A look back at 2020

2020 was undoubtedly a challenging year and for many a tragic year. Despite the adversity, we consider ourselves to have been very fortunate to have experienced a year where we found the opportunity to grow. We have grown in number, in the diversity of projects we are working on – and we have grown the number of clients and collaborators we have the pleasure of working with.

With the technology already in place we moved quickly and seamlessly to remote working in advance of government advice. A growth in projects saw us increase in number with new staff joining and adapting brilliantly to a new company during the first period of lockdown. Despite all the restrictions we have tried our best to continue being a sociable bunch with weekly BYOB Friday evening drinks seeing us come together virtually.  

In the summer we were told our landlord was selling the building and the new owners wouldn’t be renewing any leases so we started looking for new offices for our design team, and a workshop for our custom team.  We luckily found two amazing properties and took the keys to our new Design Studio on Bermondsey Street  and Custom Workshop in Dartford at the Beginning of November.  Spaces we are delighted to already call home. 

The year included a number of notable highlights. In January we were appointed by M&G real estate as lighting consultants on 40 Leadenhall Street, a 900,000 square foot, new build commercial development dubbed “Gotham City”.

January also saw us being appointed for the refurbishment to Dishoom, Covent Garden.  To mark its tenth birthday, the restaurant opted for a refurb, closing its doors to the public at the start of the year.  It was due to reopen bang on its birthday in the summer, but obviously this year got in the way.  We finally got across the line with the restaurant re-opening its doors and welcoming eager guests in early December, just in time for the festive period.

New appointments during the year were varied and diverse, ranging from lifestyle hotels, landscape masterplans, luxury residential projects and office developments in the UK and abroad.  These included; The London Institute for Medical Science in Hammersmith, a 9 storey biomedical research facility.  The incredibly exciting ANdAZ Hotel in Qatar, and Lauriston House, an innovative high end care home, our second care home project with this client. 

The year came to a close as it started – with a significant appointment, as we were engaged to work on R+F properties, One Thames City development.  We have been asked to design the common parts, façade and considerable landscape areas for 3No residential towers overlooking the Thames in Nine Elms. A project we are super excited to be working on.

2021:

We are looking optimistically into this new year, full of high hopes for an ease out of restrictions and the physical reunion of our practice as well aswelcoming clients and collaborators to our new home. We look forward to progressing and eagerly completing a number of our current projects along with the prospect of starting new projects both in the UK and Internationally.

Finally, we would like to thank our amazing team for their dedication and for adjusting so well to the circumstances in which we found ourselves, as well as a huge thank you to all of our Clients for their commitment to continue with projects and their support over the past year and into the year ahead. We really couldn’t do it without you, and this combined collaboration is what makes us Foundry, an award winning team of designers delivering creativity, innovation and passion to everything we do.