01
Mindset
Listen, design, invent
A project starts as an idea in your mind. It turns into beautiful visions of how a future scenario can unfold. You can imagine yourself in there already, but.. how can you make it happen to get there? That's where we come in, to ask you the right questions to start off.
We always look forward to hear the initial daydreams, analyze the first sketches and visit the site together. This first phase is about listening. In our studio this is a key value. We work as a team, including the client, which means listening to each other's input, visions and reasoning is where it begins. We believe that through open discussions in which everyone feels free to share their thoughts, we will inspire each other, keep each other sharp and stimulate innovative ideas. Around the table with a cup of coffee or tea we take the project to the next level.
02
People
Serious business with a smile
You get nowhere without having fun. That being said, we built teams around each project of which we know that they will enhance each other. We find each other in a shared passion for an honest way of working: towards each other and towards our environment. Enjoyment always follows.
Important to say is that the client is seen as one of the key members of the team. We believe that if the project team values their time together, that will reflect on the outcome of our work. Making sure, as a team, we feel trust, cooperation, interest and optimism we can create an atmosphere in which people can be themselves. As a result creativity and work ethics will flow naturally. We have a team that has a good time together while doing serious business.
03
Fascination
Warm heart for craftmanship
The essence of building is bringing together the materials through the hands of the craftsman. Every niche needs its own attention, a different approach and unique qualities. When the mason or the carpenter arrives on site a new phase starts. They bring our ideas to live through the tactility, rhythm and repetition of the project. Natural single materials are being transformed into a collective that has a new purpose: a family home, a workspace or anything else.
From the perspective of the designer we find ourselves each time admiring the work the craftsmen show on site. It's a delight to watch what can be done with two hands and a lot of dedication. We make sure that this hands-on knowledge is part of the design by inviting them to our table in early stages of the project to optimize the way we work with natural materials.
04
Work method
What & how
Our core team is based in Utrecht and Kampala. We work on projects that are all special on their own: from a social housing development for a group of friends in a village in the Netherlands to a bamboo restaurant near a beautiful forest in Uganda. You can also find us around the table of a masterplan for urban development in Kampala. All these projects relate to each other through our pragmatic attitude of "let's act now". We design to build, while we take our responsibility and care about our climate.
Through collaborations we are able to work on this large variety of projects. In both the Dutch and the African context we have grown an extensive network of experts over the last 16+ years. Every project, location and vision needs a different approach. We are specialized in bringing the right people to the table to address design issues in the most effective way.
05
Collaborations
Stronger together
Our studio works at different scales within the build environment. All these scales, from social urban planning till local material research, are influencing each other. As architects we share our perspective in this variety of design questions. If we would stay in our own niche, we can get very deep into the topics that we address. If we collaborate, each with our own background, we can make a change. An example of such a collaboration is DASUDA, the Dutch Alliance for Sustainable Urban Design in Africa. We work on topics where we address master planning through a combination of workshop with local stakeholders and expert meetings on site.
These cross overs of knowledge and experience are key in solving difficult puzzles. The final result comes together as a Gesammtkunstwerk and will make a successful implementation more feasible. We team up for projects with landscape designers, structural engineers, urban planners, craftsmen, local stakeholders, sustainability instigators, artists, developers, municipalities and who knows, maybe you!
Sanne Eekel
Architect, Founder of Studio Akēka
Shinnosuke Wasswa
Architect, Studio Akēka
Dasuda
Sustainable urban development
Bamboo Uganda
Bamboo development
Erno Langenberg
Computational design
Joy Gwokyalya
Collaborating architect
Dieter Blok
Collaborating architect
Vinc Math
Bamboo consultant
Brian E. Wennersten
Dutch Bamboo Foundation
Green Building Council
Sustainability consultance
Easy Housing
Member advisory board
