DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

PLACES FOR PEOPLE

Our work is informed by a deep conviction that the social and personal needs of people should be at the center of the act of building, and that architecture should evidence a gracious neighborliness with its natural and human surroundings.

In particular we are guided by the following goals:

CREATE PLACES OF MEANING

We seek to show sensitivity to the specific qualities of the cultural, natural, built, and/or historic context in which our work is situated: Places that foster an awareness of and pride for the uniqueness of a setting and its inhabitants.

STRENGTHEN THE BONDS OF A COMMUNITY

We seek to make community spaces that bring people together to vividly and fully engage in the rituals, performances, and tasks that define and support their identity: Places that inspire people to aspire to the highest of personal and civic ideals.

OFFER A RICH VARIETY OF CONDITIONS FOR INHABITATION

We seek to build environments that provide a balance of connectivity and separation: Places that offer a healthy range of interrelationships between people with one another and with the environment in which they reside.

CELEBRATE THE VARIETY AND BEAUTY OF MATERIALS

We seek to build in a manner that celebrates the joy of materials and the prudent and artful manner in which they can be afforded, assembled and cared for: Places that demonstrate, in material and craft, the richness and beauty so abundant in our natural world.

MANAGE BUDGETARY RESOURCES WITH RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY

We seek to allocate the resources of a project in a manner that parallel the priorities of the client/community: Places that are built within available resources and inspire by means of an elegant frugality.

To reach these goals we offer open design workshops that immerse us in the spirit and ethos of a place and engage us with the client and/or members of the community in an interactive dialogue around potential design ideas.