"Projects to lift the spirits ..... where ingenuity and new technology are brilliantly combined" The Independent



We are an award-winning architectural partnership formed in 1994 and based in London from where we carry out projects throughout Britain and abroad. Our work has been widely published and has won several awards.





In December 2001 Ash Sakula won a competition to develop four prototype dwellings in Silvertown, East London for The Peabody Trust.

The aim of the competition was to develop fresh ideas for low-cost home ownership. The flats have been designed to be simple and cheap to build, using sustainable materials and technologies, and completion is scheduled for early 2003.

Our proposal looked closely at the internal arrangement of small flats and we developed a standard plan which represented a departure from normal layouts. Living room and bedrooms are as small as possible and the kitchen becomes the main social space in the flat. The connecting hall, dubbed the Sorting Zone, a room in its own right, is brightly lit and opens into a range of cupboards and bathroom spaces.

The units are inherently adaptable for use on varying sites through their own shape and through the flexibility of the gallery access arrangements about which the flat pods can pivot.

Our current work also includes a new building for public art providers Free Form Arts Trust on a brownfield site in Hackney, and a Community Theatre and Arts Space for Leicester City Council.
We have a particular interest in the interaction of children and architecture, recently we were speakers at the Action for Children’s Arts Conference on the dual subjects of designing for children, and teaching children about architecture.









Notes on our Our Design Approach

We are friendly and open to new situations, people and ideas.

We involve clients and users from the start, when ideas are fluid but particular enough to stimulate debate.

We are curious and energetic in pursuing design options but decisive when the time comes to move forward.

Lots of our energy goes into finding a sensory calm, equilibrium in scale, and the right visual 'loudness' for the elements of our architecture.