ABSTRACT

Consultant design agencies, in order to generate effective design solutions, must first win their clients. For the client, the process of selecting an architect is undertaken with care – architectural projects are always a major financial commitment, and once completed, the outcome must be lived with. For the architects, the winning of contracts requires the wooing of potential clients, and the establishment of the conditions which attract clients often consumes a significant proportion of staff time. Architects can rely on their track record: it is in the nature of architecture that the outcomes are visible to a greater or lesser degree, and attract attention and comment in the public domain. Reaction to individual examples of work accumulates into more general reputations, within the world of architecture and in the world at large.