Today we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Perspective, a network of architectural practises across Europe, providing top quality service to clients throughout Europe and further afield.
Perspective was launched in Brussels in 1992 and has delivered joint projects in a wide range of sectors including commercial, leisure, residential, education, healthcare, pharmaceutical, industrial, infrastructure and masterplanning. Examples include the housing project in Carabanchel, or the French embassy, both in Madrid, the Le Figaro printing works in France, large scale residential developments in Poland and recently, the group has won an international architectural competition to deliver a bundle of four large schools in Belgium.
In recent years, the outreach of the group has expanded to new markets, including China, India, the Middle East, Brazil, East Timor, Cape Verde and many more.
Some of our guests here tonight will know Perspective and have direct experience of the particular advantages of the collaboration of our members in delivering your projects. For those less familiar, the essence of the group is to provide the clients of each of our practices with the ability to deliver projects internationally. There are nine members of Perspective, based in Madrid, Lisbon, London, Antwerp, Alkmaar, Stockholm, Poznan, Paris, and Dublin. A Perspective client engages the member who is local to them, knows them, speaks their language and understands them. The Perspective architect delivers the project in Europe or internationally through a seamless collaboration with their Perspective partner or Strategic Alliance in the relevant country. Each member has a particular range of expertise and the combined skill base of the group is available to all clients on any project. In many cases, members seek to win new commissions in their own countries by bringing the expertise of another member to the project. For example, the group’s core leisure, hotel and resort experts reside here in Madrid and in Lisbon and London, Bernar Sainz de Vicuna being the Madrid member.
What is the magic that energises and vitalises the group? It is the strength of relationship between members built up over the years, continuously developing through on-going collaboration. The group meets three times a year. The agendas vary but always include the exchange of information and know-how. Through research-based workshops and task force study groups, fresh thinking, innovation and forward-looking strategies are developed; ensuring Perspective members provide the creative and informed design leadership required to meet the challenges and demands of our clients.
Over the coming years, we plan expansion of the group to bring new members on board from Germany, Italy and Denmark. With much of Europe continuing to experience low economic growth, the group will continue its reach into new markets in China, India, the African Continent and South America.

Perspective is strong. This strength has grown from the development of successful methodologies collaboration. It is also strong because it is a group of like-minded, committed architects who, through our regular meetings, have come to be not just colleagues, but friends.
It is in this spirit of friendship that we meet tonight to celebrate our success to date, and, with you, our clients and friends, look forward to a bright future where European collaboration delivers architectural excellence throughout the world.’