2 March, 2009
Richard Rogers has announced plans to make 35 redundancies at Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, describing the recession as 「the most ruthless and wide-ranging」 he can remember.
The redundancy plans were revealed to the practice's 160 staff in Hammersmith this morning after an emergency directors' meeting last week.
「In my long career as an architect, this is one of the saddest days,」 said Rogers. 「The economic downturn we are experiencing is the most ruthless and wide-ranging I can remember – particularly in the architectural sector – and it is impossible for us to be immune from its effects. Projects which seemed secure three months ago are now on hold or cancelled, and competition for existing work has become far more severe.」
A letter from the directors outlining the reasons behind the redundancies was sent out to staff this morning.
「It is clear that our current and anticipated workload no longer matches our previous expectations and we will not be able to replace the lost projects in the near future,」 it said.
「The current financial recession has hit the construction and property world very hard, and is unprecedented in the lifetime of the practice. The decision to reduce the community in this way has been particularly difficult for us. However, we must take this action now to ensure the survival of the practice in these difficult times.」
A number of the practice's key UK schemes have been put on hold, including the Leadenhall Tower development in London known as the Cheesegrater.
The practice has also been on the receiving end of heavy criticism over the troubled Chelsea Barracks development, one of its largest schemes.
Last week BD revealed that substantial changes had been made to the scheme in response to comments from Cabe and Westminster Council.
Rogers, one of London mayor Boris Johnson's four design advisers, was recently appointed to the jury to judge the competition to design the new US Embassy building in Vauxhall, but was not eligible to bid for the project which was only open to US firms.