Matt Loader and Iain Monteith are the directors of Loader Monteith, a Glasgow-based practice known for their approach to meaningful, local and sustainable architecture.

In this episode, Matt, Iain and Dave discussed:

• The challenges of managing clients, project scopes and costs in the early days of starting their practice, and how saying no to work that didn’t align with their vision was just as important as saying yes.
• How every small project is an opportunity that can lead to larger work in the future, but why it’s important to make sure smaller project budgets aren’t spread thin for the sake of more floor area.
• The three guiding principles they judge a potential project against to see whether or not it is a good fit for their practice, values and long-term vision.
• How they have approached their gradual shift from private residential towards public and community projects, and what adjustments they have made to their website, portfolio and practice messaging to support the transition.
• Their approach to timing project photoshoot to ensure the building has fully settled into place, and how shooting projects in the winter, which many architects avoid, has led to unexpected PR benefits for the practice.

If you'd like to learn more about their studio, you can visit loadermonteith.co.uk or follow them on Instagram at @loadermonteith.

Office Talk is hosted by Dave Sharp of Office D.SHARP, a strategic marketing and brand definition practice for architecture. We work collaboratively with clients across the UK. To learn more about our process and book a consultation, simply visit officedavesharp.com.

Today's episode of Office Talk was edited and produced by Anthony Richardson of Simple Dwelling Studio.