Modernising Core IT Infrastructure for a Leading London Architecture Practice

Our client is a renowned, award-winning architectural practice based in London, known for designing thoughtful, human-centred spaces. Founded in 1985, the studio has successfully delivered over 350 projects across the culture, education, public realm, and residential sectors.

With a deep respect for light, materiality, and context, the practice places emphasis on how people interact with and experience the built environment. One of their most notable accolades includes winning the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge. Today, the firm continues to shape inspiring spaces that harmonise functionality, beauty, and social impact.

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Industry: Architecture

Organisation Size: 50–100 employees‍

Service Areas: Professional Services, Managed Infrastructure Support , IT Financing Solutions

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Like many in the architecture sector, the client had been navigating a period of economic slowdown, with several major projects delayed or put on hold. In response, they, like many design-led firms, chose to minimise capital expenditures by extending the lifecycle of their existing IT infrastructure, particularly their servers.

While "sweating" hardware such as end-user devices can be a short-term cost-saving measure, applying the same logic to core infrastructure poses serious operational risks. The client’s server environment included three legacy servers, all over seven years old, well beyond the typical support and reliability thresholds.

The risks were clear: the ageing servers faced an increased likelihood of hardware failure, growing security vulnerabilities due to outdated firmware and unsupported operating systems, and rising incompatibility with modern applications and systems. Additionally, limited vendor support for parts and updates further exposed the infrastructure to potential downtime and operational disruption.

Each server played a critical role in the business’s day-to-day operations, making the situation both urgent and potentially costly if left unresolved.

• Consolidated Infrastructure: Replaced three legacy servers with two modern, high-performance servers to reduce rack space and improve efficiency.
• Optimised Performance: Ensured better resource allocation and scalability for future growth.
• Cost-Effective Strategy: Avoided unnecessary like-for-like replacements by assessing actual server workloads and right-sizing the environment.
• Flexible Financing: Introduced the client to a trusted IT finance partner to spread the cost of the new infrastructure over several years.
• Minimised Disruption: Planned and executed the migration with zero downtime to daily business operations.
• Sustainable Decommissioning: Retired old hardware in an environmentally responsible and secure manner.

The client now operates on a modern, efficient, and secure server infrastructure built to support the business for the next seven years. The cutover and migration process was completed with zero disruption to daily operations, and the decommissioning of legacy equipment was handled in line with environmental and data protection best practices.

By choosing a finance-based approach, the client safeguarded their financial agility while making essential upgrades to their IT backbone. Most importantly, they now have peace of mind knowing their infrastructure is stable, supported, and equipped to meet the demands of an evolving architectural landscape.