Bath, United Kingdom
Bath Press
The former Sir Isaac Pitman printing works is being renewed as homes organised around retained industrial fabric, courtyards and rooftop gardens.
EP 024221 October 2025 · 39 min
Are Developers the New Architects? Simon Vernon Harcourt’s Journey
YouTube · 39:17Audio only · Transistor00:00 · Introduction and episode context12 chapters ↓
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Are Developers the New Architects? Simon Vernon Harcourt’s Journey
Developers are often seen as the people on the other side of the table, but architecture professionals can learn a lot from how they think about sites, risk, viability and delivery.
Stephen Drew speaks with Simon Vernon-Harcourt, Design Director at City and Country, about moving from architecture into development, restoring historic buildings and working with architects on complex conversion projects.
The conversation covers:
How Simon moved from architectural practice into a developer-side role
What makes historic building conversion projects commercially and technically difficult
How developers assess sites, risk, planning and long-term value
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- · Stephen Drew
Stephen Drew
Hello everyone. We are here back on the Architecture Social show 'cause we're going countrywide today. Often I get asked Steve, can we get on the show developers, house builders, the people that are making. All these cool buildings across the country, but also we wanna talk about the design. So I'm lucky today 'cause we're gonna tick at least two of those boxes and potentially more.
'cause it's not just about the feature, it's embracing the fast the past with what we do with the feature as well. So on that note, I've got a design director who works for a developer who's doing beautiful projects across the country and.
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Bristol, United Kingdom
Factory No.1
The former W.D. & H.O. Wills tobacco factory combines converted industrial buildings and new homes within a landscaped Bristol neighbourhood.
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Roles in this world
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