Dean Smith and Will Caradoc-Hodgkins have been working together for fourteen years. With Associate Directors, Nathan Hodges and Derek Jackson they form a diverse management team with a strong interest in the importance and function of space, particularly in urban environments, and a commitment to the pursuit of eloquent and sustainable design solutions.
Since its formation, Smith Caradoc-Hodgkins Architects has steadily increased in size and scope. A balance has been maintained between the experience of the directors and the energy of the design team and, today, the practice combines a fresh, clear atmosphere, conducive to creativity with all the benefits of an established multi-disciplinary firm.
Based in London’s West End, Smith Caradoc-Hodgkins Architects’ approach is rooted in the urban and they are sensitive to the growing pressures of urbanism.
From a small gallery in Herzog and De Meuron’s Tate Modern to the complete regeneration of a major urban block in Covent Garden, much of their work addresses the need for regeneration through the retention, expansion and extension of existing buildings.
Through many such projects, Smith Caradoc-Hodgkins Architects have become involved in the complex relationship between the past and present that is so influential in the urban landscape. They engage with the conflicts between the poetic and the technical, built objects and vacant space, and between the theoretical and the pragmatic. The concern is always to balance the abstract with the concrete and to merge the aspirations of the client with the contextual demands of a site.
Integral to the work of Smith Caradoc-Hodgkins Architects is simplicity. In response to the complexity of the urban environment, they believe design has a duty to reduce and clarify. Throughout each project they strive to understand the essence of a design problem and find the simplest possible creative solution. With this approach, they have built a reputation for effective problem solving, deep technical understanding and imaginative solutions, the strength of which is reflected by their high number of repeat clients.
Their reputation rests on their approach to people. They recognise architecture as the art form which has the greatest effect upon our lives. Clients and end users are as significant to the outcome of a design as the materials from which it is constructed. Smith Caradoc-Hodgkins Architects invite the input of the client throughout a project, encouraging frequent and open communication from the earliest design stages up to and beyond completion.