Sarah Simpkin is a writer, editorial + communications consultant for architects, designers and independent publishers.
My experience covers journalism, publishing and working in-house and freelance for international practices. I support artists and architects with their publications, exhibitions and communications.
Clients
Clients and collaborators have included Foster + Partners, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Heatherwick Studio, Zaha Hadid Design, Henning Larsen, Chris Dyson Architects, Chris Williamson, Piercy & Company, UHA, The Truman Brewery, the Local Government Information Unit, DG Cities, Useful Studio, Nicola Dale, STORE, Max Lamb, Gemma Holt, Dent-de-Leone, Martino Gamper…
Services
I find creative ways to achieve specific communications aims and bring a writer’s perspective to press – an understanding of what makes a good story.Commissions might vary from initiating a new journal to a short, targeted project PR campaign.
My experience at Foster + Partners has given me the skills to manage press across large, multi-stakeholder projects and deal with sensitive, high-profile communications. This has included shaping content for long-term vision strategies with clients, such as: an infrastructure hub in the Thames Estuary; a proposal to integrate health services with vacant retail spaces in the UK; a net-zero roadmap for local government; and a manifesto to guide a city development in Africa as it evolves over three decades.
Services include writing, editorial, communications and content strategy. For some practices, I work as an extension of the team, writing, scheduling news, securing press coverage and advising on day-to-day issues. For others, I work on specific projects. My approach is pragmatic, discreet and ambitious for my clients. I value relationships, draw on a strong network, and care about the quality of buildings and cities – the substance being communicated.
If you would like to discuss a project or request my recent client press file, email me: sarah(at)editorialcontent.org. Where needed, I can also recommend other communications studios and freelancers for specific briefs and areas of expertise.
Background
My approach reflects my background as an artist: creative, ideas-led and with a keen sense of the absurd. I studied Interactive Arts, an experimental, ideas-led course, at Manchester School of Art. After admitting partial defeat as a conceptual artist and a spell as an art consultant, I followed my interest in architecture, and have worked in the industry for almost two decades.
Foster + Partners
For eight years, I was the writer and managed written communications for Foster + Partners, publicising the design of everything from a lunar habitation to a winery, developing carefully-worded press statements, articles and interviews. I also wrote for some notable project wins, including Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, towers for Comcast in Philadelphia and 425 Park Avenue, New York, the redevelopment of Slussen in Stockholm and the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong. Since leaving, I have been commissioned for further projects for the practice (2023-2025) and the Norman Foster Foundation (2016).
Writing
My writing has been in a range of publications, from AD, Arquitectura Viva, A+U, Architecture Today and ArtReview to FastCompany, Building Design and The Evening Standard. I produced the first newspaper for The Architects’ Company in the City of London, and have written for several international architecture exhibitions.
I have also worked on a number of design books, as a contributor, editor, ghost or copy editor. These include: Exercises in Seating (1 & 3) , Urushi is Not Alone and Inventory Works by Max Lamb; a range of Foster + Partners’ monographs, including Moving: Norman Foster on Art, Foster + Partners’ Catalogue and AV: Norman Foster in the 21st Century; the first edition of Making by Thomas Heatherwick (Thames & Hudson); Tutti a Tavola, and a very small book about Martino Gamper’s Arnold Circus Stool.
Editorial Content 