How we work
Four habits. They are not a philosophy — they are the things we do on every job whether or not anyone is watching.
We start with the section
Plans are easy to agree on and tell you almost nothing about how a building feels. We draw the section first and keep drawing it until the arrival, the climb and the view at the turn are settled.
We model everything
In card on the table and in code on the screen. A massing argument that survives being looked at from every side is usually right; one that only works from the render angle is not.
We specify what we can name
Shuttering board patterns, not "fair-faced concrete". Named timber, named steel. A specification you cannot point at on site is a wish.
We build less
The cheapest carbon and the cheapest money are both in the thing you decided not to build. We would rather cut area than finish.
DATUM is a fictional architecture practice built as a portfolio demonstration by Studio Super-Hi. Every project, client, award and date on this site is invented, and the building shown in the opening sequence is a study model made for this demonstration.