RELATIONAL DESIGN:
Design is an act of deep curiosity about people. When we design with clients, we are co-creating with them. Each idea is considered through a relational lens of who our clients are and what this aspect of the design might mean to them. We are curious about who our clients are, the way people come together in their homes, workplaces and communities and the way they construct narrative identities through these spaces. We design homes that influence patterns of behaviour for the way people want to live and tell positive stories about our relationships to the place, people, past and future.
TRUST:
Trust is the single most important relational quality that exists in the design process. Projects have no inherent logic- they will not naturally arrange themselves into order. A process as complex as building is always keening towards atrophy and discord. The builder/ designer/ client and other stakeholders are the people who steer the process into cohesion. This is a generative, attentive, generous quality the stakeholders bring that continues for the entire length of the project. We think of this a holding space for the project to emerge, with big hearts and steady hands. Trust is the quality that feeds this effort, for it is long and large. When trust is absent, defensiveness and disengagement can emerge from stakeholders and a project can veer off track very quickly. To pursue excellence, you must trust your team, and the team must trust each other. Any ruptures need to be named and repaired quickly. Respect, integrity, empathy and shared commitment to the outcome are the solid foundations of a good design and build process.