Architecton has diverse and wide experience, often designing for complex and constrained sites, making unique contemporary architecture, in harmony with carefully repaired historic buildings and landscapes.
Our approach attempts to draw out the qualities of existing contexts rather than to superimpose ideas. We aim to generate designs that reflect and further the cultural values and ambitions of any scheme. We want them to be practical, rich and particular, to be enjoyable and rewarding for those developing the project and for those using the finished building.
Starting from first principles, we analyse the history, significance, strategies and patterns of the place to determine direction for the new, finding careful and logical responses. We consider all the essential architectural qualities of line, scale, form, space, materials, textures and colour and ally this with an emphasis on the use of simple natural environmental processes to conserve energy, to create buildings that are expressive of their genesis and purpose, and of how they are put together.
This involves thorough, collaborative discussions with clients and others to whom the projects matter. Using models and sketch drawings we ensure the fullest engagement and interaction are achieved throughout the design process.
Skills in the technical aspects of conservation have been developed over the years, in projects of all sizes involving buildings, monuments and landscapes from ancient to recent. We see importance in the appropriate selection of repair details for the variety of demands involved with valuable historic fabric and archaeologically rich sites, including their visual implications.
The practice can take schemes from brief and analysis, through design to working drawings and completed buildings.