Simon Astridge’s work is shaped by a close attention to how people move, gather and live within space. Rather than beginning with rooms as fixed types, his approach often starts with human actions, materials and the rituals of everyday life, allowing architecture to emerge from the particularities of people, place and use. This approach can be seen in recent projects such as Pawalee House, a London residence where a restrained palette of sapele, stainless steel and Douglas fir is brought into dialogue with the existing fabric of a Victorian home.
For Architectural Reveries, Simon reflects on protected mornings, coffee and walking, designing through verbs rather than nouns and the intelligence of materials.
01/ How does your day typically begin? Is there a ritual or moment that sets the tone for the day ahead?
Well, I used to get up early and just go straight into work mode, but now I’ve matured, my mornings are fiercely protected for myself. I normally wake between 5am and 6am and walk into the living room to meditate for 20 minutes. I learned Transcendental Meditation many years ago; it calms me and sets the tone for the day.
Then I make coffee, and having been lucky enough to design many coffee shops across London, we have good access to and knowledge of the best grinders and machines and, more importantly, beans. After coffee, I wake my partner and usually go for a one-hour walk along the River Thames. We live in leafy Surrey and have beautiful river walks just 150 metres away.
By then it is 9am and I will attend online meetings or travel into Kensington to see the Workshop team.
02/ How do you best enjoy your time at home?
Having renovated our apartment recently, time is spent just enjoying the spaces, the light and the views of the trees outside the windows. My partner and I both love cooking, so usually most of our day revolves around talking about food, shopping for food and cooking food.
03/ What has been keeping you busy lately? Could you tell us about a recent project you have been working on?
We’ve continued to work on many house projects for private clients, but the thing that is keeping me most busy at the moment is a new restaurant in Mayfair we are working on. Construction started in June 2026 and is due to finish in March 2027.
It is the largest and most complicated project we’ve ever worked on, so right now that is taking 80% of my time! It is a two-Michelin-star Korean restaurant with open grills on the tables, so watch this space for the opening.
04/ In your project Clay House, you described designing around “verbs” rather than “nouns”, focusing on actions such as cooking, bathing and sleeping rather than simply creating a kitchen, bathroom or bedroom. How has thinking about architecture through human actions affected the way you design?
We imagine architecture as the setting within which human events take place, and this comes to fruition through precise design and teasing out the resistance of materials within a particular place.
We talk a lot about human-centred architecture, and we believe the task of good design is to construct opportunities for meaningful human experiences and interactions. When you understand the movements and rituals of the family members on a project, you are able to design these spaces directly to suit and support their lives. Everyone is different.
05/ A recurring theme in your work is working within constraints, whether that is an existing building, a limited material palette or a specific site. How do such constraints influence creativity?
Yes, we do work a lot with constraints as architects because inherently most of our projects are in central London, which is a Roman city, and London is heavily regulated too.
The media portrays architecture as an aesthetic practice, but in reality we respond to place, client vision, budgets, landscape, climate and cultural dimensions of design through constraints.
06/ Materials in your work are rarely decorative. Clay, plywood, zinc, timber and concrete often become the atmosphere of the space itself. How do you decide what role a material should play within a project?
Our brains and bodies constantly react to microscopic molecules we inhale from our environment, so it becomes very important to consider what materials humans are surrounded by, especially while at home, where they spend a lot of time.
Design is not about decoration; it’s about self-care, so using one material well and not three badly has always been our approach.
07/ Your work with Lift Coffee sits within a wider moment where coffee shops have become highly designed environments; places where architecture, hospitality and daily rituals intersect. What do you think has changed about the way we experience coffee shops, and why has design become such an important part of coffee culture?
Yes, totally. We’ve noticed this too, and I’ve just come back from three weeks in Japan, where I spent a lot of time making coffee pilgrimages to the best shops.
Specialty coffee culture has been revolutionised globally across the last decade, with most people waking up to the over-roasted, milky versions from global chains in search of a more refined, lighter-roast version. Everyone in London buys two coffees per day from coffee shops, so the demand is there and the income has increased, and therefore the desire to create atmospheres and environments that attract people to hang out rather than simply take away.
The same thing has happened to our offices since COVID-19. People have higher aspirations for healthy working environments.
08/ Your work with The Method with House of Grey is a wonderful example of how a space can shape the way people feel and experience their surroundings. How do you think about designing spaces that influence how people feel and behave?
I am very interested in learning from the latest discoveries in neuroscience and using this knowledge in the design of our projects. I attend annual global symposia bringing together neuroscientists and architects.
We now know that 120 minutes of being in nature per week greatly enhances your happiness. We know that spatial experience is inherently embodied and multi-sensory. We know that human vision is multi-modal; we touch the world with our eyes. We understand that our environment literally changes our brain structure and our behaviour.
Being armed with this factual information when designing for private clients and brands is liberating, and people are starting to listen and invest in these ideas. The Method is a great example.
09/ Beyond architecture itself, what are the people, places or experiences that continue to inspire you?
To be honest, I’m rarely inspired by architecture or buildings. I am inspired by people, artists, musicians, chefs, travel, nature, food, poets, etc.
At the moment I’m obsessed with sumo wrestling and the history and culture behind making the clay ring, and all aspects of its 1,500-year history. Like Anthony Bourdain said, “Travel is not a reward for work, it’s education for living.”
We all have a hippocampus, which is a small seahorse-shaped structure deep inside the brain that is vital in forming memories, recalling memories and spatial navigation. When needed for inspiration, I am able to recall my time living in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, walking Patagonian ice shelves, eating parrilla in Buenos Aires, watching England beat Australia in the Ashes Test twice in Melbourne and Sydney, sleeping in Geoffrey Bawa’s house in Sri Lanka, visiting Luis Barragán houses with private tours in Guadalajara and Mexico City, enjoying street food markets in Thailand, visiting ancient temples in Japan and the Philippines, surfing and eating in San Sebastián. The list is endless.
10/ Looking ahead, what questions are you still trying to explore through architecture, objects and the way we live?
At the moment we are starting a new rebrand and website for a 2027 launch. We are asking ourselves important questions such as: How do we position ourselves and consider architectural thinking in the AI world? Are our future clients going to value the role of the mind and the body when designing spaces? Will culture yearn for beauty and connection with other humans and physical materials in a digitally overwhelming world?