“Uncertainty is what most architects are worried about in 2012. Things are changing so quickly in the marketplace, in both the private and public sector.

“In the UK having a coalition government means you’re never quite sure if a decision will be followed through or watered down. Internationally, there are issues with China where they are not going for as much as they did previously. And increasingly Chinese practices will do work themselves. The same is true for India, especially in residential and education.

“In the Middle East the Arab Spring is making things dangerous for architects because you don’t know how steady a country is. The US will begin a slow recovery but I can’t see things in Europe easing for a couple of years.

“All this means architects won’t be looking to expand – either through recruitment or pushing into new markets. Things are much more volatile so even if things pick up in six months there’s no guarantee they won’t go down again. Governments are more precarious and are not necessarily controlling the markets. Often it’s banks, traders, hedge funds.

“There will be a few more architects going bust or being taken over in 2012. There won’t be architects with the money to buy them so I think we’ll seem engineers like Aecom and Ramboll buying practices. Not only do they have the money but they need to be able to offer an architectural element.

“Finally, you’ll see more architects doing wild and wacky stuff to get ahead of the pack. Not necessarily way-out designs but in terms of marketing and business development.”