Architects Cambridgeshire
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.