How we work
We are architects and urban designers. Our passion is for improving people’s lives, with open, flexible and stimulating buildings that foster communities. We try to make the ordinary extraordinary.
We have a studio culture – in London and Dublin – that is open minded; we listen to better understand, we share our knowledge collegially, we cherish and value genuine collaboration. The work we do is underpinned by a rigorous approach and coherent dialogue, to create something that is thoughtful, creative, engaging and particular. Our aim is to engage creatively with end users and the context, to create tailored and enduring places.
We strive to become one of the most trusted, original and responsible voices for architecture and urbanism. Stimulating to work for and engaging to work with. We reflect on what we have helped to create to learn lessons for the future.
From the beginning we set out to practice architecture differently. We wanted to make more useful, more beautiful, more inspiring buildings and places, but to do this we knew that we had to find a better process that harnessed the full spectrum of society’s talent. We could see that there needed to be greater recognition of the power of collaboration and creative exchange in the design process and that this needed to change before architecture and urbanism could evolve. Our design comes from a close engagement with the client and the brief, which we often help develop. It also comes from a detailed understanding of the physical, cultural and economic context – the nature of place.
Our goal was to take on complex and challenging circumstances and turn them into more virtuous conditions for better outcomes. Our aim was to engage with the public to ensure that projects were better grounded and would succeed more sustainably. As designers we wish to put end-users needs first, to understand them more fully, and to resolve issues through design rather than wish them away.
Working in this way produces solutions that exceed expectations.
We create an open and iterative process using tested means of engaging clients – models, analysis drawings, sketches, workshops, optioneering – that is enjoyable, stimulating, and adds value.
This helps clients select ideas and contribute to the process helping to generate the integrity of our masterplanning, architecture and interior work.
