ETHOS
Architecture requires a deep sense of commitment. We are grateful for our clients who commit to our process and trust us to execute their vision. This we do not take lightly. As architects, we are committed to integrity, transparency, precision and creative thought. We are committed to observing, listening, and reflecting before acting. We are committed to treading lightly on the land. Above all, we are committed to pursuing work which radiates a sense of lightness and positivity and that has the power to resonate at an emotional frequency.
SPATIAL WELLNESS
90% of our lives are spent indoors - we have become and indoor species.
Architecture is the primary discipline for shaping our living environments in which we live, directly impacting our physical and emotional state. We are guided by our interest in the relationship between space and well-being, between inside and outside.
How can we be inside yet remain connected to nature? What are the spatial qualities of our environment that make us feel well - unwell? How can geometry, light, sound, and texture be curated to pleasure our senses? Can spaces heal?
We’ve all experienced spatial discomfort - spaces that feel too tall, too low, too narrow, or too wide, too expansive, or too small. Such disproportionate spaces can create anxiety by eliciting sensations of compression or exposure.
Our spatial needs are highly variable. At times we desire the field, the exhilaration of being connected to a vast network of flow and movement. At other moments, we may desire containment, the desire to be secluded, insular and protected.
Organic and asymmetrical geometries can define and reinforce sensations of flow and movement. Pure geometries can have primordial, sacred significance. A circle is an ancient symbol of center and unity. It grounds us by embodying the essence of self, community, and cosmos. The triangle symbolizes stability and creativity. It empowers us through its geometry and centrality. Rectangular geometries symbolize order, regularity, and precision, while symmetry symbolizes unity, perfection, and stability.
MATERIAL INTELLIGENCE
All matter has density, texture, and lineage that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and mass. Biological materials, such as wood, cork, and cotton, have their own unique imprinting that reflects their rate of cellular growth and hardness. The processing of minerals through heat and phase change allows for unique expressions of plasticity and malleability in materials such as glass, concrete, paint and steel. Blades, drills, heat, and abrasion are all tools and actions that we carefully deploy to achieve desired effects of opacity, porosity, smoothness and reflectivity.
LIGHT
Light is nature’s form-giver.
Textures, colors, and form are rendered palpable by the play of light and shadow, providing depth-of-field and perception of containment.
Our emotional response to different types of spaces is largely defined by the direction, intensity, and quality of light. Light bears witness to geometry and texture.
Sunlight has profound healing properties, which we experience through our bodies and our eyes. It radiates through our skin and is absorbed as healing warmth. Sunlight also connects us to cosmological cycles of day and night, providing a natural rhythm to anchor the activities and sense of ritual in our lives. Light which is captured, channeled, and diffused in thoughtful and intentional ways can deeply influence our well-being. It helps us cultivate a sense of spiritual connection to our environment, stimulating our innate knowing and intuition that we are part of a greater, living whole.
SOUND
We hear through the transmission of vibrational sound energy which is channeled through the geometry of our ears and eventually as electrical impulses to our brain.
We can understand the nature of our environment through sound and hearing. The quality and duration of sound reverberations inform us of size, of proportion, and of the material properties of the surfaces that enclose us: a hard cavernous space will have a distant echo and a small wooden room will respond in a more intimate manner.
Sound reaches us as a rich and textured tapestry of energy emanating from multiple sources. Our ears allow us to determine the position and movement of the sound source. Our emotional response to these sounds is highly dependent upon both the origin of the sounds and the quality of their transmission. Is the sound mechanical or natural? Is it sharp or soft, loud, or diffuse? Is it rhythmic, constant, or erratic? Is the sound comforting or is the sound simply noise, the prolonged exposure to which can increase our stress response and lead to illness?
Form and Texture
When we touch a surface, we understand its material properties through its texture, form, pattern, and density. We explore edges, corners, surfaces that generate a response which is either pleasurable or antagonistic. When we see a surface such as a rough brick wall or a smooth river rock, we can inhabit the space of that object through our memory of touch.
A room is an extension of our body and the surfaces and objects we touch should be adapted to enhance tactile pleasure.
Spaces with reflective surfaces are more energetically charged as they duplicate and mirror light and movement. Spaces defined by opaque or textured surfaces absorb and dissolve light rendering the ambiance more muted and silenced. Most materials in the natural world are not smooth, planar, or reflective; they are organic shapes formed by impact, gravity, erosion, growth, and decay.
When we cut wood into lumber and stone into slabs, we expose inner structures and patterns, a means by which our emotions can subconsciously connect with larger natural systems and processes (biology, geological processes, erosive energy…). Materials which have been processed such as iron into steel, clay into ceramic, or sand into glass, generally have a mineral aspect due to the hardening from a viscous or molten state into a solid state. Steel, concrete, and ceramics are dense, cold, and opaque offering a sensation of solidity and permanence unlike glass which transmits light and views through its transparency.
History / Re-use
We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density. Materials from the biological realm, such as wood, cork, and cotton, have their own unique imprinting that reflects their relative rate of cellular growth and hardness. The processing of minerals through heat and liquification allows for unique expressions of plasticity and malleability in materials such as glass, concrete and steel. We curate the methods used to shape and texture the materials we use, whether they be forms, blades, drills, heat, polishing or abrasion, in order to achieve desired effects of opacity and reflectivity. We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density.
Self / Community
We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density. Materials from the biological realm, such as wood, cork, and cotton, have their own unique imprinting that reflects their relative rate of cellular growth and hardness. The processing of minerals through heat and liquification allows for unique expressions of plasticity and malleability in materials such as glass, concrete and steel. We curate the methods used to shape and texture the materials we use, whether they be forms, blades, drills, heat, polishing or abrasion, in order to achieve desired effects of opacity and reflectivity. We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density.
Nature / Conservation
We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density. Materials from the biological realm, such as wood, cork, and cotton, have their own unique imprinting that reflects their relative rate of cellular growth and hardness. The processing of minerals through heat and liquification allows for unique expressions of plasticity and malleability in materials such as glass, concrete and steel. We curate the methods used to shape and texture the materials we use, whether they be forms, blades, drills, heat, polishing or abrasion, in order to achieve desired effects of opacity and reflectivity. We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density.
Technology / AI
We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density. Materials from the biological realm, such as wood, cork, and cotton, have their own unique imprinting that reflects their relative rate of cellular growth and hardness. The processing of minerals through heat and liquification allows for unique expressions of plasticity and malleability in materials such as glass, concrete and steel. We curate the methods used to shape and texture the materials we use, whether they be forms, blades, drills, heat, polishing or abrasion, in order to achieve desired effects of opacity and reflectivity. We have a deep interest in the quality and lineage of the materials we use in relation to our holistic design approach. All matter relative densities and textures that we carefully consider when composing a detail. Stones quarried from the earth tell a mineral story expressed through their grain, color and density.