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An architect must remember that the people working or living in his building need space - to dream, to be quiet, to find beauty somewhere.

Successful writers say you should never work from a desk with a view, and the view I have from this one is a huge distraction. There's a garden bursting with fresh vegetation, and just beyond the high wall at the end of it, I can see the sign of the local pub across the road. Distractions, eh? I'm so easily led.

A work-room should be like an old shoe; no matter how shabby, it's better than a new one.

Possibly I am difficult to live with, but I don't bring my work home much. I'm either busy or not busy. And I don't work from home. I have an office here which has a white wall. No view. I did try working in a room with a view but it was too interesting. Too distracting.

One of the difficulties of a job in the, quote, 'real world' is you don't really get time to shut yourself off in a room and think.

Sometimes living in a room that's badly designed isn't the worst thing in the world. Trust me - this is a fact! Living in a room that has no design whatsoever is even worse. I've learned this from my many clients over the years that have moved into new houses and just can't figure out where to begin.

A lot of people don't get it, but I design from the inside out so that the finished product looks inevitable somehow. I think it's important to create spaces that people like to be in, that are humanistic.

At work people are expected to be at the beck and call of employers all the time. You have blackberries and other things, and they just don't leave you alone. People have less time just to drop into an art gallery.