Tom Surman and Percy Weston have recently completed their first development, a family house in Peckham, south London.

They bought the council-owned site in 2018 without planning permission. The first issue they encountered was the discovery of a mains utility which delayed the sale by a year. Then, Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine saw building costs rise. This led to them physically building most of the house, excluding the brickwork and shell.

They say the experience has been “rewarding but very challenging" and their story is a fascinating insight into the highs and lows of being an architect developer and what they would do differently next time.

After meeting at the Royal College of Art, Tom and Percy established their practice, Surman Weston, in 2014 and have won multiple awards including the Stephen Lawrence Prize in 2022.

The talks' series is aimed at architects who would like to know more about the opportunities and challenges around being an independent developer, including spotting creative solutions that a non-architect developer will often miss.

Amanda Baillieu and Gus Zogolovitch set up Developer Collective in 2018 to teach professionals how to become design-led property developers and give them the contacts and resources to deliver their projects. Their book How to be an Architect Developer was published in September '23.

The talk will be followed by networking drinks and nibbles.

This event is supported The Building Society.

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