David Taylor catches up with Pooja Agrawal, who starts as the new CEO of Public Practice in June, about taking the organisation to the next, national step, the pressures facing local authorities…and keeping her hand in with architecture at home…

David Taylor: Hi, how you doing? And what have you been doing?

 

Pooja Agrawal: I am doing well. It’s been really exciting to know that I'll be taking the next phase of Public Practice forward. I’ve been really touched and overwhelmed by the response on social media – I’ve had just a lot of warmth and good wishes and that's made me really happy and excited about this next step. 

 

DT: What do you think it is about Public Practice that has been so successful? It's filled a gap, as it were, hasn't it?

 

PA: Yeah, it's a really good question. I feel like it's just it captured a lot of people's imagination. I think when we set it up in 2017, even at that point, there were quite big conversations around what is it that architects are trying to do in private practice. I mean, I’m an architect and worked in practice for a number of years. I always chose to work for practices that had quite an ethical stance, or were always thinking about the public. But you know, lots of friends and colleagues who I went through the journey of studying architecture with were just questioning what their purpose was; designing, I don’t know, really posh lofts while not being able to afford a room in London. That was the bubble I was in at the time. And, of course, this is not an issue just in London, it is across the country. And I think we just caught the momentum of people wanting to make change and created the infrastructure for people to be able to make that shift and make that change. 

 

Over time, I think it's just grown from strength to strength in terms of its impact in the South East and it’s been really brilliant to see it building up. And, you know, , local authorities have been so tied given austerity, , given the parameters they've been working with, but want to be doing so much, and are incredibly ambitious. So, I think the strength of Public Practice is connecting all of these dots, , and continues to be, really. 

 

DT: What have you noticed in terms of the people that are in the cohorts since 2017? Have they changed in their demographics; in where they're from? Has Brexit had an impact recently? What has been the main change, would you say?

 

PA: So obviously, the scale of the cohorts has grown; we've had bigger groups of people working together, which has really been brilliant. What we've been really good at is getting a kind of wider skillset. Increasingly, as local authorities are aiming at targets such as carbon zero,we need to be bringing these kinds of new and different skills into local authorities. So increasingly, we're getting people who are experts in sustainability, in garden towns, and those kinds of different backgrounds coming together – it has been really interesting to see that shift as the skills of the cohort grow.  I  think that we're dealing with quite fundamental big issues in society, and you need these kinds of multidisciplinary skills around the table trying to solve things in areas like housing. 

You need someone to think about making a fundamental impact on housing in the long term so seeing the diversification of skills has, for me, been kind of interesting and one of the other successful things that the team has managed to do well in the last few years. 

 

DT: What impression do you get of local authorities in terms of how they're pushed for resources at the moment? What's the temperature test?

 

PA: I think there continues to be a problem in terms of having the kind of capacity and skills to live up to the ambition that local authorities have. And I think COVID has been a really interesting time to see how local authorities have responded. We have associates who have been dealing on the ground with the immediate response to COVID and helping with organising local services. And in that sense, local authorities have shown that they are actually quite – I hate the word ‘agile’ – but are able to adapt to circumstances in a way that I think they have more space and freedom, perhaps than national government, in many ways.

 

And that's been really interesting to see that kind of connection to local communities, and that kind of two-way thing of being able to support local communities as well as getting to the right people to support neighbourhoods and bigger communities. So, I think that's been quite a really Interesting thing for associates to be involved with in the last year or so. 

 

DT: Do you miss being an architect?

 

PA: Do I miss being an architect? (laughs)

I feel like I still think of myself as an architect with a small ‘a’. I have always kind of influenced conversations around the things that are most important to me around design quality. And for me, social equality has always been at the heart of what an architect should be doing. The purpose of architecture is for the public and making sure everyone has a good life. So, in that sense, I have personally felt like I'm able to influence the sector outside the architecture sector, which has been really interesting. But also, I'm able to advocate for the industry in a way that perhaps someone like Sadie Morgan has done so successfully.. 

So yeah, sometimes I miss, I guess, designing.

I tried to use Vectorworks recently when we were doing our own home recently and realized that I just can't do it. (laughs)

 

DT: (Laughs)

 

PA: Do I miss using CAD? (laughs) I don't know, I'm not sure, to be honest! (laughs) 

 

DT: Did you have to ‘get an architect in?’ (laughs)

 

PA: My partner is actually an architect and in fact, our home’s been shortlisted for the Don’t Move, Improve! 

 

DT: Oh, okay. Great.

 

PA:, I still think I am acting as an architect, but perhaps not within the traditional parameters of how an architect is defined.

 

DT: So finally, what are your first thoughts in terms of an action plan going forward when you take over? What is the ambition? Where is Public Practice going next as an organization? Can you put that into words? 

 

PA: Sure. I think we are in a really interesting phase. Public Practice has been operating for just over three years, and you know, we have really successfully embedded the model in the south east. And the next phase, is to take Public Practice national. So, my role will be really doing that, taking it national in the next few years… 

 

DT: Really? Right. Wow!

 

PA:  Well, absolutely. Which is a really interesting next step. Obviously working at Homes England, this last year has been a really good experience for me as well to understand the different parameters and the different needs that different regions have. And given where we are with COVID, what does the kind of post-pandemic scenario look like?Everyone's talking about recovery, what does that mean? I will be trying to respond to the different needs and build up the model across the country, which is really, really exciting. 

 

DT: Fantastic. And then one day, international, perhaps?

 

PA: (laughs). Well, you know, never say never! (laughs)

 

DT: (laughs) Magic. Okay. Well, thank you very much for your time. That's really interesting. 

 

PA: Thank you so much. 

 

DT: I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you in the real world again one day. 

 

PA: Absolutely!

 

DT: Three dimensions! See you soon.

 

PA: Thanks. Bye!