Tom Boddy speaks to Broadway Malyan about their journey to becoming a global architectural firm, and how the practice philosophy has evolved to increasingly embrace âholistic building designâ
It was in 1958 in Weybridge, Surrey that Cyril Broadway and John Malyan decided to team up and found a practice together. Their focus from the start was on housing schemes and housing competitions in that sector. Even today as a global AJ100 practice with over 400 employees, 60% of Broadway Malyanâs work comes from residential projects. Ian Apsley, group managing director, comments: âHousing and designing for the community has always been one of our main priorities â this has included some very big masterplans with thousands of homes, but also many designs for individual houses.â
Since its origins, the practice has grown âorganically,â says Apsley, which was âvery much led by clients.â In the early 90s their reputation led to the firm taking overseas commissions for the first time, and in 1995, the practice opened up their first studio outside the UK, in Lisbon. The following decade saw BM expand east, opening offices in Warsaw, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Shanghai. Today the practice has 15 studios around the world.
But the firmâs international growth hasnât all been smooth sailing, and there have been âgrowing painsâ along the way, says Apsley. The evolution of the firm can be split up into âthree generations of leadership;â the second being when it embarked on overseas expansion.
Any major practice spreading its reach across the globe is likely to run into challenges over the course of its existence. Apsley alludes to issues that Broadway Malyan faced at this time: âSome of the work we did back then in London faced quite a lot of controversy with the UK architectural press.â The firm had just become a limited company, was growing fast, and âdid lose some focus.â
Apsley joined the practice in 1999, which coincided with what he says was âa huge change.â He explains: âBecoming international required a huge cultural shift, which formed the basis of the completely different practice we are todayâ The last decade has seen BM move into its third âgenerationâ of leadership, becoming employee-owned in 2016 â a project led by Apsley. âThis was really about looking to the future, stabilising the business and making us resilient â we donât rely on individual investors anymore.â He adds: âThis process has put the ability to drive influence into the hands of the people that love the firm, and want to see it thrive onto the next generation.â
Although the firm now has a global network of studios, Apsley says they have never lost their core focus on the UK. âThe UK is more than a third of our business, and the market where we deliver the greatest variety of services.â
Design principles
âWhen we talk about ourselves, we say âcreating places togetherâ â for me itâs all in those three words,â says Apsley. The âtogetherâ part refers to putting collaboration at the forefront, he says. âWeâve been very clear that weâre never going to be able to do everything under our own roof.â The practice now works with a number of individual consultants and startups, a lot of which contain former colleagues. âWe have a network of people we reach out to for specialist skills.â
Ensuring that projects respond to their context is key, but doesnât just mean the physical aspects of a site, assets Apsley. âOn some of the projects we get involved in, particularly in developing countries, context is around what will be there in 20-30 years. It can also be about something spiritual.â
Allied with this is their âbig ideaâ concept, which drives the narrative throughout a project, to foster clarity of thinking as well as refinement of that idea. Apsley explains how this iterative process âsimplifies a project, strengthens it, and in turn makes it easier to build â meaning the quality is higher. Itâs a virtuous circle.â
One thing that underpins everything Broadway Malyan do is the fact they donât promote a âhouse style.â âWe donât impose predetermined ideas or visual identity on clients.â The practice spends a lot of time working with clients to “really understand whatâs key to them, to the place, and more than ever now to the environment.â
Research & sustainability
With the housing crisis becoming even more acute after increased demand post-pandemic, the practice has recently published âReimagined Villageâ â a report they hope will trigger a ânational conversationâ on logical non-urban housing solutions. With rural villages in the UK having less environmentally friendly credentials or economic accessibility compared with their city counterparts, the report highlights the urgent need to act to ensure these places become sustainable alternatives to city living.
Apsley expands on this: âNot every site or new community should be an extension to an existing town, putting more pressure on its infrastructure.â Instead the report gives insights into how planners and developers can transform these villages to meet the needs of the future.
To ensure Broadway Malyanâs climate goals are met, an âenvironmental design groupâ supervises its internal and external operations. Internally, looking at the practiceâs infrastructure and how they work as employees, they have set a daunting target to become net carbon zero over the next three years. However, âwith a pause on travel from Covid,â says Apsley, âthereâs a chance we could potentially achieve it ahead of this.â Externally, as well as designing projects with minimised energy use, they are putting the emphasis on producing climate-resilient buildings. âWe believe that from a more holistic building design and masterplanning point of view, this is where the focus really needs to be.â Apsley adds: âThis is about working at multiple scales at once. I genuinely believe there are a lot of opportunities in that area.â
Moving forward
Despite the practice already having a strong education offer in both Asia and the Middle East, as well as university projects in the UK, itâs a sector they are keen to grow. This ambition has led to them recently breaking ground on a new international school in Cairo â their first school in Africa. The ÂŁ25m project will accommodate 1,500 pupils from nursery to year 12, including 70 classrooms, laboratories, a library, a 450-seat auditorium, sports facilities and a full-size football pitch. âThis is a project we love doing, and we want to do more!â
Apsley also picks out a masterplanning project in Indonesia, âRedeveloping Dolly (part of the UK Governmentâs Global Future Cities Programme), as showcasing their current philosophy, and being an example of where the firm is heading. Putat Jaya, a former red-light district in Surabaya â known colloquially as âDollyâ â is being regenerated. Broadway Malyan is developing a set of âreplicableâ design standards and urban design guidelines to help support the local community through skills and entrepreneurship training. âWe led a big consultation on urban transformation and the project has been really well received so far, not only by the Indonesian government but by local residents too.â Apsley says the project demonstrates âan evolution of the kind of work we do at that scale.â
In terms of the goals moving forward, the practice is looking to broaden its horizons still further. âWe want to expand on our services and provide a greater range of consultancy, away from the traditional architectural offerings,â says Apsley. He adds: âYouâre going to see more blurred boundaries between studios, specialisms and our traditional sectors such as residential and commercial.â
And finally, in terms of the firmâs many collaborative aspects going forward, the pandemic has actually strengthened them, says Ian Apsley. He concludes that they are now taking a âless corporate, more agile approach to everything.â