our
manifesto
Through our theoretical practice, we aim to:
• act as facilitators within local communities, through the use of participatory workshops, to create a net positive outcome.
• connect people and places to maximise social, economic and environmental growth and development.
• enable free and open access to knowledge, skills and opportunities.
Our design ethos is centred on a 1:1 approach; we believe that it’s vital that the architect and the intended users of the space interact and understand one and other as equals. This understanding is key to designing not only functional space, but space that embodies the values, outlook and desires of the users. It is through this approach to work that we find it possible to keep the individual user, within the context of the wider community, in mind.
As a collective, our approach reflects our desire to design with the sense and the feeling of the space as a driver to our process. Whilst functionality and aesthetics are key elements to good design, we believe that a bias towards these produces incomplete architecture. By influencing the spaces that we surround ourselves in, the architect has the ability to dictate our everyday experiences and interactions with our environment. So in turn, we call on architects to reconsider their current approach and think beyond aesthetics and pure structural logic.
We strive to understand the key issues that need to be addressed within the contexts that we work in. By encouraging and engaging in open dialogue with local people through workshops, consultations and open day events we can help focus the conversation to help us create meaningful architectures that reflect the needs of the community.
By acting as facilitators, our approach is not just limited to designing buildings. We aim to go further by investigating how our work can help facilitate change through the sharing and dissemination of skills, knowledge and local history to allow the community to take control of its own destiny. Turning the current top-down design paradigm on its head.
Our one to one approach allows us to create and build a good relationship with users and communities.
And it is throughout this process that we encourage the sharing of key skills and local knowledge within the community and the surrounding areas.
This allows us to find commonalities and shared perspectives, which we use as a key driver in our participatory design workshops.
a masterplan for stretford
For our project in Stretford, we are focusing on public realm and transportation. This is because we believe that the connections in public space are ones that dictate how people interact and experience their surroundings. We aim to create and design something that will address the current issue around access to Stretford Public Hall. By harnessing local knowledge through our open and collaborative workshops, we give the locals their roads and their public spaces back.