Since Delvendahl Martin Architects was established in 2009 we have been working on projects ranging from small-scale installations to master planning and from private houses to regeneration projects. The diverse range of projects our practice engages in is deliberate rather than coincidental, as it allows us to operate simultaneously across different scales, typologies and disciplines. Whilst most of our work is built, speculative projects, competitions and collaborations form an important aspect of our practice as a platform for testing ideas. This process is further complemented by our own research and teaching.
Our client list includes local Councils such as Southwark and Newham, housing associations, private developers as well as social enterprises such as Stratford Circus and the Bow Arts Trust with whom we have recently collaborated on the fit out of the ground floor commercial space of a series of residential blocks at Royal Albert Wharf, providing flexible and adaptable workspaces for up to 50 artists, including a communal café, exhibition space and yoga studio. Other recent work has included the comprehensive refurbishment of the Grade II former Credit Lyonnais headquarters at 30 Cannon Street, which involved the reconstruction of the 5th floor, a new roof terrace and the refurbishment of the entrance lobby.
Delvendahl Martin Architects have also worked in exhibition and gallery design. Our projects in this field have been wide-ranging including the exhibition design for the 2014 Gwangju Biennale, Asia’s most important contemporary arts festival, 'The World Goes Pop' for Tate Modern and collaborations with the artist Carsten Höller, including ‘Decision Corridors’, a site-specific installation first shown at the Hayward Gallery and subsequently exhibited at Pirelli HangarBiccoca, Milan and the Henie Onstad Sanatorium in Oslo. We collaborated with the Hayward Gallery on their off-site exhibition ‘The Infinite Mix’ at The Store, and were responsible for the exhibition design of the first major UK retrospective of Andreas Gursky. Delvendahl Martin Architects have recently been appointed as exhibition designers for the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2019, curated by Ralph Rugoff.
Most importantly, all our work is about building relationships that develop and evolve throughout the creative process: Architecture is part of a wider cultural condition with a specific set of human, environmental and historical circumstances that need to inform the design process. Through this process our clients become collaborators and conversations expand beyond the architectural or urban confines of a project, and often involve engaging a wider community through consultation in both the public and private sector, where our in-depth understanding of the planning system has resulted in a highly successful track record of achieving planning consent.
