Toolbox: Sally Mackereth

You might spot the British architect driving around London in her 1968 Mercedes coupé, which she discusses here as a central tool in her working day along with the “old school” soft pencils she keeps inside—perfect for a quick sketch on the move; occasionally drawn directly onto the walls of the buildings she’s working on.

“My one vital piece of equipment is my 1968 silver Mercedes coupé which whisks me around London in style and comfort. She always starts (on occasion with a splutter) and even after fifty years the interior still smells deliciously of old leather. I love the white steering wheel and the old wooden dashboard. The boot is ginormous too, which is very useful when I need to collect bits of furniture or slabs of stone from time to time. I’ve been driving her for about ten years and due to her grand old age of fifty years, it’s important to treat her with gentle respect. Sure, journeys take a little longer as a result but, in a way, the very fact that it slows me down—and that getting from A to B is such a pleasure not a chore—is one of its virtues.

“I love the fact everyone smiles when they see me pass—young or old—and often people wave or give the thumbs up. I suppose, like me, they see my wheels as a nostalgic thing of beauty from the sixties when the world seemed very different in spirit, and car design was less homogenized.

“There is always an ‘old school’ soft pencil kept in my car since I need to make doodles or drawings in my journal as I travel around, and I absolutely never work in pen. These are not precious drawings, but private musings done for my own purposes; often smudgy and abstract and part of a working dialogue with the design team.

“Computer drawings, whilst an essential part of the process, can be very limiting and devoid of the passion and spirit of an idea. Clients like hand drawings and love working models made to explore ideas too. I sometimes draw on raw plaster walls when talking to builders to convey how to resolve a detail on site; these scrawls get painted over, of course.

“I have no typical day but it’s particularly enjoyable going out and about visiting different projects on site at their various stages. Whilst it’s always gratifying to see the finished building, I’m far more excited by the working process—it’s exhilarating to see an initial concept finally emerge from the mud of a building site.

“My main considerations when working on a new site are light, views and the ergonomics of space, which is key. I choose to keep the studio small and focus our energy on producing beautiful work with rigorous design integrity.

“My advice to any young architect who is just starting out would be to go and explore the world; really look around you—inspiration is everywhere—often where you least expect to find it. And always travel with a journal, a soft pencil and a small Leica camera.”