Our architectural practice has been based in the centre of Hamburg since 1999. Over the intervening years, we have realised a very varied spectrum of projects throughout Germany and neighbouring countries. Our key strength lies in planning and designing restaurants. We offer a comprehensive client-focused service, covering all aspects of the design and build process.
We oversee all phases of our projects from start to finish, so we can ensure at an early stage that the later build will go ahead as smoothly as possible. We keep our clients properly informed at all times about the planning phase and construction process by means of client consultations, regular presentations, and project-specific documentation.
Dealing with our fellow humans in a civil, respectful manner is very important to us. We believe that good architecture can only be achieved when the needs of all those involved are taken seriously.
For our clients this means that the first thing we do is to listen to them, so that we have a good understanding of their needs and desires. Where there is a lack of clarity, we address this by providing sketches and analyses. If we have any doubts ourselves, we let our clients know, and seek to find a solution in collaboration with them that satisfies everyone concerned. Only when we reach a solution that works well do we move into the next phase of planning (which helps to avoid any subsequent alterations to the schedule).
We feel duty bound to create a built environment that allows local inhabitants, and the users of, and visitors to, our spaces to access them with ease and dignity. We ensure that our architectural designs are well suited to use by children, elderly people and wheelchair users. We like to incorporate zones for sociable interaction and more peaceful ones in our restaurant schemes.
We also place value on working in a collaborative manner with our project partners and site workers. Over the years, we have built up a great team, who enrich our projects with their innovative ideas. It is teamwork, above all, that allows us to find flexible solutions and design intelligently in the best interests of each project.
We love good architecture. And we believe in the power of creativity that uses just one or two building materials to produce an innovative, entirely new, spatial configuration appropriate to the job. Our experience tells us that one can achieve far more on the basis of intelligent decision-making than with a large budget – and that a space is more than a sum of the materials used to construct it. Colour, texture, light, shade and atmosphere all play their part.
Most of all, we love places that have a story to tell. Sometimes, it is simply the history of their inhabitants. In other cases, though, a place can evoke an unexpected journey through time for users and visitors to the building. The story is unique to a place; sometimes it is almost imperceptible, abstract, and poetic, and sometimes completely wacky.
We can be very stubborn when we are in the process of realising one of our design solutions. We really enjoy working together to refine our designs, employing the technical tools at our disposal. We use CAD, architectural models and collages, and the latest 3-D printing techniques to visualise and finalise the fine details of a project.
We often work with technically innovative manufacturers and craftspeople to source the best finishes for building components. Together, we can ensure that our design ideas turn into sound architectural elements.
We foster a healthy scepticism towards ‘can’t-do’ attitudes and simplistic solutions. Our experience tells us that it is really worth while taking the time to think things through carefully and to come up with solutions that others might deem impossible.
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