Jan Kattein Architects

We build community through design. Our projects are establishing a social and a physical legacy. We achieve this by embracing an open, interactive design process that responds positively to the needs and aspirations of the people we work with. By allowing the process to drive the project, we have built a portfolio of inventive projects, each of which makes the most of the unusual opportunities and particular challenges of its site context. Our method stimulates innovative design, and always seeks to add benefits through education, economic growth, cultural activity or greater community coherence. We believe that an integrated approach is needed for any place to fulfil its potential. This conviction has led us to work across sectors, including regeneration, housing, economic development, education, public space and planning. In each field, our projects are united by their public purpose. For us, sustainability is more than just a technological challenge. By engaging a broad community in frank and open conversation from the outset of a project, we can work to ensure that our proposals are needed, useful and proportionate. Throughout design, procurement and delivery, we look for opportunities to re-activate existing spaces, use reclaimed or surplus materials and tap into local supply networks. Looking ahead, we are researching how the spaces we design and the strategies we develop can accommodate change, through flexible design strategies to demountable construction techniques. Sustainability must be a shared pursuit, and we hope to inspire others through our work. Our approach has been recognised by numerous national and international design awards. We are aware that design excellence is a team effort, and invest ourselves in our work and our professional relationships. We have ISO 9001 (Quality Assurance) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) certification which is independently verified annually. We are a London Living Wage employer.