ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Founded in 2023 by Snr Architectural Technician Matt Hawkins, Decade Three is an architectural design practice which replicates the commercial approach to architecture found at the forefront of many of the UKs largest developers and housebuilders.
‘We’re less about conceptual sketching, more about evaluating cost and buildability’, says Matt. ‘In many ways we’re more closely related to contractors than we are with the artistic end of the spectrum.’
‘Striking the balance between good looking architecture vs cost was something that always fascinated me. After all, the product you are creating has to have design value. There’s a relationship between design and cost – a sweet spot – that will give you maximum value as an asset but with minimal build cost.’
That’s what we do, that is ‘architecture for development’ in a nutshell.
What makes Decade Three unique is that all four directors all held senior management positions at some of the UKs leading housebuilders including Countryside, City & Country and Weston Homes Plc.
‘People have asked me if the whole ‘developer USP’ is a bit of a gimmick. To understand why it’s not, you have to understand how we operated at Weston’s where we all met.
Every decision we made was taken to increase company profit, whether that was adding units to an existing planning approval or refining technical details to reduce cost at construction.
We moved incredibly fast, we were dynamic, we had to solve multiple problems simultaneously. Construction of our sites was never allowed to stop so we had to make sure that buildability issues were identified and solved before they occurred on site.
I realised if we could transplant that same team into the marketplace, we would have something that very few other architectural practices could compete with.’
The company, which first opened its doors in March 2023 has already outperformed all its original predictions and has just taken on its fourth director, chartered planning consultant David Poole.
‘To be able to now offer architectural design as well as our planning consultancy means our clients get a single joined up process from sketch proposal to handover. Even the external consultants we use have all worked with us for years and know what we’re about.’
Although the company focus on developer strategy, their current portfolio includes private residential, listed building conversions, commercial ventures as well as long term asset increase strategies.
‘It doesn’t matter if it’s a planning application for 200 homes, or a domestic extension and alteration project – the way we evaluate the project to ensure optimisation are exactly the same.
How much does it cost, does it need to be there, is there a better way of doing it. Everything we draw or sketch isn’t just a line on a piece of paper. It’s something that needs to be ordered, paid for and fitted.
As designers we need to respect that.’
Decade Three are:
Matt Hawkins, managing director
Paul Reynolds, director, planning and design
David Poole, director, Decade Three Planning Andrea Savill, director, technical
Email: d3a@decade3associates.co.uk
We are proud to feature and promote in our architecture magazine: ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT by Decade Three
