Designing for Legacy: How Employee Ownership Strengthens Architectural Culture
- Howard Mann
- Jun 26
- 3 min read
For architects and design studios, succession isn’t just about handing over a business. It’s about protecting a legacy—the ideas, values, and culture that took decades to build. And yet, many founders face a harsh reality: traditional exits risk losing everything that made the practice special.
That’s why a growing number of architectural firms are choosing a quieter revolution—Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs). More than just a tax-efficient succession model, EOTs are proving to be one of the most powerful ways to safeguard firm culture and identity.
Legacy Matters: Why Culture Is the Cornerstone of Design Firms
Implementation Point: External buyers rarely preserve the values, vision, and working environment that define architectural studios.
For most architectural firms, culture isn’t a footnote—it’s the blueprint. From the way design reviews are run to how clients are treated and junior staff are mentored, studio values are deeply embedded in daily practice. Unfortunately, these qualities are rarely guaranteed when a business is sold to outsiders.
Implementation Exercise:
Write down three cultural values that make your firm unique.
Then ask: Would a third-party buyer protect these values—or override them for profit or efficiency?
Putting It All Together: When Make Architects transitioned to employee ownership, founder Ken Shuttleworth said it allowed them to “retain our independence and cultural identity” while giving employees “a real stake in the practice.”
Takeaway: Selling to your employees means your values stay embedded—not erased.
Architecture Needs Continuity, Not Disruption
Implementation Point: Sudden ownership changes can destabilise long-term projects, client relationships, and internal trust.
Architecture isn’t built on quarterly targets. It’s a long game—relationships with clients, planners, and communities often span years. That continuity is threatened when leadership is handed off in a single transaction.
An EOT allows for a gradual, transparent transition where founders can reduce involvement over time without sending shockwaves through the firm.
Implementation Exercise:
Map your active projects against your personal timeline for stepping back.
Estimate the impact of selling to an external firm vs. transitioning through an EOT over 2–5 years.
Putting It All Together: Stride Treglown adopted an EOT to ensure continuity of leadership and maintain long-standing relationships with both public and private sector clients.
Takeaway: EOTs provide stability—for your people, projects, and partnerships.
Creativity Thrives in Shared Ownership Cultures
Implementation Point: An ownership mindset nurtures more engagement, responsibility, and innovation among designers.
Studios thrive when people feel they belong. Employee ownership turns this feeling into fact. When everyone shares in the firm’s success, there's a stronger sense of purpose—and a natural motivation to contribute ideas, not just hours.
Implementation Exercise:
Ask team members in a quick survey: What would change for you if you knew you were a co-owner of this studio?
Capture their responses and look for recurring themes—pride, commitment, voice.
Putting It All Together: HLM Architects, one of the earliest adopters of employee ownership in the UK, reported a noticeable rise in staff engagement, client satisfaction, and innovation in the years following their EOT transition. (Source)
Takeaway: Culture doesn’t just survive under EOTs—it grows stronger.
EOT Governance Supports Values-Driven Leadership
Implementation Point: The trustee structure of EOTs enables checks and balances that align decisions with firm ethos.
In an EOT, control doesn’t mean chaos. Governance is structured through a board of trustees—including employee representatives and often an independent trustee—who oversee the firm’s strategic direction while safeguarding employee interests.
That means founders can step back knowing their studio’s spirit won’t be lost to short-term pressures or narrow interests.
Implementation Exercise:
Sketch a governance model with a founder, an employee rep, and an independent trustee.
Discuss: How could this group protect the firm’s mission better than a typical ownership model?
Putting It All Together: Assael Architecture built EOT governance into their studio culture, using it to formalise design leadership principles and codify staff involvement in decision-making.
Takeaway: EOTs give your culture structural support, not just sentiment.
Ownership That Feels Like Architecture
Architectural firms are built on intention. Every brick and beam reflects deliberate thinking—so why should your business model be any different?
Employee Ownership Trusts are more than a clever tax structure. They are a design solution in their own right—crafted to preserve what matters most while empowering the next generation to carry it forward.
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