The word 鈥榥etworking鈥� might conjure up mental images of 鈥榳orking the room鈥� in a conference hall full of businesspeople in suits. However, the opportunities that could utterly transform your practice or career might lie in your local neighbourhood.
For Siri Zanelli, Partner at , the projects that have allowed her practice to punch above its weight came about organically: from a curiosity about local spaces; from the part she plays in her area as a local resident; and from simply pursuing the activities that interests her.
鈥淚t is more about attitude than 鈥榥etworking鈥� as such,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭he work is out there, and if you genuinely share and open up good things will happen.鈥�
This is where networking intersects with involvement in your locale: it is sociable, coincident with your own interests, and might even be fun. Zanelli will be discussing ways practices can empower themselves to 鈥榩unch upwards鈥� at the RIBA鈥檚 conference on 9 November 2021.
The work that results might be small scale. But the important point here is that these can be transformative, pivotal projects for a practice: for Collective Works, they have directly led to satisfying further work. It is difficult to get a foothold in the public sector, and a practice that can plug itself into local community networks can find they have opened a 鈥榖ack door鈥� into this realm.
Zanelli suggests weighing up the amount of practice time and resources that might be spent on a competition entry (which could be won or lost) against the learning experiences, long term benefits and likelihood of a tangible build that community-based projects can bring. Her opinion is that developing local knowledge and contacts, and perhaps carrying out some pro bono projects, may be a better option.
鈥淲e are taught that competitions are great, but for a small practice they might create a resourcing problem,鈥� she points out. 鈥淩especting people鈥檚 time does not necessarily sit well with competition entries. We want to run our practice responsibly in terms of our staff: we don鈥檛 let people work overtime.鈥�
A project for a primary school in Highgate, north London, where Zanelli lives, is a particularly good case in point. It was known locally that she was an architect, and the schools鈥� headmaster asked her if anything could be done with a dark, underused area of the playground. There was no budget for an extension, so she suggested an , which could be delivered for about 拢5000 with some volunteer effort.
Any budget at all is a challenge for small projects of this kind, and Zanelli contacted an altruistic local member of the Highgate Society to host a fundraising event. The money was raised and the project was delivered thanks to generous local volunteers.
The successful delivery of this modest but stylish project led, via the Highgate Society connection, to their work on a master plan for a threatened local green space, the Highgate Bowl. They were commissioned to design a building - the designed to RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge targets 鈥� and given a lead role in community engagement for a planning application.
Their Highgate work also led directly to being commissioned for an outdoor play space for Haringey Council. There was a 鈥榖ack door鈥� approach here. The Highgate Neighbourhood Forum had already identified that some of Haringey's CIL money should be spent on projects nominated by the community through the Forum.
Play spaces were at the top of the list and, through volunteering at the Highgate Festival and running the first public engagement event, Collective Works could support the Neighbourhood Forum with the formal application for funding.
When the play space project came up for tender, the practice was best placed for the job through in-depth knowledge of the requirements of the Highgate Neighbourhood Plan, the outcomes of the initial consultations as well the sensitivity of the site.
"We would never had won that job had we not spent a festival day talking to families about what's missing in the area," points out Zanelli, "and getting children involved with sketch sessions."
The back door was also the practice鈥檚 route into two projects for the NHS. These were direct appointments for the practice; they were not via competitions or bids. But they came about thanks to fellow partner Alasdair Ben Dixon鈥檚 work at the , an upcycling project in Brixton.
The construction manager there, who was impressed by the practice鈥檚 social values and commitment, reconnected with Alasdair Ben Dixon years later. He was now a Social Prescribing Manager at the NHS, leading the upgrade of facilities to help GPs refer people for health and wellbeing services, commissioned Collective Works to upgrade some NHS spaces.
鈥淚t is hard to be strategic in this regard,鈥� Zanelli admits. 鈥淵ou cannot think 鈥榣et鈥檚 do the playground and perhaps philanthropist will offer us further jobs鈥�. But in terms of business development, getting away from the computer and involving yourself in different organisations and networks is very important. That鈥檚 where the work is.鈥�
Siri Zanelli will be talking about how practices can empower themselves to 鈥榩unch upwards鈥� at the RIBA鈥檚 conference Guerrilla Tactics 2021: Stop, Collaborate and Listen, which takes place online between 9 and 11 November 2021. Tickets are .
Thanks to Siri Zanelli, Partner, Collective Works.
Text by Neal Morris. This is a Professional Feature edited by the RIBA Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas.
RIBA Core Curriculum topic: Business, clients and services.
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