A London architecture practice (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris) that is employee-owned, with studios in London and Bristol and a reputation for housing, offices and schools.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, known as AHMM, is a London architecture practice. It presents itself as a practice where ambition drives the work and where developing the practice and its people is treated as a project in its own right. Its teams are led by directors and are not split by sector or stage of work, so each team works like a smaller studio inside a shared office. Models are a core design tool, supported by an in-house modelshop, and the practice's rule of thumb is "if it's not drawn, it can't be discussed".
AHMM says architecture is a broad discipline and that strong leadership and collaborative working matter, with each person responsible for part of a shared goal. Since September 2017, the practice has been employee-owned through the AHMM Employee Ownership Trust, and says its employees are majority owners of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Ltd. It states that profits should be shared when the practice performs well, and all staff can join the profit-share scheme after probation.
AHMM lists studios in London, Bristol and Oklahoma City. The London studio is the main UK base and Bristol is the second UK studio. Each office has varied spaces for collaboration and regular social events, including weekly presentations, a spring conference and summer city research trips. The pages we read did not give a headcount, so we cannot say how many people work in the UK.
On culture, the practice says it pays at least the London Living Wage and does not offer unpaid internships. It lists benefits including private medical and dental insurance, income protection, critical illness and life cover, an employee assistance programme, and 13 weeks of full pay for new parents after a year's service. Staff can join working groups on diversity, gender equality and wellbeing, and an Employee Ownership Working Group. A Partnerships Group runs community, cultural and education outreach that staff are encouraged to join. These are the company's own statements.
People at AHMM include architects at every stage, architectural assistants, technologists, interior designers, model makers, visualisers, project managers, and finance, marketing and operations staff. The practice says it supports learning, including Level 6 and 7 apprenticeships and Part III course fees for Part II graduates. If you like making things by hand as well as on screen, the focus on models is a good sign. The practice website lists current roles.
Website: ahmm.co.uk
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