When it comes to work/life balance, Kate Vine, principal at architect Perkins + Will, seems to have it sussed. Not only does Vine have a team of boys to manage at home but she is also tasked with changing – or some might say rewiring – the way developers think about the role of architects in the built environment.
Here she tells EG about her route into the built environment, the changing role of architecture and how the realisation that perfection is not the solution has enabled her to have it all.
Tapestry of life
Born on the Upper East Side in New York City, Vine spent her early years in London before heading back stateside for school. Initially focussing on ceramics and textiles – including a year working for a Swedish tapestry weaver – her early career took her into commercial interiors.
Vine moved back to London in 2004, attracted by the direction in which European design was headed.
“US design was very standardised; it was formulaic,” says Vine. “I worked with a lot of large corporations in the US, where they would literally give you a book and say ‘you need to design from this. These are our standards, guidelines’. There was no sense of creativity or flair.
“Coming to Europe was eye-opening – there was a lot more freedom and liberties around design and how to approach design. I thought I would be here for two years; this is my 15th year in London.”
Over the course of her career in London architecture, Vine has seen the evolution of workspace from a tick-box exercise to something much more focussed on the user.
“In 2007 I started working with Microsoft. They were doing something really innovative with workplace strategy and agile working,” she says. “That was pivotal for me. It changed my focus and made me realise that while design is obviously really important, the way people interact with space and the strategy and approach to a working environment is sometimes even more important.”
Changing the conversation
Vine says that this approach to design is helping the real estate community change the conversation it has with architects. That it has moved from being about what makes a building look good to being more about what makes a building work well.
She says: “Developers are thinking about the building from the inside out, rather than the outside in. And they are not just thinking about churning out a concept or idea. They are now thinking about what they can give back; how they can retain people for longer.”
It is clear that Vine is passionate about her job and as a principal at Perkins + Will it is clear she has put time and effort into establishing her career.
If you do one thing on your to do list, you’ve achieved something. Sometimes things are going to fall by the wayside and you are not going to be perfect at everything. Perfection is not the aspiration
But Vine is also a mother, so how – and why – does she manage to balance the demands of clients with the demands of family?
She credits the ethos of the Perkins + Will environment and cites a story from when she joined the company back in the early 2000s.
The firm had just won a major piece of business with a very big client. One of the team working on the project was a mother, who worked four days a week. The client had an issue with the fact that this team member was not available on Fridays, but instead of bowing down to the demands of the client, the firm put its foot down and said ‘too bad’.
The senior partner said that the knowledge and expertise that the team member could bring to the project was so valuable that she didn’t need to be available five days a week. That one ‘too bad’ set a precedent in the company and it hasn’t looked back since.
It is the knowledge that Vine works for a company that values its people to such a degree that enables her to have the confidence to focus equally on work and life.
“For me this is my career. I’m a mum as well and a wife, but I love what I do. I love my job. I get up every morning and I’m excited to get back to what I really love,” she says.
Love not guilt
“You always hear about the mum guilt – that you are not doing well enough at work or well enough at home or well enough with your husband or your friends, etc. My titbit of advice would be to put all of that noise out of your head and do the best that you can do on a daily basis.
“If you do one thing on your to do list, you’ve achieved something. Sometimes things are going to fall by the wayside and you are not going to be perfect at everything. Perfection is not the aspiration – doing the best you can should be the aspiration.”
And for Vine, that best you can be is principal, mum, wife, friend and rewirer of real estate.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
