- May 19
Being invited to speak at the Edinburgh Architectural Association - Emerging Voices event gave us a useful moment to reflect on how our practice began, what has shaped our work so far, and the values that continue to guide us.
Our work began before we had a name, a website, or a manifesto. It began through shared interests: in buildings, places, making, and the relationship between what already exists and what might come next.
The opportunity that really began the practice came through the Old Schoolhouse: a small listed building in Edinburgh that needed care. The first conversation was practical and modest, a question about choosing a paint colour. But it quickly became clear that the decision was not only decorative. It was about repair, use, value and possibility.
That moment still says a lot about how we work. Architecture can slow a decision down. It can widen the conversation. It can help a client understand that the problem has not yet been fully defined.
Much of our work begins this way: in conversation. A brief is rarely the full story; it is often the first version of the story. Our role is to listen carefully, understand what is really being asked, and help shape the project so that its full potential can emerge.
We often work with existing buildings, historic fabric and sensitive settings. We are interested in safeguarding what matters, but not in freezing buildings in time. The question is how old and new can knit together, how a new piece of work can belong, and how a building can continue to evolve without losing the qualities that made it valuable.
This interest carries across different kinds of work: private homes, community buildings, nurseries, restaurants, town halls and smaller pieces of making. The scale and use may change, but the approach is consistent.
Start with people. Understand what exists. Make the most of constraints. Shape the brief carefully. Find the potential within difficulty.
We care deeply about material, proportion, detail and craft. But for us, these qualities are not separate from the human story of a project. They are how care becomes physical: in the threshold, the stair, the wall, the window, the surface.
For us, architecture is not the imposition of a fixed style. It is a process of understanding, and of thoughtfully crafting what comes next.
