News

Shortlisted for Community Engagement for The Pineapple Awards 2025🍍

Our project with National Trust and Birmingham City Council, with Open Door Community Foundation - Firs and Bromford Pocket Park has been shortlisted for Community Engagement. The project was funded by the UK Government’s shared Prosperity fund. A big thank you to all involved. Over 6 months in code sign and cobuild, out community shaped every part of their pocket park with their voices, ideas and hands (often covered in mud!).

The pineapples are part of the Festival Place award and are the only awards that celebrate the very best in placemaking and place-led initiatives.

Thanks to everyone involved with the project and congratulations to the shortlist!

We are pleased to share our Pocket Park project with the community of Firs & Bromford with the National Trust, Open Door, and Birmingham City Council - has been long listed for the RIBAJ MacEwen Award 2025 recognising architecture for the common good. More info here.

Codesigning and Cobuilding this transformed vibrant green space in East Birmingham led by Marina Strotz.

"The MacEwen award entries are proof that architectural projects of any shape or form can bring significant benefits to communities" RIBAJ.

Lendlease has submitted a planning application for a landmark mixed-use building within its exciting regeneration of Birmingham Smithfield. We have been collaborating and designed this plot in partnership with Bell Phillips Architects, for our first Build to Rent scheme.

Subject to approvals, the building will overlook Manor Square and include 408 high-quality build-to-rent homes. It will be the first residential element of the regeneration of Smithfield and is planned to also feature a health and wellbeing-inspired leisure facility; as well as a mix of independent shops, bars and restaurants for the public to enjoy.

Congratulations to the whole project team on reaching this milestone, it has been a privilege to be part of one of the UK's most ambitious regeneration initiatives reshaping 17 hectares in the historic heart of our home city.

We are so happy our Marina Strotz has been selected as a RIBA Rising Star 2024 ! 🌟 More info here.

As associate director in the practice, Marina leads by doing (with hands typically covered in soil), fostering kindness and sustainability, and has helped create our studio culture of equality, a true change maker with plants and technology as her medium.
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Within the practice she has led the design and our physical delivery of several pocket parks working closely with communities and volunteers. Together, delivering meaningful collaboration by making spaces which unite communities and creates a legacy that continues to grow.

Go marina 🥳 , this marks the third member of our practice shortlisted in recent years for this recognition.

Marina’s passion for integrating nature into the built environment led her to pursue a Royal Horticultural Society course at Winterbourne in Birmingham whilst working full time as an Architect. As part of a small collective, she helped design, fundraise for, and build the ‘Wander and Wonder’ garden, which was awarded Gold at BBC Gardener’s World Live 2023. This garden now serves as a therapeutic space at Rookery Gardens, an assisted-living mental health service under the NHS Trust and Birmingham Mind.

We are so happy to be Winner of 'Architectural Practice of the Year', at the West Midlands Insider Property Awards 2024.
It was a fantastic evening, celebrating alongside talented industry professionals for all the exciting projects within our home region. A huge thank you for everyone's support into this, we are so appreciative and humbled - looking forward to what's next and continuing our hard work!

Note from Insider:
"Judges were impressed with the high-energy of the firm given its small size and the fact it was working on such big projects, including Birmingham's £1.9bn Smithfield scheme. "

Shortlisted:
AHR
DB3 Group
Corstorphine & Wright
One Creative Group

Architects Journal feature first look on our London project Poirot's Bijou Apartment here.

We're pleased to share a recent article published in Dezeen, for our project Poirot's Bijou Apartment in London. To read the article click here.

Our project Twilight House has been shortlisted for the British Homes Awards, for the Best Interior Design Category 2024 🎉.

Our design for a wonderful private client as their home, was inspired by the house location for the Tom Ford film version of ‘A Single Man’ – the Schaffer Residence designed by John Lautner in 1948. .

We are such fine company in the shortlist, which you can view here.

Photography: Dion Barrett

Great progress on site for the Leamington Spa Creative Quarter developments with our project on Court St and Clemens St, more info about the project is here.

Photos taken by Warwick District Council, shows the extent of the site works and new build areas with the existing Old School building retained, with a new CLT timber framework for the extension for community use.

🎊 Planning approval for Birmingham Smithfield 🎊

We are so happy to be part of designing this landmark scheme for a vibrant new neighbourhood - here are some images from our collaboration with dRMM, working along side their team we developed this family oriented plot with a play pavilion corner, gardens, pocket park, and a mixture of ground floor uses such as gym and shops. Part of a wider masterplan led by Prior + Partners with landscaping by Field Operations and client Lendlease with Birmingham City Council.

Looking forward to developing with the team on site soon.