2020 was quite a year for the world.

Mhairi reflects on the impact lockdown had on Paper Igloo and our industry in general.

The last year has certainly been challenging for many of us. When reflecting on the impact this has had on our working lives I am reminded of a quote from ‘A Room with a View’ by E.M Forster that draws a parallel describing life as “…a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the instrument as you go along.”

Nothing could sum up the last year more accurately for me – in many ways it has been a most public year despite our lack of physical contact with others. As a Director of a micro practice of two who have already worked from home for the last 15 years you would be forgiven for thinking that not much can have changed in our business! Whilst in some ways this is true, even for those of us who are hardened to the constant challenge of trying to maintain separation between our home and work lives when both occupy a shared physical space, there have been some notable changes in our working practices, some more positive than others. Even with no commute we have always tried to maintain routine within our working day. However, the lack of other social obligations, no interruptions with family members coming to stay, and the gym closures have, for us, presented a mental challenge, as any residual ‘holes’ in the day have been increasingly plugged with work-based activities, and moments of loneliness that can come from sharing challenges with only one other person. A walk in the countryside, despite inclement weather, has become a new, regular, and necessary break point in the day.

No matter what the size of practice, or type of client we regularly engage with, the experience of having to rapidly learn new technologies or methods of successful communication has seemed universal. Expressions such as ‘zoom fatigue’ and hashtags such as #wfh are now embedded in our lexicon; the use of Doodle polls and Miro boards are steadily replacing traditional organisational tools for structuring larger group meetings now taking place in a virtual environment: innovation borne out of necessity.  

In our practice we have had to find new ways of describing our designs with only digital means to clients who would typically be unversed in understanding and interpreting drawings even when sat around a table with paper and pen, let alone over a conference call. Making new clients has also presented an interesting challenge. Overall, it has not been insurmountable, but it is certainly an unusual feeling to be employed by someone you have never met in person. There is a nuance to human relationships that can be hard to develop when interacting with people you have never met face to face.

I spoke to several architect friends before writing this and their thoughts resonated with our own: generally, there have been some positive improvements to our working practices (less time spent driving to sites when a phone call will do), but there is a spark of creativity that can be missed when all co-workers or the design team are dispersed and not able to easily or quickly see and then resolve in person a particular aspect of a project. Given our office dynamic this was something I hadn’t fully appreciated before now. 

Although digital mediums have helped us to access learning we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford (courses run in London for example), and the usual Zoom anecdotes abound, when experienced first-hand it can sometimes inject some much-needed humour into the day. “I can’t find the mute.” … “Is this thing even on?” … “Stop talking, I’m just about to watch this conference thingy.” When trying to calmly deliver my own CDP for the first time online this year I thought I had all of the bases covered: office answering machine on, mobile on mute, webcam strategically positioned to avoid revealing the large printer box still occupying most of the office floor – until the landline that I had ‘definitely’ muted started to ring, and the kittens decided to use the open-plan living room as an assault course… You get the picture.

Despite the virtual backdrops that abound we have in some ways gained more insight into others’ lives and living situations than ever before: from the carefully curated backdrops, to the blurred-out surroundings that eerily shift and appear to transect half of someone’s hair or hands from reality, to the ‘spare room office’ piled high with bits and bobs, I have found a welcome air of informality that softens the otherwise harsh stop-start atmosphere telecommunications can often create.

A highlight during the first lockdown was a friend creating a ‘virtual restaurant’ for herself and her partner at the top of their staircase. Making the mundane interesting in order to cope with having to be in one building all day really brought home to me the importance of residential design. Indeed, we have seen briefs from new clients expanding to include dedicated spaces for exercise, and home office spaces move away from doubling up on landings, or tucked into a nook in the dining room, to becoming separate spaces to allow private conference calls away from home-schooling and other family activities. As another architect friend concluded recently “there is no going back”.