DT: Just round the corner from there, at Tottenham Court Road, you're also working on the Outernet. Tell me about that, because that's again another very hard hit sector in terms of music venues. It just feels like another century ago that I went to went to a music event or a gig! What is the USP there? It is supposedly London's newest retail media experience. Could you unpack that for me?
JMc: Yeah. So I think that the key difference on the Outernet is using digital technologies. We're using the latest LED screens and using the data to create both economic and social value on the site. What I mean by that is that there's about 23,000 square feet of LED screens, which will do everything from show art installations to product launches to possibly showing live gigs within the main building.
What that has done is it generates value in a different way. You can rent screen time and it takes the pressure off a traditional pounds-per-square-foot, based on area. Now what that enables us to do is that we are creating two music venues - one is a 2000-person, and one is a 300-person grassroots venue. The value above ground has enabled it to take the strain off the value below ground, because music venues in themselves don't traditionally make any money and maybe that will be even more challenging move forward.
The screens enable small businesses or large businesses to rent the spaces, so you no longer have to commit to a say 10 or 15-year lease within, let’s say, Oxford Street. You could rent the screens for an hour, 24 hours a week, a month and you can have your main warehouse outwith London. So it really is an opportunity for businesses and brands to display themselves in a very different way in the heart of central London, as well as it being an attraction back into central London.
DT: So: very final question. How is business at the moment for you as an architect? What is it like being an architect in this weird time? Are you in the office? What's going on?
JMc: With the new national restrictions just last week we went from having two groups alternating each week, so we pretty much had all of the office pretty much back on a fortnightly basis between the two weeks; we're now down to a very restricted core group of people in the office, one of which is myself. So I'm actually sat in the office now, speaking to you.
DT: Right. How many are in today?
JMc: I think we have got 10 or 11 as our core group who can’t readily work from home. Quite frankly, I have found that particularly challenging. I have spent near on six months on an ironing board in my bedroom helping to run the practice, which was really quite interesting! (laughs)
It’s great to be back, I have to say. We are really optimistic. It's a cautious optimism - we are in the throes of hopefully getting Central St Martins site into the next stage of design. We've got a couple of others which are scheduled to kick off in January, and so we’ve brought everybody that we had on furlough back early. We had a small group on furlough and we’ve committed to not even entertaining redundancies or a review of that this year.
DT: What's the survival secret?
JMc: Um. The survival secret… I think the lead up and the years in which we've been working, which have been incredibly rich in terms of the quality of work and the rewards from it. You have to not drop the ball in in that time. Because I think what we're finding is the flight to quality, the attention to detail and the quality of service that you provide during up-times really does help define your route through slightly more challenging times. We have worked really hard in the last few years to make sure that we don't take the eye off the ball.
DT: Well, good luck with it all! I look forward to having another flat white with you in the Standard bar at some point and, further forward, over at Saint Martins.
JMc: Yes, I’d love to see you over there.
DT: Thanks John.
JMc: Okay thanks. Cheers!