Certain interiors linger like scenes from a film. A corridor shines differently at midnight than it does at dawn. A bar hums with quiet conversation before dissolving into celebration hours later. A historic façade holds decades of memory while something entirely current unfolds inside it. These shifts in mood, movement, and emotional temperature sit at the center of Archer Humphryes Architects, the London-based practice founded by David Archer and Julie Humphryes.
Over the last two decades, the studio has developed a unique language within hospitality and adaptive reuse, crafting projects that feel exceptionally tied to place while alive to contemporary culture. Their work moves fluidly between restoration and reinvention, embracing the imperfections, histories, and layered identities embedded within older buildings.
Whether transforming the former fire station that became Chiltern Firehouse or reimagining landmark destinations like The Standard, London, Archer approaches architecture as an emotional medium, something capable of shaping how people gather, behave, remember, and connect. Most recently, the practice unveiled the newly redesigned Upstairs at Ronnie’s. This much-anticipated space reopened in February 2026 above the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho, with richly textured interiors attuned to the intimacy and rhythm of live jazz.
Whitewall spoke in-depth with Archer about conservation, collaboration, hospitality, and the enduring magnetism of architecture that allows people to feel fully present within it.
Portrait courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WHITEWALL: Your work consistently navigates the tension between historic architecture and contemporary intervention—how do you decide when to preserve, when to contrast, and when to completely reimagine a space?
DAVID ARCHER: Prior to deciding what works should be carried out or where our efforts should be concentrated, we would normally carry out a historical study of the building and its background and structure. This is usually accompanied alongside an appointment with a heritage consultant who assists in placing the existing building within a framework or hierarchy that clarifies what parts of the building are most precious and which parts of the building can be removed to the overall advantage of one’s reading and understanding of the building’s value and history.
Alongside an academic study of the building’s history and heritage importance, each site offers individual opportunities. In the case of Chiltern Firehouse, a 1920s steel exercise tower was taken down and the new hotel annex for bar and bedrooms constructed. In the case of Penderyn Llandudno Distillery, the Grade II Listed Board School had its courtyard infilled, this later building was reversed, the courtyard reinstated and the new distillery provided with a new rear entrance addressing the carpark and leaving the former school hall and refectory free to accommodate the stills and mash tanks.
In this sense, each site and building provides architectural opportunities alongside the study and understanding of the building’s background and the successful projects usually align both conservation officers’ concerns and client’s aspirations.
Learning Through Radical Architectural Thinking
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: Having studied at both the Canterbury School of Architecture and the Bartlett School of Architecture under Peter Cook, how did these formative experiences shape your approach to architectural storytelling and conceptual thinking?
DA: The studio based architectural education programme introduced by Peter Cook at the Bartlett, was a replica of that run by Alvin Boyarsky in 1971 – 1990. Studying under Peter Cook provided direct access to many of the individuals who had been teaching at the AA. These included Peter Salter, Zaha Hadid, Will Allsop and many others.
The celebration of the exploration of architecture through drawing was practically maniacal at this time. The individuals listed above were all producing original works, expanding the contemporary expression and language of architecture and awakening ideas and thinking that have remained seminal to me as an individual and which remain apparent in the work of the practice.
Hospitality as Atmosphere and Experience
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: Before founding Archer Humphryes Architects, you worked closely with figures like André Balazs, Antonio Citterio, and Jean Nouvel—what did those collaborations impart to you about the relationship between architecture, hospitality, and atmosphere?
DA: Interestingly, when I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work directly within Andre Balazs’ organisation in New York, I came to understand the advantages of commissioning multiple creative teams to work on a single project. In one specific instance, this included both Citterio and Jean Nouvel, but working with Andre, projects would frequently have multiple teams working simultaneously and creating work which allowed for varying skills and expression within a single project that would not have been possible had a single architect or hand been responsible for delivering the entirety of the scheme.
This approach goes beyond using individual teams for separate spaces, such as restaurants, bars or bedrooms and allows skills in the architectural development of the project to inhabit internal space planning and detail, as well as allowing specific individual conditions to be drawn into the projects that ultimately shape the overall architectural vision.
The most apparent example of this is Andre’s New York Standard, where two architectures sit side by side, one reflecting the immediate streetscape of the meat-packing district, which covers the Ground and 1st Floor, the upper floors are separated by the High Line passing below the hotel building which floats above and presents a corporate glass icon of late modernist architecture. The top of the building is completed with the design of the Boom Boom Room, which in turn, provides a separate 3rd language that in total means one experiences multiple environments within a single building alongside feelings, emotions and excitement.
Designing Around Human Behavior
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: Your studio speaks about designing bespoke lifestyle environments—supremely elegant spaces for eating, sleeping, and socializing. How do you translate contemporary mood or behavior into physical form?
DA: Contemporary mood or behaviour is difficult to measure and quantify. Projects that respond to anthropological aspects of human behaviour would perhaps be Upstairs at Ronnie Scotts. Here, the experience of seating, eating, drinking and enjoying jazz music is carefully curated so that every seat within the auditorium provides a specific satisfying and often seductive experience.
“Here, the experience of seating, eating, drinking and enjoying jazz music is carefully curated…”
David Archer
Each seat, viewline, material and surrounding lighting is carefully controlled in order that people’s emotions respond to the environment, entertainment and company. Contemporary mood and behaviour is also something which is never static, however, certain attributes that mirror the office’s preoccupations remain perennial. Younger generations always wish to subvert social mores and behavioural patterns established by previous generations.
Today, we are working on a number of private member’s clubs that are geared to daytime working and evening socialising. These tend to occupy character buildings, designed and delivered from previous generations and uses. This combination of counterintuitive use of space, appeals directly to changes in mood and behaviour away from typical dining or entertainment venues, into a more seamless cycle of work and relaxation which is to a generation who prioritise work, life balances in a manner that contrasts to pre-millennial generations.
The Power of Collaboration
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: Collaboration appears to be central to your practice, both internally and with clients. How do you maintain such a strong architectural identity while embracing a collective and interdisciplinary process?
DA: Collaboration is central to the work of the office. I think there are multiple ways in which the team collaborates in the generation of the work. The first, is within the office and amongst the architects and AHA team, who contribute to the development of the work through its intellectual content, drawing and modelling.
The second, is amongst the wider consultant team which includes, structural, mechanical, project managers, conservation specialists, and many other disciplines. It is Archer Humphryes’ job when acting in the role of Lead Consultant, to organise all of these work streams reconciling what is important in order to meet end users needs.
There is another level of collaboration which takes place within many hospitality projects, this often involves multiple design teams contributing within some or all of the work stages, here the process is more akin to the strategy that is described above, working on projects such as London’s Standard hotel and many other projects in the office. The depth of thought, analysis and thinking that can be brought to a project, on occasion where like-minded but separate teams are applied to the development, can always enrich the end result within the rigours of the design framework that is necessary to deliver a building.
Finally, and perhaps almost uniquely within hospitality, there are individuals whose own personal taste or vision is a specific driving factor in a design’s development. This process differs significantly from the work plan established in a standard form of agreement. When working in this context, an ability to listen, follow the individual’s train of thought and translate it into drawings, images and eventually built work, adds a final level of collaboration beyond the consultant or architectural team, and within the direct client relationship.
Crafting Emotional Environments
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: Many of your projects—from hotels to cultural venues—are deeply experiential. When you begin a project, do you imagine it first through movement, narrative, or material—and how does that initial instinct evolve?
DA: In describing a project as experiential, I think one is referring to its impact on an individual’s senses; sight, sound, smell, touch and even taste. As the question suggests, the project or building needs to respond to these to a degree, in order and also at different times in different degrees.
A project will have a lifespan that is both daily, weekly and more permanently. Our idea is to manage a guest’s experience so that according to time of day, reason for arrival or use and expectation, the project can respond to meet their aspirations.
I think within hospitality projects, this is particularly permanent. Successful bars need to be spaces that can be enjoyed early in the morning, with fresh coffee, bread and pastries, newspaper and quiet conversation, as much as hedonistic celebration and late night chaos.
“Successful bars need to be spaces that can be enjoyed early in the morning…as much as hedonistic celebration and late night chaos.”
David Archer
The reading of the space depends on both its architectural expression and manipulation, as much as the occupant or operator’s ability to present it to meet the individual’s needs and reinforce the programme it has been designed for.
Architectural Memory and Lasting Influence
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: Your early academic research explored figures like Nicholas Hawksmoor and themes like Brutalism—how do those intellectual foundations still surface in your work today, even within more contemporary or luxury-driven contexts?
DA: Studying to become an architect in the 1980s, James Stirling’s work was widely held to be a paragon of current architectural thinking that married a historic architectural understanding within a contemporary aesthetic. This, in turn, led me to an interest in his background and early work ranging from his involvement with the Independent Group and then his early buildings, the most successful and longstanding icon of what was known as British new Brutalism being the Leicester Engineering building.
Themes within this building remain relevant today, they include a celebration of abstracted architectural brick and ceramic work, the use of patent glazing to differentiate between buildings served and serviced area and the manipulation of plastic form to dramatic effect, working within a contemporary vernacular language. Most of these attributes were identified and laid out within Rayner Banham’s essay ‘British New Brutalism’ and this alongside other written essays of the time including Colin Rowe ‘Mathematics of the Ideal Villa’ are always good to return to.
Forming a relationship with classical architecture in the UK, always provides interesting routes back to original renaissance and Roman buildings. In Manchester, most historical buildings were of 19th Century origin, gaining a wider appreciation of classical architecture within Britain introduced me to the work of Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh. The emergence of what seemed like almost contemporary geometric expression within the buildings, specifically Hawksmoor’s 6 London churches, seems to find a thread of expression through 18th Century buildings that remains pertinent to the consideration of form and composition in buildings today.
Reimagining the Future Through the Past
Courtesy of David Archer and Archer Humphryes Architects.
WW: With a portfolio that spans continents and increasingly incorporates technology, sustainability, and innovation, how do you see the future of hospitality architecture evolving—and what role should architecture play in shaping how people feel, behave, and connect within these spaces?
DA: The practice is frequently involved in the adaptation and reuse of buildings from earlier centuries, these are often listed and protected and often embody multiple histories from previous tenants and uses, which are quite often of enormous importance to the nation’s subconscious. At present, and with younger generations, a great deal of both recent and longer history is being reevaluated and seen through younger and different eyes.
While the values and behaviour of previous building users may be at odds with modern society, the structures themselves are often still loved, valued and provide a great deal of delight to clients, users and society as a whole. I think as a practice, when we look to the future, we are frequently reinhabiting and reusing the past.
“I think as a practice, when we look to the future, we are frequently reinhabiting and reusing the past.”
David Archer
While we seek for projects to ascertain BREEAM Excellent, provide immediate, uninterrupted global connectivity, and seek to avoid imposing previous values on current users, it is many of the attributes and qualities of our work described in the above answers that make the projects appealing to all. Perhaps these values remain and appeal to individuals in other ways contrasting with what may be the anaesthetising effect of today’s globalised society.
