Swain Architecture to embrace flexible working to increase productivity and empower their team

We’re evolving to incorporate hybrid working

During our eight years working as a Midlands-based architectural agency we’ve seen many changes to the workplace. When Izzy (Swain) Rhodes set the business up in 2016, one of her guiding principles was to create a working environment that encouraged creativity and attracted the best talent so Swain can produce the best architecture. As Covid hit and the location and scheduling of work had to become more flexible we learned that working from home can sometimes increase productivity and give our team some variety. We still value our Nottingham studio, and we believe that architecture is a team sport, but we also recognise that some home working and time away from distractions can be good for business.

When will this begin?

From 2025 we will be shifting to a hybrid-work pattern. Every week our team will be working in the office for three days and at home for two days. Additionally, we will be instigating a staggered nine working day fortnight. In practice that means that half our team will have a Friday off every two weeks and the other half will have the following Friday off. We will make up for the loss of a working day per fortnight by working longer hours during the remaining nine days.

When are we making this change?

We began testing this change from November 2024 to make sure that it works before making it official.

Why are we changing the way we work?

We’ve made this change to ensure our team are happy and feel looked after and to enable us to attract the best talent in the future – all of which will help us deliver great architecture.

What will be the difference for our clients and work?

We don’t believe clients will notice any difference to our productivity and service, but we are our monitoring business metrics to ensure that there is no detrimental effect to our productivity or the service our clients experience.