Paul Ruff reflects on a career shaped by resourcefulness, reinvention and a growing conviction that architecture must take responsibility for its impact.

Paul Ruff in the doric archway of South Lodge, a Grade II-listed building designed by the renowned property developer and architect James Burton in around 1829 to mark the southern entrance to St Leonards Gardens in St Leonards-on Sea.

It took me a long time to understand that it was often the architect and clients themselves – their own characters and ambitions – that would lead a project away from regenerative design and living. The excessive use of iconic architecture in the 90s and 00s jarred with the education and working experience I was seeking out. Naivety is sometimes a blessing but, in retrospect, the work our industry was producing – and justifying – was shocking.

Shaped by a post-war resourcefulness and a puritan ethic my mind wandered – not to new effigies – but to interesting and dreamlike ways of reinvention. It wasn’t conservation, as saving didn’t cross my mind either. Just an interest in the next stage of life for a building, or for the place to which it contributed.

Be it my early morning runs in the Devon hills or a swim ahead of a busy London day, I try and reflect on what we are doing, creating, impacting, and whether we are doing it well enough for us, but also, and more importantly, for others. The residents in our new homes, our colleagues, their families, my own three daughters…. Their now, and their future.

As an industry, we have to take responsibility for the impact of our actions and decisions on this planet and its people. For me, that means continually questioning what we are told is necessary, looking again at whatalready exists, and having the courage to do less when less is the betteranswer. Architecture has a long life, and we should be humble about the consequences of what we choose to leave behind.

Paul Ruff
RUFFARCHITECTS
London W1

All photographs in the Reinventing Practice series will be on show at Regenerative Design 2026,  a month-long programme of exhibitions and events that takes place at the Building Centre throughout October 2026.