‘There comes a time, for all kids when they realise their parents are just human beings doing their imperfect best’

Somebody said this to me recently, and the words have lingered.

Such a beautiful description of the human condition. To our children we are surefooted and steadfast, but the yet-to-be revealed secret is that we are all navigating the experiences in life with uncertainty.

In a world that relentlessly tells us what success looks like and how easy it is (just click this link for my free e-book on a perfect life!), it is not unusual to feel lost. But it misses the point – Forging ahead into the half-light with an open mind and sense of wonder,  it is the as-yet-undiscovered moments and realisations that are the treasure. We don’t have to know everything right now.  Recognising, celebrating and learning from small, unexpected moments make life rich and our own.

There will always be someone more perfect.  Someone with a bigger boat; a bigger house;  a faster car around the corner. These insecurities are now AI-jammed down our throats, ears and eyes without any human input.  It feels critical now more than ever to take a breath and recalibrate priorities.

Our studio has tried (as much as possible…) not to look sideways. The houses and buildings we have produced over the last 15 years have all, at their core, been part of a continuous search to observe the world, and try to connect with moments that can offer us perspective.

A collective endeavour by many hands, we have spent an extraordinary amount of time considering detail, context, materiality in order to curate a moments where the occupant could feel a connection to something bigger.  There have been hits and misses, trials and errors,  but we have tried to learn and be more sure of our path as time goes on.  Our reaction to ‘our times’ is to focus inward and try and understand what it is to find our place in the natural world.

We are not unique by any means, but certainly in the minority.  We talk about our buildings through a lens of human experience and poetics, trying to avoid highlighting ‘practical’ or ‘functional’ features – these things are important, of course, but should be a given in good design, not its purpose.

Moving onwards, the light is becoming brighter and we can see more clearly our path, and that is a beautiful thing.

Our buildings may not be perfect, but we are searching.  Doing our imperfect best.