Overview: Addresses the pressing national need for housing, five intricate pavilions are harmoniously integrated within this verdant new parkland context. Ranging across 5-7 storeys, the scheme comprises market and social rented accommodation for Croydon Council. Community Impact & Value: We worked with the developer Brick by Brick, to deliver an ambitious 9,550 sqm with the original concept designs by Mary Duggan Architects. Notably, this development stands as one of BBB's most substantial ventures. The 157 new dwellings are a testament to our practice’s aspiration to provide considered, quality design regardless of typology or tenure. Technical Insights & Challenges: The immediate context has remarkable characteristics, including it’s proximity to the Surrey Iron Railway Scheduled Monument. This 6,000 sqm setting with an 8m level change served as inspiration for delivery of the fully accessible landscape, including a children’s play areas, sensory trail and residents’ allotments. To develop the meticulous technical designs we embarked on reflection refining and enhancing the original concept. Undertaking subcontractor engagement duties allowed us to rapidly respond to significant changes to fire regulations occurring after the initial concept was completed. The project was at the forefront of responses to new Building Regulations, creating an example of best practice for buildings over 18m through careful material specification. A delicate projecting brick detail softens the overarching materiality, with three complementary brick colours used to provide differentiation between overlapping façades. Key Achievements: Completed in 2023, each block rotation carefully managed proximity and views, with its pavilion typology achieving more homes than originally envisaged possible. This unique plan arrangement generates efficient and spatially rich layouts with generous corner loggia set among the surrounding trees. This experience of continually re-engaging with the landscape from the interior spaces was key to the design. LION GREEN ROAD Client: Brick By Brick Ltd Value: 46 million Status: Completed - Awards: BCIA 2024 Residential Project of the Year - Finalist Placemaking Project of the Year - Finalist AJ Architecture Award 2023 Housing Project of The Year (£20 million and over) - Winner British Homes Award 2023 Development of the Year (Over 100 Homes) - Winner Apartment Development of The Year - Winner Affordable Housing - Finalist Irish Construction Industry Awards 2023 Contractor International Project of the Year - Winner New London Awards 2023 Housing - Finalist Building Awards 2023 Project of the Year - Finalist NLA Housing Londoners: Innovation in Delivery and Design - Case Study Civic Trust Awards 2023 Regional Award - Shortlist Overview: Addresses the pressing national need for housing, five intricate pavilions are harmoniously integrated within this verdant new parkland context. Ranging across 5-7 storeys, the scheme comprises market and social rented accommodation for Croydon Council. Community Impact & Value: We worked with the developer Brick by Brick, to deliver an ambitious 9,550 sqm with the original concept designs by Mary Duggan Architects. Notably, this development stands as one of BBB's most substantial ventures. The 157 new dwellings are a testament to our practice’s aspiration to provide considered, quality design regardless of typology or tenure. Technical Insights & Challenges: The immediate context has remarkable characteristics, including it’s proximity to the Surrey Iron Railway Scheduled Monument. This 6,000 sqm setting with an 8m level change served as inspiration for delivery of the fully accessible landscape, including a children’s play areas, sensory trail and residents’ allotments. To develop the meticulous technical designs we embarked on reflection refining and enhancing the original concept. Undertaking subcontractor engagement duties allowed us to rapidly respond to significant changes to fire regulations occurring after the initial concept was completed. The project was at the forefront of responses to new Building Regulations, creating an example of best practice for buildings over 18m through careful material specification. A delicate projecting brick detail softens the overarching materiality, with three complementary brick colours used to provide differentiation between overlapping façades. Key Achievements: Completed in 2023, each block rotation carefully managed proximity and views, with its pavilion typology achieving more homes than originally envisaged possible. This unique plan arrangement generates efficient and spatially rich layouts with generous corner loggia set among the surrounding trees. This experience of continually re-engaging with the landscape from the interior spaces was key to the design.

Overview: The full 24,000 sqft gallery refurbishment and system upgrade saw the 8-week ‘dark period’ between scheduled shows fully utilised. Our directly appointed multi-disciplinary team delivered within this Grade II listed building, ahead of the widely acclaimed David Chipperfield’s Lee Krasner retrospective opening. Community Impact & Value: The project holistically reviewed the original gallery fabric and mechanical services. Innovatively reviving key design aspects created within the retained shell. A 21st century world leading gallery space formed, now able to host acclaimed international exhibitions, showing the world’s highest value and valued artworks. Technical Insights & Challenges: Addressing accessibility was critical. Newly located, increased lift capacity and navigation routes that align with the main staircase distribution to the upper Level 4 gallery ensure additional mobility and visibility requirements are inclusive. Display walls, lighting and flooring were also creatively adjusted throughout the space, enhancing the visual experience and wayfinding for all. Centrally located in the wider listed arts centre and residential Barbican Estate, a sensitive approach to both re-use and enhancement of the existing fabric was proposed to City of London Planners and Conservation Officers. As conservation architects, previously delivering the new Beech Street Cinemas at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, we understood the key critical approach needed to work within the statutory approval processes. Intentional use was made of existing fabric for a full system upgrade from pneumatic controls to an energy efficient electrical control system along with full AHU equipment. Key Achievements: Due to the uniquely challenging development window, we provided an extremely agile and flexible service. Clear identification of tasks and outputs generated key principles and marker stage commissioning, compressing 3 months of critical work into the short programme. BARBICAN ART GALLERY Client: Barbican Centre Value: 650K Status: Completed - Awards: NLA Retrofit Award Conservation and Retrofit Category - Nomination Overview: The full 24,000 sqft gallery refurbishment and system upgrade saw the 8-week ‘dark period’ between scheduled shows fully utilised. Our directly appointed multi-disciplinary team delivered within this Grade II listed building, ahead of the widely acclaimed David Chipperfield’s Lee Krasner retrospective opening. Community Impact & Value: The project holistically reviewed the original gallery fabric and mechanical services. Innovatively reviving key design aspects created within the retained shell. A 21st century world leading gallery space formed, now able to host acclaimed international exhibitions, showing the world’s highest value and valued artworks. Technical Insights & Challenges: Addressing accessibility was critical. Newly located, increased lift capacity and navigation routes that align with the main staircase distribution to the upper Level 4 gallery ensure additional mobility and visibility requirements are inclusive. Display walls, lighting and flooring were also creatively adjusted throughout the space, enhancing the visual experience and wayfinding for all. Centrally located in the wider listed arts centre and residential Barbican Estate, a sensitive approach to both re-use and enhancement of the existing fabric was proposed to City of London Planners and Conservation Officers. As conservation architects, previously delivering the new Beech Street Cinemas at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, we understood the key critical approach needed to work within the statutory approval processes. Intentional use was made of existing fabric for a full system upgrade from pneumatic controls to an energy efficient electrical control system along with full AHU equipment. Key Achievements: Due to the uniquely challenging development window, we provided an extremely agile and flexible service. Clear identification of tasks and outputs generated key principles and marker stage commissioning, compressing 3 months of critical work into the short programme.

Overview: In Kings Cross Camden, our 945 sqm mixed-used proposal seeks to establish strong connections between the street and existing architecture adjacent to the prominent corner site, re-establishing its relationship to the main street. An extended basement and ground floor accommodate new commercial units and ancillary functions, with five residential units provided in the floors above. Provision is made for the potential addition of a further six storeys, futureproofing the function and viability of the project. Community Impact & Value: The building’s form , material and composition has emerged following in-depth studies of both the site and the conservation area’s architecture and noteworthy adjacent Listed buildings. The result is a textured facade composed of black brick arches set over two storeys, rising in a softer buff brick of the retrofitted volume above. The arches continue a language established by local light-industrial railway buildings and more recent commercial developments, with the retained taller block maintaining its relationship with the setting. Technical Insights & Challenges: The extended ground and first floor re-establish the original building line. A strong new urban corner is aligned along Britannia Street and steps back gently along Gray’s Inn Road, reuniting pedestrian routes and framing a mature London Plane Tree. Refined metal detailing of the ground-floor spaces reinforce a warehouse language that continues to the balustrades of the residential loggia above and provides solar shading for the southern elevation. Key Achievements: New entrances for both new and existing homes replace an isolated fenced-off forecourt, establishing a stronger, more welcoming sense of arrival. At its tallest, the proposed extension extends to nine storeys, a scale similar to surrounding developments further strengthening the site's seamless integration into this preexisting central urban environment. GRAYS INN ROAD Client: CMT Construction Value: Confidential Status: Detailed Design Overview: In Kings Cross Camden, our 945 sqm mixed-used proposal seeks to establish strong connections between the street and existing architecture adjacent to the prominent corner site, re-establishing its relationship to the main street. An extended basement and ground floor accommodate new commercial units and ancillary functions, with five residential units provided in the floors above. Provision is made for the potential addition of a further six storeys, futureproofing the function and viability of the project. Community Impact & Value: The building’s form , material and composition has emerged following in-depth studies of both the site and the conservation area’s architecture and noteworthy adjacent Listed buildings. The result is a textured facade composed of black brick arches set over two storeys, rising in a softer buff brick of the retrofitted volume above. The arches continue a language established by local light-industrial railway buildings and more recent commercial developments, with the retained taller block maintaining its relationship with the setting. Technical Insights & Challenges: The extended ground and first floor re-establish the original building line. A strong new urban corner is aligned along Britannia Street and steps back gently along Gray’s Inn Road, reuniting pedestrian routes and framing a mature London Plane Tree. Refined metal detailing of the ground-floor spaces reinforce a warehouse language that continues to the balustrades of the residential loggia above and provides solar shading for the southern elevation. Key Achievements: New entrances for both new and existing homes replace an isolated fenced-off forecourt, establishing a stronger, more welcoming sense of arrival. At its tallest, the proposed extension extends to nine storeys, a scale similar to surrounding developments further strengthening the site's seamless integration into this preexisting central urban environment.

As we step into 2026, the studio is already moving at pace, beginning the year with a strong planning submission for The Fabric Works and a clear sense of momentum. Before we get too far ahead, it feels important to pause and reflect on the work, people, and moments that shaped the past year. Looking back, 2025 was a full and rewarding period, marked by progress across large construction sites, design studies, long-standing collaborations, and shared learning that has strengthened the practice in lasting ways. Guildford Plaza has been one of the standout journeys. Early in the year, the struck scaffolding on Block B revealed the new conservation-area façades, the green window frames echoing the site   history of bottle making. The project reached Practical Completion in August, and has since been recognised in the 2025 Guildford Design Awards , receiving three awards including Winner of Winners. Hosting the judges on site after such a complex programme was a genuine high point for the team. At our smaller scale, a project we have been involved with closely since 2015, we were delighted to see another residential project featured in The London Standard  and Garden’s Illustrated . This 210 sqm extension and refurbishment transforms a 1960s architect-designed bungalow into a contemporary family home, intimately connected to its surrounding landscape. Working closely with garden designer Lucy Willcox, the scheme blurs the line between interior and garden, creating a calm, enduring family environment framed by mature planting and approached via a private road. The thoughtful planting design was recognised with a Pro Landscaper Award for Planting Design under £25,000, highlighting the care and creativity invested in crafting a home that feels at one with its landscape. A testament to the Client’s self build dedication and a remarkable quality of final product. In Devon, our rural farmstead project moved through planning and early construction, drawing heavily on local materials and the character of the landscape. New Road Triangle also completed in 2025. The 176-home scheme on a former Network Rail site provides a mix of social rental and private housing, forming a new northern gateway for Feltham town centre. Careful massing and varied apartment layouts create a distinctive, welcoming environment while enhancing connections to the surrounding parkland. Our student accommodation portfolio continued to grow: Beresford Street advanced on site, topping out at 13 storeys, with brickwork, chamfered reveals and slab penetrations beginning to express the form and detailing developed in earlier stages. Meanwhile, early studies in Exeter explored industrial heritage, massing, rhythm and materiality. These evolved into layered façade concepts combining brick rustication and perforated metal, setting the tone for a strong planning submission. Beresford Phase Two also begun in earnest and was at level 5 of the frame before the festive break. Alongside project work, we invested in learning, sustainability and broader industry engagement. From Cundall’s Whole Life Carbon CPDs to Publica’s “Right to the City” night walks, the team gained insights that inform our approach to environmental and social responsibility. We returned to the Barbican several times, from a private viewing of the Noah Davis exhibition to a new commission for a full arts focused gallery audit. Having completed over 15 individual projects at the Barbican, revisiting the Gallery Spaces we retrofitted in 2019 is always a grounding reminder of the long-term impact of thoughtful design. The same spirit guided us through UKREIIF, where Paul joined the “6000 Reasons to Build” conversation on sustainable and equitable development. Within the studio, it has also been a year defined by people. International Women’s Day gave us a chance to recognise the women who make up the majority of our team. Alice and Linde were promoted to Project Architect, each bringing clarity and generosity to their projects. Rishita took part in the Women in Architecture mentoring programme, widening her network and building confidence as she develops her practice. And of course, Monty joined us, settling into his role as unofficial office hoover and consistent morale booster. The cultural calendar fed into our creative energy. Trips to Cork with CField, the carpentry exhibition at Japan House, Do Ho Suh at Tate Modern and various gallery visits prompted discussions about craft and materiality. Our socials offered a different sort of recharge, from a fiercely competitive evening at Flight Club to charity events including the Samaritans Bike Ride and a Chase the Moon 5k supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital. Mental Health Awareness Week gave us time to slow down together with an afternoon of Kintsugi. Throughout everything, collaboration held the year together. Whether resolving intricate details on site, developing tower massing within tight constraints or guiding visitors through Lion Green Road during the Open House Festival, the team’s care, curiosity and steady commitment remained constant. As we look ahead into 2026, we do so with gratitude for our clients, collaborators and colleagues, and with real enthusiasm for the work to come. With new concepts emerging, key design stages ahead, and the year already underway at full stride, we’re looking forward to carrying the momentum, craft and collective spirit of 2025 into the months ahead. Back to News

Guildford Plaza has been featured in the Architecture Journals! The piece highlights how the scheme we delivered with CField Construction and Coffeyarchitects introduces co-living to a sensitive part of Guildford, balancing new homes with the character of the conservation area. The AJ coverage touches on the varied building forms, the brickwork palette and the contract-green windows that have become a defining feature of the development. It also reflects the wider ambition behind the project, which sits at the intersection of community-focused design and a changing housing landscape. We’re pleased to see the scheme recognised in this way and grateful to everyone involved. It’s encouraging to watch interest grow around thoughtful approaches to co-living, and we’re looking forward to continuing that work across future projects. Photography: Rob Parrish Back to News

Celebrating Guildford Plaza’s success at last week’s Guildford Design Awards. The project picked up wins for Multiple Housing and Urban Regeneration, then capped the night by being named Winner of the Winners! It also received a commendation in the Public Realm category, which made the evening even more memorable for the team. The ceremony at 3000 Cathedral Hill drew a lively crowd and offered a good look at the range of work shaping Guildford at the moment. Thanks to everyone who played a part in delivering the scheme and well done to all the other winners and shortlisted teams.ening of energy, teamwork, and good humour (plus a few tired legs!), reminding us how powerful collaboration can be both on and off-site. Back to News