Studio

Pierre Maré Architects is a RIBA-chartered practice working principally on houses, apartments and interiors for private clients in London, and on selected projects elsewhere in the UK and the United States. I lead every commission personally, take on a limited number each year, and stay involved from first sketch to completion.

My approach to the work has always been shaped by a love of the ocean. I grew up in Cape Town, where I spent a lot of time in the open water, and it taught me to appreciate balance within powerful natural forces. That sensibility still informs how I think about buildings - how they sit in harmony with their surroundings, responding carefully to context rather than imposing on it.

I came to architecture through it, more or less. As a teenager I couldn't find a career that matched the pull of the ocean, until I spent an afternoon in an architecture studio and found myself working with light, wind direction and other forces as material. It had an immediate effect, and it has held ever since. (At fifteen I'd crewed a transatlantic yacht race from Cape Town to Montevideo with an adult crew - the vastness and wave energy of the open ocean left a lasting impression, and cemented a love of the ocean that's still with me.)

I studied architecture at the University of Cape Town, with early practical experience in Thailand and Hong Kong, and moved to London in 1998, completing my RIBA and ARB qualifications at London Metropolitan University. Before founding the practice in 2007, I worked at Team Architecture in Cape Town, Denton Corker Marshall in Hong Kong and London, and Jamie Fobert Architects in London. At those practices I learnt the value of a clear idea, the technical rigour of putting a building together, and the importance of balance - in spatial composition, and in the careful handling of material, light and form.

What I care about in the work is fairly simple: proportion, light and material, and detail resolved well enough to be built precisely and to last. I'm less interested in style than in whether a space feels calm and considered to be in - day after day, and over years. A home should support how you live, quietly and comfortably, rather than announce itself. And because clear ideas and well-resolved details are what let a building be constructed with confidence, much of the work is simply the removal of unnecessary complexity, so that what remains is durable, well-proportioned and easy to live with.

Every project follows a clear, structured process, which matters as much as the design itself: it lets you make well-informed decisions, understand each one as it arrives, and move forward with confidence rather than doubt. I work discreetly with private clients, and most of my work comes by referral.

I live in north London with my Spanish partner and our two children. Surfing remains an integral part of my life, and I take every opportunity to get back to the water - whether training at the wave pool in Bristol or on the Spanish Atlantic coast. Alongside it I've developed a deep appreciation for Spanish gastronomy, and salt-dried tuna in particular, best enjoyed with a chilled glass of manzanilla.