EPR Architects

Much admired by clients, EPR has four fewer UK architects this year, and expects to reduce its number further next year. More than half of its work in 2016 was directly for contractors, the highest proportion declared by any of the top 20 firms. The London-based practice also has offices in Poland, opened in 2015 and accommodating 12 architects.

Back in the UK, plans to redevelop the Old War Office, used by Winston Churchill during the Second World War, were approved by Westminster City Council in February this year. The building will become a five-star hotel and 88 apartments. Planning consent has also been received for the redevelopment of the former Shredded Wheat factory site in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire into 850 homes.

In December, EPR was appointed to another iconic scheme, the renovation of Grade II*-listed Hotel Russell in central London. A different sort of hotel scheme drew accolades for the practice last summer. The hipster Ace Hotel in Shoreditch, designed by EPR with Universal Design Studio, made the shortlist for The Architectural Review’s BnB Award, which celebrates innovative places to stay around the world.

Dieter Bentley-Gockmann, director at the practice, was last autumn among the voices calling for role models to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender architects come out at work. In response to an AJ survey that found almost half of LGBT+ architects were discouraged by the lack of openly out colleagues, Bentley-Gockmann said: ‘These responses emphasise the benefit of LGBT+ architects in senior positions acting as role models to help dispel the misconceptions held by some clients and contractors about what it means to be an LGBT+ architect.’