Today’s lecture was a guest speaker from a London based architectural company named dRMM. His name was Oliver Cunningham. He came to discuss some of the projects him and the company had worked or were working on. Their aims are to design and produce architecture that is useful along with an expression, and the critique of social and cultural production. They were founded in 1995 in London by Alex de Rijke, Philip Marsh and Sadie Morgan and now have employees around the world. He went on to say how most companies design using industrial catalogues and build through standardized structures, but dRMM do not want to be part of this and so set out to experiment with their own interest in a variety of unusual materials and construction methods. They follow 5 ethos when designing and building which I believe are important in all design companies;

We are committed to outstanding architecture that transforms and inspires.
We see client constraints, culture & society as a site of creative design.
We collaborate to exceed client expectations.
We think about environment and people when making places.
We are concerned with how we build as well as what we build.

He talked about a variety of their projects, but the ones I found most fascinating were; The Naked House and Maggie’s Oldham.

The Naked House revolves around the theory of easy transportation and only using an amount of material that is necessary. It can be put up anywhere in the world where there are suitable transport links and is delivered as a flatpack kit. The container it was transported in forms the structures base for storage, utility, garage or a boat house. It can be built, deconstructed and moved around numerous times. Cut-outs from the walls of the building act as elements inside. For example a window cut-out is transformed into a chair. They are digitally pre-cut from substantial cross-laminated timber panels made from fast growing soft woods. The importance of sustainability is evident in this design. It is put together using long screws and can be assembled in two days, connecting with already existing services and heated by solar waterheating and a wastewood-burner. I like the fact that it looks so simple yet holds a lot of creativity and thought out planning to create a clever design.

The Naked House model

The Naked House interior

Maggie’s is a charity for cancer patients and their family and friends that provides free practical, emotional and social support. DRMM Architects collaborated with the charity to design and build with the grounds of The Royal Oldham Hospital. The buildings structure is built over and around a garden which is supported by columns. It offers ‘open air rooms’ and the garden includes various shrubs, flowers and trees. The buildings roofs slopes inwards with a pool beneath which collects rainwater. The space, light and garden all provide a calming and pleasant atmosphere. The building is about content, not form. DRMM stated ‘the simultaneous need for privacy and collectivity is met with discreet meeting rooms and niches carved from a ‘thick’ wall, in the otherwise completely open plan interior space, planned around the central lightwell. The materials are dRMM’s characteristic engineered timber and glass, and the outside reflects the presence and colours of the garden.’

Maggie’s model

DRMM take into consideration peoples experiences when visiting spaces and build to help the future.