Open House Festival 2023 Design Partners

Sep 7

This year we wanted to spotlight small practices showcasing residential or community lead buildings. Opening up their own projects to during the Open House Festival demonstrates how architecture can contribute to a more open, accessible and equitable city. With over 600 spaces open during the two week event, five practices were chosen from the shortlist. We were looking for sites of community interest, those that champion sustainable approaches and practices that have made genuine strides to engage visitors and the public in interesting and meaningful ways during the festival. With an array of events, workshops and tours led by the Architects themselves, click below to find out more about their practices and the projects that you can visit yourself between the 6th-17th of September.

Featured

Surman Weston

At Surman Weston, every building made is carefully designed to respond to the users and location. They create buildings that are flexible to the changing needs of the people that use them and the places they inhabit. They spend the early stages of a project analysing and interrogating the brief and context. With these, designs are developed that are highly contextually sensitive, with careful consideration of materiality, sustainability, construction technique, use and function.

Office Sian

Office Sian is an award-winning RIBA Chartered Architecture and Design Studio based in London. Established by Architect Gurmeet Sian, the studio is involved in a number of domestic, corporate and arts projects, for both private and developer clients in the UK and abroad. Office Sian also works with various charity organisations in and around London.

Foster Kirk Architects

Foster Kirk is an agile, responsive and design-led architectural practice. Our skills and experience are integrated with cutting-edge technology including BIM, CGI, VR and 3D printing which enhance the quality and capacity of our design output and deliverables.

Office S&M

Co-founded by Catrina Stewart and Hugh McEwen in 2013, Office S&M is an award-winning architecture practice with a varied portfolio. The studio has gained recognition for its inventive approach, participatory practice, collaboration, and experimentation with materials and colour to create drama.

Freehaus

Freehaus is an award-winning architecture practice made up of a diverse yet like-minded collective of architects and designers, making accessible, honest, and representative buildings.