AT chats to… BIG partner Andy Young about drawing by hand, talking a lot, sleeping like a baby and loving Milan.

What brings you to BCO Conference/What do you hope to achieve?
I will deliver a short talk to those who are taking the ‘CityLife’ tours – about BIG’s project, ‘CityWave’, which is currently under construction.  It is a unique and somewhat heroic building with an enormous suspended timber canopy spanning between two separate office buildings, forming a gateway to the whole CityLife development.

What are you working on at the moment?
Apart from the job in Milan, I’m afraid we are NDA’d on every project that I’m working on from our London office.  It’s a sign of the times, so I can’t say much.  I can say that I’m working on projects in the UK, Slovakia, Croatia, Kosovo, UAE and KSA – and Italy of course. Offices, hotels and residential buildings mainly, although the project in Pristina, Kosovo is a national Opera and performing arts centre.

What stops you from doing the work you want to do?
I don’t really feel there is anything stopping me.  The work I do, and enjoy, is essentially making unique or ambitious ideas into a realistic proposition.  I can do that by drawing by hand and talking a lot; and I find that kind of work in all kinds of places.  Sometimes it’s a purely technical issue, other times it’s about saving money whilst maintaining performance and intent.  I think the demand for such things will persist for as long as the very idea of ‘unique or ambitious ideas’ is permitted by society.

What sets the BCO conference apart from the other high-profile gatherings in the industry calendar?
Being straightforward about things – it is no different from the others. It’s a good event at which to meet people and talk business and there are sometimes interesting talks and presentations.  I am a serial-attendee.

What do you make of the choice to hold this year’s conference in Milan?
Very sound choice. It’s a great city. I always like coming here. People are stylish and characterful and complicated and interesting.  I believe that Milan’s building industry is booming, which sets it apart from most of Europe just now.  Northern Italy has a fantastic industrial heritage; and most people here appreciate good design.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?
A desire to do good things with my time.

And what keeps you awake at night?
I sleep like a baby.

Andy Young is a Partner at BIG.