Marc Vlessing
Why is Pocket investing so much in design?
The honest answer is that we don’t feel that we are. As a business, around 10% of our team is entirely dedicated to design – we think this is about right. Design quality has always been mission critical for Pocket – whether as a means to an end for planning, as a mechanism for optimising the space available in our compact homes, or as a strategy for demonstrating a lateral approach to compliance. We believe that we get excellent buildings by collaborating with excellent designers. The best architects that we work with are those that understand and enjoy the constraints of our development model, work within them, and then seek to exploit the opportunities that remain to an extreme degree. We understand that we simply will not get the outcomes that we want, unless we’re willing to invest meaningfully in design.
Marc was in corporate finance, company management and venture capital before he founded Pocket, one of London’s few private providers of affordable homes. Pocket is the client for Mapleton Crescent in Wandsworth.
Marc Vlessing, Founder and CEO
