An office of one’s own

Having studied at different universities as undergraduates, we moved to London to work before joining the Part II course at London Metropolitan University. We soon found we had similar interests and our friendship was galvanised by a memorably challenging trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales soon after. The possibility of working together was always in the air; after graduating we worked in different offices and when the right project came along we set up a little studio in Joe’s spare room. Sadly it never came to fruition, but we did get an office of our own!

Looking for a creative economy

The shift that is currently taking place in the British economy is a big part of our story. We started out in 2017, unaware that the ripples of the Brexit referendum were already spreading outwards. Construction costs were increasing and materials played a big part in this. The UK produces relatively little building material and when the value of the pound dropped, prices for ordinary customers began to increase. This has been compounded by Covid-19 and recent severe shortages of both goods and labour. Because of this, the search for a creative economy is a big part of what we do.

Towards a larger scale

We would both like to have the opportunity to work on slightly larger projects. At the moment, we do a lot of residential refurbishments and extensions and although we find it very satisfying to work with an individual or a family unit to unpick their surroundings it is frustrating not to also be able to use our skills in a way that would benefit more people, particularly when the quality of public infrastructure and volume housebuilding in the UK is so low. 

Open doors to new dialogue

We set aside time every six months or so to do a competition for a public building or interior. Although the chances of success are miniscule, we find these really valuable for our own development as they open up new conversations between us. The intensity is also productive; it isn’t often that you have a chance to step away from emails and phone calls for a week and just concentrate on research, design and representation. I suppose we’d say our aspiration is to win one! But even making this work and putting it out there can lead to something new.