CDAL is a tight-knit group of skilled professionals with a consistent architectural ethos, work ethic and practice. The service we offer is personal and collaborative, with clear lines of communication and accountability. Our design solutions are closely tailored to our clients’ needs and interests.
We are also nimble and flexible, ready and able to adapt to a project’s requirements and our clients’ needs.
It is a feature of a small, hands-on practice like ours is that the Director, Calum Duncan, is actively involved in all aspects of projects – from the crucial conceptual discussions through to on-site supervision and handover.
This means clients can be confident that their project will always benefit from the meticulous attention of those of us in the practice with the greatest skills, knowledge and experience.
Creative Reimagining
Our passion for creative and person-centred design is reflected in our unique approach to architecture and our belief in its ability to transform the way people live, work and interact – we call this ‘creative reimagining’.
We collaborate closely with clients at the earliest opportunity to understand clearly the way they live and work, as well as their current and future needs. This fundamental, user-centred approach allows us to develop highly creative solutions that meet our clients’ needs in pleasing, interesting and sophisticated ways while also achieving environmentally sustainable outcomes and improved connections to the outdoors.
By reimagining buildings and spaces in this way, our aim is to realise for their users the transformative potential of architecture, beyond the look and feel of the glossy photograph. More than that, we are seeking to improve the way people live and work, and to bring pleasure and excitement into their interaction with the finished project.
What do we mean by transformative?
- A transformative design might refer to the huge social benefits to a neighbourhood of a community centre with offices, meeting rooms, teaching and events spaces and a café.
- It could be about the delight of a stand of birch trees now viewable from an upper window of a redesigned home – or a personal, never-before-considered nook created specifically for your music practice.
- It might, in a sports clubhouse, have to do with greatly improved circulation that simply works better – for getting in and out, getting changed, getting fed and watered, and getting sociable.
- Or it could be a multi-user solution that maximises the utility of a building by sharing resources with other organisations – a small extension to an existing building rather than a purpose-built structure could reduce cost for everyone while increasing social and networking opportunities.
