The work of Smout Allen Architectural Design Research practice scrutinises and interprets the fluxing
urban and rural landscape and its reaction and adaptation to natural environmental events and the ‘artificial’ influence of man. We propose that the dynamic relationship between the natural and the man made can be exposed and utilised to enhance the experience of the architectural landscape. Architectural interventions are illuminated by the environment that surrounds them and in a symbiotic relationship allow the mutability of landscape to be exposed. The work is sited in marginal territories where the forces of nature and man are most apparent. The work takes two routes. (1) Architectural competitions, where the particular rigour of the competition brief, site and program provide the basis for new investigations and to an extent control the theme of the work. (2) Conceptual and theoretical design projects test out the agenda and methodology of the design research practice.