London
25+

500k-2m

Over 2m

Project Sector

Residential, Commercial, Other

Specialist Skills

Career History

dRMM is a London-based, international studio of architects and designers founded in 1995 by Alex de Rijke, Philip Marsh and Sadie Morgan. We are renowned for creating architecture that is innovative, high quality and socially useful, and have won numerous awards including the Building Design (BD) Architect Of The Year 2013.

We are proud of our reputation, and owe it to an incredibly talented and resourceful team who work in the belief that outstanding architecture comes about through client collaboration, creative design, environmental awareness and building innovation.

Clients trust us because we go out of our way to understand and realise their needs through detailed research and careful practice. The construction industry respects us because we use standardized, cost-effective materials and building methods to make innovative architecture. And the press and public have warmed to us for a lightness of touch that has been described as joyful, flamboyant and unique.

If you’d like to know more then get in touch. We are always on the lookout for new opportunities.

Key People

Founding Directors:

Alex de Rijke

Founding Director of dRMM, established in 1995. Has presented dRMM’s work in Europe, South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa on the relationship between design concepts and emerging construction types, in particular advocating engineered timber design. Professor de Rijke has taught widely, including at the AA and RCA. He is active as occasional critic, lecturer, architecture design advisor and photographer. He is Dean of Architecture at the RCA.

At dRMM de Rijke focuses on design innovation. He combines leadership of expanding practice with research into new materials and modern methods of construction. Alex has had a central role in pioneering cross-laminated timber panel construction in the UK and Australia. dRMM’s research work for the 2012 Venice Biennale on the floating architecture of the Netherlands resulted in design proposals for London’s Royal Docks. ‘Floatopolis’, a time-lapse masterplan for incremental growth, was launched in February 2013 at the RIBA / British Council Venice Take Away exhibition, with an accompanying presentation from de Rijke.

Sadie Morgan

Founding Director of dRMM. Sadie’s ability to communicate and negotiate has defined her role within the organisation and has developed into the strategic management of all dRMM projects.

Sadie was design director on the award-winning No.one Centaur Street, and her internal design expertise includes dRMM’s Dura, a radical reconfigurable modular design for an ‘Exemplar’ school of the future. She was responsible for the colour strategy at Kingsdale School and at Clapham Manor School.

She regularly guest lectures both nationally and internationally and has sat on design competition juries including the Building Awards, The British Construction Industry Awards, and The World Architecture Festival Awards. Her advisory roles have included Southwark Hub for the London Festival of Architecture and the Central London Partnership 2012 legacy strategic taskforce. She is an external examiner at Westminster University and a trustee of the Creative Education Trust.

Sadie was honorary treasurer of the Architectural Association (AA) between 2009 and 2013. As of June 1st 2013 she became President of the AA. Sadie is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Most recently, Sadie shortlisted for the AJ Woman Architect of the Year award in recognition of her twenty-year career of leadership at the forefront of an industry characterised by men.

Philip Marsh

Founding Director of dRMM, Philip has been central to dRMM’s education projects. He was project architect for the remodelling of Kingsdale School, an acclaimed project that addressed student morale and education standards through the radical transformation of the learning environment. This experience was distilled into Dura, dRMM’s Exemplar School for the DfES. He was project architect for Clapham Manor Primary School, shortlisted for the 2010 Stirling Prize and has recently completed 4 Dwellings a 2FE Primary School for Birmingham City Council. Current projects include a new campus for Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education.

Philip was the architect for the Elephant & Castle Regeneration pilot, Wansey St, a mixed tenure scheme for which dRMM were awarded BD Public Housing Architect of the Year 2006. Additionally, he co-designed the recently completed sister project Harper Square, for Family Mosaic shortlisted for the NLA 2013 award for housing.

Philip has designed ArtHouse for Argent, the first private housing scheme delivered at Kings Cross Central completed 3Q 2013. He is currently working on Faraday House, phase one of Battersea Power Station, a project which has been described by David Cameron as “jewel in the crown” of regeneration projects in London.

Awards

2014 Shortlisted – Wood Awards (WoodBlock House)

2014 Shortlisted – Wood Awards (Endless Stair)

2014 Regional Finalist – Civic Trust Awards (St Albans Academy)

2014 Highly Commended – Museum and Heritage Awards for Excellence, Innovations Category (The Future is Here)

2014 Shortlisted – New London Architecture (NLA) Awards, Housing Category (King’s Cross Arthouse)

2014 Winner – Mayor of London Housing Design Awards (King’s Cross ArtHouse)

2014 Shortlisted – New London Architecture (NLA) Awards, Housing Category (Trafalgar Place)

2014 Longlisted – RIBA Manser Award (WoodBLock House)

2014 Winner – RIBA London Regional Award (WoodBlock House)

2014 Shortlisted – New London Architecture (NLA) Award, Home Category (WoodBlock House)

2013 – Winner – BD Architect of the Year

2014 Shortlisted – New London Architecture (NLA) Awards, The Temporary Category

2013 Winner – BD Education Architect of the Year, Nursery to Secondary (Four Dwellings, St Albans, ERADE)

2013 Highly Commended – Wood Awards (Blackpool)

2013 Winner – Small Engineered Timber Structure, Timber in Construction Awards

2013 Chartered Institute of Building “Built in Quality and Construction Excellence” (4 Dwellings)
- Best in Quality award for Education category
- Project of the Year award in Construction Excellence

2013 National Winner – RIBA Awards (St Albans)

2013 Regional Winner – RIBA Awards (St Albans)

2012 Regional Finalist Civic Trust Awards 2013 (Festival House)

2012 Finalist – LABC Building Excellence Awards 2012, Commercial Projects Category (Festival House) [Entered by Blackpool Council]

2012 Shortlisted - RIBA Awards (Festival House)

2011 Shortlisted – WAN Awards – Effectiveness Award (Kingsdale School)

2011 Shortlisted – WAN Awards – Colour in Architecture Award (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2011 Winner – NLA Awards – Best Project in Learning Category (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2011 Commended – London Planning Awards – Mayor’s Award for Planning Excellence (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2011 Winner – London Planning Awards – Best Built Project in Community Category (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2010 Shortlisted - RIBA Stirling Prize (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2010 Shortlisted- Civic (World Architecture Festival, Modern Art Oxford gallery)

2010 Winner - RIBA Award for London (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2010 Winner - BCSE Industry Award Judges Award 2010 (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2010 Winner - BCSE Industry Award 2010 - Inspiring Design - Schools (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2010 Winner - Civic Trust Award (Clapham Manor Primary School)

2009 Highly commended - Learning (World Architecture Festival, Clapham Manor Primary School)

2009 Highly commended - House (WAF, Sliding House)

2009 Highly commended - Future Projects (WAF,Timber Stadium)

2009 Winner - RIBA East Award (RIBA Awards, Sliding House)

2009 Winner - Home of the Year (Grand Designs Awards, Sliding House)

2009 Winner - Best New-Build (Grand Designs Awards, Sliding House)

2009 Shortlisted - The Wood Awards (Sliding House)

2009 Nominated - Yellow Pencil (D&AD Awards, Sliding House)

2009 Winner - Retail and Leisure category (MIPIM/Architectural Review Future Project Awards, Timber Stadium)

2009 Highly commended - Inspiring design (British Council for School Environments Industry Awards, Kingsdale School)

2008 Highly commended - Learning category (WAF, Kingsdale School)

2008 Winner - Best Structural Project (LABC Built in Quality National Awards, MK40 Tower)

2008 Shortlisted - Best Small Project and Best Use of Panel Products (The Wood Awards, MK40 Tower)

2008 Shortlisted - Best public/community project (LABC Built in Quality Central Region Awards, MK40 Tower)

2008 Shortlisted - Practice of the Year (Building Awards)

2008 Shortlisted - Project of the Year (Building Awards, Music & Sports Buildings)

2007 Shortlisted - RIBA London Award (RIBA Awards, Kingsdale School Music & Sports Buildings)

2007 Shortlisted - RIBA London Award (RIBA Awards, Kingsdale School Remodelling)
2007 Shortlisted - RIBA London Award (RIBA Awards, Wansey Street Housing)

2007 Commendation - Affordable Housing Development of the Year (British Homes Awards, Wansey Street)

2007 Commendation - Excellence in Design (AIA, Wansey Street)

2007 Shortlisted - Education Architect of the Year (BD)

2006 Public Housing Architect of the Year -(BD, Wansey Street)

2005 Building of the Year Award - Inspiration through Architecture (Royal Fine Art Commission, Kingsdale School)

2005 Excellence in Design Award (AIA, Kingsdale School)

2005 Next Generation Award (AF/Pipers at MIPIM)

2004 The Wood Awards (Auditorium, Kingsdale School)

2004 BD's Best New Architectural Practice

2004 Civic Trust Award (for No. one Centaur St)

2004 Excellence in Design Award (AIA, No. one Centaur Street)

2003 Building for Life Award (CABE, No. one Centaur Street)

2003 London Building of the Year (RIBA, No. one Centaur Street)

2003 Housing Award (RIBA, No. one Centaur Street)

2003 Regional Award (RIBA, No. one Centaur Street)

2003 First Building Award (AJ, No. one Centaur Street)

2002 M4I Demonstration Award (for Kingsdale School consultation)

2002 Best Small Office (FX Intl Interior Design Award, ARB)

Experience

All of dRMM’s completed projects have received critical acclaim and professional recognition. Our pilot project, No. One Centaur Street, won eight awards including the RIBA London Building of the Year. In 2006, dRMM were named Public Housing Architect of the Year on the merits of the Wansey Street Project. We have since grown significantly in the housing sector having worked on the London 2012 Olympics Village, and more recently on three of London’s largest developments.

The first is a residential building for the Battersea Power Station redevelopment plan. dRMM’s scheme defines the western edge of the cite through a series of stacked apartments that shift in response to the curve of the nearby railway. The second scheme was won through a design competition for King’s Cross ArtHouse, a residential building which sits between the granary and King’s Place. The building is formed of four residential clusters designed to create localized communities and maximize dual aspect apartments. ArtHouse was recently awarded the Mayor of London Housing Design Award 2014. The third major housing scheme – Trafalgar Place – forms part of the Elephant & Castle regeneration masterplan. It will provide 235 high-quality homes within seven buildings ranging from four to ten storeys.

dRMM has built a strong reputation for its work in education architecture. Kingsdale School, our first large-scale construction, was hailed as a technical and architectural tour de force. The school features a variable skin ETFE light-controlling roof which was the world’s first and largest at the time of its construction, setting new standards in education building. In 2009 the carefully crafted extension to Clapham Manor Primary won critical praise for its success in reconciling the need for a community beacon with the sensitivity of its built context. The project won numerous awards and was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

dRMM continues to build on these technical and formal innovations in their more recent school projects. St Albans Academy in Birmingham, awarded a 2013 RIBA National Award, has a highly efficient, rational plan made of two interlinked buildings. The complex pedagogical demands and fiscal constraints shaped the design of the project, resulting in a loose-fit, top-lit, colourful box with a strong community presence. Together with Four Dwellings Primary School and the scheme for the Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education, St Albans secured a place for dRMM on the 2013 BD Education Architect of the Year shortlist.

dRMM are interested in non-formuliac architecture. The Tower of Love project in Blackpool, RIBA Award winner and finalist in the 2013 Wood Awards, is testimony to this. Rowan Moore described it as “a rare thing – a place for civic weddings that is celebratory rather than bureaucratic”, heralding the way it captures “the spirit of Blackpool without being patronized or clichéd”. Likewise the multi-award winning and globally unique Sliding House, built in 2009, is still the subject of great intrigue and critical acclaim.

In addition to our larger projects, dRMM have successfully delivered a variety of smaller projects in the cultural sector including major exhibitions in the UK, Norway, Italy and Brazil. dRMM have worked on gallery and exhibition design for prestigious institutions such as the Milton Keynes gallery, Modern Art Oxford, and the Design Museum London.

In 2013 dRMM was commissioned by the London Design Festival to create an inspirational structure for London. The result was Endless Stair - a look-out point, sited on the lawn outside the Tate Modern Gallery providing an elevated view of the river Thames and the City. The ambitious structure acted as both marker and meeting place near the Millenium Bridge; an Escher-like game of perception and circulation in framed timber playfully contrasting with the brick mass of the Tate building. The installation received an overwhelmingly positive response from the public, providing delight through exploration. Alex de Rijke described the project as “something people are compulsively curious about”. This notion of user-oriented architecture is a key driver in all of dRMM’s projects, as is cleverness, usefulness and ultimately – fun.

Years of Experience

15-20

Business Address

  • 81
  • Weston Street
  • London
  • SE1 3RS

Contact Details: