As part of our Meet the Studio Holder series, we sat down with MATA Architects, a dynamic architectural practice based at Great Western Studios, to learn more about their vision, current projects, and what lies ahead.
Known for their thoughtful, design-led approach, MATA Architects work across a wide range of residential projects.
With a growing portfolio and a passion for crafting spaces that truly enhance the lives of those who use them, we’re excited to see what’s next for this talented team.
What drew you to Great Western Studios, and how does this space influence your work or creative process?
Location, location, location! It’s close to home which is in Queens Park, which is nice and simplifies at least one part of life… Our projects tend to be mostly central and North London based, bar the occasional outlier. So, this is a convenient place in the middle. As a small practice it’s nice to have our own studio space (overlooking the canal, which we love) but also to be part of something bigger, a community. There’s a creative energy in the building that’s a really positive thing to be immersed in. It’s also great to have
other architects in the building that we can relate to professionally and share lunchtime CPD’s with. And I can bring my dog to work with me, regularly walking him along the canal to little Venice, Paddington, Golborne Road etc for lunches…
How would you describe your architectural style or design philosophy?
I’m not sure I can talk about a style per se, or even a philosophy. There are areas of interest that we try to explore, as a practice, through our work. There are some common themes and threads that run through the work, though they may find very different expressions from one project to the next.
At the core of what we do is an interest in building, making and craft… in how things are put together. We particularly enjoy working with natural materials in their many forms, such as stone, timber, rammed earth: timeless and fundamental building blocks that have been used since time immemorial to create shelter. Elemental building ingredients that have been used over centuries in many forms as modes of production and construction technologies evolve. It’s this re-imagining of how to work with age old materials, combined with modern technology, that we enjoy. Simple materials put together in new ways.
Every project is an opportunity to refine an idea or a detail that came before – either by us, or others before us. It’s about craft and an ambition to refine that craft with every project. This overlaps with an interest in sustainable construction and a striving to minimise our impact on the environment. Natural materials tend to have smaller carbon footprints. Stone extraction, for example has become more efficient (cheaper) and with much reduced environmental impact (a lot less use of water as in the past).
The development of CAD CAM technology enables designers to harness the powers of digital fabrication techniques to create forms that once required master craftsmen (see, for example, the completion of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, almost a century after it’s architect, Gaudi’s death, made possible by modern CNC technology).
What project are you most proud of and why?
The last project we completed in December last year, which we called ‘Vaulting Loft’ and the next one to complete (June/ July this year) that we call ‘Panoramic House’. Both of these projects are expressions of the best kind of collaboration with private residential clients who have simultaneously placed a very high degree of trust in us to imagine and deliver ambitious transformations and extensions of their homes, whilst challenging us, pushing us at every turn to take considered risks. I’d love to share completed photos of ‘Vaulting Loft’ here but it’s due to feature in Elle Decoration’s October edition and we’ve been asked to keep it under media blackout until then.
Panoramic House
Can you share a bit about your design process, from concept to completion?
It starts by listening and asking lots of questions. Ultimately the brief is born out of our clients unique personalities and the circumstances they find themselves in when they come to us (often at milestone moments in their life: just had or expecting a baby, just sold their business, downsizing etc…) and the unique characteristics of their site/ property.
Our design then begins to evolve in response to our interrogation and analysis of these two things: our clients unique needs and the unique nature of their site. We develop our ideas through sketches, 2D drawings, 3D digital and physical models. With every project, we’re on a quest for simplicity, stripping away and paring back the superfluous to reveal something essential about an idea. We try to articulate that idea around a story or narrative early on in the process: something we can always go back to and assess the evolving design against.
Like what you see? Do get in touch with Mata to discuss your next project
