That summer Camilla Parrish from Milan joined following a random internet search – she was to be first of many European recruits. She was followed by Carla de Moraes, who had worked with Juan at Hamiltons. Chris’s friend from Gibberds and then Hamiltons – Martin Pikett - joined up with Richard Hutchinson in the summer and there was a feeling that the practice was beginning to seriously find its feet. A stream of luxury residential projects followed, with also a terrace of office buildings at Borehamwood. A large residential scheme at Sutton was drawn up by Warren and James Wong under Richard’s supervision. Martin and Carla started work on the Fetter Lane office project with help from Sukie Leung. Christmas 2004 was spent in Brighton with us having a boozy lunch in the Hotel du Vin.

It had become clear that Chris’s early ideas of an overhead free and management light structure were not working and Tracy MacDonald was recruited as Practice Manager. Tracy, with Richard sitting opposite, became the heart of the practice and added drive and energy. Around this time Stewart Han joined, again from Hamiltons.

Many meetings were held in the Ship pub, which was all too conveniently located across the road from the office and became an unofficial boardroom. In November Kate Moore (née Walton) joined and worked on the conception and feasibility studies for Peel House in Pimlico. Meanwhile, there was a large tower commission in Croydon and the excitement of being shortlisted for a design competition in Morecambe.