Lessons from our London Design Festival gathering where industry leaders shared their unfiltered truths
During this year's London Design Festival, something remarkable happened at the Moroso Showroom. Instead of the usual glossy success stories, a group of accomplished architecture and design studios gathered to share something more valuable: their real experiences, complete with the challenges, missteps, and hard-won wisdom that shaped their practices.
Oliver Wit, co-founder of CAKE Architecture, took an unconventional approach to discussing setbacks. Rather than pinpointing specific project disasters, he rattled off a darkly comic list of recurring challenges: not having enough resource (mentioned three times for emphasis), projects coming in over budget, failing to understand the mating habits of bats sufficiently, and the day he and business partner Hugh arrived at site in identical outfits.
We looked like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Oliver Wit, Co-founderCAKE Architecture
The real revelation came from his admission about starting young without benchmarks. The uncertainty of not knowing if you're doing things "right" is rarely discussed but universally experienced.
The complexity and strangeness of starting practice when you're relatively young and you don't have that much experience or you don't have enough benchmarking of how different practices operate.
Oliver Wit, Co-founderCAKE Architecture
The Excel apocalypse that sparked innovation
The room collectively recognized the nightmare of product scheduling in spreadsheets. Manual data entry in size four font, version control disasters, and the constant risk of file corruption that could wipe out weeks of work.
Microsoft Excel was literally designed for data scientists. Whoever decided that we should use it as a pseudo design presentation vehicle for product specs needs to get their head checked.
Zoe Lowres, Co-founderPrograma
One designer's breaking point came after losing four weeks of work to a corrupted Excel file. This led to a fundamental question about why the design industry lacks the streamlined systems that other industries take for granted.
Resourcing, repeating, rebuilding
The most consistent thread throughout was the value of peer support. Every studio represented had learned this lesson, often the hard way.
All the problems that you're gonna come up against, other architects and interior designers have faced over the years. So speak to your peers. Speak to them about every large and small thing.
Oliver Wit, Co-founderCAKE Architecture
This extends beyond just the design community. Cross-pollination with parallel creative industries proved equally valuable.
There's a graphic designer friend who I often chew the fat with down the pub and have learned a huge amount from him.
Oliver Wit, Co-founderCAKE Architecture
The Culture Equation
When building teams, technical skills are only half the equation. In small studios, cultural fit can determine whether the whole operation thrives or struggles.
You're not just looking for credentials on paper. You're looking for the right attitude, the right cultural fit.
Oliver Wit, Co-founderCAKE Architecture
CAKE Architecture compared hiring to dating - meeting through mutual connections provides natural vetting that random encounters rarely match.
It's a bit like dating. My adventures in Hinge will attest to the fact that sometimes meeting total strangers isn't great.
Oliver Wit, Co-founderCAKE Architecture
Technology: Tool, Not Master
The panel offered a sharp perspective on technology's role. While AI dominates industry conversations, the consensus was clear about what actually needs automating.
I want AI unstacking my dishwasher. I want AI doing my laundry. I want AI doing all the mundane, time-consuming things of everyday.
Zoe LowresCo-founder, Programa
The goal isn't to eliminate the human aspects of design but to remove the administrative burden that keeps designers from designing.
Automate all of that so that we can get back to fostering a great culture in the office. We can get back to delivering the outcomes that our clients want and hopefully do it with a ton less stress.
Gemma McCloskey, FounderCo-founder, Cúpla Studio
The discipline of architecture
Architecture demands repetition and struggle to master. But choosing what to struggle with makes all the difference.
What are the things that you don't want to struggle with anymore? Formatting and all of that sort of dull stuff. And what are the things that actually I do need to be drawing and redrawing?
Gemma McCloskey, FounderCupla Studio
The concern about AI and junior designers raised important questions about skill development.
If a grad isn't going through the process of doing that in the first place, how do they develop it to the point where they can actually then correct it?
Oliver Wit, FounderCAKE Architecture
Looking Forward: Eyes Wide Open
The evening's most sobering message addressed the reality gap between design education and practice. The day-to-day demands—six or seven-day work weeks, 2 AM project anxieties, endless juggling—rarely appear in the curriculum.
If I was given that real picture before I started university on day one, I probably would not have become an interior designer.
Zoe Lowres, Co-founderPrograma
Yet despite this stark reality check, the passion remains.
Architecture needs to come with a health warning label like cigarettes because if you don't have a head for it, if you don't have proper systems and processes and go into it with eyes wide open, it can be a shocking experience.
Zoe Lowres, Co-founderPrograma
The takeaway
The evening's most practical wisdom came early and resonated throughout: stay curious, stay humble, and stay connected.
Be open about what you're doing. Be inquisitive. And certainly, don't think that you know it all at any point.
Zoe Lowres, Co-founderPrograma
This wasn't about presenting perfect facades. It was about professionals who've faced the same corrupted files, the same budget overruns, the same resource struggles—and found ways to keep creating remarkable work anyway.
Connect your 3D designs with project documentation in one platform. Interior designers and architects can now share SketchUp models directly in client dashboards.
Programa's SketchUp integration brings 3D models and project management together. Interior designers and architects no longer switch between platforms to present designs, share specifications, or gather approvals.
Link your SketchUp model once. Clients view it alongside FF&E schedules, material selections, budgets, and timelines - all in Programa's Client Dashboard.
Design studios manage two critical layers: spatial design in SketchUp and project documentation in Programa. This integration connects them.
Your SketchUp scenes become interactive presentations. Clients walk through their future space while reviewing:
No exports. No file transfers. Just one link from Trimble Connect to Programa.
Client Understanding When clients see that $4,200 sofa in the actual room - not a spreadsheet - they understand scale, proportion, and value immediately.
Faster Approvals Studios report 40% faster sign-offs when clients review products in spatial context. Questions drop. Confidence increases.
Trade Coordination Contractors see exactly where each specification belongs. Visual installation guides reduce costly errors.
Design Control Set specific scenes. Control navigation boundaries. Guide clients through your intended experience - not random wall interiors.
Step 1: Prepare Your Model Create scenes in SketchUp for each space or detail view. These become your client's navigation points.
Step 2: Share via Trimble Connect Upload your model to Trimble Connect. Enable link sharing. Copy the public URL.
Step 3: Add to Programa Project Navigate to your project. Click '+' and select 'SketchUp Model'. Paste your Trimble Connect URL.
Step 4: Publish to Clients Choose 'Share to Client Dashboard'. Clients access the model immediately - no downloads required.