The Practice

Lees Associates was founded by John Lees in 1981 in the belief that clients were better served by architects and design consultancies who harness the impact of design in its fullest commercial, social and environmental contexts.

It is a sentiment which has since steadily come of age, in the process helping Lees Associates to successfully develop relationships with a hugely diverse mix of companies and individuals, working with them to resolve issues of design, management and marketing, of human and technical resources and of quality of life, through the application of design.

Even in the early days, Lees Associates was unusual among young practices in working with a great many blue chip companies across financial, industrial, commercial, hotel, leisure, retail and residential sectors.

Many of these clients chose to entrust Lees Associates with long-term master planning or with their flagship projects and they came back to the practice time after time - testimony to Lees Associates’ ability to think originally and to honour commitments and also to Lees Associates’ pragmatic financial perspective, which ensures that cost and programme are considered at every stage of the construction process without in any way compromising the aesthetic quality of the project.