allan . curran . architects

From wolves to stars

Now that things are really busy again, maybe it’s a good time to take stock and think about what we hope for in the coming years- we had wolf- proofed our front door but now that threat is gone and the door’s wide open. We’re out and about, and looking up. So, what are we looking at?

Architects are famous for two things: being left- handed and being terrible business people. Well, I’m stuck with being left- handed but having survived the recession I do know that we’ll continue to work according to our principles first and for financial reasons second. The way we’ll develop is by managing ourselves well, so that our work is affordable and available to anyone who wants it. We treat all our clients just the same, and we want to go on providing the highest quality service to everybody. It’d be too easy to prioritise big jobs over the small ones, and we look out for that.

We’re lucky because we’re working in a beautiful part of the world, in an area with a unique spirit and identity. As such, it’s important for us to use our local building forms and materials as our inspiration, but with an added twist of creativity. We want to develop this idea as much as we can in our designs, and the idea of craftsmanship in building work is something that resonates with us. In short, we want our buildings to be robust (able to withstand use and weather, and be low- energy) useful (providing all the spaces and features needed by our clients) and beautiful (having a poetic quality that lifts them above the ordinary).

On a more pragmatic level, we unashamedly want to reach as many people as we can to promote our work. At the same time, we never want to get so big that we lose sight of a healthy work- life balance, or lose the ability to listen to and support one another in our day- to day work.

Really, it all comes down to us wanting to change our little bit of the world for the better, by doing what we’re good at. That’s what we see when we look up. It’s our guiding star.