I first met Rud two years ago when he was working on the new ‘super hostel’ on Plymouth which is due to open later this year. Once of the key ingredients on this project was to ensure that the design team understood and included homeless people’s views on the proposal. I observed Rud at several consultation events where he was working with homeless people to hear their views, not in a tokenistic way but in a way that gave them real ownership and buy-in. He appears to have a natural way of engaging with people regardless of their circumstance and always gave a genuine impression of trying to understand the needs and concerns of others.
Since then we have employed Rud Sawers Architects as the project architect on the construction of the Rooute Centre in Torbay. The Rooute Centre is a self-build enterprise centre in the heart of Torbay which is due to commence early this year. The projects were a particularly challenging project not only due to its self-build nature, but also due to its location which is in the middle of a residential area.
Rud has excelled himself on this project not only from a design perspective but also from a community consultation viewpoint. He has held regular consultation events with the public, which initially was very challenging turned out to be hugely positive.
Rud always answered public concerns in a very honest and considerate way and was clearly one a the key contributors in getting the project through the planning process.
If you are looking for a mainstream normal architect, Rud is clearly not your person. If however you want an enthusiastic architect who cares passionately about his work and the impact of his work Rud is clearly someone you should seriously consider.
