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About
Established in 2005, Studio Sam Causer is a design-led, RIBA chartered architecture practice specialising in adapting complex and sensitive situations.
We relish working in multi-layered historic environments, bringing a philosophical rigour to our interventions backed up with astute understanding of the way materials and humans behave in changing circumstances. We enjoy that each generation through time leaves an architectural legacy which speaks of available technologies, experiences and other cultural influences, and love how buildings and the environment grow and adapt accordingly. What comes now may not look or behave like what has gone before, but everything needs to work well together.
Alongside our small but experienced team we collaborate closely with structural engineers, cost consultants, contractors and clients, as well as with artists, choreographers, film-makers and academics, together producing a rich and broad practice centered on the act of making spaces to support life.
We’re committed to understanding the environmental and social impact of our buildings, and whilst everybody has a responsibility to form good relations with our environment, the architect is well placed to balance the physical and temporal elements that together create spaces worthy of our collective capability.
Our current portfolio includes several conservation projects at a range of scales, from tiny cottages to a five mile long public park in Margate, the conservation and extension of the Grade II* Listed Modernist masterpiece Kensal House for the SPID Theatre Company in London, and proposals for growth and change at the Grade I listed Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire.
Many of our projects are funded by public bodies including the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England. We've recently been appointed by Thanet District Council to improve the landscape of Dalby Square, our third project funded by the Townscape Heritage Initiative in Margate. On another tangent altogether, we’ve completed two interior projects for fashion designers - a Worlds End shop in Berlin for Vivienne Westwood and a design HQ in London for highly successful new label Self-Portrait.
The copyright of all content is owned by Studio Sam Causer Ltd, unless credited otherwise. Publishing and distribution without written consent is prohibited.
We are delighted to have been recognised by the Architecture Foundation as one of the best practices in the UK and proud to be included in their book 'New Architects', the 'definitive survey of the best British Architects to have set up practice in the past ten years'.
The Observer architecture critic Rowan Moore says of our work:
"Sam Causer can do neat, modern details - flush veneered panels, skinny steel window frames, large glass panels - and then throw in something from the realm of art installation such as a rough wall of silver birch trunks, with bark still in place... Extreme ingenuity with non-existent budgets".
We are proud to be the recipients of a substantial SUCCESS grant from a consortium of local councils in 2015 to help us secure new premises in Margate. Our project to repair and refurbish the new office is now complete and we moved in in January this year. In addition to the design studios shown on the left, we also have a meeting room, kitchen, library, admin room, archive and workshops.
In 2015 Crane TV selected us for inclusion amongst their features on creative practitioners. You can view the short film by clicking on the icon below.
SAM CAUSER
MA Cantab Dip Arch RIBA CA
Director & Conservation Architect
Sam Causer founded the practice in 2005, initially based between London and Berlin, keen to explore the possibilities offered by European integration and online communication, with a multi-disciplinary practice encompassing the fields of architecture, visual art, performance and social research. In 2010 he settled in Margate, Kent, from where the practice has become an established voice in promoting and managing intelligent change in complex, often historic environments.
Sam graduated from the University of Cambridge with Distinction in 2000, and was nominated for the RIBA President's Medal for top international postgraduate student. He qualified as an architect while working at Meadowcroft Griffin, followed by two years at ORMS in London, before he founded Studio Sam Causer.
Sam is an RIBA-accredited Conservation Architect, so we're qualified and able to take on publicly-funded works to historic buildings. Sam's been vice-chair and now chair of the Margate Conservation Area Advisory Group, praised by Historic England as ‘exemplary’ since 2014, and is on the steering group of the Margate Neighbourhood Plan Forum. He is also a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Hackney Society and was a CABE Enabler and Design Review Panel Member for the East Midlands region while teaching nearby in 2014-16. He has been a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects since 2003.
Alongside practice Sam also teaches regularly at various schools of Architecture across the UK, and has held long-term positions at Cambridge, Kent and De Montfort Universities. Most recently, in 2017/18 he co-ran a post-graduate degree unit with Diana Cochrane at the University of Kent, focussed on Margate Coastal Park.
Alongside the permanent staff on this page, Sam also regularly collaborates with artist Carlos Maria and architect Geraldine Dening, on a project-by-project basis.
Supported by:
LIAM NABB
BA
Architectural Designer
Liam started working with the practice in 2013 as an architectural designer, primarily responsible for the design and day-to-day running of the domestic and landscape projects in the Dalby Square Townscape Heritage Initiative. He is interested in understanding the language, methods and materials of historic architecture in combination with contemporary design.
Liam studied fine art at Liceo Artistico Florence and architecture at the University of Florence and London Met. He started his career as an 1980/90s DJ, music producer and events organiser based in Italy before moving to london in 1999 setting up a design and communications agency in music related projects for corporate clients. European, left, liberal. Liam is an independent business owner, is involved in local community groups and started boxing at retirement age. ‘I rarely win a fight, but as in everything, I do try!’ In addition to work with Sam, Liam is the owner of the renowned Margate B&B "The Reading Rooms".
LIENE STEINBERGA CESAR
BA(Hons)
Office Co-Ordinator
Liene joined the practice as an administrator in 2016. She graduated with a BA(Hons) in Photography from Camberwell College of Arts, where photography is part of the fine arts cluster at University of the Arts London (UAL). Liene was once an aspiring architect but now filters modern politics and social issues in her own photographic, 3D and performative artists practice.
As the Office Co-Ordinator, Liene balances her administrative, research and accounting responsibilities with her time as a Gallery Assistant at Turner Contemporary. In addition to giving tours of the gallery, Liene has worked and volunteered for many art and performance festivals, taking part as well as organising the events.
MATT PHILLIPS
BArch Dip Arch
Project Architect
Matt joined us in 2018 to take on day-to-day job running, with current responsibility for a number of projects in London and Margate, including the conservation and extension of the Modernist Grade II* listed Kensal House.
Matt's previous experience as architect includes the £8m refurbishment of the Grade I listed Wilkins Lower Refectory at University College London, nominated for an AJ Retrofit Award, while at Burwell Architects. He has also worked at Allies and Morrison and Craft Architects. Matt's main interests lie in the creative reworking, restoration and refurbishment of existing and historic buildings.
