Site Responsive Design


The site of a building really matters to us. We agree with this seminal quote from Steven Holl:

'The site of a building is more than a mere ingredient of its conception. It is its physical and metaphysical foundation. Building transcends physical and functional requirements by fusing with a place, by gathering the meaning of a situation. Architecture does not so much intrude on the landscape as it serves to explain it. Architecture and site should have an experiential connection, a metaphysical link, a poetic link. '(Steven Holl, Anchoring, 1988)

When we design we must have our eyes and our hearts open. We must listen as well as look. We must smell, feel and remember. All of our senses must be alive if we are to create designs that bring ongoing life to the places in which we work. There is no status quo. Places, like the cells in our own body, are always being renewed. The challenge is to maintain our identity and character whilst striving towards maturity. For the buildings we design to succeed in this task we must develop a deep understanding and respect for site. The result will not however be a pastiche of past responses. It will be something new, something befitting our era and the needs of our age.