Patel Taylor is a practice with a rare vision in which the seamless integration of architecture, landscape and urban design that often seems an unattainable ideal is a fundamental belief. Whether the project in hand is a house or a masterplan for an entire urban quarter, the practice’s work reflects a view of design as a process embracing the historical and social dimension of places as well as their visual and aesthetic context.

Pankaj Patel and Andrew Taylor, the founding partners, lead a team in which the versatile agenda of the office is reflected in the range of expertise it offers. Patel and Taylor have inherited the idealism of the modern movement, tempering it with an intelligent pragmatism, sense of appropriateness and respect for the past.

Patel Taylor's work is, at heart, open-minded and undogmatic, looking beyond extreme statements or the quest for the “iconic” to create buildings that are memorable on a level beyond that of superficial imagery or over-heated form. A passionate feeling for materials, whether brick, concrete or wood is one of the core values of the practice. Its work fuses many influences, from the English Arts and Crafts to the richly textured modernity of Aalto, Kahn and Siza.

Patel Taylor's work is essentially humanistic; the painstaking process of research and dialogue that informs their work produces buildings and places that work well for clients and the wider community, whether the subject matter is an apparently intractable 1960s building or a brownfield site. The practice has a rare capacity to understand and realise the potential of materials, places and communities that is rooted in a profound respect for the physical and human environment.

© Kenneth Powell, Architectural Critic