Willie Watt PPRIAS, Director, Architect, Urban Designer and Artist, Nicoll Russell Studios Ltd
Willie Watt, BSc(Hons) DIP ARCH, PPRIAS, RIBA Willie has worked in practices in London, Aberdeen and Dundee and has contributed to a number of high profile projects. He has been a partner and then director at the award-winning architects', master planning and interior design practice Nicoll Russell Studios since 2006, having joined the practice as an associate in 1999.
The practise works across the UK and Ireland and sometimes further afield. Since becoming a registered architect, he has contributed to a wide range of master planning, infrastructure and station projects. In addition, he is well known for his sketching and illustration work, which often focuses upon placemaking, vernacular buildings, their materiality and how they fit together in groups and within the landscape.
Willie believes that drawing is a key part of learning and analysing, problem-solving and design development, as well as effective visual collaboration and communication, which comfortably alongside the practice's use of BIM, CGI's etc.
Willie has played a lead role in Nicoll Russell Studios' development of Nicoll Russell Studios innovative. It is a collaborative station master planning approach, which he believes breaks down barriers/silos. It encourages the resolution of challenges and the realisation of opportunities to create people-friendly development around stations.
Thereby enhancing passenger numbers, footfall, the area's attractiveness, land values, commercial income, model shift and regeneration opportunities. He has led such proposals for larger stations across Scotland and increasingly in England, working for Train Operating Companies, Network Rail and Local Authorities, and occupied a leading role in the recent regeneration of Dundee Station for Dundee City Council.
He is the Past President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, has taught frequently at the Robert Gordon University, has written widely on the reform of European Procurement, contributing to reviews and conferences held on that matter.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
My favourite media platform is LinkedIn because it allows me to directly project the work of Nicoll Russell Studios whilst developing themes around our design approach and work methodologies. I have also used this to develop thought leadership in particular areas of our work, like Development Around Stations, Urban bounce back post-pandemic and how that may resolve itself across the housing, office, retail, food and beverage sectors which our practice is very active in.
Beyond all that, I have also developed a theme around our creative process, revealing the extent to which I and others in practice draw and seek to understand the buildings and places around us. At the same time, talking about how we have been able to collaborate visually on at times very large projects using those skills.
Of course, LinkedIn can be quite serious, and I have certainly sought to brighten the mood during the pandemic via my drawings and, more recently, to promote great places which I know and are once more eager to receive visitors. Those posts have proven to be very popular to a global audience to the extent that some might call me the 'LinkedIn Sketcher'.
Equally, though Instagram can be very immediate and during the pandemic, I have grown my own and my practice's presence on that platform, which appears to be successfully reaching a new audience.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
Professionally over recent years, I have been heavily involved in developing architectural and urban design proposals in and around stations. That is continuing and builds upon Nicoll Russell Studios' experience of delivering the new £29 million mixed-use air-rights Dundee Station above the UK's east coast mainline. Indeed, work could be equally at home around our infrastructure, airports, ferry terminals, and other areas of high footfall because they all present similar challenges.
I find this work incredibly interesting as it is so often complex and challenging, involving legacy structures and facilities and past healing mistakes. To create development opportunities around the station, catalysing urban regeneration, densification, footfall and therefore, land value and passenger numbers to create a virtuous cycle to create sustainable communities.
The pandemic has raised many questions, but our approach, which focuses on the passenger experience, modal shift, pedestrian flow and legibility, also seems to be well suited to our current preoccupations in combatting the virus. Fundamentally, we are seeking to create people-friendly gateways to communities, towns, and cities that resolve the urban stress points that we often see around stations.
That is a placemaking or townscape based approach. That often interweaves with my interest in drawing, analysis and thinking via sketching, which is equally as important in other types of development and other locations.
The development process, particularly on large projects though is so often tightly managed from a PR perspective these days, so it is difficult to share information about many projects until they are fully in the public domain. Clearly, social media voraciously seeks content so 'radio silence' can be perceived as having nothing to say or show, which can't be further from the truth. The pandemic has probably exacerbated that because no one has been getting out and about, so it is even difficult to create content more tangentially.
So, I have found the use of my sketching to be a really valuable vehicle for developing the storyline around my analytical and design process, the practice's expertise and design approach, particularly around placemaking, landscape fit etc.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Railways are challenging environments because of the presence of Victorian infrastructure, the need for passenger/staff/visitor access, deliveries, collections, taxis, blue badge access, cycling infrastructure, buses and rail replacement buses.
Such environments are often also interesting historically and typically cover large areas of our town or city centre's, bisecting neighbourhoods or desired lines. Therefore, each location is unique and demands high-quality design input, not least because public transport is at the heart of our drive to meet climate change targets.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Although everyone can pick bits of advice they have received throughout their life, I will go for a recent one. Back in November 2019, I very casually shared one of my drawings on LinkedIn. Up until that point, my drawings and their use in the design process had been very private.
There was an immediate, very positive level of engagement with that drawing. One of the people who reacted was Kate Mason, the CEO of The Big Draw, who in turn encouraged me to share my drawings and my thoughts on why drawing is important for anyone, but of course particularly so to the work of an Architect and Urban Designer like myself.
I probably would never have begun the journey of sharing my work and revealing its role in my design methodology alongside the practice's had she not stepped forward and encouraged me. Therefore, I am really grateful to her because I believe that has heightened my creativity and indeed my profile across Scotland, Britain, Ireland, and the rest of the world, resulting in further architectural commissions.
Fundamentally I think her advice which was a real encouragement, has allowed me to confidently reveal the real me, which I have found to be a real creative catalyst.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Making a difference by improving places to help others via economic regeneration and more directly by the quality of the environment they engage with. The pandemic has undoubtedly made us all reflect, and from my perspective, I feel that it has really underlined the need for such an approach.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
This is always a difficult question, but I guess it goes once more back to helping people, whether via architectural problem solving, creating a better place, or encouraging or coaching people. That obviously covers work, but I also do a lot of volunteering. I always feel that it is very rewarding and that fundamentally you learn so much from that experience which feeds back into life and work.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
I try to network face to face or by virtual means. However, as a regional practice, we are always aware that we must work incredibly hard to be seen and heard to grasp all opportunities.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Being a visual thinker has always helped because that draws people into a conversation. In addition, it fundamentally underpins the architectural, urban design, development and regeneration processes and how we work with our clients.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I look at my drawings and paintings' success via social media during the lockdown, and I regret in retrospect that I did not share them more widely longer ago. They are a fundamental part of me as a creative, and they are a window on my creative thinking and how our practice works. It is, therefore, a relief to have discovered that and to put that right.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
People who reach out to others and recognise that it's not just about themselves and lead in a positive manner.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I love cycling, and I am a qualified cycling coach, mountain bike coach and mountain bike leader. That is where much of my volunteering comes in, and I provide several 100's of hours coaching and leading across Scotland.
That, in turn, has fed into work where I have offered my colleagues coaching opportunities and by encouraging green travel to such an extent that Nicoll Russell Studios are an accredited Cycle Friendly Employer and our knowledge and skills. In turn, promote such an approach and embed it within our design approach to create people-friendly places and spaces.
Of course, I have already mentioned drawing and painting, which is also tied with my cycling, where I frequently get on my bike to draw because I love the great outdoors.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
It has, of course, presented challenges for a collaborative design-led business like our own. But we take great pride in the fact that we adopted working from home early before it was mandatory because we saw it coming and that we have all stayed safe and have prospered due to the great team working and agility.
That has fed into how we have worked. I have jumped in with both feet in grasping the opportunities presented by remote working, drawing to the camera, and utilising multiple webcams and graphic display tablets. So, I can draw live during meetings and adopt video presentations, voice-overs, animated sketching and analysis, etc.
Personally, I think I and everyone in practice have learnt a huge amount during the lockdown. Those skills will serve us well as the economy opens up further, not least because so much of our work is all across the UK and Ireland and is not local.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
During the lockdown, my fellow directors and I have met at least twice a week in order to successfully navigate the challenges of the pandemic. That teamwork has provided each of us an enormous degree of support and encouragement, which has made all of us stronger.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Architecture is a very competitive and often undervalued profession. People thinking about entering the profession must therefore have their eyes open and seek out education and advice, which gives them the tools to succeed.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Systemically many find that a grind and are too optimistic so therefore suffer because the profession does not live up to their expectations either financially or in terms of their work. That is a difficult challenge for the profession to resolve and may take years to turn around because architect fees have been eroded steadily over the last 40 years.
Put simply, that has to change, but it will take time. More recently, I am aware that many creative people, including architects and architecture students, have found lockdown a challenging environment in which to design and collaborate. Still, as we have shown, I do believe that that can be overcome with the right people and tools around you.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
I think it is generally wrong to explain your views or intentions through the words of others, but one phrase does stick with me "it is always important to make your own luck and to keep doing that."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
We are currently working for the Eden Project, whose staff, vision, collaborators etc. and a sense of purpose are hugely inspiring given the growing recognition that we must all tackle climate change and create a better environment for our children. They, therefore, offer a message for all of us.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
As the pandemic has shown repeatedly, no one can predict the future, so we must always target our energy and creativity to create a better future whilst harnessing agility to get through the challenges we all will face.