Rudlin strikes out with post-BDP venture
Urban design specialist David Rudlin has left the Manchester-headquartered architecture group to set up a new consultancy.
Working as design director at BDP for the last three years, he is perhaps best known still for his time at Urbed, where he spent 30 years before the practice closed.
Rudlin, now described as principal of Rudlin & Co, is a past chair of the Academy of Urbanism, winner of the 2014 Wolfson Economics Prize and visiting professor at Manchester School of Architecture. He is currently chair of Sheffield and Nottingham’s design panels.
He was a principal author of the UK government’s National Model Design Code and writes a monthly column for Building Design. He has written four books on urbanism with various co-authors, the first published in 1999 and the most recent in 2023.
Taking to Linkedin to reveal his new venture, Rudlin posted: “After 30 years at URBED and just under 3 at BDP it is time to strike out on my own. The idea of the ‘& Co’ is to work with many of the lovely people that I have got to know over the years as friends, collaborators and clients.
“Working at BDP was a great experience, it’s a unique practice with a real social and collaborative outlook and lots of amazing people. BDP is definitely part of the ‘& Co’ particularly since there are a few projects to finish off. But I look forward to being able to work with people across multiple practices.
“As we all know, urban design has become a difficult business particularly with public sector procurement. As I wrote in my Building Design column, the procurement system is crushing smaller practices but the reality is that it is not much easier for the big ones. Fees are not much greater than they were 10 years ago and projects either don’t make a profit or, if they do, there is not the time to do them properly.
“So, it’s time for a new business model!
“I have always loved writing, drawing and thinking about cities. If you delegate the first two you miss out on the third and the deep understanding that comes with really looking at and trying to explain a place. It is something I have done as a professional urban designer and as an author.”
He added that “Rudlin & Co will bring these together without having to worry about time sheets and business plans but just a focus on the quality of the work.”
Rudlin & Co was incorporated in April, registered in North Wales.
In addition to the CV elements listed above, Rudlin has also been a member of the CABE Design Review Panel and a trustee of CUBE (the Centre for the Understanding of the Built Environment) in Manchester. He is a planner by background, who started his career with Manchester City Council working on the redevelopment of Hulme. He was also a founder member of the Homes for Change Housing Cooperative and co-wrote the Hulme Guide to Development.
In his Urbed career, he was responsible for private sector masterplans in cities including Bristol, Brighton, Leeds, London, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Urbed – ‘Urban, Environment & Design’ – announced its closure at the end of 2022.
