Design and Build – It just makes sense!

I have been designing buildings for some time now. (by far the most of that time at noh ARCHITECTS) I love it. Its stimulating and productive at the same time.

I mean how lucky am I to have something physical show after (a good part of a lifetime) of work? So many of my (often very hardworking and intelligent) friends tell of how soul destroying it can be, after many years of perhaps being a Parliamentarian, a Pilot or a Barrista and not being able to point to any one lasting thing that you have shaped and birthed into the world. I speak about my gratitude toward my profession, because I don’t want to come across as un-thankful when I talk about the frustration of starting from scratch every time, from one “prototype” to next. You see each and every building that an ordinary architect works on is a bespoke prototype. Never to be repeated. Almost by definition, an architect is approached because a design solution does not yet exist to satisfy the needs of the client that is approaching the architect. When the same client approaches the BMW dealership or the I-store, they are presented with very good design solutions that actually work for them in their world. The client is relieved of the burden of having to present a “brief” to BMW so that they can develop a prototype design that would suite these needs.

What I find satisfying as an Architect, developing the TimberTiny range, is the following:

The “design and supply”, method now breaks the cycle of continuous prototyping and by breaking this cycle it allows me as an architect to “go deep and not go wide”, What do I mean by that? I suppose just the simple economics of being able to justify the time and effort on the design of what are by architects standards, very small projects.

The “design and supply” method is able to extract design refinements and solutions from all parts of the process (Client interaction, finance, manufacturing, construction, supply chain and logistics). The conventional approach to bringing buildings into the world has much greater degree of isolation between the “silos” of Architectural Design, Structural Design, Manufacturer and Assembly. The traditional way of building is very often a protracted standoff between the various silos, each consuming huge amounts of energy defending their positions and covering their A****s!

The design and supply method does not have to mean that the client ends up with something they don’t want, This is certainly not the case with BMW and it is certainly not the case with Iphone. The sad truth though is that so many of the “design and supply” homes in the market today are just horrible!! My theory though is that these products are horrible because so many of them have been brought to the market by companies familiar with supply, not design. (they know how to make stuff – but they are not necessarily as good at knowing what stuff to make!) And this is where TimberTiny stands out from the crowd. TimberTiny comes out of a design space that pushed to expand into the supply space. This is a crucial and critical distinction (and perhaps the distinction that Steve Jobs brought to Apple over the years.)

So Yes! Design and Build makes real sense – Our objective is to make the process seem effortless to you. Building really shouldn’t have to be the nightmare that everyone speaks of!!!