Research

Our research studio and the architecture studio do not operate separately. For us, research-led design is not just a methodology; it is the condition of how every project begins. Research informs design, and built work returns as knowledge. 

materiality, ecology and the economies of making

Our architectural research focuses on materiality, local ecology, and the economies of making and repair. We study craft traditions, vernacular construction techniques, and the conditions that allow buildings, landscapes, and local industries to remain coherent over time. This research spans circular economy principles, regenerative building practice, and the cultural knowledge embedded in place-based craft.

Fieldwork and physical prototyping are central to the method. We test ideas against the resistance of real materials and real places, on site, with makers, within specific ecological and economic contexts. The work moves between architectural theory and built practice, between academic inquiry and constructed fact.

Research across sectors

We conduct architectural research across civic, educational, commercial, residential, and conservation contexts. Whether working with heritage buildings, new civic commissions, or ecological prototypes, the research questions remain consistent: what does this place know, what has it lost, and what can architecture recover or extend?

Our published research: essays, competition proposals, lectures, and policy contributions, engages with architectural discourse on conservation, materiality, and the environmental responsibilities of building practice in the UK and beyond.

Design Research

We work at depth rather than scale. The aim is architecture that understands its own conditions precisely, ecological, cultural, tectonic, and responds to them with rigour rather than novelty. Longevity, in both environmental and cultural terms, is not a design constraint. It is the design brief.

If you are working on a project that requires in-depth architectural research into place, material, craft, or ecological systems — get in touch.