Qualities

We may know what we want to do in a school building and how we want it to feel – but the way in which we respond to these within a perfect storm of constraints is where design really matters.

Much of what we typically call a brief is a contractual specification setting out not only the requirements but often the detailed characteristics of the preferred answer. An authentic expression of the building qualities we most value in any unique context gives us the most relevant framework to make decisions and rise to the right challenges.

The first question of any design becomes – is this an answer with the qualities we are looking for? If our initial constraints seem to make this impossible then we need to look again at why we are doing what we are doing, or use the power of design to redefine the art of the possible.