What’s in John’s bag

An architect is rarely empty-handed. In a job where one of the most desirable skills is the ability to draw upside down while simultaneously talking to two people (in a pub), the stereotype of the architect equipped with a sketchbook and pen is an apt one. But aside from our paper and ink, we often carry a variety of additional pieces of equipment, and an examination of what an architect carries around in their bag is often a good indication of what work they do and how they approach it.

First off, it’s probably not too much of a generalisation to say that what every architect carries is unique to them. The different sectors and roles within architecture mean that what works for someone designing for the retail sector will not necessarily work for someone in the education sector. For me, having spent around a decade working with heritage and listed buildings, my bag tends to be slightly fuller than others.

The Basics

A youth spent in the Scouts and Territorial Army taught me the value of a well-prepared and logically packed set of supplies that could be easily scaled depending on the job that’s required. As a bare minimum for any meeting or site visit, I always carry a sketchbook, clutch pencil and a camera.

The topic of sketchbook preferences for architects is a long and tedious one (usually with more opinions than contributors). However, after a few years of testing various alternatives, I now use an A5 Leuchtrum1917 with dotted squares. This a hardback sketchbook which fits inside most of my jackets and the dotted pages allow me to draw sketches to scale or freehand depending on what I need. I’m a big fan of thick-leaded clutch pencils as they automatically get me in a sketching mood, but I will also normally carry a Rotring propelling pencil and black and green fibre-tipped pens. Having another colour in addition to black or blue is useful in meetings where drawings are getting marked up by lots of different people.

My own choice of green is a result of watching Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and noticing that the head of M16, ‘Control’, signed everything off in green ink. I thought it was quite a unique thing as a student and it has stuck since then.

Lastly, I always carry a camera. When starting out, this was almost invariably a small digital camera (early experiments carrying a digital SLR everywhere proved to be too cumbersome) but the quality of mobile phone cameras now means that I just use my mobile. Always having a camera is important as it allows you to document elements of a building which you’re either unprepared for or find unexpected. A camera is also useful for taking pictures of notes, annotations on drawings and any other bits and bobs which might come in useful later.

The more advanced

My second, and most formative, role in architecture was working in a surveyors practice in York. My then-boss was a conservation-accredited building surveyor, and he took it upon himself to mentor and train me in the survey and recording of historic buildings. Understanding a building’s ‘pathology’ has been a great skill to learn and it has proven invaluable on many occasions, especially when we discuss with a client the best approach to take. Unfortunately, the only way to properly diagnose rot, infestation, damp and other factors which affect buildings is to get up close and personal with them.

Very up close and personal.

Analysing eaves details when it’s raining in December or looking at damp growth in a leaky cellar has meant that my bag has grown to include a few additional items which may not feature in the usual Architect’s kit.

To start with we need to talk about clothing. Roll neck jumpers and tweed blazers may be useful in some instances but they tend not to last long when clambering over scaffolding or standing in the rain. As a result of this, I always have a set of overalls in my bag in case I need to do anything which might get a bit mucky.

Conducting surveys will often require plans to be marked up and I always have an A3 clipboard in the back of the car should I need it. An important addition to this is a clear piece of acetate which I can put over my drawings in the event of rain. This is also the reason I tend to pack a bunch of HB pencils and a penknife as pens always blot. Another important item of equipment I take in my bag is a tape measure. Quite often I will be required to make detailed records of existing features and the ability to measure them accurately is a must. My tape measure has both millimetres and inches as with historic buildings, it is often easier to measure inches then convert later. For anything which requires measuring on a larger scale, my bag has a 30m tape and a laser measure. My first boss was a very traditional architect who insisted we did a lot of site survey by hand and this legacy has remained with me.

The esoteric

Lastly, and probably most unusually, my bag contains a 4-inch pointing trowel. This may seem an odd inclusion, but this is the trowel I used when conducting my Archaeology degree which I studied for prior to commencing my Architectural education.

Studying Archaeology and spending my university summers on excavation was an incredibly exciting, interesting and rewarding experience, with the skills I learned being vital in assisting my work on conservation and listed building projects. Whether it’s scraping back a bit of topsoil to find the edge of a cobbled path, or testing joists for signs of rot, my trowel has consistently proved to be a good addition to the tools I take to site.

On one occasion I was ‘volunteered’ to conduct a survey of the inside of a 17th-century chimney to see if it had been narrowed. Overalls on and trowel in hand I set about my task with the evidence I uncovered supporting a listed building consent application to relocate the fireplace. An application that was approved by the local authority.

Yes, dear Reader, it was the trowel that won it.