Looking back at 70 years of ‘Holmes’ Miller!

In the first of our two-part blog celebrating 70 years of Holmes Miller, Callum Houston, managing director, takes a look back at some key milestones over the past seven decades.

As a fresh-faced architectural student starting my first day in professional practice back in July 1994, little could I imagine that more than a quarter of a century later I would be sitting here marking the company’s 70th birthday as managing director.

As a practice, we are all about looking forward with a focus on responding to the current climate challenge and the ongoing delivery of people focused architecture.

However, given this momentous milestone, I thought it would be worth reflecting on the ‘Holmes’ journey through the past seven decades, and highlight how my predecessors and their ambitions have shaped the business that we are today – one of Scotland’s leading architectural practices.

From small seeds…

The practice was founded by Jack Holmes, who started the company in two rooms on the top floor at 93 Hope Street, Glasgow. After finishing at the Royal Technical College in 1940, Jack joined up and served with distinction in the Royal Engineers, attached to the Highland Division - throughout the war. After the conflict finished, he stayed on for a further two years to supervise the Hamburg City Architects Office on behalf of the army.

By 1951, he was very determined to be his own boss, and this led to the creation of Jack Holmes Architects the same year. Following his marriage to Kirsteen Borland in 1954, the practice evolved to Jack Holmes & Partners in 1955 when his new wife was invited to join him in partnership in the business.

Jack retired from the business in 1983 and unfortunately passed away in 1999.  However, Kirsteen has been able to provide her insight into their early ambitions which was simply “to grow and prosper”. She is delighted that the ‘Holmes’ name is still thriving as one of the longest established practices in Scotland.

As a past president of the Glasgow Institute of Architects, one of Jack’s key motivations was to see young people develop and prosper in the industry, and this focus on nurturing the next generation of talent became a key focus of our practice. Today, we are still committed to training and staff development, something which Kirsteen believes would have pleased Jack greatly.

In the 70’s and 80’s a new generation of partners were invited to join the practice, leading to the rebranding of the business as Holmes Partnership in 1985. This rebranding included the promotion of Robin Th’ng as the first managing partner, a position he held from 1986 until 2003.

“As a leader, my first role was to shift Holmes from survive to thrive with a better understanding of business and architecture”.  

- Robin Th’ng

Robin took on the role when the practice, like many others, was struggling financially and trying to define its position in the profession. With much of its work involving tenement refurbishment in the Glasgow area for several housing associations, the Practice sought to reposition itself by expanding its client base to include private developers, central and local government and universities, whilst also expanding the product offering to include private residential development, student accommodation, hotels, education, commercial, prisons and other public sector work.

Robin was my first boss when I joined the business. I am keenly aware that his work, along with the other Partners of the time, was instrumental in establishing Holmes Miller as a leading designer and at the forefront of the educational and justice sectors within Scotland -  areas that we continue to thrive in today.

His leadership also relocated the business to the heart of the now thriving Finnieston area, in our own purpose-designed and built and studio offices, an exemplary architecture office of its time.

Following Robin’s departure from the business in 2003, Charles Strong became managing partner, a position he held for eight years. Commenting on his ambitions as managing partner, Charles said: “Our aim then was to further reposition the Practice in the marketplace with a step by step growth and increased turnover through winning larger commissions and projects for new Clients.”

The millennium and early 2000s was a time when workload significantly increased for the business particularly through the design of multi-site building projects procured via public/private partnerships. From offices across Glasgow and Edinburgh, our staff numbers grew significantly to service the growing workload and turnover. However, rather than basking in the success, Charles implemented a strategic and aspirational business plan for the business.

His management lead to our first £100million project in late 2007 which brought strength and resilience to the business as we chartered our way through the challenges posed by the financial crash in 2008 and the resulting recession.

On April 1st 2011, my big day arrived, 17 years after joining the business I took over the role of managing partner, and we released our 2011 vision, which focussed on driving international growth across the practice (more on that in our follow up blog) I will always be thankful for Charles’ ongoing mentorship, council and support. Weather and commitments permitting we still try and get together at least once a year to hit a small white inanimate sphere into what appears to be becoming an ever-smaller hole. At least that is how it feels to me, but I am sure that Charles is loving his golf in retirement.

When I took up the post I didn’t appreciate that my lofty new title would last a mere nine months. But I didn’t have to wait long for the next step in my career, as following the successful merger with The Miller Partnership in late 2011, I took up the position as the first managing director of the newly formed ‘Holmes’ Miller on the 1st January 2012.

Be sure to check out the next blog in this series which will focus on our 2011 Vision and our progress a decade on.  

Callum Houston

Holmes Miller | Managing Director