Whitstable, UK
Architecture · Est. 2008
Houses that hold the weather and let in the light.
We design durable, low-slung homes for the coast. Buildings that weather beautifully and sit lightly on the land.
60+
Completed homes
3
RIBA awards
18 yrs
On the coast
Our approach
Build for the wind, plan for the light
We start every project by walking the site at different tides and times of day. The building follows from where the light lands and where the weather comes from.
We favour durable, low-maintenance materials that grey gracefully and belong to their coast.
- Site-led, weather-first
- Materials that age well
- Low-energy by design
Selected work
A decade of coastline, from cabins to civic rooms.
Cape Cod, US
Dune Pavilion
Sagres, PT
Harbour Rooms
Working together
How a house gets built
Two to three years, and we are there for the whole of it.
01
The site
A day on the land in every weather we can catch, before a single line is drawn.
02
Sketch
Card models at 1:100. Cheap to change now, extremely expensive to change later.
03
Consent
We take the planning fight so you do not have to. Coastal sites are never simple.
04
On site
Weekly visits through the build, and we snag it ourselves before you ever see it.
The site
We walk the land first
Every project starts on the ground at different tides and times of day. The building follows the light and the weather, not the other way round.
The materials
Chosen to grey gracefully
Timber, stone, and lime that weather into the coast instead of fighting it, and ask little of the years.
Built for weather
Low, sheltering forms that hold the wind.
Planned for light
Rooms placed where the light lands.
Site-led
Every design begins on the land.
Low-energy
Fabric-first, quiet on running costs.
“They gave us a house that feels like the coast itself.”
The practice
Who you will work with
Nine people, and the person who draws it is the person you meet.
Elin Vasser
Founding partner
Twenty years of coastal work and a stubborn dislike of the word seamless.
Rhys Ostrander
Partner
Runs the technical side and knows what salt air does to every fixing we specify.
Aoife Brennan
Associate
Leads the housing work and the practice research into coastal erosion.
Sam Iwu
Project architect
On site more than in the studio, which is how the details survive the build.
Before you ask
Questions
Where do you work?
Coastlines, mostly. We travel for the right project.
Do you do renovations?
Yes, alongside new-builds and civic work.
How do fees work?
A percentage of build cost, staged by RIBA work stage.
How long does a house take?
Typically eighteen months from first sketch to keys.