It is August, so time for the newspapers and news programmes to be full of surveys – news, generally, being a bit thin on the ground – covering the spurious, the obvious, and the curious. The latest survey suggests that most office staff would like a tea break – even more, they want the tea trolley back http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6947212.stm. Complete, presumably, with the tea lady? (It was always a tea lady.)

To be honest, I don’t know the average age of those surveyed but tea trolleys, along with tea ladies, haven’t been much in evidence for a long time. I’ve been working for . . . er. let me see . . . 41 years and I remember only one place where we had both. But it was, now I come to think of it, one of the most enjoyable jobs I ever had.

It was 1967 and the place was the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Library at 66 Portland Place. A landmark Art Deco building designed by Grey Wornum, this was where I learned about architecture, discovered a passion for architectural drawings and spent hours poring over books on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gaudí and many more. I worked in the morning in the Librarian’s office, with his PA, and in the afternoon photocopying illustrations from architectural books and magazines. These were for library users, who ranged from students working on dissertations to film-makers, one of whom wanted a copy of every available picture of the Titanic’s interior.

The trolley came round twice a day, laden with goodies like rock cakes, buns and shortbread, as well as tea and coffee. The library staff would squeeze into our cramped office for their break – you couldn’t have crumbs scattered all over priceless books and drawings. It was all very British, very jolly and very sociable.

At that time, the Library housed the world-famous RIBA Drawings Collection (now at the V&A). It was one of the first departments I visited when I joined the RIBA and was run by John Harris. “Would you like to see the Palladio drawings?” asked John, opening a drawer. Apart from a sharp intake of breath, there is only one answer to a question like that. It isn’t often that one has the opportunity to see perfection close up and these were, without any doubt, the most perfect drawings I had ever seen. (It was to be almost 25 years before I saw a Palladio villa: the Villa Rotonda near Vicenza. I was with my daughter, who was studying in Italy at the time, and when we saw this magnificent building, we were in tears - because it was so heartstoppingly beautiful.)

If I hadn’t enjoyed those tea trolley sessions so much and experienced that magic moment in the Drawings Collection, I might not have gone on to study art history. So, perhaps there really is something in this afternoon tea at work business after all.

(John Harris is a leading authority on the English country house and today is Curator Emeritus of the RIBA Drawings Collection. For an insight into his expertise, go along to the current exhibition at the Soane Museum, A Passion for Building: the Amateur Architect in England 1650-1850 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article...) which he curated. And in November, John is giving the Annual Soane Lecture http://www.soane.org/annuallecture.htm at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. His subject is ‘Moving Rooms: the trade in architectural salvages’. A trade that has been going on for longer than you might think.)