What a night. The House of PTE party at Diespeker Wharf - ostensibly a book launch event – was more like a homecoming, a reunion, and a heartfelt celebration of fifty-plus years of a practice that has shaped places, people, and projects with steady commitment. The room filled quickly, a lively mix of directors past and present, collaborators, friends, and faces from across PTE’s five decades. The number of guests – many former colleagues and many clients too - said it all: this is a community with deep roots and long memories.

The speeches (and indeed the chats had throughout the evening) captured that same spirit. Andrew Beharrell set the tone with trademark eloquence before handing over to a line‑up that embodied PTE’s evolving public face: founder Bill Thomas, former director Teresa Borsuk (who devised the book’s concept), current director Kaye Stout, the book’s editor Rory Olcayto and Paul Finch in full bon viveur mode delivering the keynote. Their reflections were generous, funny, emotional at times, and, importantly, optimistic about the next 50 years.

As the blurb on the back states, The House of PTE is a lived-in oral history of a practice that helped reframe housing, reuse, and urban repair long before they were fashionable. Copies were free to all who attended – although a donation to Crisis was encouraged – and guests spoke about what it meant to see their own stories, projects or colleagues represented in a narrative that feels unusually personal for an architectural history.

As one former colleague said, ‘Even now I have left PTE, I'm thrilled to see that I’ve been recognised for my contributions to the company's achievements, and my name has been honourably mentioned in this latest publication!’ As Kaye said on reflection, “More than fifty years after Bill, Roger and John set out to build a practice shaped by home, a culture of equality and a real sense of welcome, here we are still living those ideals. Seeing that founding vision so clearly expressed made the evening for me. Talk about proof of concept.”

As the drinks flowed and conversations carried on late into the night, one thing was clear: PTE’s real project has always been its people.