DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Ecological Awareness
One of the biggest pitfalls of all building today is simply that it is not done with consideration for the life around it. When we build in support of other life forms, we actually extend our own longevity and resilience by creating reciprocal relationships instead of imposing ourselves on the natural world and pre-existing establishments of humanity.
Collaboration > Competition
When you come across someone who claims to have all the answers, you immediately feel doubt in your heart, right?
Our current overculture pressures us to commit unabashed self-promotion and other-demotion: "I am everything and they are nothing!" But we all know, at least on some level, that we all hold keys to the doors of our future. Wouldn't it be more intelligent and adaptive if we acknowledge others' strengths and let them help us instead of trying to make one another irrelevant?
This seems like a social tenet rather than a building one, but just like the seams of our walls and floors, we're undeniably connected and relevant to one another and we'd rather have a network of allies and collaborators than estranged competitors - and you as our client are better off for it.
Safety and Adaptability
This world is undergoing immense change and quickly becoming high priority is the ability of our built environment to endure through ecological adversity. We stay up to date with the most effective building technologies to ensure inhabitants the highest possible rate of survival in a possible disaster - and to continue being sheltered thereafter.
Responsible Materials
The embodied carbon (the amount of carbon going into making a building and not just that which is uses post-production) of built environments is not talked about enough amongst industrial and political leaders alike. The standardization of concrete and rebar precludes the myriad possibilities of more carbon-capturing-and-reducing materials that would contribute to staving climate change instead of accelerating it.
Timber frame, ICFs made with alternative 'crete' products, lime and clay, strawbale... Are all cornerstone resources that will help us propel the future of building into more responsible and effective practices.