Approach
Social Orientation
People are the primary focus of our work. We aim to make places which are warm and generous, comfortable and efficient, embracing and connected to nature. We want the places we design and the process of their implementation to benefit and add richness to people’s lives. In some circumstances this could mean a heightening of spatial experience and in others the creation of meaningful work. Our method is essentially interactive; we like to engage in dialogue with clients and users and to try and meet their needs and aspirations.
Contextual Responsibility
Architecture must make a positive contribution to its broader context: It must take advantage of its site and the climate and turn constraints into opportunities. Respect for nature, for nearby buildings of quality and for historical spaces, is essential. A new building must relate to others in a way that contributes to a bigger whole, such as forming a square or memorable street.
Low Impact
We aim to make a building as independent as possible of fossil fuel derived energy, in its planning in relation to weather, its construction and its environmental performance – by using passive systems, bio-degradable materials and labour intensive construction.
Economy
Whatever the budget for a building, we look for opportunities to achieve quality economically, to design spaces of elegance with small means, and to use simple, everyday materials in a way that makes them feel generous.
Quality
We believe that the aesthetic experience of architecture and urbanism includes not only visual appreciation, but also tactile, aural and spatial. Therefore we aim to make buildings that offer experience of roughness and smoothness, light and dark, weight and lightness, that create or reflect sound in different ways, that offer space for all kinds of human activities and that are carefully built.