About Us

Flexibility, understanding & creativity.

The practice has constantly maintained its founding ethos, which is based on:-

• Gaining detailed understanding of the needs of the building users and community.
• Imaginative but well-grounded design solutions - neither ivory-towered nor hum-drum.
• Recognition of environmental responsibilities, and perception as positive opportunities.
• Rigorously updated understanding and application of developing building technologies.
• Regular review and updating of office practices.

As an RIBA Chartered Practice we are committed to the appointment of dedicated and experienced staff and an ongoing programme of professional development. The practice has been able to establish and maintain a well-balanced and productive team which is able to respond to complex problems and challenging deadlines.

Changing patterns of procurement for buildings over recent years have in some areas resulted in a move away from traditional architect-led methods in favour of design-and-build, contractor/client partnering and so on. Grainge Architects have positively embraced this and now work regularly within all procurement routes - hence in some cases our direct employer might be a contractor rather than the client. But irrespective of this the end user client and community remain at the heart of the decision-making process.

A scan through our featured projects or gallery page will reveal a diversity of solutions rather than a fixed practice style. This is deliberate, and based on the premise that every project should be a very specific response to a particular brief, reflecting both the needs and the tastes of the client rather than the ego of the designer, and while individual directors or staff designers may have recognisable approaches the practice as a whole can invariably find a sympathetic designer/client match. While maintaining a close involvement in all projects – avoiding the purely ‘figurehead’ role – the directors like to encourage the creativity and technical development of all their staff, and thus of the practice as a whole. This has included the increasing application of modern design technology through Building Information Modelling (BIM) alongside the continued exercising of valuable traditional skills.