At Archio, we imagine a better quality of life for everyone. We think that access to decent homes, buildings and spaces provides the foundation to help us grow as individuals and as communities.
We were founded with a mindset that design should be used to tackle major societal challenges. We seek out opportunities to progressively shape a better, more sustainable and more inclusive world for now, and for future generations.
We listen and respond to the everyday issues people face in their neighbourhoods, because we recognise that good design can have a transformative impact on physical and emotional health.
We believe that regeneration is most effective when design teams, councils and local communities co-produce visionary approaches that enrich lives. We are focused on working with purpose-led clients who have a long-term interest in the vitality of the communities they operate in. This approach has developed into a specialism of working with local authority regeneration companies, housing associations, select private developers and community-led organisations.
“I have been a resident on Brasted Close for nearly 11 years, and have been very impressed by the designs put forward by Archio who have listened to residents’ concerns every step of the way. It is an amazing opportunity to be part of the steering committee of such a pioneering project. The final design is very impressive, it feels spacious, without being over bearing to the surrounding estate.”
Katy Milner, Brasted Close Resident
"Through careful negotiation with the planners, the architect has achieved a scheme which draws on the historic morphology and detail of the village, interpreting traditional form and fenestration to create a unique and innovative response."
RIBA Judges citation for Temple Cloud
Kyle is a Director at Archio and a passionate and skilled Architect, who was named RIBA South West Project Architect of the Year 2018. He is an RIBA Conservation Registrant with experience of working on Listed Buildings and in heritage contexts. His expertise in housing design has resulted in his appointment as a member of the RIBA Expert Advisory Group for Housing and as a Design Council Expert.
He pursues his passion for promoting outstanding design through his positions on Ealing, Kingston and Sutton Design Review Panels. He is an experienced design tutor and has run design units for undergraduate and postgraduate architecture courses at the Bartlett as well as being a visiting critic at schools including London Met, Cambridge and Oxford Brookes.
Kyle has pursued his interest in working with communities by volunteering on the boards of community led-housing groups and local charities in London. He is currently a volunteer member of the Housing Ombudsman’s Resident Panel.
Mellis is a Director at Archio, and has led many of Archio's housing and community projects.
With her expertise in Urban Design, Listed Buildings and Planning Policy, she is a member of the Harrow, Hounslow and Tower Hamlets Design Panels, and the Hackney Regeneration Design Advisory Group, advising the councils on current applications and policy in the borough. She is also an AJ Architects Award Judge, Civic Trust Awards Assessor, a member of the Urban Design London Environmental Design Review Panel and a Design Council Specialist Expert.
Mellis has a particular interest in community engagement and has an expertise in running participatory design workshops, and along with Kyle, she was recognised in the Architect's Journal 40 under 40 list "celebrating the UK’s most exciting emerging architectural talent".
Within Archio, Mellis oversees the practice's internal management, with a focus on structured resourcing and wellbeing of the team.
James joined Archio in 2019 having graduated from the Bartlett, University College London, with a first class honours degree and a nomination for the RIBA Bronze Medal. He went on to complete his post-graduate studies at the University of Cambridge where he pursued a specialism in environmental design.
James is Archio's Sustainability lead, having been Passivhaus trained and authoring our in-house Sustainability Briefing document. James became an Associate in Archio in 2022, and is leading our co-housing projects with TOWN and Squeezed London.
A passionate teacher, James has run workshops with primary school pupils and tree-house building sessions at a local youth centre. He has been an invited critic at a number of architecture schools and was a studio tutor at the Bartlett School of Architecture.
João joined Archio in 2020 with practice experience spanning several countries, Portugal, Japan and the UK, where he has spent the last 8 years. João graduated with a Masters degree from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto (FAUP), Portugal, and started out working in Japan before moving to Portugal to work for architects Barbosa e Guimarães.
João has a passion for construction and all things technical, and is currently leading on projects for Southwark Council and London CLT in the detailed and construction phases.
João became an Associate at Archio in 2022, having led our Quality Management Systems, including achieving our ISO9001 accreditation.
Sarah joined Archio as an architectural assistant in 2021. She is a graduate of University College Dublin where she obtained her Masters degree in Architecture in 2019. Since, she has worked on a number of housing and masterplanning projects for Plus Architecture in Dublin and co founded the Sudan Art and Design Library Project where she is currently head of research.
Her interests in architectural design lie in the exploration of culture in the everyday and of larger definitions of identity and heritage especially when it pertains to community development.
Sarah believes in the inherent potential present in a multidisciplinary approach to being a good designer and, as an avid photographer and artist, is passionate about using these tools for good place making.
Sophie joined Archio as an Architect in 2022 after completing her part III studies in 2021.
Sophie graduated from Newcastle University where she obtained both her undergraduate and masters degree and a nomination for the RIBA Silver Medal.
Since graduating, Sophie has worked predominantly within housing design. She considers both social and environmental sustainability as fundamentals for all projects and has experience working towards net zero carbon design and passivhaus standards.
Sophie is a design tutor at Newcastle University co-running a studio that focuses on enabling social inclusion within a more democratic design process. The project is based around the retrofit of an existing building, testing how to embed social, environmental and economic sustainability within the proposals.
Saaya Joined Archio in 2021 as a part-time studio manager. She has been in the design industry for 6 years around London. In her position of studio manager, she oversees, supports and manages daily operations.
Since having a son, she has become more aware of the importance the community brings and how architecture has a power to shape the neighborhood. Saaya has masters in Textiles and enjoys crafting and knitting.
Ballymore
Bath & Stratford Homes
Be First (London Borough of Barking and Dagenham)
Brick by Brick (London Borough of Croydon)
Clarion Housing Association
Crystal Palace Community Land Trust
Dolphins Hall Trust
Habinteg Housing Association
Hornsey Housing Trust
Human Nature
London Borough of Havering
London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Southwark
London Community Land Trust
London Continental Railways
London Legacy Development Corporation
Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing
Notting Hill Genesis
Phoenix Community Housing
Royal Institute of British Architects
Ruskin Mill Educational Trust
Squeezed London
The Architectural Association
The Greenwich Citizens Housing Group
TOWN
Transport for London
2023
Winner, Brick Awards, Small Housing Development
Short-listed, Inside Housing Development Awards (Best development - 0-100 homes)
Winner, British Homes Awards Judges Award for Excellence
Winner, British Homes Awards Best Affordable Housing
Winner, Pineapples Award (Community Engagement)
Winner, NLA New London Award (Housing)
Short-listed, Housing Design Award
Short-listed, Housing, Architects Journal Awards
Winner, Building London Planning Awards (Best Community Engagement Outcomes)
Short-listed, Building London Planning Awards (Best New Place to Live)
Short-listed, Civic Trust Awards
2022
Short-listed, Housing Design Awards
Winner, Inside Housing Development Awards (Best affordable housing development - less than £10m)
Winner, Housing, Architects Journal Awards
Winner, Critics Choice, Architects Journal Awards
Short-listed, Building Design, Public and Social Housing Architect of the Year
2021
Short-listed, Open City Stewardship Awards, Social Stewardship Award
2020
Winner, Architects Journal 40 under 40
2019
Short-listed, Housing Design Awards
Winner, Inside Housing Development Awards (Best affordable housing development)
Short-listed, NLA New London Award (Housing)
2018
Short-listed, AJ Housing Project of the Year (up to £10 million)
Winner, RIBA South West Project Architect of the Year
Winner, RIBA South West Regional Award
2017
Winner, Archiboo Web Awards, Best Written Content
2016
Commendation, Civic Award
Short-listed, Archiboo Web Awards, Best Written Content
Short-listed, BD Young Architect of the Year Award
Unit B107
Lighthouse Studios
89a Shacklewell Lane
London E8 2EB
T 020 7183 4048
Google MAP
We send out occasional informative emails about housing, community engagement and the ‘future of living’. Click on this link if you’d like to sign up to receive them!