Sanchez Benton Architects are renowned for delivering delightful and well-made architecture. They have built up a reputation for award winning low-carbon re-use projects that are generous, pleasurable and robust.
Project such as Peveril Gardens and Studios and the Holyrood Street public realm improvements, reflect their approach that focuses on architecture as a practical art that can have positive social, ecological, and economic impact. They have recently been recognised as Young Architects of the Year 2023 and named one of the most exciting Emerging Architects globally by The Architectural Review in 2022.
The practice is currently working on larger adaptive re-use projects including the Park Headquarters for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Housing Projects for Greenwich Council.
What do you think is the most important issue for architects to focus on right now, and what are you doing as a practice to tackle it?
Climate, biodiversity, and housing – We are resolute in our belief that, as architects, we must lead the way in finding effective solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises, viewing this as an essential part of creating Architecture (with a capital "A"). It is widely acknowledged that the building industry is a significant contributor to these crises and must evolve swiftly.
Our clients are dedicated to reshaping a small part of the world; this can either be a process that merely extracts from the natural environment or one that is sustainable and regenerative. Architects play a crucial role in this transformation; we embrace this responsibility without hesitation. Our focus lies on the means as much as on the ends. Achieving this requires practice, reflection, and collaboration.
We are collaborating with leading ecologists, engineers, builders, and planting designers. We all share a common goal: reducing carbon and enhancing biodiversity in our work.
Ecological ‘sustainable’ architecture is not about wearing a hair shirt. The work is generous and deeply mindful of comfort and delight.
Are you part of RIBA's 2030 challenge? If so, how has been your experience so far?
Yes, RIBA's 2030 Challenge is an excellent initiative.
We are constantly striving to embed principles that maximise user and planetary wellbeing while minimising whole-life carbon, energy, and water demand from the earliest stages of design. This is never an afterthought; it is always an integral part of the architectural concept. However, the challenge lies in the detail, particularly when aiming for Net Zero Whole Life Carbon in a large retrofit. This process is complex and demands a comprehensive, collaborative effort that includes in-depth development and analysis.
In smaller projects, it is not always feasible to measure and collect the data needed to track the impact of design decisions that adhere to best practice. However, as our projects grow in scale, we can assemble teams with the expertise to accurately measure and analyse early-stage approaches to a brief. Two recent commercial retrofit projects, one for a private client and one for the public sector, have been developed to meet 2030 targets (currently based on Stage 3 and Stage 4 data) through an approach that integrates the measurement and analysis of embodied carbon and performance data into early-stage design development.
How do you incorporate environmental and social sustainability into your work?
Our ambition to make a positive environmental and social impact is deeply embedded in the culture of our practice and that of our collaborators. The first step always involves a thorough examination of what already exists—what lies below the surface and behind the scenes, what has shaped a place, what works, what holds value, and what is the inherent character of the site.
We believe it is essential to understand the material, social, and natural history of a place, right up to the present, before beginning the process of deconstruction and reassembly.
We are firm advocates of circular economy principles, promoting reuse over demolition. We also prioritise designing buildings to be flexible and resilient, enabling them to adapt over time. Considerable thought goes into how we can work with the existing structure, character, and infrastructure of a building to deliver maximum value—both in terms of carbon savings and cost-efficiency. This approach typically requires extensive early-stage investigations and analysis to inform our design decisions.
What’s the most exciting project you’ve got coming up and why?
We are thrilled about the Park Headquarters for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which has recently received planning approval and is set to progress to the site in 2025.
Securing planning approval for the QEOP Park Headquarters is an exciting milestone for both the project and our practice. The project involves the adaptive reuse of Old Ford, a disused water treatment plant on the edge of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Old Ford site itself is a former nature reserve, uniquely secluded on a sensitive peninsula location, bordered by the existing waterways at the park's edge. Developing the building and the site required an exemplary proposal, both for the adaptive reuse of the building and for enhancements across the wider landscape. This was achieved through a collaborative effort involving a team comprised of Sanchez Benton, Structure Workshop, Max Fordham, Nigel Dunnett, and ecologist Gary Grant.
A recent commission to design social housing across two sites for Greenwich Council is also immensely exciting and rewarding. Alongside climate and biodiversity, housing is undeniably at a crisis point in the UK. These projects for Greenwich provide us with the opportunity to dedicate ourselves fully to an architecture that has always been a core focus for us and will have a profound impact on people's lives.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Alongside thorough early-stage site investigations and analysis, we engage in discussions and document both conventional and innovative solutions to the challenges we face, as well as the opportunities we aspire to create.
We incorporate a rhythm of regular roundtable workshops throughout the process. These sessions are structured to foster collaboration, debate, and decision-making, allowing a wide range of concerns to be addressed simultaneously. For these workshops, we produce numerous drawings and 3D studies that explore different scales and perspectives.
Physical materials specific to the project are introduced at an early stage, and we frequently discuss the settings and atmospheres a project aims to create, often collectively searching for images that convey an ideal vision. The early stages are intense and not strictly linear, yet we have faith in a well-practiced process. Fragments come together gradually, even before a complete picture is in view. We are well-versed in our tools, moving quickly and rigorously through tests involving plans, sections, elevations, collages, and 3D studies, both physical and digital. We employ age-old techniques of hand drawing and model making alongside the latest BIM technologies, choosing the right tool for each task.
Considerable time and thought go into drawing, analysing, and discussing how buildings are made. We are continually researching materials—their provenance, their performance. Our studio is filled with material samples, and a significant part of our process involves assembling these materials so that they harmonise. This typically progresses to larger material samples in the later stages. Like a chef tasting each component of a meal at every stage, it is essential for us to continuously review the material and spatial quality of a project throughout its development.
Our aim is to create buildings of exceptional quality, whatever the budget, through sustained material research and a rigorous process of drawing, detailed design, and specification. We also work collaboratively with tradespeople during the tender and construction phases. Our work is a focused yet rewarding pursuit of architecture that is both enriching for the soul and good for the planet.
