Architects Kate Kelly and partner Hugh MacPherson feel the need to be fairly close to their projects, hence bicycles are an important mode of transport, despite owning a car.

The pair, who studied at Hull (now Lincolnshire and Humberside) University, work from their home in Haxby Road, York, to reduce overheads, but also to give them greater flexibility to respond to their client's needs out of hours.

Hugh and Kate, who qualified as registered architects in 1991 and 1993 respectively, worked for local firms before setting up their own practice, MacPherson & Kelly Architects. In addition, Hugh, who also teaches at Lincolnshire and Humberside University two days a week, previously spent a year in Germany working on retail developments.

Kate, who originally wanted to be an engineer, but moved into architecture, because it embraced the arts and sciences, outlined their plans. "We want to expand into the commercial development side," she said. "Nevertheless, the domestic market, which is the bread and butter side of the business, is equally satisfying."

She continued: "Things are going well, and we have done a lot of work locally, for such prestigious clients as Browns department store in the city, and Hazlewood Castle, near Tadcaster. One of the most-recent satisfying jobs was drawing up plans for the new parish hall at Knaresborough."

A conscious decision was made to remain in York when they started looking for new premises earlier this year. Kate said: "There is a wealth of opportunities in York and North Yorkshire to work on some fascinating historic buildings as well as the challenge of designing modern ones, which are appropriate to their surroundings."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.