Design

We are a team of specialists, technicians and dreamers, recognised for our innovative thinking, creative reinvention and exploration of sustainability and environmental opportunities. We collaborate and cajole to make leaps in design, test feasibility and deliver ideas that resonate. Each project is special, each time we push to make sure we are exploiting potential and possibilities, balancing commercial factors with ingenuity and open minds.

Who We Are

Spratley & Partners are an approachable team of architects, with a reputation for maximising the potential of people, design, planning and return on investment. Youthful and dynamic designers, we exercise smart thinking, strong commercial knowledge and work hard to deliver without compromise, forming enduring relationships with our clients by working without ego, listening and adapting our thinking accordingly.

Sustainability is at the core of our practice and our retrofit-first approach means we are able to bring new life to renovations and make clever interventions to period properties. New builds are designed with a tangible sense of identity and our projects provide record rental returns, utilise pioneering innovation and win national acclaim.

With offices in Henley-on-Thames and Bristol, we work predominantly in London, the South East and South West, across a broad range of projects from private homes, boutique hotels and country estates to business parks, research labs and elite universities.

Our Philosophy

At S&P, our goal is to produce design that delights, responds to context and considers the impact on both the people who will experience it and the wider environment. We examine how spaces will be used and occupied, so that the scale, definition and quality of form and materials are tailored to connect us to the places we inhabit.

Our approach is progressive and rather than impose a singular style, each project is explored to recognise its unique challenges and opportunities. We listen to clients’ aspirations and guide projects to the best results by building a clear vision together. Our design is enhanced by iterative testing which allows us to produce sustainable, innovative designs that are engaging and transformative.

Our Approach

As architects and designers, we approach each new project with openness, critical thinking and tested processes formed by expertise, experience and peer review. We understand our communication and agility in leading the design process is vital for the best outcome and our clients return to us because we listen and respond.

We are aware of the commercial realities that enable projects to come to fruition and we help shape and test the brief and recognise the challenges we face together. A strong team, we have worked together for more than a decade and we work, inspire, mentor and challenge each other to deliver without compromise.

RIBA Accredited

We are a RIBA chartered practice and our projects follow the RIBA Plan of Work. This is an organisational framework for the delivery of schemes that sets out the milestones and checkpoints for key areas such as procurement, sustainability, BIM outputs and statutory processes.

The plan covers the key components of all projects. From the establishment of the brief through conceptual and technical design, construction and the operation of the building, it identifies the outcomes, core tasks and information exchanges required at each stage.

Sustainability

Renowned for our work in this area, we work closely with our partners to deliver efficient buildings where we aim for the highest possible sustainability credentials. We recognise our responsibility extends beyond ‘first use’, and our projects are designed to last, with designs that maximise reuse and minimise impact and waste. By incorporating passive environmental measures and innovative technology, we find harmony with beautifully pragmatic solutions.

More on: Sustainability

Visualising Our Thinking

3D visualisation is a key tool in our design process and throughout a project we aim to apply appropriate levels of modelling and visualisation. We create high-level diagrammatic massing studies and diagrams at the briefing stage to aid our clients’ understanding of our thinking and investigate potential interventions in their current and future context. This also allows us to identify and consider key views and constraints at an early stage.

As we progress through a project we develop these visualisations into detailed images, 360 panoramas, videos and fully immersive models, the proposed designs conveyed as photorealistic images or via virtual reality headsets. We allow specific elements or interventions in the design to be communicated in a clear and effective manner, whether for a planning application, client approval or a contractor tender package. We also identify specific Building Information Modelling (BIM) requirements at the start of a project and tailor our strategy to maximise quality output for design, construction and ongoing building management on both retrofit and new-build projects.

Internally, we use 3D tools to test and develop concepts in real time, to efficiently and quickly investigate form, scale, lighting, materials or layouts. 3D models are a key aspect of our internal design reviews, helping us collaborate and adapt design options.

Who We Work With

We work with industry leaders who share our enthusiasm to create quality, sustainable properties, and are proud to have formed lasting relationships with some of the top performing public and private investment funds in the real estate and construction Industry. We work closely with development and project managers and landlords to define, plan and deliver our projects. We also collaborate with creative interior designers and highly skilled craftsmen and women whose work complements and completes many of our projects.

  • AEW UK
  • ARC
  • BEAM
  • CBRE
  • Charterhouse Property Group
  • CIM
  • CLS
  • Columbia Threadneedle
  • CS2 Chartered Surveyors
  • Culden Faw Estate
  • Fidelity International
  • Frasers Property
  • Headington School
  • Hollis
  • Legal & General
  • Lucy Group
  • M&G Real Estate
  • McKay
  • Orchard Street
  • Oval Real Estate
  • Oxford University Estates
  • Paragon
  • Patrizia
  • Picton
  • Radley College
  • Savills
  • Thackeray Group
  • Thamesis
  • The Hogarth Property Group
  • The Phillimore Estate
  • Vanquish
  • Workman
  • Workspace
  • XLB Property
  • Zurich

The Columbia Threadneedle team remain very impressed by the quality of the creative output delivered across a wide variety of projects by the S&P team. In my experience, it is extremely unusual in the architectural field to find creative capability and commercial reality seamlessly merged.

James Rigg, Director, Columbia Threadneedle
See: Sustainability