Charting Christopher Hartiss's Architectural Journey: From Early Inspirations to Shaping Futures

In this Architecture Social conversation (about 62 minutes, recorded during the second UK lockdown in October 2020), Stephen Drew speaks with architect Christopher Hartiss about a career that runs from a bookshop counter to a director's role at Squire & Partners, and on into client-side leadership, teaching and mentoring.

Who this is for

Architecture students, Part 1 and Part 2 assistants, and early-to-mid career architects who want an honest view of how a long career is actually built. It is also useful for anyone weighing up a move between practice, client side and teaching, or preparing for interviews.

Learning outcomes

1. You will be able to explain why drawing and clear communication remain central professional skills in architecture.
2. You will be able to describe how varied experience, inside and outside architecture, builds professional judgement.
3. You will be able to recognise how leadership on large projects depends on teamwork rather than individual authorship.
4. You will be able to prepare for interviews with honesty and self-awareness about your work and your expectations.
5. You will be able to treat mistakes and career changes as useful evidence of growth rather than gaps to hide.
6. You will be able to weigh client-side, teaching and mentoring routes as legitimate architecture career paths.

Drawings and communication as the core skill

Christopher traces his fascination with architecture back to seeing architectural drawings for the first time as a child. His point for students is practical: a drawing is a tool for communication and realisation, and the ability to explain your thinking clearly, on paper and in person, stays central however senior you become.

A non-linear route in

The path was far from a straight line. Before qualifying as an architect in 2000 he worked in a bookshop, spent time as a self-described tea boy in an architecture office, and coordinated services and structure on site. He frames each of these as formative rather than wasted time.

Learning the craft through diverse experience

Christopher argues that experience outside the studio, and outside architecture altogether, feeds back into stronger design and better client relationships. Breadth, not just technical depth, is what he credits for his professional judgement.

Eighteen years at Squire & Partners

He joined Squire & Partners in 2001 and stayed for eighteen and a half years, rising from project architect to director. He describes a practice that pairs design sensibility with commercial awareness, an environment in which he sharpened his leadership and management skills.

Chelsea Barracks and the discipline of teamwork

Among his projects, Chelsea Barracks stands out, alongside work associated with the Shell Centre and One Tower Bridge. His reflection is that no single person delivers a scheme at that scale. In his own words, architecture is done as a team, and the era of the architect standing back to claim sole authorship of a finished building is over. Leadership, for him, means guiding a team and matching people's strengths to the work.

Crossing to the client side

After Squire & Partners, Christopher moved to a head of design role on the client side, briefing architects and helping them deliver what the client needed. He presents this not as leaving architecture but as understanding it from the other side of the table.

Teaching, mentoring and design review

In parallel he teaches at the University of Westminster and the University of East London, sits on the Wandsworth Council design review panel, and mentors Part 1 and Part 2 students. He is clear about why: he believes in helping people who are earlier in the career queue.

Interviews and professionalism

Having interviewed many people as a hiring manager, Christopher treats an interview as a conversation rather than a test. His advice is to be genuine: a CV or portfolio that overstates who you are will be seen through, so honesty about your work, your aims and even your salary expectations earns more respect. He suggests a single sheet at the back of a portfolio setting out what you are aiming to do next.

Reflecting on mistakes

He closes on the value of reflection, treating mistakes and changes of direction as evidence of growth rather than something to bury. It is a fitting note for a career that has deliberately taken in many different rooms.

Key terms

• Part 3: the final stage of UK architectural qualification, taken after Part 1 and Part 2, leading to registration as an architect.
• Project architect: the architect responsible for coordinating and delivering a specific project within a practice.
• Client side / head of design: an in-house role briefing and guiding architects from the client's perspective rather than from within a practice.
• Design review panel: an independent group that reviews the design quality of proposed schemes, such as the Wandsworth Council panel Christopher sits on.

Reflective prompts for your CPD record

1. Which experiences outside your core architecture work have most shaped your professional judgement, and how do you evidence them?
2. When you last interviewed, or interviewed someone, how honest and specific was the conversation on both sides?
3. Where in your current portfolio or CV might you be polishing over a genuine story that would land better told plainly?

About the guest

Christopher Hartiss qualified as an architect in 2000 and spent eighteen and a half years at Squire & Partners, rising to director, before moving to a client-side head of design role. He teaches at the University of Westminster and the University of East London, sits on the Wandsworth Council design review panel, and mentors emerging architects. Explore his Architecture Social profile.