Introducing Peter Challoner.
Peter Challoner has worked in the construction industry for over 30 years, 21 of those working for Benoy Architects where as a Senior Associate Director he worked largely in Central Europe delivering several large retail projects.
Through this experience he has developed a unique approach to applying the design process to create a vast array of innovative and creative design solutions.
Having an expert eye for micro detail at all levels and an all encompassing overall understanding of projects at macro level enabled him to resolve any situation or detail at any stage of a project. This has proved invaluable on many major projects where through careful review, strategic and detailed design can be improved significantly. Several major European developers have benefitted from this with value created from smart and practical design.
Experience and Strategy.
Having such a broad range of experience and appreciation for the whole construction process Peter is able to coordinate all the consultant designers on a project for the mutual benefit of each discipline and the building as a whole which brings efficiency and results in better design that is easier to construct. With this degree of experience, it is possible to predict what is likely to happen during construction and eliminate a great deal of potential problems.
On a large retail project of refurbishment and extension, this can mean anything from infrastructure or building structure to a sign for a particular retailer. "When you know how all the elements of a project relate to each other and come together, it’s quite easy to steer them into place to make a great building".
Most large projects have included refurbishments of existing buildings. The Renoma project in Wroclaw, Poland for example was stripped back to only the structural frame and rebuilt around it.
Peter is an extremely effective communicator and is equally at home discussing design aspirations with the CEO of the largest international developer or a sub-contractor working on the construction site.
"These projects are so big, there is a huge amount of knowledge required to complete them. Everyone has a part to play. Each specialist knows their subject inside out, but the architect has to know something about everything in order to bring everything together as it should be. Who knows more about bricks, me or a brick layer?
Well the brick layer is the expert, he does it all day every day, but might not have the awareness of all the elements that will come later. But by engaging with him, using his experience and allowing him to be part of the solution we will certainly know between us what is the optimum solution".
Peter is also a musician and composer of many years which gives him an extra creative dimension. "If you are creating something, the process is exactly the same whether you are making a building or a piece of music. Once you've mastered the creative process, it is possible to apply it to many different areas of work".
Everything starts as an idea of what something might be like, and you just explore and test different versions of it to find the optimum version that can be produced under the circumstances that you find yourself in.
"It sounds simple and it really is, but only when you've reached a level of experience and creative awareness that allows you do to do it. I've learned so much about the world of architectural design through creating music and studying the process that I have developed a unique way of working architecturally which delivers fantastic results in such a straightforward way. I'm very lucky because it is very unusual and puts me in a position that most architects and designers would never get to."
You can learn more about Peter's music on his official music website.