A project architect resigns the week after a big tender submission goes out. She cites a bigger firm's offer, and the principal wishes her well. Within a fortnight two junior designers from the same studio follow. Each gave a different sentence, so nobody noticed one story.
A design practice sells the judgement of a small group. Each exit removes the memory of why a staircase was moved, which consultant answers RFIs quickly and how a certain client likes boards laid out. This guide shows how to learn the real reason behind a resignation. More on drawing offices sits on the architects and interior design hub.
What a courteous reason can hide
"Better package", "going independent" and "family" are all common. Sometimes they are the whole truth. Often they are the shortest route past a difficult name. Think of a principal who marks up prints in red. Or a studio head who hands every concept sketch to one favourite. Or two years of door and window schedules.
Start by asking the person to walk you through the last submission they worked on. Who briefed them, how many rounds of revision came back, which weekends went. A real project jogs memory far better than a question about satisfaction.
Some exits are plain life. A masters abroad, a spouse posted to Pune, a plan to open a two-desk studio at home. Record those as they are. Not every departure hides a complaint.
Prompts that fit a drawing office
- Concept or tracing: Did the person ever sketch options, or only convert someone else's hand drawing into CAD sheets?
- The next grade: Could they say what a senior designer must do and how far off that seemed?
- Whose name: Did junior names appear on presentation boards and title blocks, or only the principal's?
- Tools: Was Revit, SketchUp or a rendering plug-in taught on projects, or assumed on arrival?
- Tender weeks: Did the final days before a submission always run past midnight, and was a day off given after?
- Critique: Did comments arrive early with reasons, or late as a marked-up print?
- Site visits: Were trips to the plot shared fairly, and was the journey counted as work time?
- Timesheets: Did the weekly hours sheet feel like a tool for the project or a way to catch people?
- The pull: Did a client, a contractor or a classmate offer a specific seat?
Rarely is it one thing. Ask the person to rank the three heaviest, and to name the one they could have tolerated.
Who sits across the table
If the principal is the subject, the principal cannot be the listener. A senior associate from a different studio, a partner who is not involved or an outside HR adviser can take the chair. State up front who will read the notes. In a practice of fifteen, nobody believes a promise of total secrecy.
Use a single page and let the person pass on any line. Say in plain words that nothing said changes final dues. For the wider method see exit interviews that produce action.
Ten questions for a designer on the way out
- 1
When did the idea of leaving first arrive?
The first thought usually predates the offer letter by months.
- 2
What made it final?
Let them rank their own reasons.
- 3
Which project did you enjoy most here?
It shows what to protect for those who stay.
- 4
Was the work what you pictured at joining?
Gaps often sit between design time and drafting time.
- 5
How was work shared inside your studio?
Listen for favourites and for quiet weeks.
- 6
When did critique reach you, and how?
Timing and tone matter as much as content.
- 7
What stopped you from learning the next tool?
This links growth to mentors, licences and time.
- 8
How did the last submission week feel?
Ask about nights, weekend calls and the day after.
- 9
Was there a moment you felt unheard?
Let them name it.
- 10
What would you change for the next junior?
End on something practical.
Reading exits by stage, studio and years
Ask what the hands actually produced. Two years of parapet and lintel details, facade mullion schedules and soffit sections is a different story from a year of concept massing, moodboards and fenestration studies. The first designer may be bored. The second may be anxious about drawings he was never trained to detail.
Record the main reason, the other factors and a plain summary of the words used. Keep your reading apart from theirs. Add studio, project type, the stage they worked on most, grade and years since joining.
Look at the software seat too. A Revit modeller never asked to build families, or a SketchUp user kept on massing studies for two years, may leave for scope. Check also what the person actually drew. A designer who produced sanction sets and bill of quantities extracts for two years, and never a presentation board, has a different story from one who led concept work. The pattern matters, not the single case. Do people go two to three years in, right after appraisals or after a run of tenders? Do they come from one studio or under one lead? Set the notes beside timesheets, leave records and the allocation sheet. One exit proves little. Five with the same thread call for a conversation.
From finding to a named owner
- Only tracing and schedules: the studio head, who plans rotation across project stages.
- Names missing on sheets: the principal, who sets a simple credit rule for boards and title blocks.
- Tool growth: a senior designer, who runs a monthly clinic on modelling and rendering.
- Nights before submissions: the project architect, who plans the last week and grants a day back.
- Pay gaps: the owner, who compares what peers pay at the same grade.
Write each action against a name, a month and a review date for the quarterly partners' meeting. Tell the studio which changes began with leavers' remarks, without naming anyone. Firms wanting outside help can look at employee retention and attrition management.
Hearing it before the resignation
Hold a short chat six months in, another after the first appraisal and one after each large submission. These give the same facts while the person is still at the desk. To start a conversation with us about it, use the requirements form. Architects, interior designers and site coordinators all deserve a proper hearing on the way out.
