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Setting The Tone

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The word tone suggests both visual and aural sensations, a reminder that the feeling of a place is perceived through all the senses, not just what we see.

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Borneo Sporenburg Revisited

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Borneo Sporenburg Revisited

One of the most successful urban regeneration projects of recent years, Borneo Sporenburg shows how strategically planned high-density low-rise housing can make an atmospheric and desirable piece of city.

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Inside-Outside

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Inside-Outside

In our work we often extend the roof out beyond the building envelope to create sheltered outdoor spaces, ‘intermediate territories’ between inside and outside that blur the distinction between the house and the landscape.

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New life for a Country Estate - The Newt in Somerset

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New life for a Country Estate - The Newt in Somerset

Perhaps the most radical aspect of the landscape is the way food production takes centre stage, subverting the traditional hierarchies of the country estate.  Once the owner of a country house might have demonstrated their taste and learning through references to classical mythology and architecture, but here they are showing it through the provenance of the food they grow. Showing off the exotic fruits grown on their estates was often part of a land-owner’s repertoire but it happened backstage in the walled garden.  Here the new no-dig kitchen garden is on axis with the house and new apple orchards stretch off to the horizon.

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An Architecture For Our Times

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An Architecture For Our Times

The buildings of the past that we most admire tend to be those made in a way that represents something of the spirit of their age. We perceive beauty when we sense materials being worked with artistry and judgement by people working to the best of their abilities in ways appropriate to their times. So what is an appropriate way of building for our time, and what might it say about our culture to future generations?

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Patrick McEvoy Bench - Here Lies Geofrey Barkington

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Patrick McEvoy Bench - Here Lies Geofrey Barkington

Patrick McEvoy from Prewett Bizley’s London office is one of ten winners in a competition organised by the London Festival of Architecture to design a bench for the City of London.

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Bighams Production Campus - A Model for Rural Industry

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Bighams Production Campus - A Model for Rural Industry

If we want rural and urban areas to remain distinct and not just become merged in ubiquitous suburbia we need to think more imaginatively about where development occurs and how it can be made specific to its place.

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Le Corbusier's Cité Frugès vs Poundbury

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Le Corbusier's Cité Frugès vs Poundbury

The most endearing quality of the houses isn't to do with style.  It is the sheltered outdoor spaces, an integral part of the conception of the buildings that enable the residents to engage with the green spaces around them.

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Hans Döllgast - Post-war Reconstruction in Munich

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Hans Döllgast - Post-war Reconstruction in Munich

In Döllgast's work the historic fabric, wartime scars and frugal 1950s work are bound together into a new construction that feels whole, inclusive of all the elements of its history.

 

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Emil Steffann - St Laurentius, Munich

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Emil Steffann - St Laurentius, Munich

It is a heavy building, made with thick brick walls, buttresses and round arches that feel quite rustic and rural, like a stripped down Italian village church. 

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Between The Earth And The Sky

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Between The Earth And The Sky

The Unknown Political Prisoner Monument defines space in the loosest sense, as an open structure of thin steel wires through which the landscape and sky are framed, delicately pinned to the ground. 

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The Abbot’s Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey

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The Abbot’s Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey

I finally got round to visiting Glastonbury Abbey this week, having lived near-by for 5 years and been deterred by the magic-crystal shops, and discovered this little gem of a building. The Abbot’s Kitchen is the only ...

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Precedents II – Dundon Passivhaus

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Precedents II – Dundon Passivhaus

Rather than thinking about what it would look like, a lot of our discussions revolved around the atmosphere of the house and the way different spaces would relate to one another. Emily is an interior designer, so we each had different, but fortunately ...

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Precedents I – Newington Green House

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Precedents I – Newington Green House

Observing the built environment and studying the work of others are a crucial part of the design process, yet these are things most architects seldom discuss. We might talk about our favorite ...