The AJ features three architecture firms that have recently designed their own studios: HAT Projects in Colchester; Gort Scott in south London; and Moxon in the Cairngorms. We also look at Feilden Clegg Bradley’s transformation of an 18th-century cotton mill at Ancoats in Manchester. PLUS We meet architecture’s poet in residence LionHeart; the growing calls to slash VAT on building refurbishment to encourage retrofits; the circular economy’s role in reducing the construction industry’s carbon emissions; and the David Kohn-led winning scheme for Birmingham Smithfield market.