In the first of the series, we catch up with ReardonSmith’s Alexander Marjanovic, winner of the Best in Tech Award for designing a new air purification system for London’s Beaumont Hotel. Alexander and ReardonSmith are always a big presence at the Brit List, and he recognises the increasing importance of the awards. He was particularly delighted to win in this category as it affirms the studio’s commitment to working across disciplines to provide for the comfort and wellbeing of hotel guests in the most durable and sustainable ways.    

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Alexander has always taken a holistic approach to architecture – in the sense that he is happy to push into the areas of engineering and interior design to help realise his clients’ visions, but also in that more and more he sees successful design as learning from natural processes, and a viable built environment as existing in harmony with them. The range of work he takes on, in terms of scale, geography and professional discipline, testifies to his commitment to pushing architecture in new directions and facing the future in all its complexity.   As Alexander is pleased to acknowledge, it’s an impressive feat for ReardonSmith to win in the Best in Tech category. With so many designers, makers and other disciplines eligible in the category, it says a lot for the technical skill and knowledge on the part of Alexander and his team that an architects’ studio scooped this award. It’s testament to their curiosity and openness to fresh thinking.