A small practice that stays with its buildings.

Aldmoor was founded in 2011 by two architects who wanted more of their week at the drawing table and on site than in meetings. Fourteen of us now work from one studio, on homes, schools and public rooms across northern Europe.

We take on a few commissions at a time, so the people you meet at the first site visit are the people who draw, detail and inspect your building. We would rather get one wall right than three walls fast.

A-202

Practice — Principles

N.T.S.

Four principles we draw by.

Build less, keep more

Every square metre has to earn its place, and then it has to last. We spend the budget on fewer, better things: a thicker wall, a deeper reveal, a stair worth climbing.

Daylight first

We begin each plan with the path of the sun, not the list of rooms. Windows go where people sit and work, and stay small where the heat would otherwise gather.

Materials that repair

We choose brick, timber, lime and zinc because a local builder can mend them in fifty years. A surface that weathers is not a fault; it is the building keeping a record.

Stay after handover

We return after one year and again after five to see how the building is really used. What we find goes into the next set of drawings.

A-203

Practice — People

N.T.S.

Who you will meet.

Helen Marsh

Founding partner

Leads housing and public commissions, and draws the first section of every project.

Jonas Berg

Founding partner

Leads schools and competitions, and spends most Fridays on site.

Maria Santos

Associate

Runs the planning stage, from the first submission drawings to the decision.

Tom Ashby

Architect

Detail design and specifications for homes and conversions.

Ingrid Hansen

Architect

Concept design, models and the daylight studies behind them.

Sam Walker

Studio manager

Keeps the studio, the programme and the accounts in order.

A-204

Practice — In numbers

N.T.S.

The practice, in four numbers.

2011

Founded

People

Completed buildings

Countries