Founded in 2020 by director Joe Chidwick, Format provides a design-led service in both the residential and commercial sectors. 

We are a RIBA Chartered Practice that specialises in design focused projects, ranging from one-off houses and bespoke extensions, to new housing and mixed-use developments.

Our name, Format, reflects how we work and view the design process. We see it as a broad spectrum of constraints and opportunities, and believe that it’s our role as architects to explore and Format these ideas into logical and coherent solutions.

From the design studio at St Paul’s Square, our open plan workspace encourages collaboration and the sharing of ideas – which we view as fundamental to good design.

With an established background in delivering high-end schemes, our team has the experience and backing to bring value to the forefront, ensuring that each project benefits from a lateral thinking from the outset. 

Our strongly forged relationships with other industry professionals, including engineers, surveyors and contractors, enable us to bring a wealth of knowledge to the design process, right the way through from concept to completion.

We apply a simple but effective design-led approach, identifying the key concepts early on to guide and inform the process, ensuring that the client is at the centre of every decision.

Our studio is dedicated to our craft, balancing creative flair with the backing of technical expertise to push boundaries and challenge the norm. This means that all details are wholly considered and that our designs are backed by solid reasoning.

Context and narrative are fundamental aspects to our method, and we draw carefully on these two elements to create original responses. Each of our schemes has a different story to tell and our work reflects this, giving our projects a sense of depth and substance.

Communication is at the heart of our ethos and we explore ideas through  a variety of sketches, visuals and models, working closely with our clients to ensure a collaborative and enjoyable experience.

Our outside the box thinking, paired with a commitment to design-led solutions, ensures a creative yet logical response, meaning each of our projects has a clear rationale at its core.

Following the RIBA Plan of Works, we offer a full range of architectural services from concept design, right the way through to construction.

We can undertake partial appointments across these work stages or can be engaged for full services to take a project to completion.

Our typical services include, but are not limited to the following: