Location?

Clerkenwell, London

When did the practice start?

2002

How many staff?

10

Company ethos?

We look to bring people closer to nature, by embedding nature in our designs, by learning lessons from the ingenuity of the natural world, and by embracing elements nature offers us for free like the sun, wind and rain.

Have you always been at this studio?

Since 2009, but dating back to 1996 our previous addresses include Rosebery Avenue, Goods Way (Kings Cross), Victoria House (Bloomsbury Square) and Crawford Street.

Favourite part of the studio?

The big table in the heart of the studio, overlooking the trees of Wilmington Square, where we gather together for design sessions day in day out.

Favourite nearby coffee shop?

Brill, on Exmouth Market, is brill.

Current projects?

We have recently won a competition to build a 40m flue tower and facade enclosing an energy centre in the centre of Manchester. Named the'Tower of Light', it is an ultra-lightweight single-surface structure formed from thin laser-cut steel sheets that undulate and join to create a stiff, strong surface that serves as both frame and cladding. It is the latest evolution in our innovative Shell Lace technique, which is inspired by the age-old structures of mollusk shells. The biomimetic structure will support and screen five chimneys that rise from the base of the new energy centre, and will be a permanent addition to Manchester's iconic skyline. 

We are also working on a new courtyard extension to the Grade-II Listed Lansdowne Club in Mayfair, a park cafe and pavilion in Colindale, and several residential projects including a multi-unit scheme in Brentwood and a Water Tower conversion in Norfolk. We have just completed an extensive transformation of an agricultural shed in rural Yorkshire to create a modern new home with a library and a gallery for a client with a large collection of books and art. There always seems to be a great variety of projects in our studio and no two days are ever the same!

Do you eat lunch together?

Often. However we also value the lunch time period as an important bit of respite in a busy day, so balance time together as a studio with each doing our own thing. We also play table tennis in the extension over lunch when a bit of healthy competition is needed!

Pets allowed?

Pets are encouraged! Mike and Anna's ’Silken Windhound named ‘Be’  is the honorary studio dog. Other staff members and clients also bring their dogs in from time to time.

Most played song/artist/musician? 

Nusrat Fateh, Ali Khan, Bjork, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Four Tet, and more recently a strange obsession with UK Garage...

Favourite architect?

Nature. Nature is a flamboyant, efficient and ingenious designer. It can be adaptive, responsive, economical, and astonishingly beautiful, and has been doing so for millions of years.

Favourite building in London?

There are very many to choose from - we are proud to live and work in a city home to so much architectural quality - but to pick one, the Golden Lane Estate is a modernist masterpiece.