Christopher Hartiss

Christopher Hartiss is a London architect whose career runs from the drawing board to the boardroom, and from practice into teaching and client-side leadership. He qualified as an architect in 2000 and spent 18 and a half years at Squire & Partners, rising from project architect to director.

His route into the profession was anything but linear. A spell working in a bookshop, time as a self-described "tea boy" in an architecture office, and hands-on structural and services coordination on site all shaped how he thinks about the job. At Squire & Partners he went on to take leadership roles on major London redevelopment projects, including Chelsea Barracks, the Shell Centre and One Tower Bridge.

After Squire & Partners, Christopher moved to the other side of the table as a head of design, briefing architects from a client's perspective. Alongside practice 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. His outlook stays consistent throughout: architecture is a team effort, drawings and communication sit at the core of the craft, and honesty in a CV, a portfolio or an interview carries further than polish.

Watch or listen to the full conversation in the Architecture Social CPD: Charting Christopher Hartiss's Architectural Journey.