People · Podcast guest
Clare Nash
Small Practice, Big Impact: Clare Nash on Cash Flow, Clients and Confidence
Clare Nash, founder of Clare Nash Architecture and author, on running a small UK practice. Hear her Architecture Social podcast episode.
- Current role
- Director
- Practice
- Clare Nash Architecture
- Location
- Oxfordshire, UK
Conversation
The thinking behind the work.
Episode 0240 · Architecture Social
Small Practice, Big Impact: Clare Nash on Cash Flow, Clients and Confidence
Charging 50% upfront. Blogging to get work. Teaching part-time and even working as a dinner lady in the early days. From just herself to a team of six. Refusing to play the “starving artist” trope. Clare Nash isn’t just running an architecture practice - she’s rewriting the manual.In this honest, funny and practical conversation, Clare breaks down what it’s really like running a small architecture studio in the UK. From cash flow crunches to the mindset shift needed to chase overdue invoices,
Explore episode moments
Use the timestamps below to find each moment in the full episode.
Selected work
Selected work.
United Kingdom
Coolington Barn
A former agricultural barn and its ruined outbuildings were transformed into a light-filled home arranged around a south-facing courtyard.
Explore the project ↗Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Barn Conversion in a Conservation Area
An unusual curved barn was converted into an energy-efficient home while retaining the character of its conservation-area setting.
Explore the project ↗United Kingdom
Energy Efficient Barn-Style House
A two-storey rural home combines a barn-like form and local materials with close-to-Passivhaus energy performance.
Explore the project ↗Other public work
Self-Build Prefabricated Ecohouse ↗
A four-bedroom prefabricated timber-frame home translates local rural forms into a bright, low-energy family house.
Stables Conversion to Holiday Lets ↗
Former stables beside a listed farmhouse became holiday accommodation, alongside a characterful kitchen and snug extension.
About
The story so far.
The person behind the work.
Clare Nash is the founder and director of Clare Nash Architecture, a small practice working across Oxfordshire, South Northamptonshire, North Buckinghamshire and South Warwickshire.
A RIBA chartered architect with a master's in vernacular architecture and regeneration, Clare set up her practice during the last recession and has grown it to a team of six. The studio is known for barn conversions, eco homes, listed building work, self-builds and small residential developments, with design rooted in the local vernacular and a strong focus on sustainability.
Clare is the author of two books, including Contemporary Vernacular Design: How British Housing Can Rediscover its Soul (RIBA Publishing), and runs The Business Space, a peer mentoring group for architectural business owners. She joined the Architecture Social Podcast to discuss what it really takes to run a small UK architecture practice, from cash flow and fees to marketing, niching and growing a team.
The practice
Clare Nash Architecture
We are a friendly team of passionate designers who love to help people realise their architectural dreams. We also care deeply about the environment, creating environmentally sound designs that reduce the need for excessive energy consumption.
Architecture practice · Oxfordshire
Expertise
What I bring.
- Current role
- Director
- Practice
- Clare Nash Architecture
- Location
- Oxfordshire, UK
- On the podcast
- 1 episode · 2025
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