Five minutes with Laura Marr

What made you study architecture?

I have always been creative. As a child I used to spend my time designing, drawing, painting, making, and playing musical instruments, with my twin sister Mary, now also an architect. There is nothing more satisfying than creating something that didn’t exist before and going through the process from having a brilliant idea to realising it, bringing joy, and making shared memories.

Have you always wanted to have your own practice and why?

Yes, although for many years I felt like I had a lot of learning to do before feeling fully competent as architecture is such a broad and complex discipline with a huge responsibility. I have learnt a considerable amount in practice with some incredibly talented people and I’m keen to employ all my experience and imagination into managing creative projects and streamlining processes.

What do you enjoy about practising architecture?

I love working with people, listening, and sharing ideas. Architecture is never static and that excites me. The learning curve is always there, and it keeps you youthful as there is always something new and inspiring from new building methods and material treatment, production drawing techniques, to ways of engaging and procurement and the way we work. It is a career that is fully immersive, so you must love it to practise.

What in your view is the biggest misconception about architects?

That architects are expensive, have big egos and design and draw buildings in their own style and alone. This is actually four things, but they are all related and lead to an impression that involving an architect in a construction project is superfluous and expensive.

I believe good architects offer excellent value for money in the truest sense, as they are highly trained to give a full expert professional service in a very complex industry. Architects can help drive and organise the process and raise significant financial and experiential value, environmental sustainability, and improved wellbeing through thoughtful, well coordinated design.

Architects work collaboratively with teams. Although an architect or architectural company may have a particular signature style, a project is also shaped by the client’s requirements, finances, regulations, available materials etc. Creating buildings is a collegial activity. Historically there was a concept of the architect as the master builder, and then there was the era of the ‘starchitect’ but this vision is starting to be dispelled as more accessible media makes it apparent that the figurehead architect in a practice needs a considerable team to realise a project.

I believe that with ever more complex systems and demands it is imperative that the design, and build and fabrication teams, carry out the design function together. The architect often still leads the design process and the design team, and this is also something that takes years of practice to be really good at. That’s why I believe an architect is still considered young in their forties!

Where is your favourite place and why?

Portugal, walking along the Atlantic coast. My mother is Portuguese so I have lots of happy memories with family there.

When did you last feel truly inspired by a building and what is it about that building that inspires you?

In Lisbon earlier this year. We visited MAAT on Mother’s Day, and it really is a splendid building by MAAT, AL_A, and the whole team that envisioned and built it. I love that there is a single ceramic tile shape that wraps up the building and is used in the branding. This resonates with my interest in branding design dating back to my exposure to this in Pentagram and 20.20. It creates a holistic vision that tells a story and informs memory. The building form sits so well facing the river. The panoramic views offered from both the roof and cafe are truly stunning on a sunny day.

Which architect do you most admire and why?

There are many. In fact, most of the partners, architects, and trainee architects I have worked with I admire for their tenacity and ability to manage various aspects of such a complex profession. However, I would have to say Ted Cullinan as he was truly inspiring. He taught me that everyone is human and great work comes from optimism, drive and determination, not just creative talent and aptitude! As a Royal Academician he invited us all to a private show which happened to be Monet. There was a room full of various versions of the Water Lilies. As we walked out down the grand stair to the doorway, he asked me “So Laura, what did you think of that?” I politely said I thought it was great and he retorted something to the effect of: Isn’t it great to see, even the masters produced rubbish sometimes and it took many goes before they got it just right! I found his frankness, integrity and understanding of the imperfections of being human insightful. There was always an open optimism and clarity to the way he seemed to view the world, approached a brief, and a rigour in his creative process, both in how he engaged with people and designed, which gave him his much admired unique voice and pen strokes.

Who were your greatest mentors?

Again, there have been many from David Greene and Kevin Rhowbotham - design tutors in university, to Frances Forward who doesn’t even know how she impacted me. She gave me an intensive one to one, one hour summary of Part 3, which gave me a framework to pin all my professional learning and experience on! Since then, I have used this introduction method with all Part 3 students I have mentored over the past couple of decades, and they find it very helpful too. All have passed with excellent grades and continue to be very successful in their careers. My parents are my greatest mentors of all time as they have always championed and guided me and my sister. In practice there have been many for example Matthew Lloyd who headhunted me to join his practice, after working with me at Pentagram with Daniel Weil, to John Romer who was an imaginative structural engineer and architect at ECA who I worked closely with for 12 years, to Robin Nicholson (also at ECA) who gave me amazing opportunities and exposure to teaching and leading, to Ted Cullinan who wrote that he had “considerable admiration” for me, and who inspired me. I learnt so much from Ted, and he gave me confidence, in his wonderful embracive cooperative practice.

What gets you up in the morning?

It used to be a combination of fear and excitement. To stretch yourself and lead projects takes a lot of mental strength and energy, as there are so many levels on which you can fail but also succeed. Now it’s mostly excitement as I’m setting up my own practice and look forward to this new chapter in my life.

What do you think constitutes good architecture or a good building or place?

Sitting well in context - economic, social, cultural and site.

Raising aspirations - adding value and inspiring - creating beautiful uplifting places.

Improving - lives, fabric, connection to nature and shaped in response to the natural environment to improve wellbeing.

What projects do you aspire to work on at MARR Architects?

I would love us to work on a whole range of projects, from arts, cultural, education, to mixed tenure residential - new-build projects and remodelling existing buildings. It would be particularly exciting to work on projects that have opportunities for innovation in organisation, form and fabric.

What did you learn from doing your own self build project that you didn’t learn in practice?

Through my physical involvement in the construction, I learnt about buildability and to think logistically about access and sequencing, essential to ensuring the smooth running of a project on site. I employed this learning on my design for the canopy structure at Hounslow Town School. I designed four crossed rectangular steel structures to span the 18m quadrangle at the second floor that fitted in a lorry and were simply craned up and fixed into place without impacting the build of the main school. This offsite fabrication was also a consideration on a recent residential project where we designed-in the bathroom pods and utility panels at the very early stages. Also, procuring the various packages directly, rather than through a contractor, made cost, availability of materials and fabrication techniques a direct consideration. This impacted the design, for example, I had the structural plywood panels to the stairs, with an integral slot for LED lighting, CNC cut in a workshop and delivered for the builders to assemble. I did this to achieve the high quality finish.

As this self build project was done on a very tight budget and loans, I looked to ‘future proof’ the project, focusing the finances on the permanent elements to make the project robust with improved performance, whilst making savings on elements that could be replaced easily in time such as radiators and sockets. This is a strategy I have also successfully employed on projects in practice.

By going against convention, by reducing the number of bedrooms, opening up the ground floor, reorganising the kitchen into the centre of the house, lowering floors, pushing beams up into the joist zone and introducing rooflights, the value of the house was substantially increased. This unconventional approach increased often overlooked valuable assets of volume, light, space, comfort and through views.

What is your proudest moment in your career to date?

I think attending the opening show by the students at Brampton Manor Academy theatre that I designed and was project architect on. After a few years of very hard work and determination, working with huge consortiums through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) very managerial heavy process, seeing the results was so uplifting. The transformation of the students, the teachers and all involved in the process, was immediately apparent. The school has continued to be extremely successful as an Ofsted outstanding school in one of the poorest boroughs in London. I think this achievement is greater than any industry award as it really has changed the lives of so many for the better.

What inspirational quotes do you live by?

Many people who know me, know that it is the Nike slogan ‘Just Do It’. David Greene, ex Archigram and our design tutor at the University of Westminster, used this mantra to get students over the blank page syndrome. I found this hugely helpful as it makes you brave to express your ideas. I still live by this today. I believe that it takes more than talent to succeed. It takes guts, dedication and a ‘yes can do’ attitude.

Recently, I heard it said that business is a scenario where design can thrive, and I find this a hugely exciting prospect for MARR Architects.