About Mole Architects
MORE ABOUT MOLE ARCHITECTS
Meredith Bowles and Ian Bramwell
Profile
Mole Architects is an award-winning architectural practice based in Cambridge, founded by Meredith Bowles in 1997. From The Black House in the Cambridgeshire Fens (featured in the V&A architecture gallery) to the Living Architecture collaboration on the Balancing Barn, the practice has been marked out by its distinctiveness, originality and personality. Mole makes buildings described by Elle Decoration as ‘not just green but gorgeous’, expressing a commitment to cutting-edge sustainability alongside a passion for colour, form and material quality. Mole’s ethos combines innovation and common sense, and celebrates individuality.
Recent commissions span a wide range of building types, from one-off houses, to apartments and yacht clubs, and clients include artists, developers, housing associations and universities. Our houses have won the British Homes Awards, the RIBA Manser Medal, the Homebuilding & Renovating Best House Award, the Ideal Home of the Year, and the Architect's Journal Small Projects award. Mole has since been commissioned to design a wide range of buildings, from apartments to yacht clubs.
Overseas, Mole is currently working on a new £80million ‘hillside resort’ in Taiwan, and in 2012 Mole were chosen by The University of Cambridge from 350 architects to be one of 10 firms to design Phase 1 of a £1 billion expansion in northwest Cambridge. Mole’s commitment to ‘green building’ has been a constant throughout the life of the practice. Early low energy houses were designed from first principles in collaboration with environmental engineers, and have been used by the BRE, TRADA and others as exemplars.
Mole has completed certified Passivhaus schemes (some of the earliest affordable housing to be built to this standard) and are working on one of the largest Code 5 housing schemes in the country. All Mole’s buildings are the result of many hours of collaborative work. Whatever the scale, all demonstrate an interest in the craft of making, and are uniquely tailored to their purpose. Each building is finely tuned, and brings pleasure to the daily rituals that define our lives.
Meredith Bowles Aa Dipl Riba
Director, Mole Architects
Meredith Bowles is founding director of Mole Architects, a progressive and innovative award-winning architectural practice based in Cambridge. He trained at Sheffield University, The Royal College of Art and the Architectural Association in London. After working as an architect in New York, Taiwan and London, Meredith established Mole Architects in 1997. Mole produces modern designs that are appropriate to their local context, combining traditional materials and techniques with a more contemporary attitude to design and building.
The practice is a leader in sustainable building design, designing new buildings to Passivhaus principles and is increasingly focused on the impact that the design of our homes have on communities and placemaking. Projects range from finely crafted bespoke builds such as RIBA 2004 Manser Medal winning Black House in Cambridgeshire to large-scale developments such as the K1 co-housing scheme for TOWNhus which is currently in development.
Meredith is an advisor to Living Architecture and Mole has acted as executive architect on Balancing Barn and Dune House and is currently collaborating with Peter Zumthor on A Secular Retreat. He combines practice with teaching; he has taught at South Bank University London (1998-2000), Sheffield University (2001-2004) and The University of Cambridge (2004-2011), and he was appointed Isaac Newton Design Fellow at The University of Cambridge in 2007.
Ian Bramwell
Director, Mole Architects
BA (Hons) DipArch
Ian is responsible for the effective running of the business, working closely with Meredith Bowles, the practice’s founder and director, to ensure efficiency on all jobs. As well as being an experienced project architect with good technical abilities, Ian has excellent analytical and design skills and heads up Mole’s housing development projects. Ian has overseen the Living Architecture collaborations and is currently working on houses in Devon, Dorset, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
Ian has been an RIBA representative on the Cambridge City Council’s design review panel and sat on the RIBA validation panel for Cambridge University; he is also currently a professional studies advisor for Cambridge University. At weekends Ian can be found messing about on the water, or running or cycling around Cambridge.
Meredith Bowles and Ian Bramwell
Profile
Mole Architects is an award-winning architectural practice based in Cambridge, founded by Meredith Bowles in 1997. From The Black House in the Cambridgeshire Fens (featured in the V&A architecture gallery) to the Living Architecture collaboration on the Balancing Barn, the practice has been marked out by its distinctiveness, originality and personality. Mole makes buildings described by Elle Decoration as ‘not just green but gorgeous’, expressing a commitment to cutting-edge sustainability alongside a passion for colour, form and material quality. Mole’s ethos combines innovation and common sense, and celebrates individuality.
Recent commissions span a wide range of building types, from one-off houses, to apartments and yacht clubs, and clients include artists, developers, housing associations and universities. Our houses have won the British Homes Awards, the RIBA Manser Medal, the Homebuilding & Renovating Best House Award, the Ideal Home of the Year, and the Architect's Journal Small Projects award. Mole has since been commissioned to design a wide range of buildings, from apartments to yacht clubs.
Overseas, Mole is currently working on a new £80million ‘hillside resort’ in Taiwan, and in 2012 Mole were chosen by The University of Cambridge from 350 architects to be one of 10 firms to design Phase 1 of a £1 billion expansion in northwest Cambridge. Mole’s commitment to ‘green building’ has been a constant throughout the life of the practice. Early low energy houses were designed from first principles in collaboration with environmental engineers, and have been used by the BRE, TRADA and others as exemplars.
Mole has completed certified Passivhaus schemes (some of the earliest affordable housing to be built to this standard) and are working on one of the largest Code 5 housing schemes in the country. All Mole’s buildings are the result of many hours of collaborative work. Whatever the scale, all demonstrate an interest in the craft of making, and are uniquely tailored to their purpose. Each building is finely tuned, and brings pleasure to the daily rituals that define our lives.
Meredith Bowles Aa Dipl Riba
Director, Mole Architects
Meredith Bowles is founding director of Mole Architects, a progressive and innovative award-winning architectural practice based in Cambridge. He trained at Sheffield University, The Royal College of Art and the Architectural Association in London. After working as an architect in New York, Taiwan and London, Meredith established Mole Architects in 1997. Mole produces modern designs that are appropriate to their local context, combining traditional materials and techniques with a more contemporary attitude to design and building.
The practice is a leader in sustainable building design, designing new buildings to Passivhaus principles and is increasingly focused on the impact that the design of our homes have on communities and placemaking. Projects range from finely crafted bespoke builds such as RIBA 2004 Manser Medal winning Black House in Cambridgeshire to large-scale developments such as the K1 co-housing scheme for TOWNhus which is currently in development.
Meredith is an advisor to Living Architecture and Mole has acted as executive architect on Balancing Barn and Dune House and is currently collaborating with Peter Zumthor on A Secular Retreat. He combines practice with teaching; he has taught at South Bank University London (1998-2000), Sheffield University (2001-2004) and The University of Cambridge (2004-2011), and he was appointed Isaac Newton Design Fellow at The University of Cambridge in 2007.
Ian Bramwell
Director, Mole Architects
BA (Hons) DipArch
Ian is responsible for the effective running of the business, working closely with Meredith Bowles, the practice’s founder and director, to ensure efficiency on all jobs. As well as being an experienced project architect with good technical abilities, Ian has excellent analytical and design skills and heads up Mole’s housing development projects. Ian has overseen the Living Architecture collaborations and is currently working on houses in Devon, Dorset, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
Ian has been an RIBA representative on the Cambridge City Council’s design review panel and sat on the RIBA validation panel for Cambridge University; he is also currently a professional studies advisor for Cambridge University. At weekends Ian can be found messing about on the water, or running or cycling around Cambridge.
MORE ABOUT MOLE ARCHITECTS
