The work of Stephen Taylor Architects extends from urban strategies to the individual dwelling. Underlying this continuum is a deep understanding of the city and its component parts and a concern to develop typologies that contribute to civic life. Taylor studied in London at South Bank University and the Royal College of Art (RCA) and worked first for Richard Reid, his former tutor at South Bank and the author of a number of studies of housing types. After brief periods in the offices of Richard Rogers, Stanton Williams and others, Taylor established a partnership with Andrew Houlton in 1993. For several years in that partnership and for the five years subsequently, Taylor has occupied the same site in Shoreditch, east London. To begin with, the practice occupied the basement and he lived over the shop. As the office expanded, it colonised a set of spaces on three floors organised around a small court. We met there in a space at the back, beyond the court, and began by discussing the arrangement of the spaces.