About the practice

Gale & Snowden Architects Ltd, established in 1992, is an award-winning RIBA Chartered Practice that focuses on regenerative design based on permaculture principles. Our projects unify ecology, building biology, physics and landscape design with elegant and efficient architecture to create beautiful, healthy and uplifting buildings and landscapes. We believe that healthy design is at the core of good design for both building and landscapes. It is important to carefully consider both how buildings are designed and the choice of materials used. By incorporating Building Biology healthy design principles in a design from the outset, a building or landscape can provide an uplifting and life-enhancing environment. Building Biology is the holistic study of the man-made environment, human health and ecology. It is a living subject that brings together fields of study that are otherwise taught in isolation - an interconnecting science that brings together many facets relating to health and construction including: biology, medicine, building physics, chemistry and ecology. Our designs focus on a fabric first and optimal orientation approach based on Passivhaus principles to first minimise the energy demand of a building, reducing its carbon emissions, before adding renewables where appropriate. The result is low-carbon solutions that respond to a changing climate and tackle fuel poverty at the same time. We are an integrated team of architects, landscape architects, mechanical engineers, building physicists and biologists, certified Passivhaus designers and permaculture designers. As biologists who are also architects, our focus extends beyond the building. Our designs regenerate the environment, working with, rather than against natural systems; integrating people into designed, productive ecosystems.