Between 1994 and 1999, I worked for the well known edinburgh architect Richard Murphy.

The first job I took on site for the practice was the conversion of a victorian stable in the Western General Hospital into a day centre for cancer patients. Maggie's Centre was design to be as welcoming and un-hospital like as possible. Corridors and private rooms were abolished: instead, a large hall was liberally provided with places to sit, talk, or read.

The largest job I worked on was the conversion of the historic town hall in Stirling into the Tolbooth Arts Centre, a music venue. The existing building had been added to progressively from the tweltfth century onwards, and our scheme continued the tradition. All the facilities required by a modern arts venue were housed in a new 'backpack' built out over the inner courtyard. New additions were constructed of glass, metal mesh, and concrete, creating a striking contrast with the stone of the ancient building.

While working for Richard Murphy, I also worked a large number of other projects, from small house extensions to very large competition projects, most signifiantly for the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, a new wing of student housing for Jesus College Cambridge, and a proposed new National Gallery of Scotland in the old post office in Glasgow.

All of this work was characterised by a careful attention to, and delight in, existing buildings - in the challenges they could pose, and the invention they could provoke.