A London architecture and design studio, a certified B Corp and early pioneer of engineered timber buildings, winner of the 2017 RIBA Stirling Prize for Hastings Pier.
dRMM is a London-based studio of architects and designers, founded in 1995. It works from Tower Hamlets in east London and has a second office in Berlin. The studio works at everything from urban design to individual buildings for private clients, and it often works for local authorities, charities, schools and developers. It has been especially active in housing and education, and its portfolio increasingly includes light industrial, mixed-use and co-location projects, where different kinds of building share one site.
dRMM was an early pioneer of engineered timber construction, which means building with large manufactured timber panels and beams instead of concrete and steel. It still researches sustainable building materials, with work on national forestry management, timber products, measuring mass timber and ways of judging quality of life in developments. Alex de Rijke, a founding partner, is known for this work and in 2023 was appointed Professor of Timber Architecture at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The studio has no formal mission statement on the page we read, but it describes its aim as work that is innovative, high-quality and socially useful.
Its best-known British project is Hastings Pier, which won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2017. The pier was rebuilt after a fire and reopened as a public space for the town. The studio's UK base is London, and it has built and planned buildings for communities, schools and housing providers in different parts of Britain. It operates in the UK and Germany.
On culture and values, dRMM became a Certified B Corporation in November 2023. B Corp is an independent certification given to businesses that meet standards on how they treat workers, the community and the environment. The studio's overall B Impact Score was 96.7, against a qualifying threshold of 80, with its highest section score for the environment and strong scores for workers. The company also has a "Mission Locked" setting on its B Corp profile, which means its purpose is legally protected. These are details from the B Lab profile, not claims we have tested.
The team at a studio like this includes architects, architectural assistants, designers who focus on materials and construction, researchers, and the people who handle communications, finance and operations. If you are interested in climate, wood and sustainable building, or want to know how architects can lead research into what buildings are made of, dRMM is a clear example. The studio's own website shows its current projects and any open roles.
Website: drmm.co.uk
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