alone.
4. You will be able to prepare for an interview at a fast-paced practice by showing initiative and clear communication.
5. You will be able to weigh salary against long-term fit when comparing job offers.
6. You will be able to apply a repeatable design method that lets the site and client drive the concept.

Inside the studio

Ackroyd Lowrie works from a converted warehouse in Vyner Street in East London, a double-height space the practice took on a long lease and rebuilt, adding roof lights for natural daylight and ventilation. Around 30 people make up the team, working across a spread of live schemes from the same open studio floor.

Why the practice was created

Oliver frames the studio's high-level mission as building a company that delivers the cities of the future: zero-carbon places designed around the human experience. That mission is used as a filter for who joins and what the practice takes on.

A technology-led design process

The studio authors its work in ArchiCAD rather than Revit, uses SketchUp to finish interiors, and is bringing in Twinmotion for real-time visualisation and VR. Virtual reality is treated as a working design tool: the team runs multi-user sessions inside a model, and puts clients and planners into the same space. Because the models are hosted, the practice can carry them on the road and load them up in planning meetings.

The range of work

The portfolio runs from house extensions through to masterplans of around a thousand units. It is mostly residential and mixed-use, alongside education (including private schools for the Thomas's family of schools), film and photographic studios (a long-running relationship with Alva Studios), plus healthcare, student residential, co-living and co-working. The practice has also moved into development, buying a site in Harlow through a joint venture so it can make strategic as well as design decisions.

Culture and the in-house academy

The studio asks everyone, whatever their level, to "treat yourself like you're an architect already", meaning take responsibility, lead and communicate. Onboarding and progression run through an in-house academy, because the practice believes university does not always produce office-ready designers. Promotion is based on responsibility and talent rather than a specific qualification, and the practice invests in Part 3 and further specialisms so people can develop their own profiles.

What candidates need to bring

Oliver is clear that the pace is fast and entrepreneurial, closer to assembling a parachute on the way down than to a large, slow-moving office. He looks for people who buy into the mission, can get their hands dirty in the software, and are willing to stand up and make their ideas heard. Architectural technologists and less traditional routes are welcome; it is about the job you want to do, not the label.

Advice for job seekers

Stephen's closing advice is to chase values rather than a short-term pay bump, because market conditions and salaries move, and a role you took only for money can quickly stop being enjoyable. He also encourages candidates to interview in person where they can, so they can feel the environment before accepting an offer.

Key terms

• ArchiCAD - the practice's primary BIM authoring software, chosen in preference to Revit.
• Twinmotion - real-time visualisation software used for renders and VR.
• Multi-user VR design session - several people reviewing and critiquing the same model together in virtual reality.
• Client plus context equals concept - the studio's shorthand for letting the client and the site drive the design idea.
• In-house academy - the practice's structured internal training and progression framework.

Reflective prompts for your CPD record

1. When you last assessed a practice, did you look past the project images to its values, culture and working environment?
2. How could a repeatable method such as "client plus context equals concept" strengthen your own design process?
3. What would you want to see or feel during a studio visit before accepting a role?

About the guest

Oliver Lowrie is an architect and co-founder of Ackroyd Lowrie, an East London practice working across residential, mixed-use, education and film and photographic studios, with a strong interest in sustainability and digital design tools. He studied at Sheffield and Oxford Brookes, completed his training in 2012, and has lectured on sustainable design.