50th Anniversary Celebration aboard the S.L.Streatley
It was with an overwhelming sense of pride that Robert Davies John West Ltd director and chartered architect Kevin Davies addressed staff and valued clients on the River Thames aboard the S.L.Streatley, a luxury 100 year old genuine coal fired steam boat, to celebrate the practice's 50th anniversary. The nostalgic cruise passed through Old Windsor Lock, the pretty village of Datchet and past many of the practice’s riverside developments in Runnymede and Staines as a reminder of our history and its role in shaping some of the sites on our way.
Speaking at the event, Kevin explained the 50-year journey of the practice from the original partnership between Bob Davies and John West in 1973. It is a tribute to all members of the team, past and present, working alongside our long standing clients, that the practice has continued to flourish delivering a wide range and scale of projects in the area and further afield.
Bob had studied architecture at Kingston School of Art & Architecture. He then worked in London where John West was his immediate boss.
From working from home in 1971 and then an office above KFC, to Kingston Road, Debmark House, and Leacroft and now to Church Street, Staines has continued to be the base for the practice, although with modern technology we are able to have satellite offices in the South West and in France.
Founder Bob Davies, who has led the practice for 50 years and is experienced in all aspects of work from inception, through procurement to completion, thanked everyone and stressed how important it is to enjoy working with clients and staff. He appreciated the skills they offered, the complexity of the projects being delivered and expressed his gratitude to everyone present, thanking them all for their significant contribution to the success of the practice.
Today, Robert Davies John West Ltd remains focused on our commitment to shaping a high quality built environment no matter the project scale or typology. We are as happy working on a modest listed building in a conservation area to a large scale business park or strategic development site. We have always embraced new technologies and software to help streamline our work and keep costs in check. Sustainability is at the heart of our design processes and it has been a real pleasure to deliver a number of ‘off-grid’ projects in recent years as well as numerous eco-homes.
We are passionate about architecture and the practice remains well positioned to assist new and existing clients through all the RIBA work stages – from an initial chat up to completion and monitoring. A wealth of experience is on hand to guide you…
Chapter one
Chapter 1
I had been working in Bloomsbury London for a small practice, John West was the associate partner to whom I was immediately responsible. My workload was as always very mixed, the drastic upgrading of a major chain of Public Houses, shopfitting a new chain of retail units throughout the UK, several new garage showrooms, up -market flats and industrial developments. Design and Build had not yet been invented and we as Architects would deal with the projects from beginning to completion.
All this was pre computers and photo copiers. I could dictate complete specifications that would then be transferred to a Roneo machine that could provide up to about 8 copies.
I had worked well with John but the senior partner JD was a little man, full of himself, and new staff were being paid more than me and were not very good at the job. Having only recently moved to our Thameside new house Project I was unaware of how restless and grumpy I had become.
Without reference to Cathy or anyone else, it must have been at the beginning of May that I informed JD and John that I would leave at the end of July. This I told them would give me time to complete a major block of flats in Ealing and a large industrial development in Acton as well as the several other smaller projects I was working on. It would also give them time to find someone to replace me. Not once did I think that they would have been perfectly within their rights to sack me on one month’s notice!!
When I went home and told Cathy what I had done she said “Good It’s about time you did something you’ve been like a bear with a sore head for weeks”.
I had no plans for what was ahead, find another job, set up with another college from Uni, or have a go on my own.
50th Anniversary Celebration aboard the S.L.Streatley
It was with an overwhelming sense of pride that Robert Davies John West Ltd director and chartered architect Kevin Davies addressed staff and valued clients on the River Thames aboard the S.L.Streatley, a luxury 100 year old genuine coal fired steam boat, to celebrate the practice's 50th anniversary. The nostalgic cruise passed through Old Windsor Lock, the pretty village of Datchet and past many of the practice’s riverside developments in Runnymede and Staines as a reminder of our history and its role in shaping some of the sites on our way.
Speaking at the event, Kevin explained the 50-year journey of the practice from the original partnership between Bob Davies and John West in 1973. It is a tribute to all members of the team, past and present, working alongside our long standing clients, that the practice has continued to flourish delivering a wide range and scale of projects in the area and further afield.
Bob had studied architecture at Kingston School of Art & Architecture. He then worked in London where John West was his immediate boss.
From working from home in 1971 and then an office above KFC, to Kingston Road, Debmark House, and Leacroft and now to Church Street, Staines has continued to be the base for the practice, although with modern technology we are able to have satellite offices in the South West and in France.
Founder Bob Davies, who has led the practice for 50 years and is experienced in all aspects of work from inception, through procurement to completion, thanked everyone and stressed how important it is to enjoy working with clients and staff. He appreciated the skills they offered, the complexity of the projects being delivered and expressed his gratitude to everyone present, thanking them all for their significant contribution to the success of the practice.
Today, Robert Davies John West Ltd remains focused on our commitment to shaping a high quality built environment no matter the project scale or typology. We are as happy working on a modest listed building in a conservation area to a large scale business park or strategic development site. We have always embraced new technologies and software to help streamline our work and keep costs in check. Sustainability is at the heart of our design processes and it has been a real pleasure to deliver a number of ‘off-grid’ projects in recent years as well as numerous eco-homes.
We are passionate about architecture and the practice remains well positioned to assist new and existing clients through all the RIBA work stages – from an initial chat up to completion and monitoring. A wealth of experience is on hand to guide you…
Chapter two
Chapter two
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