Ground breakers
Ten exciting young architecture studios brandishing bold ideas and innovative design approaches
The world is changing, architecture is adapting, and a new wave of young practices in London is emerging. They’re armed with bold ideas, digital tools, new studio set-ups and innovative design approaches. In our Next Generation series, we hail this nexus of exciting studios in the UK capital, the first ten of which, featured in the next pages, are just the beginning. More will be presented online throughout the year – next stop the USA
THE SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION Tara Gbolade Gbolade Design Studio
When architect Tara Gbolade set up her studio in Lambeth in south London in 2018, she wanted it to make a difference. Focusing her practice around a ‘design-led, sustainable, innovative and commercially-minded’ approach was just the beginning. Fresh ideas, dynamism and specialist skills ensure that Gbolade Design Studio’s work really stands out. The studio’s ambitions sound simple but are anything but. ‘We aim at making everyday places for people extraordinary,’ she explains.
Since its foundation, the young studio has earned awards and scooped competition wins. The secret, says Gbolade, is being specific in choosing clients that align with their ethos. ‘We are a small core team of five and work collaboratively with other practices and individuals, which means we are able to expand and contract our capacity as needed. We can offer the best value to our clients, while keeping the practice nimble and responsive to societal changes.’
The studio’s current work includes a complex of more than 40 residences in Littlehampton in West Sussex, designed to put sustainability principles (socioeconomic and environmental) and public green space at its heart; the ‘r-home’, a model two-storey home, for innovative selfbuilders, housing associations and local authorities, that could help meet the UK housing market’s need, as well as achieve high Passivhaus standards; and Tripos Pavilion, a community-minded block for students in Cambridge, currently in design development.
Alongside creating her own designs, as a certified Passivhaus designer, Gbolade helps develop sustainability strategies for local authorities and currently leads the Harlow & Gilston Garden Town scheme.
The studio has also launched the Architects’ App, a library of case studies and advice for professionals in all stages of their career. ‘I’m most excited about the app’s ‘Sustainability’ section, which includes webinars and podcasts, information on energy efficiency and much more,’ she says.
The architect has also partnered up with like-minded individuals to form the Paradigm Network, ‘after noticing a distinct lack of diversity in architecture’, she says. ‘Forty per cent of Londoners are from a BAME background, yet only 1.2 per cent of the built environment is reflective of this number.’ This professional network aims to foster Black and Asian representation, running workshops, events and networking opportunities. Bridging a desire to lead change with action and pragmatic designs and architecture, there is no doubt that this emerging studio is one to watch. gboladedesignstudio.com
THE COMMUNITY EMPOWERERS Steve Wilkinson, Theo Molloy and Chloë Leen Pup Architects
2012 was a key year for Steve Wilkinson, Theo Molloy and Chloë Leen. The London Olympics not only turned the global spotlight on the city, but also marked the trio’s first collaboration, a series of pavilions commissioned by the Greater London Authority for the Games. The architects, who’ve previously worked at practices such as Sam Jacob, Ash Sakula and Grimshaw, formally joined forces in 2017, forming Pup Architects, a community-oriented studio based in Clapton, east London.
The interaction of people and architecture, and the sense of community that this brings, are key to the team’s approach. ‘Our projects are usually both pragmatic and playful,’ they explain. ‘We are concerned with how people interpret and use a space. We approach every project differently and treat it as an opportunity to create something unique. The use and combinations of materials is fundamental to this at many levels, from playing with architectural language to how materials make a space feel. Sustainability is another key consideration, which often helps to define material choices – thinking about how to be resourceful, efficient and purposeful. It’s a good constraint to drive innovative solutions.’
Their first work as Pup was H-VAC, an experimental temporary structure that won the inaugural Antepavilion competition in 2017, while recent work includes an elegant, crisp refurbishment of Surrey Docks Farm. ‘It is our largest completed project to date, and it demonstrates a lot of our values of working with communities in a public setting,’ they say. ‘It will be great to see the development’s impact over the coming years.’
The studio is constantly developing ways for architecture to create a dialogue and support the local community, while respecting the natural environment as well as the multi-layered existing context. This is currently dominating their attention as they work on a new community centre, constructed from hempcrete and timber, which forms part of a masterplan to revive Cody Dock in Newham.
Achieving their goals also takes the right client. ‘In the UK, there is still quite a lot of conservatism around architecture and what it should be,’ they say. ‘If you look to other countries, architecture often has a much greater plurality. Clients can be very risk-averse here, and this diminishes opportunities for young talented studios with a diversity of approaches, who are often overlooked in favour of established practices. And there is still a real disparity when it comes to representation of minorities and women in the field.’ puparchitects.com
THE CROSS-PLATFORM MULTI-TASKER Benni Allan EBBA Architects
Benni Allan’s EBBA Architects oozes style, enthusiasm and a refreshing attitude towards interdisciplinarity and innovation. ‘At the forefront of the studio’s work is a focus on making spaces that reflect a particular poetic and material ambition that can carry meaning and can have a direct emotional effect on the user,’ says Allan, who, prior to founding his independent office, was an architect with Niall Mclaughlin.
The studio is exploring the potential of digital spaces, and it launched a virtual art space together with curator Jenn Ellis in the summer of 2020, during the UK’S strict first lockdown. AORA was conceived as a digital space to promote mental serenity and wellbeing, mixing design, sound and art. Drawing on research conducted during the design of a children’s nursery, Allan and his team developed an understanding of the value of discovery in architecture. This led to ideas of distinct digital spaces that support ‘meditative practices and improve wellbeing’.
‘Art, architecture and music have proven health benefits, including alleviating pain, improving wellbeing and shortening recovery periods,’ say Allan and Ellis of their project. The second AORA exhibition, ‘A Hurrian Meditation’, focuses on traditions of storytelling and includes ancient and contemporary works that come from a range of global locations, from Rome and the Cyclades to Singapore and India. The show runs until 31 December.
‘We believe agency and diversity in architecture need to be supported in order to create a fairer, more sustainable future,’ he says. ‘These issues are at the top of our agenda and we believe design can be a solution, through better housing, more accessible, safe public spaces, and inspiring and enlightening schools, all of which need to address issues of quality and environmental impact.’
And there’s plenty more to come in the near future from the studio based in Hackney, east London. Work is starting on its first public commission, a construction skills centre, for the London Legacy Development Corporation; private residential and warehouse renovations are ongoing; and a number of multi-unit housing schemes are currently in development. Which all makes 2021 an exciting year to look forward to at this fast-emerging architecture firm. eb-ba.co; aoraspace.com
If you ask Tzswai So to talk about his work, it won’t take long before the discussion turns to the subject of emotion. It is an area that So, who set up Spheron Architects with Samuel Bentil-mensah in 2011, feels passionate about.
‘Emotional intelligence is perhaps too often disregarded in architectural training in favour of abstract intellectual reasoning,’ he says. ‘A design that would win architects over does not necessarily move people’s hearts.’
Spheron, a five-people-strong outfit based in Clapham, aims for the heart. The studio is currently working on a new headquarters in Surrey for the world’s oldest vintage Rollsroyce and Bentley specialist, but past work includes housing, commercial, cultural and religious projects, including constructing London’s only wooden church for the Belarusian community. The studio recently completed the design for the EU’S first ever pan-european memorial for ‘all victims of 20th century totalitarianism’. Called An Echo in Time, it was conceived using letters written by those affected to their loved ones. The memorial is set to be built at Jean Rey Square in Brussels. The carefully selected letters will be enlarged and permanently embedded within new paving slabs, encouraging passers-by to read them.
The studio’s explorations of emotional life, notions of collective memory and human relationships are key to each and every commission, combined with appropriate research and a strong site-specific approach. ‘I always try to resist any preconceived ideas and to repress my ego at the beginning of each project,’ says So.
‘Our body of work is primarily concerned with the subjective connection between human emotions and the built environment, and a lot of this relationship is linked to memory and identity,’ he adds.
So is also involved in teaching, filmmaking, curatorship and writing. Most recently, he teamed up with architecture critic Herbert Wright to submit a proposal for the theme and curation of the 2022 Tallinn Architecture Biennale. The competition received a record number of submissions from all over the world, but the pair ended up among the five shortlisted proposals. ‘We call ourselves “Emotionalists”,’ says So. ‘We believe in creating art and architecture based on the supremacy of human emotions, responding directly to the potentially existential challenge of digitalisation.’
The Emotionalism proposal was not selected as the winner, but So’s quest to expand on themes of home, emotion and the built environment continues in an upcoming film: E-motion-al City. Made in collaboration with Hong Kong conglomerate, Chinachem Group, the film is earmarked to debut at the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture. spheronarchitects.co.uk
Matter Space Soul is a small architecture lab and consultancy founded by Natasha Reid in Islington, London, in 2014. Placing a focus on people’s emotional, social and psychological wellbeing, Reid’s team follows a research-led path, working with psychologists and other specialists in an effort to create ‘joyful, soulful’ places.
‘While we come from architectural backgrounds, our aim is actually not to design buildings, although this is the visible outcome,’ says Reid. ‘Instead, we see our work as creating experiences that can improve the ‘human performance’ of places, the impact they have on people’s wellbeing, happiness, sense of identity and so on.’
By employing nature-inspired, biomorphic design principles, her design for the Mondrian Suites Berlin transformed a sterile space in an area of the city struggling with crime into one that feels safe, vibrant and welcoming to guests, as well as connected to its wider neighbourhood.
The studio has also created a workspace for a new progressive, female-led business, Cleveland & Co, which has set out to create an alternative type of law firm fit for the 21st century, built around a collaborative, non-hierarchical working ethos.
Reid’s considerate yet innovative approach was spotted early on in her career, when in 2015 she won New London Architecture’s international competition ‘New Ideas for Housing’. Conceptual and theoretical work has always existed handin-hand with building and interiors commissions and the studio’s research work has taken on issues such as gentrification, placemaking and social impact.
Reid is also a fellow at international, interdisciplinary think-tank Centre for Conscious Design, and she co-curated (with Jenny Jones, Mark Bessoudo and Adalberto Lonardi) the 2020 London (and online) edition of the Conscious Cities conference.
Emotional quality, wellbeing and the human experience are recurring themes in Reid’s work. ‘We believe everyone should have the right to access places that enable them to flourish and grow in their lives,’ she says. ‘Empathy is a core value in our process, so we aim to go beyond the most obvious needs, and uncover solutions that attend to body and mind, and the stories we want the things in our lives to tell.’ matterspacesoul.com
Childhood friends Tom Woods, a product designer, and Chris Kennedy, an architect, set up their joint practice in Peckham in 2012. At the heart of their approach is a ‘user focus, tenacity, and a problem-solving mindset’, they explain. The studio is also the UK’S first, and currently, only, B-corp-certified UK architecture practice. A B-corp accreditation is awarded to businesses that balance commercial success and purpose. ‘In simple terms, we are committing to balancing people, planet and profit,’ say the pair.
While the accreditation remains a rarity among their peers, the pair feel there’s a sense of a growing movement around it. ‘Our B-corp status is a badge that helps us connect with like-minded clients interested in impact, as well as attracting purpose-driven talent.’
Kennedy and Woods are very particular about process: ‘We follow a “design thinking” methodology, an evidence-based, humancentric approach to innovation that allows us to access a wide variety of project types.’ This method involves a solution-based sequence that follows five key steps: empathise, define (the problem), ideate, prototype and test.
Led by this approach, the studio has been working on a wealth of commissions since its inception. Its latest design is for a zero-carbon, new-build nursery school in a particularly constrained backland site in east London, and it is also the design partner for a nursery start-up looking to disrupt the education sector. ‘By understanding in detail what works for children, parents and the operator, we’ve been able to convert a range of building types, including churches, community centres, care homes and retail spaces, into nurseries, each time playing to the character of the original buildings while maintaining a consistent brand experience.’
Another important project was ‘Hearing Birdsong’, the creation of a prototype for a more humane type of hearing loss test. This might feel a long way from conventional architecture, but Woods’ product-design background means the two have worked on less traditional projects, including modular and micro-architecture schemes. Under the ‘less traditional’ projects banner, the studio is working on launching an architecture framework, built to help organisations innovate with the end-user in mind, to improve critical social infrastructure. kennedywoods.co.uk
Steve Mccloy and Bo Muchemwa met at university and have been collaborating ever since. ‘Both of us had childhoods in Africa and think this may have inspired some common outlook, if only about the strangeness of Europe and the UK!’ they say. ‘We now work well as part of a team because we have developed a rigour and depth to our shared architectural vision. We are a very small operation so our approach to large or complex projects is collaborative.’
The studio works with a competitionbased model (‘When we win one, the studio shifts up a gear,’ they explain). This has allowed them to work on a hugely varied range of projects. One of the latest,
Mud City, began life as a shortlisted competition entry for a housing prototype in Ghana, producing their ‘sketches’ as clay-based working models.
‘We made a number of intuitive sculptural forms and analysed them for their application on a domestic scale,’ they say. ‘Mud City is a loose urbanism where the diversity of architectural tectonics implies a rich and imaginative inhabitation. We collaborated with the artist and photographer Sophie Percival to try and capture images of this surreal place.’
Other work spans writing, teaching and illustration; they even helped 3D-printed lesson-plan producer Printlab develop a lesson plan for urban design and public interventions that has been included in a number of UK and US school curriculums. Dynamism and a knack for diversity are things that can be found in abundance within the UK’S young talent pool, they argue, but it’s not always appreciated. ‘For years, some of the UK’S best architects and designers who do build have been doing so in a global context, scarcely in this country, and hardly ever outside of London. For example, it is such a waste that Zaha Hadid only has a handful of modest projects in the UK. It’s a shame to think that when she was at her peak, so many terrible, artless buildings were built in our cities!’
The pair hope to change this, and to move from small scale to bigger projects that engage with more people and have a stronger impact. ‘We want to work on projects that lots of people will use and appreciate. We hope our work reflects a love of life and the modern world!’ mccloymuchemwa.com
Okra was born organically in 2016 when a group of creatives became involved in the campaign to preserve manufacturing space around the Old Kent Road. Joining forces, they formed a collective to pursue sociallyoriented projects that promote equity and span scope and scales. Okra is now made up of ten interdisciplinary members, within which is a flexible core team who lead the projects and the organisational work.
Social justice is central to the collective’s mission statement. This includes both the way they manage their studio and how they approach their design solutions. ‘Within Okra, all members are paid the same rate per project. We manage studio space at a notfor-profit rent to help other designers and makers, which has opened up opportunities for collaboration,’ they explain. Engaging with wider audiences and making their processes open and flexible, the team enriches their projects with public events, walking tours and community gardening.
‘Community gardening has been a big influence on some of our recent projects because of its benefits for the environment, ecosystems and the mental and physical health of people, especially those with limited access to gardens,’ they say.
Recent projects include a refurbishment of the St Paul’s Way community centre in Poplar, while their latest work, The Orchard, a new-build, community educational structure with productive gardens in Hertfordshire, is about to start on site. The design explores new ways of building with radically low embodied energy, researching natural materials, such as clay and timber.
The collective argues that architecture has entered an important time of transition in terms of both the role of traditional architecture practice, and cities and the way we live. Agility can help navigate this changing landscape, while diversity in the profession is also a critical issue to address.
‘For us, the more unconventional architectural approaches can often create the most discussion. As an ethically-oriented practice, we’re interested in the effect of small interventions but also larger issues, such as the future of our shared landscapes and production, the sharing and reuse of existing buildings, the rebuilding of the planning system to fairly safeguard living and environmental conditions, the need for a diverse economy and a well-housed society, the involvement of ordinary people in decision-making (in a way that isn’t prejudiced towards privilege), and so on.’ To improve the UK landscape in those terms, ‘alliances and collective action would be a really good start’. And Okra practises exactly what it preaches. okrastudio.com
‘We see the city as a place of multiple stories, scenes and actors, a theatre that mediates our relationship as citizens between one another and place,’ says Jayden Ali. Heading JA Projects since 2015, Ali has been working at the intersection of architecture, urban strategy, art and performance through a wealth of multidisciplinary projects, ranging from community and education commissions to film and curating. This slightly less common way of looking at architecture, through an analysis of society, cultural power, ownership and expression, is a constant in the young studio’s work.
Blending a social and performative component with a physical, built one is a key way of approaching design problems for Ali. The goal is to deliver ‘resilient and sustainable interventions that empower people and make a positive contribution to the environment and surrounding context’. His work reflects that, defined by a focus on the more subtle, often intangible things that are there but are perhaps harder to define or quantify. Human experience, the idea of belonging, insights, shifts in society and power struggles are common themes in many of his projects.
One of his latest creations, a triptych of films, explores all of the above. The first, for the Royal Academy, was an exploration of the idea of home in the two dominant cultures of Bethnal Green in London: white-english and Islamic-bangladeshi. The second reflects on the murder of George Floyd and ‘the UK’S transatlantic relationship with America and its idols’. The third (a collaboration with art director Lotty Sanna) is still a work in progress and touches on notions of migration and womanhood in Marseille.
JA Projects is also behind The Cherry Trees, a masterplan for a local primary school in Bow for children with behavioural difficulties. The project also included an alternative, immersive after-school play provision that questions the merits of traditional learning spaces. It allowed pupils to use the space as they wish, with openended outcomes, making it their own.
This idea of ownership is strong in Ali’s work. ‘Developing a sense of true belonging has the capacity to be the single most transformative contribution to city life,’ he says. ‘We want people to say “This is my home. I am not an outsider. I belong here”.’ ja-projects.com ‘We wanted a studio that could embrace flexible working, allow everyone to inform the final outcome and be better connected to the communities it served, but without sacrificing design quality,’ say Collective Works’ co-founders Alasdair Ben Dixon, Siri Zanelli and Khuzema Hussain.
The firm was formally established in 2012, but having worked together at previous architecture practices, the trio already knew each other’s strengths. The studio recently finished Upsidedown House, the transformation of a traditional Victorian terrace in north London, by investigating the spaces needed for being together, for quiet thinking and for robust play. They also invited Koi Colour Studio to collaborate on a bold colour scheme of sustainable clay-based paints to enhance the original Victorian features. ‘Inviting experts to take part in a project, and sharing knowledge, was part of making this project successful, and it has already led to further collaborations and new projects,’ they say.
One ongoing project is a fully sustainable workshop in Highgate for a client whose mission is to explore the relationship between humans and nature. Its design creatively references boulders and land art, and it is also a project with high sustainability ambitions, so the workshop will be well-insulated, airtight, require little operational energy, have low-embodied carbon, collect and reuse water, and generate electricity through rooftop PVS. The sustainability criteria were part of the client’s brief, and a dialogue with the local community was key to getting the project approved, say the studio.
Collective Works’ Rise theatre, built for the Old Vic Community Company in London’s Waterloo, was a temporary 200-seat theatre made entirely of reusable, reclaimed and rented materials. While they do not have a big portfolio of cultural commissions, this was a project where ‘sustainability, community engagement and collaboration were absolutely essential’, they point out.
Ben Dixon has taken this one step further, engaging with RIBA to contribute to recent publications and conferences around sustainability, social value and ethics in architecture. The practice is also part of the team that is developing RIBA’S 2021 ethics curriculum, and they have received a grant to continue studies on a new and flexible housing typology that encourages home ownership and social sustainability. Among other things, architecture, they point out, is missing ‘an honest conversation about our social contract and an urgent response to the climate crisis’. collectiveworks.net