Practice

  • Directors
  • The Team
  • Services

Approach

Established in 2001 LAB Architects is an RIBA Chartered Practice based in London.

At Lab we believe that all buildings are about people; how we live and work now and how we would like to do so in the future.

Our projects over time have been varied in nature and scale, from undertaking design consultancy for the Organizing Committee of the London Olympic Games, to schemes for restaurants, art studios, boats, offices and photographer’s studios.

Our enthusiastic and creative team work collaboratively from our inspiring studio location.

We continually explore new forms,  emphasising materiality, light and spatial flow , with the intention of unlocking the unique potential of each and every project. We take our client’s original objectives through a phased process, providing a framework to organise ideas and bring these ideas forward into tangible form.

A significant proportion of our present commissions are for exceptional private residential projects, usually by personal referral from one client to the next. We see a confident and agreeable relationship with all members of the project team, from client to building makers, as the foundation of the successful delivery of these and all our future projects.

 

 

 

Meet the Directors

Alistair Langhorne

If Alistair had a motto it would be " Work hard and be nice to people" this reflects his dedicated commitment to the job at hand and the value he places on confident effective working relationships.

Alistair graduated from Westminster University London in 1996 working initially for RHWL Architects in Covent Garden, designing a number of high profile arts and education buildings including the Malvern and Saddler’s Wells Theatres and school buildings such as Christ’s Hospital School in West Sussex. These projects required sharp design sensibility and a sophisticated comprehension of the clients’ requirements, both with respect to design criteria and financial boundaries.

During the fourteen years since establishing Lab, Alistair has honed these skills, winning the confidence of interesting, diverse and exacting clients and bringing forward their unique projects to successful completion. The majority of these commissions have been either through personal referrals or repeat commissions, a valuable testament to the importance placed by Alistair and the practice as a whole, on developing and maintaining a down to earth and positive relationship throughout the challenging but rewarding journey of commissioning bespoke and beautiful buildings.



Claire Bunten

Claire’s focus is on creating homes that are sensory and tactile. There are few things more important in life than one’s sense of home.
How we inhabit space, how it functions and practically facilitates our lives. How light falls in the morning, how natural finishes feel underfoot. All are key factors in a myriad of decision making that goes into creating a welcoming and comforting space.
Claire is a founding director of Lab and for over 20 years has run the interior architecture section of the practice ensuring holistic design from the inside out. Before establishing LAB Claire worked for six years in a commercial practice in the UK, Sydney, and Dublin.

Meet the Team

Maros Somora

Architectural Assistant || MA Hons Architecture

Maros is an architectural designer who graduated with honours in a Master of Architecture and Sustainability programme from KU Leuven, Ghent, Belgium.
His experience began by assisting in a high-end residential project consisting of a chateau refurbishment, gallery extension, double-curved steel bridge and a steel garden pavilion for one of the most prominent Belgian art collectors. He then continued working on private and commercial projects with various scales, from a weekend home to 12 000 sqm retrofit of a grade II-listed factory in central Europe. In London, he worked in the commercial sector delivering high-end remodelling of office buildings and interior Fitouts for a real-estate developer on multiple mid-range sites in London prime locations.
At LAB, he enjoys assisting in delivering timeless homes and creating unique spaces for clients.

Yana Markos

Architectural Assistant || MA Hons Arch

Yana graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to joining Lab Architects she worked on a range of projects with a focus on recycling processes and production. She developed architectural projects and interiors with particular attention to spatial experimentation and sustainable strategies. Being involved in projects in the Netherlands, her proposals comprise strategic aspects and forward-looking tectonics to express the view of architecture having a potential to become an engaging entity in the urban environment.
Having grown up in Russia, she believes that design is a powerful tool for connecting people of different cultures together. Being engaged with residential refurbishment projects around the Central London Area and being a participant of various Art exhibitions in Moscow reflects her passion for material exploration, furniture design and human experience of interior Architecture. She believes that design should reflect the personality of the client and one’s habits, whilst being functional. As part of the team at Lab Architects, she continues to develop her interest in Interior Design to create timeless environments for her clients.

Justine Hornquist

Architectural Assistant || BA

Justine graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the Falmouth School of Arts. Prior to joining Lab Architects, she worked on high end residential projects in Bristol and Cornwall. She participated in the Inland Art Festival as a workshop coordinator, and has experience promoting a dynamic design process between all parties involved.

Having grown up in Sweden and America, she values the role our built environment plays in meaningfully connecting people to a place. She believes that the best design evolves from the unique lifestyle and requirements of a client. As part of the team at Lab Architects, she looks forward to working on projects with increasingly complex sites and demands, before pursuing a Master's degree in Architecture.

Aga Jagustyn

Architectural Designer || BSc Arch Dip Arch MArch

Aga has a double Master's degree (MSc, MArch) in Architecture and Urban Planning, having completing her studies at the University of Fine Arts in Poznan in conjunction with Poznan University of Technology in 2008. During 2008-2009 she was an Erasmus student of the international education project in Fachhochschule Potsdam, Germany. She also graduated from the University of Fine Arts in Poznan with a Master Degree (MA) in Industrial Design in 2010. Post qualification, Aga initially worked for the architectural and design practice anOther Architect in Berlin. After she moved to London she worked with DOSarchitects and she was involved in several projects of various types and scales, from small residential buildings to large scale competition projects. Aga joined Lab Architects in 2011 and pursue her interest in contemporary design and develop towards her qualification as an architect.

Services

Architectural services

From conception to completion we are dedicated to providing the best possible experience for our clients. Referring to Lab Architects, Lucy Denyer, in her Sunday Times Little Black Book said “If you want an architect who will do all the hard work for you, Alistair is your man”.

To this end we have honed our  architectural services to a bespoke version of the RIBA plan of work, which from experience best reflects the required stages of work.

We start with appraisal and development of the brief, to define the possibilities and maximize the potential of each project.

The design development stage allows the established principles of concept design to be thoroughly worked through to bring forward an effective and thoroughly resolved solution.

When it comes to the statutory consents,  planning, listed building consent and building control we have 14 years of specific experience putting together documentation on our clients behalf with an enviable success rate.

Following this, the proposals are taken through to the technical design phase where the specifications and  schedules are produced to provide sufficient information for costing and build-ability.

During the tender and construction stage of the works we assist with the analysis of the tender returns and the selection of the teams best suited to undertake the construction work.  We very much like to maintain an effective working presence on site, communicating with the building makers and administering the building contract to ensure every last detail is worked through, understood and executed in an exacting fashion.

Where required, we offer additional services of project management and interior design.