We have been shortlisted to the final five studios to lead the design of the Grenfell Tower Memorial, as a result of an international competition.
During the final stages of the competition over the past year, our work has been one of reflection, listening, and learning. The Grenfell Memorial design process has been unlike anything we have undertaken before — a journey that asked us to move beyond architecture as a discipline, and towards architecture as an act of care.
In meeting those most affected, we were reminded that design begins not with drawings, but with listening. That buildings and landscapes can carry emotion. That silence, humility, and attention can be as powerful as form or material.
This experience has deepened our understanding of what it means to work with sensitivity — to create places that do not impose, but hold; that do not explain, but invite; that allow memory and life to coexist. It has reminded us that architecture, at its most humane, is not only about what is built, but about the conversations, trust, and relationships that shape it.
We return to our everyday work changed by this process — more conscious of the weight and the privilege of designing for others, and more aware of the quiet power that architecture holds when approached with empathy.