Saqqra is an architecture and research studio based between London and Cardiff.
Our name Saqqra means bedrock or
‘origin’: an understanding of environmental histories, ecologies and cultures of making shapes our process.
We believe that strategic efforts made to reduce climatic impact should also find meaningful architectural expression; where the chosen materials, arrangement and construction method impart character. Through investigating the site-specific, we unearth each project’s identity and latent potential, creating characterful architecture that is a direct product of place.
Our approach has led us to working in many sensitive locations, including Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. We work across many typologies, settings, and scales; from private homes to pavilions, commercial premises to community projects, landscapes to infrastructures. All projects employ the same inquisitive and exploratory process. We use sketching, model-making and writing - alongside digital means of production - as formative tools to imaginatively develop and communicate ideas across all project stages. This understanding is supported by our teaching and research practice acting as formative backdrop to live projects.
Featured in New Architects 5, the ‘definitive index of the UK’s best new architects’.