Principles
Stewardship
At Hawkes Architecture, stewardship is at the heart of everything we do. We see ourselves as custodians of both land and legacy—designing in a way that honours the environment, serves our clients with care, and stands the test of time. Our approach balances sustainability, design excellence, and ethical responsibility, from the first sketch through to post-occupancy evaluation. Every decision we make is rooted in mindfulness: how materials are sourced, how energy is used, how spaces are experienced long after handover. True stewardship means building not just for today, but for generations to come.
At Hawkes Architecture, stewardship is at the heart of everything we do. We see ourselves as custodians of both land and legacy—designing in a way that honours the environment, serves our clients with care, and stands the test of time. Our approach balances sustainability, design excellence, and ethical responsibility, from the first sketch through to post-occupancy evaluation. Every decision we make is rooted in mindfulness: how materials are sourced, how energy is used, how spaces are experienced long after handover. True stewardship means building not just for today, but for generations to come.
Architecture as a Custodian of the Landscape
At Hawkes Architecture, we see the landscape as a collaborator, not a constraint. Every design begins with a deep reading of the site—its topography, ecology, and character—and responds with sensitivity and intent. We shape buildings to sit lightly in their setting, enhancing natural features rather than overpowering them. The result is architecture that feels rooted, respectful, and in tune with its environment.
Set into the contours of a coastal dune, Bigbury Hollow is designed to work with the land, not against it. Its low-impact form preserves views, enhances dune ecology, and reduces energy use through passive design—an example of true environmental stewardship in action.
Commitment to Sustainability
Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. We focus on low-impact designs that have both low operational and embodied carbon far beyond new building regulations and that actually deliver performance. We believe that excellent design must also be sustainable.
We call for death of the energy ignorant building, exploring alternative construction techniques & sustainable materials. All our built homes have achieved EPC A ratings exceeding RIBA 2030 targets.
We aspire to definition of sustainability in the Brundtland Report “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
What we have learnt from the average UK house, is that there is a need for new dwellings to be built better and use less energy. On all our projects we rigorously follow the principals of fabric first design, minimising the amount of energy that a building requires throughout the seasonal changes.
Reducing Embodied Energy
Carbon footprint results
The embodied energy study of the Crossway Passive House was undertaken by Cambridge University back in 2009 and provided an invaluable insight into the energy expended to build a uniquely designed house. This knowledge has underpinned the practice’s work ever since. Click the tab below to see just how much this means to us!
The embodied energy study of the Crossway Passive House was undertaken by Cambridge University back in 2009 and provided an invaluable insight into the energy expended to build a uniquely designed house. This knowledge has underpinned the practice’s work ever since. Click the tab below to see just how much this means to us!
Simplify detail and minimise heat loss
Impact
Mindful Choices
Stewardship is also about being stewards of our client aspirations, exploring what you actually want and being mindful of your priorities not running roughshod in the pursuit of academic architectural concepts. We love sitting down with clients who ‘want to do something but don’t know what or how’ and inspiring them to jump aboard.
Designing for Generations
We regularly carry out post occupancy evaluation and incorporate findings into our new designs to ensure that we are constantly evolving. Our passion to deliver homes of exceptional quality and unparalleled efficiency doesn’t stop once we hand over the keys. Only once a home is occupied is its performance and comfort really put to the test. It’s therefore imperative that we maintain an ongoing relationship with our clients and their homes, to ensure we understand how our buildings are performing in the real world. We’ve developed some great Post Occupancy Monitoring tools which enable us to examine how well our homes perform.
We regularly carry out post occupancy evaluation and incorporate findings into our new designs to ensure that we are constantly evolving. Our passion to deliver homes of exceptional quality and unparalleled efficiency doesn’t stop once we hand over the keys. Only once a home is occupied is its performance and comfort really put to the test. It’s therefore imperative that we maintain an ongoing relationship with our clients and their homes, to ensure we understand how our buildings are performing in the real world. We’ve developed some great Post Occupancy Monitoring tools which enable us to examine how well our homes perform.
Shaping a Responsible Future
True stewardship means designing for now—and for what comes next. At Hawkes Architecture, we take that responsibility seriously. Every project is an opportunity to build with care, leave the land better than we found it, and create architecture that stands the test of time. If you’re looking to build something beautiful, responsible, and enduring, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s create architecture that gives back.
