S333 CV

1984        BArch, University of Auckland School of

Architecture, NZ

1993        Royal Institute of British Architects, corporate member, UK

1997        Licensed architect Stichting Bureau

Architectenregister, NL

S333 Architecture + Urbanism

Overtoom 197, 1054 HT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
t: 00 31 (0)20 412 4194 f: 00 31 (0)20 412 4187
e: info@s333.org http://www.s333.org

Studio Profile

S333 have been recognised internationally for delivering design excellence and innovation to the field of mixed use and mixed tenure development.

The studio’s first completed project, a mixed use housing project in Groningen, the Netherlands was short listed for the 2003 Mies van der Rohe Award for Contemporary European Architecture and was a finalist for the acclaimed AM NAi Prize for the Best Building by Young Architects in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2004.

S333 were finalists in the 2005 Next Generation Award, a new initiative from Pipers and the London Architecture Foundation aimed at providing a platform for young architects who, given the chance, “could make an exceptional contribution to the future of commercial architecture in the UK”.

Success in international competitions has played a key role in winning contracts and focusing attention on the office. Most notably, S333 has won two Europan international housing competitions: Europan 3 in Groningen, the Netherlands in 1994 and Europan 4 in Manchester, England in 1996. In 2003 S333 were announced joint winners for the redevelopment of Kipsala, 120-hectare island in the centre of Riga, Latvia and in 2004 the studio won an open competition for a 17-hectare waterfront development in the centre of Bergen, Norway.

Having established considerable experience over the last 10 years on a variety of international projects, S333 now provide clients and stakeholders with a unique range of multi-disciplinary services, specialist advice and management skills focusing in particular on large scale, urban sites. The studio is currently engaged on projects in the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Norway and Belgium. In response to a growing number of new projects in the United Kingdom, S333 will open a studio in London in 2005.

Work Method

Four directors lead S333: Burton Hamfelt (Canada), Christopher Moller (New Zealand), Dominic Papa (England) and Jonathan Woodroffe (England). Their commitment to design excellence is shared by support administration and a talented, multi-national team of architects and urban designers with widely ranging skills, interests and market experience.

Design teams, led by the directors, are formed per project to oversee each phase of the design process. On a regular basis, the directors review all projects collectively. A network of consultants and specialist technical design advisers who have worked with the office over several years supports the design teams. This method enables the studio to be flexible, creative and most of all, ready to meet the unique demands of each commission. As a result the studio’s projects do not impose a ‘house style’ but rather a consistent approach developed through analysis of the client’s needs, the context, the environment and end-user requirements. The philosophy of team building inside and outside the office is also seen as being a key ingredient throughout all stages of the projects. The close collaboration with clients and consultants produces results that usually exceed initial client expectations, while ensuring that each project is delivered on time and in budget.

Our Approach

Housing and urbanism is our core business. We believe that the global phenomenon of rapid urbanization is throwing into question conventional urban design solutions. New design tools and strategies are necessary. Our central objective is to define innovative strategies of physical intervention and design that are capable of responding to this change and we have entered this area as a multi-disciplinary organization, combining solutions drawn from architecture, urbanism and landscape design.

Urbanism is a central component to our portfolio and we take the multiplicity of urban scales as a starting point in our design and reasoning. Faced with intensifying urban challenges and conflicts, we aim towards discovering spatial solutions that allow the development process to move forward, rather than the ‘erase and replace’ approach. We also search for genuine solutions for each location, as opposed to relying on a single formal language.

Housing is a key element of urbanism and a major factor in the rethinking of spatiality, density, and new patterns of living and working. Housing is therefore important for us, not just for its design aspects but also because of its complex identity as shelter, commodity, status, political tool and element of the urban fabric.

We are convinced that in today’s cities, architectural and urbanistic approaches need to be more flexible and more strategic. Each project is therefore assessed during the design process on how well it works, how well it looks and how well it contributes to its surroundings – economically, socially, environmentally and spatially. The demands and requirements for buildings are very different to those required for urban planning and landscape design. However, because we believe that buildings have to ‘work harder’ in order to succeed, our architectural projects are often informed by all these disciplines, strategically linking context, program and space. The result of this approach not only resolves the architectural concerns but also the broader planning, environmental and infrastructural issues delivering an integrated, coherent whole.

Partners

Burton Hamfelt

Born: 1964 Montreal, Canada

Qualifications: BArch SBA

Previous Professional Experience: Bruce Mau Design and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, Neutelings Reijdijk in Rotterdam and Xaveer de Geyter Architects in Antwerp.

Teaching Experience:
Presently teaching at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam and the Academie van Bouwkunst in Amsterdam. With previous experience as adjunct assistant professor with the University of Toronto, Global Architecture Program, professor at Hoger Instituut St Lucas in Gent, visiting teacher/critic at the Architectural Association in London.

Christopher Moller

Born: 1961 Wellington, New Zealand

Qualifications: BArch RIBA SBA


Previous Professional Experience:
Farnham St. Architects and Engineers in Auckland, Craig Craig Moller Architects in Wellington, Terry Farrell and Company in London and as a senior urbanist at Urban Design Department, Groningen city council.

Additional Experience:
Currently member of the Platform Gras ‘Think Tank’ to inform urban and architectural issues in Groningen.
Europan International Juror in the UK 2001 + Portugal 2003 Design tutor for 6 years at the Housing and Urbanism Post Graduate unit at the Architectural Association in London. Academie’s in Groningen and Tilburg.
Secretary and member of the Architecture Centre focused on changing urban policy, retention of important buildings and urban fabric in Wellington NZ

Dominic Papa

Born: 1965 London, England

Qualifications: BA (Hons) AA Dipl. SBA

Architectenregister, NL

Previous Professional Experience:
Terry Farrell and Company in London and Wiel Arets Architects & Associates in Maastricht.

Teaching Experience:
Presently design tutor at the Housing and Urbanism Post Graduate unit at the Architectural Association in London. With previous experience as Unit Master for 4 years at the Architectural Association and teacher at the Academie van Bouwkunst in Tilburg.

Jonathan Woodroffe

Born: 1964 London, England

Qualifications: BA (Hons) Dip Arch RIBA SBA

 

Previous Professional Experience:
The Architects Collaborative in Boston, Gensler Associates in New York, Wilkinson Eyre in London and Neutelings Reidijk in Rotterdam.

Teaching Experience:
Unit Master for 4 years at the Architectural Association in London with previous experience as teacher with the Academie van Bouwkunst in Tilburg, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Technical University of Delft and guest critic at the Berlage Instituut in Amsterdam.

Client List

Aga Kahn Trust for Culture and the City of Samarkand, CIS
Amstelland Ontwikkeling Wonen BV, Amsterdam, NL
Beleggingsmij J. Bakker B.V., Zaandam, NL
Bergen City Council, Norway
Blauwhoed, Rotterdam, NL
Bouwbedrijf Moes B.V., Zwolle, NL
De Woonmaatschappij, Hoofdorp, NL
Dura Bouw Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL
Fashion Street Regeneration Ltd. London, UK
Gemeente Amsterdam, NL
Gemeente Groningen, NL
Gemeente Haarlemmermeer, NL
Gemeente Hengelo, NL
Gemeente Nieuwegein, NL
Gemeente Rotterdam, NL
Gemeente Zaanstad, NL
Heart of Thames Gateway Partnership, London, UK
Het Oosten, Amsterdam, NL
ING Vastgoed, Den Haag, NL
JTC Corporation, Singapore
Kristal NV, NL
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
MAB, Den Haag, NL
Melview Developments Ltd. Auckland, NZ
Norwegian Housing Bank, Norway
Oldham MBC, UK
Regional Opleiding Center van Amsterdan, Amsterdam, NL
Rotterdam 2001/WaterCie, Rotterdam, NL
Toynbee Housing Association, London, UK
Urban Splash Developments, Manchester, UK
Wilma Bouw, Groningen, NL
ZVH Housing Association, Zaandam, NL

Awards

Selected Publications