About us

Archangel has worked for more than 20 years to design and deliver excellent buildings. As a team, we work collaboratively from our studio near Cambridge, and believe the best buildings are created from a close partnership between client and architect. We like to think of our role as being your critical friend: at your side to support and guide, but also there to question. When choosing an architect, what you are really buying is not a product (any half-decent architect can deliver a completed building), nor even a service, but a relationship; and we’re looking for a matching degree of engagement and enthusiasm in our clients. 

What’s In A Name?

If you scratch the surface you will often find an architect to be one of two types: either a frustrated artist yearning to create beauty but with little control of cost (and never mind if the building leaks!), or a process person who can deliver a leak-free building to time and budget but with little creativity, interest or humanity. Most practices principally offer just one of these, but we believe clients have a right to expect the best of both. We are both/and people! Hence the way we write our name, breaking it into two halves: the ‘arch’ represents the solid and responsible bit, the ‘angel’ represents the creative and life-affirming bit, and the point of the practice is to hold the two parts together.

Nuts And Bolts

This means that the boring bits are still important! Archangel is a RIBA-registered, chartered practice based in Cambridge, working both with new buildings and the sensitive adaptation of existing ones, and across a range of sectors including Church, Community and Residential. Our Projects section shows examples of all of these. We have also created www.churchbuildingprojects.co.uk, a separate site providing free resources, discussion documents, opinion and further case studies specifically related to church buildings. Do check this out if you are a church or other community organisation.

Alongside the full range of architectural services we also offer the following associated skills:

• project management – sometimes the design of the process, bringing together the right people in the right way, can be as important as the design of the building; Nigel is a qualified project manager and a member of the Association for Project Management (MAPM).
• interior design – the choice of fittings, colours, fabrics etc. can radically change the feel and experience of a place, so it is important to get these things right; Alex’s first degree was in interior design.
• conservation – understanding what is important about heritage buildings and the role of people in their continuing life is essential in understanding how they can change well and survive in the long term; Nigel holds a PhD in conservation, Alex is one of only 15 Chartered Architectural Technologists accredited in Conservation, and all staff are supported to gain at least a foundational conservation training.
• sustainable design – we are increasingly focused on the long-term sustainability of our designs, reducing both long term costs and environmental impact; Apos is a registered Passivhaus designer.

All of this rich experience informs our general practice; in addition, some projects may merit a separate agreement for one or more of these services, so please contact us if this might be of relevance.