She worked as an architectural assistant to Halliday and Associates in Manchester (1930–34) and then undertook research in Spain as recipient of the RIBA Neale Bursary in 1934.
In the 1930s Speight, who continued to work under her own name,[3] and Martin developed a productive partnership designing a number of private houses together, as well as a kindergarten in Cheshire.
[4] Along with Martin, Speight also formed friendships with and became part of the group of leading modernist architects, sculptors and artists in Britain, including Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo.
Other collaborative projects in the 1930s included the design of the Good Form range of modular furniture for W. Rowntree & Sons and the publication of The Flat Book (1939), an advice manual for modern home owners.
A collaborative project with Leonard Manasseh, for the Festival of Britain in 1951 was the design of the Rosie Lee cafeteria at the ‘Live Architecture’ exhibition in Lansbury, London.