170: Navigating Public Procurement with Bell Phillips

Hello and welcome to the Business of Architecture. I'm your host Rion Willard. This week I am speaking with Tim Bell, Hari Phillips, and Melissa Dowler, the Directors and Co-Founders of Bell Phillips Architects. In this conversation, we talk about how Tim and Hari founded the practice and what sorts of challenges a younger practice might be facing now if they were to follow the same route. We go deep into public procurement, some of the constraints about it, but most importantly, the power of doing public work and why it's important for architects to be engaged with it. We get some deep insight into how we can approach tenders, bids, framework agreements, and how to structure practice profitability. So sit back, relax, and enjoy Tim Bell, Hari Phillips, and Melissa Dowler. Bell Phillips architects was established in 2004 after Tim Bell and Hari Phillips won an international design competition to carry out a major regeneration project in East London. From this first £8 million project the practice has grown and diversified with a portfolio that currently includes a wide range of projects across a number of sectors. The practice has a strong track record of high quality design demonstrated through high profile competition wins, awards and features in publications and exhibitions. Nevertheless our approach is grounded in a fundamental understanding of the technical, financial and practical issues which ensures that our designs are viable and deliverable. We work at all stages from feasibility studies, through to planning applications, detail design and production information.   THIS WEEK'S RESOURCES Access your free training at http://SmartPracticeMethod.com/ If you want to speak directly to our advisors, book a call at https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/call Bell Phillips' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bell-phillips-architects/ Bell Phillips Architects: https://www.bellphillips.com/